Two tests to find your proper ball weight....

[Hammer]

Stand with your bowling arm at a 90 degree angle and place the ball in the palm of your hand without inserting the fingers. Now extend your arm forward until it is almost straight keeping your wrist straight and not letting it break backwards. Hold for 5 seconds and bring back slowly. If you cannot complete this move comfortably the ball is too heavy for you.

Another drill for wrist strength is to put your fingers and thumb into the ball and let it hang from your arm straight down at your side palm facing forward. Now let the weight of the ball break your wrist so the thumb is on top of the ball. Now using just your fingers press your ring and middle finger tips into the finger holes and press your index and pinkie finger tips into the ball surface until your wrist straightens. This will tell you two things.
One if your wrist is stong enough to control the weight of the ball you are using and two if not you need a lighter ball.
This is not easy guys because I tried it and I went down to a 14 pound ball. I could imagine what these two tests would be like using a 16 or 15 even pound ball. A lot of guys egos might be hurt by this. So if you are having trouble with your wrist breaking down in the forward swing you might have a ball that is too heavy for you. On top of that if you muscle the ball from the top of the backswing to the release your wrist is not going to have a chance to stay straight or cupped so you can put revs on the ball.

I have heard some guys here saying that they are having trouble keeping their wrist straight or cupped so they can put revs on the ball. Well you better think twice about what weight ball you are using. Maybe that 16 pounder should be a 14 pounder for you if you want to be able to control the ball and be able to hit it with some revs.

[bowl1820]

And where did we come up with this?

Holding the ball straight out in front of you just seems pointless.

And the second part is just a variation of the Ron Clifton ball weight test, with a lot of added finger pressure putting unneeded tension on the hand.

Ron Clifton:
The first thing I check when trying to pick a ball weight is the persons wrist strength. I have them hold the ball down by their side with their wrist relaxed. Then I ask them to cup their wrist forward. They should be able to hold that position for a slow count to 10 or the ball is too heavy

[Hammer]

And where did we come up with this?

Holding the ball straight out in front of you just seems pointless.

And the second part is just a variation of the Ron Clifton ball weight test, with a lot of added finger pressure putting unneeded tension on the hand.

Ron Clifton:
The first thing I check when trying to pick a ball weight is the persons wrist strength. I have them hold the ball down by their side with their wrist relaxed. Then I ask them to cup their wrist forward. They should be able to hold that position for a slow count to 10 or the ball is too heavy

From Bowling-Steps to Success they have these two tests in there. The one holding the ball in your palm with your arm at 90 degrees and then pushing the ball away from you does not mean that your arm is ramrod straight out from your shoulder. When you push your arm out it will have about a 45 degree bend in it. Then you bring your arm back slowly until it is back at 90 degrees. This supposedly will let you know if the ball is too heavy for you if you cannot do this while keeping your wrist straight.

The other test is to see if you have enough hand and wrist strength to straighten your wrist while the ball is hanging at your side with the palm facing forward. If not they recommend that you use a wrist support so the weight of the ball does not break your wrist backwards while in the forward swing which will cause rev loss or have the ball drop off your hand too early. After doing this second one myself now I know why I never got rid of my wrist support.

[bowl1820]

From Bowling-Steps to Success they have these two tests in there. The one holding the ball in your palm with your arm at 90 degrees and then pushing the ball away from you does not mean that your arm is ramrod straight out from your shoulder. When you push your arm out it will have about a 45 degree bend in it. Then you bring your arm back slowly until it is back at 90 degrees. This supposedly will let you know if the ball is too heavy for you if you cannot do this while keeping your wrist straight.

Okay see you left a lot information out in your org. post. When you say "Now extend your arm forward until it is almost straight" that's a lot different than saying push your arm out until you have about a 45 degree bend in it.




The other test is to see if you have enough hand and wrist strength to straighten your wrist while the ball is hanging at your side with the palm facing forward. If not they recommend that you use a wrist support so the weight of the ball does not break your wrist backwards while in the forward swing which will cause rev loss or have the ball drop off your hand too early. After doing this second one myself now I know why I never got rid of my wrist support.

Yes that's what rons test does also.

The part I commented on was the " Now using just your fingers press your ring and middle finger tips into the finger holes and press your index and pinkie finger tips into the ball surface until your wrist straightens."

Pressing your fingers into the ball doesn't straighten your wrist out, it just adds tension to the hand. You straighten the wrist out by bending it and moving the hand forward.

[Hammer]

The book does not mean a death grip with the fingers or with the thumb. There is what they call a bit of pressure with the four fingers to help support the wrist in the swing. On fingers from the book: the tendons from the fingers go through the carpal tunnel of the wrist and insert at the elbow. The tension from the application of pressure will draw the carpal bones of the wrist together into a more solid unit. The finger pressure locks the wrist into position. With the wrist in a proper position throughout the swing, the bowler is better assurd of the desired release position. They are not talking tension filled death grip on the ball. Their talking that fingers act in support of the wrist to keep it straight.

[bowl1820]

I didn't said anything about a "tension filled death grip on the ball."

I said "Pressing your fingers into the ball doesn't straighten your wrist out" which is what you wrote in your orig. post.


" Now using just your fingers press your ring and middle finger tips into the finger holes and press your index and pinkie finger tips into the ball surface until your wrist straightens."



On fingers from the book: the tendons from the fingers go through the carpal tunnel of the wrist and insert at the elbow. The tension from the application of pressure will draw the carpal bones of the wrist together into a more solid unit. The finger pressure locks the wrist into position. With the wrist in a proper position throughout the swing, the bowler is better assured of the desired release position. They are not talking tension filled death grip on the ball. Their talking that fingers act in support of the wrist to keep it straight.

Even this doesn't say the finger pressure straightens the wrist out, just that it locks it in position once there.

Now we are not talking about swing, just ball weight and holding it at your side.

Adding tension to your hand by applying pressure with the fingers will reduce the amount of time you can hold the ball in any position, because you hand will get tired faster.

The point I'm trying make is that if your trying to find the right weight ball. Doing something that increases tension in the hand, adds pressure to your holding the ball. Will affect how much weight you can hold and for how long you can hold it in position.

[Hammer]

I think that what I am trying to say is that some pressure from the four fingers on the ball helps to suport the wrist from breaking down during the swing. So all they are saying when doing this is if you can't do it you need a wrist support. It also doesn't say to do this for a long times. It says to see if you can straighten your wrist doing this to see if your wrist is strong enough. I did it both ways with no wrist support and a 14lb ball. I did it just cupping the hand and did it cupping the hand and some pressure of the four fingers on the ball and either way was not easy for me. That is why I have used a wrist support ever since I started bowling. I must have girlie
wrists. So what do you use to figure out if your wrist is strong enough to handle the weight of the ball someone wants to use?

[ArtVandelay]

I have tired head... I'll just go ahead and say my wrist is weak, I use a 14 pound ball and a wrist support band, and I'm happy/fine with that! hahahaha.

I think there is way too much concern over what weight is best, etc. I find it hard to believe there's that big a difference between 14/15/16. I'd guess accuracy is much more important. I've said it before: the girl on our team bowls with an 11 pound ball and does VERY well with it because her accuracy is amazing.

[bowl1820]

So what do you use to figure out if your wrist is strong enough to handle the weight of the ball someone wants to use?

Well I don't fit other people, Now for me personally. I've done the Ron Clifton method, I think it's pretty close and will give some a good starting point.

Also I thought I remembered hearing the "90°" method before. It's in the "Bowling Ball Parts and Dynamics" section of the bronze manual. But it doesn't require you pushing the ball out.


One method is to have your athlete use the balls on the storage racks. The athlete needs to place the palm of the bowling hand facing the ceiling at about waist high. The forearm of the bowling arm is in a position that is 90 degrees from the torso of the body.
When placing a ball in the palm of the hand, look for a ball that will slightly push the hand downward. If the athlete has no problem holding a ball, it is too light. Conversely if the athlete has difficulty maintaining the hand and forearm at the 90 degree position it is too heavy. The ball that seems slightly heavy in most cases will feel fine once the ball has been drilled with the proper fit.

And given if you think about it, you don't need to move the ball out (the arm at a 45° angle part). When your holding the ball, your holding it with a straight wrist.

If you can hold the ball like that for 10 sec's or more without your wrist breaking back and the ball falling off. Your wrist should be more than strong enough to keep it straight in the swing.

They also have another method


Another method is to again use balls from the storage racks. Utilizing a “see saw bag” or a “ball sling” (a piece of cloth that has two handles which is used to carry a ball) an athlete may again place different weight balls in this device and gently swing it back and forth to get a feel of what weight he/she can handle. If the direction of the armswing is easily changed then the ball is too light. If the ball pulls the body in the direction of the swing or the athlete has a difficult time maintaining their balance then the ball is too heavy. The ball that the athlete can not readily change the direction of the armswing and does not force the body to tense up will be the desired weight of the ball.

None of the methods are totally accurate, they just give a person starting out a starting point for ball weight.

[Hammer]

Phew! I got tired wrists just from doing all of the typing on this post. Well, I hope somebody can use something out of this. So in this case it looks like two heads are better then one. I think I will need a wrist support to do anymore typing on this forum for both of my wrists. THE END.

[bowl1820]

I think I will need a wrist support to do anymore typing on this forum for both of my wrists. THE END.

Wrist support for typing? They have those!
http://www.transcriptiongear.com/media/product-images/full/smart-glove.jpg

Now the test to see what weight keyboard is...........

[MisterSinister]

Stand with your bowling arm at a 90 degree angle.

You mean 90° angle. Thanks Bowl1820!

[Zothen]

Back in the late 80's the pro shop I went to had me hold a ball in palm of my hand and extend straight out. If I held the ball for 10 count without shaking,then that was the right weight. I still do that today for someone looking for a house ball.

Zothen