ball weight question

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kerrek
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ball weight question

Post by kerrek »

Hey Guys,
If I'm slightly speed dominate now using 15#, will upping to 16# change that or will it remain the same?
kboveington
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Re: ball weight question

Post by kboveington »

In theory it should take a little ball speed off. It did for me when I traded my 15lb ball for someone who threw a 16lb ball. I thought it wouldn't matter what's 1lb difference? It made a big difference for me my ball speed dropped 1-2 miles per hour. But my rev rate decreased a bit as well. I didn't like the 16 pound ball and went back to my 15 pound of équipement. Now I'm down to 14lbs due to an injury.

Another option is to seek the help of a coach to decrease your ball speed. It could be something as simple as ball position at set up or how fast your feet are on the approach. Heck the coach may even help increase your rev rate? All things to consider.

I think some will notice a bigger difference than others with going up in weight. I am not a big guy 5'7" about 160. A big strong guy that's 6'2" 220 may not notice as big of a difference if any at all.
Last edited by kboveington on September 1st, 2013, 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Make spares make cut, miss spares miss cut. " Bill O'Neil "
kerrek
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Re: ball weight question

Post by kerrek »

kboveington,
I have been working w/ a coach. My ball speed has increased due to an un-muscled swing, but rev rate has stayed the same.

ken
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Re: ball weight question

Post by kboveington »

kerrek wrote:kboveington,
I have been working w/ a coach. My ball speed has increased due to an un-muscled swing, but rev rate has stayed the same.

ken


Great to hear you are working with a coach! What does he think about you possibly going up a pound?

With an increase in ball speed without adding revolutions you may have to play straighter on the lane, straighter angles or both. You may also consider stronger equipment and layouts. A surface adjustment to your already existing equipment may be enough to get that ball through the 3 phases correctly. This would be the least expensive as well.
Make spares make cut, miss spares miss cut. " Bill O'Neil "
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Re: ball weight question

Post by J_w73 »

If you muscle the swing, yes it will make a difference. If you have a truly free and gravity fed pendulum swing, then no it won't make a difference. The speed of a pendulum is determined by the length of the arm and the height it is dropped from. So your type of swing will determine how much the difference in weight will affect the speed of your ball.
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kboveington
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Re: ball weight question

Post by kboveington »

I disagree with the previous post. I don't care how free and relaxed the swing is. If you did the exact same approach with a 10lb ball, and then with a 16lb ball there would be a difference in speed.
Make spares make cut, miss spares miss cut. " Bill O'Neil "
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Re: ball weight question

Post by Bahshay »

kboveington wrote:I disagree with the previous post. I don't care how free and relaxed the swing is. If you did the exact same approach with a 10lb ball, and then with a 16lb ball there would be a difference in speed.
He was right. If you have the exact same approach, you'll logically have the same speed arm swing. If you have the same arm swing speed, you'll have the same ball speed.

Of course, that's all assuming that the swing is truly muscle-free.
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Re: ball weight question

Post by EricHartwell »

Bahshay wrote: He was right. If you have the exact same approach, you'll logically have the same speed arm swing. If you have the same arm swing speed, you'll have the same ball speed.

Of course, that's all assuming that the swing is truly muscle-free.
I believe the key to this is the feet. Your feet will control the ball speed.
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Re: ball weight question

Post by kboveington »

Bahshay wrote: He was right. If you have the exact same approach, you'll logically have the same speed arm swing. If you have the same arm swing speed, you'll have the same ball speed.

Of course, that's all assuming that the swing is truly muscle-free.
Well kyle, I knew there would come a day when we would disagree on something. Your one of my good friends and extremely knowledgeable about the game. But I think the increase and decrease in ball weight will effect the other elements on the approach to the point where we can see a difference in ball speed. Either way I agree the main focus should be finding a ball weight the *said bowler* needs to be able to have a free and relaxed arm swing that feels comfortable and consistent.

Maybe I *feel* the difference in weight more because I am primarily a 2 handed bowler. And there is a bit of muscle used in the 2 handed style.
Make spares make cut, miss spares miss cut. " Bill O'Neil "
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Light Oil Ball: Phobia, White Hot Badger
Location: Northern California

Re: ball weight question

Post by J_w73 »

kboveington wrote: Well kyle, I knew there would come a day when we would disagree on something. Your one of my good friends and extremely knowledgeable about the game. But I think the increase and decrease in ball weight will effect the other elements on the approach to the point where we can see a difference in ball speed. Either way I agree the main focus should be finding a ball weight the *said bowler* needs to be able to have a free and relaxed arm swing that feels comfortable and consistent.

Maybe I *feel* the difference in weight more because I am primarily a 2 handed bowler. And there is a bit of muscle used in the 2 handed style.
yes, your speed will be affected the most by the difference in weight because your swing is probably all muscle. My point was that depending on how much muscle you use then it will affect the difference in speed you will see. You are probably correct, in that the difference in weight will probably affect other things in your swing though. Primarily the release. I feel I can turn the ball a lot easier and have a lot less hand fatigue at 15 lbs vs 16 lbs. On a purely physics level, I am correct.
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Re: ball weight question

Post by kellytehuna »

As J_w73 said, if your swing is free, you should have the same ball speed either way. Depending on your size, their might be a slight change in your footwork, but that shouldn't effect your ball speed significantly. I remember Tommy Jones going up to 16 lb to help take some of the steepness out of his down swing. If I recall, his ball speed didn't change one iota. Free arm swings are a HUGE factor in this discussion.
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