Expert: - 2/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello, Im not an inexper. bowler but but I have been now for two years.Im a straight bowler thinking about changing to a hook, how difficult will the change be? and if too difficult and you recommend top of the line bowling ball with a powerful hit for my style of bowling.I bowl with a 10lb ball only because I have small hands and wrist and have better control.Im not young (43yrs old.

ANSWER: April,
Top line balls DO NOT offer much inside in 10lbs. The limitation of overall ball weight doesn't allow for much of a core in a light ball.

The best you can expect utilizing lighter equipment, unfortunately, is better hit from a urethane coverstock (performance balls all start with a urethane base material), and potentially some effect from a performance coverstock (shiny, dull or in between, urethane or reactive resin), suited to your ball speed.

Ball fit allows a bowler to roll with a free swing, and balance body weight with ball weight. If a 10 pound ball is 10 percent of your body weight, you are good to go. If not, you have a fit issue.

After two years, a bowler with a relaxed grip and free armswing should be hitting the head pin 70 percent (or more) of the time. Given a lighter ball, I'd expect your average to be about 150.

If you have mastered a consistent delivery adding rotation at the release should be easy enough. I'd recommend you change your style during an off-time (not during league season). The learning curve for developing a consistent hook will have you struggle at first. So, don't disappoint teammates by trying to change style in mid-stream (season). A coach can help with the particulars. check the local center or pro shop for some help.

Thanks for the questions. Bowl well.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for answering my question,but I do a have a problem where as my ball poundage is not ten percent of my body wt,with that said it sounds like I should be bowling with a
14lb ball.How do I make the adjustment to a heavier ball with out injury,really my fear is dropping the ball as I release the ball because of the added wt.

Answer
April,
Ball fit is crucial. The ball should let go of you. There should NOT  be any grip pressure needed when the ball hangs down next to your body.

It sounds like you are working too hard. The unfortunate reality is that most bowlers (and some ball drillers) get their perception of how a ball should fit from house balls. (A VERY BAD IDEA that's 50 years old but necessary for centers to accommodate customers without a ball.)

A ball rolls out of and off your hand, so the angles of the holes and spans of the grip secure it to your hand and allow it to roll away at the right point in your delivery. If you can pull your hand out of a ball, that's fit for you, it doesn't fit properly.

Ball fitting has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, due mostly to the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association (IBPSIA). IBPSIA created fitting and drilling education programs called "Hands On Training Seminars," and presented them in the US and Internationally.

Independent companies like Kegal, Ebonite and Turbo Grips have created education centers. The training centers address many things but to a great degree elements of ball fit. Ebonite International, probably the seller of more than 50 percent of all performance balls made (Columbia300, Ebonite, Hammer, Track brands) has a training facility to train ball drillers. Industry suppliers, distributors and manufacturers actively try to update and improve drillers understanding of the art and science of bowling balls and fitting and drilling.

Drilling balls is often influenced dramatically by what works for the driller. My small hand, short stubby fingers didn't control a ball well thirty-five years ago when I got my first finger tip ball (stretched to long, with too much reverse pitch). Ultimately my fit is shorter and pitched dramatically differently in all three holes. And has changed in the last couple decades. Flexibility, moistness, thickness all play a part in a proper fit. Try to find an IBPSIA store near you or stop by here in Chicago, we're open 7 days a week.

Thanks for the questions.