What ball speed do you usually throw?

[Hammer]

At release I am at 16 and at the pins it is about a 14.5. This speed seems to work good for me especially playing deep. When playing deep I have no need to help the ball to get to the pocket from the breakpoint. Because of the speed I use it gets there without any trouble. What is your average speed?

[Amyers]

I average out about 14 to 14.5 I'm not sure if that is release or at the pins my main bowling place doesn't have speed monitors so I only get to see it every now and then

[Stormed1]

15 off the hand, 12.8 at the pins

[classygranny]

I've only bowled a few games at a center that has the speed listed on the monitors. How do they calculate the speed? Whatever it is, my best balls were at 14.5

[MICHAEL]

playing the outside its 14, playing the inside, 13 and 7/16ths mph

[mc_runner]

16.5 at the pins... so maybe around 18 at release?

[rv driver]

I've never been clocked. I throw the ball, go get a drink from the bar, and come back to watch the pins topple.

(Not really, but I do know it's slower than the average I see at my center.)

[vdubtx]

18-18.5 at release. 16.5-17 at pins.

[Aslan]

See signature.

I used to throw much faster, but everyone kept telling me the same thing; "you really don't need more speed"…so I've intentionally slowed things down to give my ball more time to hook on it's own. Upside is accuracy. Downside is pin carry.

[Hampe]

Dunno about where on the lane it is, since like CG I'm just going by the display on the score monitors, but I'm usually around 13 (21 km/h).

[zdawg]

These days 16/17mph but I've worked on it a lot to get it there. Prior, I was typically in the 13/14mph range, but after working hard on my release and additional revs, I found that I was having immense trouble keeping the ball to the right of the headpin.

[circlecity]

I'm about 15.5 - 16.5 at the pins

[tccstudent]

278.34 mph

but the screens at amf typically say just a little under 18 and that is alot slower then I used to be

[MICHAEL]

See signature.

I used to throw much faster, but everyone kept telling me the same thing; "you really don't need more speed"…so I've intentionally slowed things down to give my ball more time to hook on it's own. Upside is accuracy. Downside is pin carry.

I think there is a perfect speed inbetween that keeps the pins LOW, rather then flying high and over pins! I have seen some darn good bowlers that have speed causing the pins to fly over others instead of through them. Correct me if I am wrong Rob, or Mike,,, but to little can be a disadvantage, as well as too fast!

[Perrin]

depending on the alley but most monitors that display speed measure it at the pins so generally adding ~2-2.5mph gives you the speed off your hands

my usualy speed is ~16 mph at the pins but I go as low as 15 depending on what works that day.

[Amyers]

I think there is a perfect speed inbetween that keeps the pins LOW, rather then flying high and over pins! I have seen some darn good bowlers that have speed causing the pins to fly over others instead of through them. Correct me if I am wrong Rob, or Mike,,, but to little can be a disadvantage, as well as too fast!

Speed is relative to revs and entry angle as long as you can maintain enough revs to counterbalance your speed so you can get proper entry angle you can score successfully. most people with high speeds aren't able to produce enough revs to counterbalance that speed it flattens out their shot and produces poor entry angle to the pocket. Why you see them leave a lot of 5-7 or 5-10 splits it looks like the pins explode around them and just fly away but what is really happening is the pins are being knocked straight back instead of at an angle that allows them to hit others. The more speed you can produce as long as you can maintain the entry angle the better off you would be but most of us can't do it.

[bowl1820]

A ball speed of 16 miles per hour at the pins is considered to have the highest strike percentage.

The average at release ball speed for a 220+average / Pro bowler is about 19 miles per hours.

Figuring that a ball loses on average about 3 mph going down the lane. The 16 at the pins looks about right (19mph-3mph=16mph)

Now that's just in general, differing conditions etc. could affect that +/- at any given time.

[MICHAEL]

I have seen many young guys throw the ball at 20mph plus,,, and what I notice is the ball does not go through the skid, hook, roll faze! If they have great rev's to go along with the speed, it LOOKS LIKE IT ON ICE ALL THE WAY and really doesn't grab the lane. ICEMAN LIKES!!



This type of bowler almost always is playing the outside shooting 10 arrow and standing at 10 or even 5 sometimes.

Pins fly every where but as mentioned many weird leaves! It seems that too much speed can cause hydroplaning with the bowling ball.

[Sourtower]

A ball speed of 16 miles per hour at the pins is considered to have the highest strike percentage.

The average at release ball speed for a 220+average / Pro bowler is about 19 miles per hours.

Figuring that a ball loses on average about 3 mph going down the lane. The 16 at the pins looks about right (19mph-3mph=16mph)

Now that's just in general, differing conditions etc. could affect that +/- at any given time.

Very interesting. I have a high amount of revs but my speed on average on the monitor is between 12.5 mph - 13.5 mph. Looks like I'm gonna have to work on strength training to get my ball speed up a bit.

[MICHAEL]

A ball speed of 16 miles per hour at the pins is considered to have the highest strike percentage.

The average at release ball speed for a 220+average / Pro bowler is about 19 miles per hours.

Figuring that a ball loses on average about 3 mph going down the lane. The 16 at the pins looks about right (19mph-3mph=16mph)

Now that's just in general, differing conditions etc. could affect that +/- at any given time.

YOU have a GREAT average, why jack with it?? LOL I know many that would die for a 220 average plus!! Whatever YOUR doing, its WORKING!

I would not mess my arm up or do anything thing different...(:) So many things, I would imagine come to play when saying 16 is the ultimate speed.

I am sure Rob could elaborate more on this, but it seems to me on HOUSE OIL your speed seems to be doing GREAT!

[Shaneshu87]

my speed varies depending on the lanes i'm on i shoot 3 different leagues in the fall, one house is wood i throw 18phm, another house is synthetic i throw slower around 15-16, and then i bowl in another league that uses a PBA certified THS on synthetic and i throw even slower about 13-14. i'm more comfortable with the higher speed and i feel like i can project the ball better.

[fortheloveofbowling]

You don't have to have high ball speed, just look at pete weber or tom baker. The key always is matching tilt/revolutions/speed. Obviously easier said than done. I'm still working on that 40 years later.

[Aslan]

You don't have to have high ball speed, just look at pete weber or tom baker. The key always is matching tilt/revolutions/speed. Obviously easier said than done. I'm still working on that 40 years later.

<THIS>

Many bowlers don't understand that revs and speed not only work together but also oppose each other. So the more revs you have, the faster you're going to need it to go. The slower the balls speed, the less revs are necessary. ZDawg is a perfect example if you watch the Invitational footage. He has a nice amount of revs; but his ball speed is very low…so the ball tended to keep going left of the pocket. More speed (or loft) can get the ball (with the same rev rate) into the pocket.

[RobLV1]

It's interesting that the names of Pete Weber and Tom Baker came up in this discussion. Pete is unique in that the axis rotation that is generated by his release allows him to get the ball down the lane without a tremendous amount of speed. Tom Baker throws a full roller. In most cases, bowlers with decent rev rates need more speed in order to conserve energy to knock down pins. The most important thing is that the rev rate and speed are compatible. This is the problem with developing a higher rev rate when you can't also increase your speed.

[fortheloveofbowling]

You are exactly right axis tilt/speed/revolutions/ball surface management is the key. Easier said than done though on tougher conditions.

[jnv32185]

my ball speed is between 15-16mph

[Blacksox1]

Sixteen miles per hour plus

[Jaescrub]

I throw a 16lb at 18MPH I need more revs ha ha ha

[zdawg]

<THIS>
ZDawg is a perfect example if you watch the Invitational footage. He has a nice amount of revs; but his ball speed is very low…so the ball tended to keep going left of the pocket. More speed (or loft) can get the ball (with the same rev rate) into the pocket.

Aslan is exactly right here. Since that "tournament", I've inadvertently added even a little more rotation/revs to the ball....and while I'm not quite at Belmonte level I realized that I needed to add speed or forever watch the ball hook well past the headpin...Lately I've been able to speed up about 4 mph (from 12/13 to 16/17 on strike balls) and the adjustment has been tremendous in my scoring.

That said, this past Friday night the ball was moving fast and still overhooking due to excessively dry lanes - I was throwing my Ebonite Cyclone which is about as entry level/reactive resin ball as you can get, I'm think of adding a urethane ball to my collection/arsenal for nights like this as I'm not quite ready to loft the left gutter just yet :p