Using a bowling ball speed chart means learning more about your speed control. If you are interested in learning more about your delivery style, use the bowling ball speed chart below and find information about your averages and speeds.
How to Control Bowling Ball Speed?
Bowling balls have different speed ratings based on their size and weight. Understanding your ball speed is essential in the game of bowling. A slower delivery can be used for more control. Still, very fast deliveries offer more opportunities for strike-out shots due to the dynamics of the release at impact versus how much energy is left in your hand after you release the ball.
If you want to learn more about your ball speed and can’t find anyone willing or capable of teaching you, your best bet is to look up bowling ball drivetrain calculators online.
The recent Ball Motion Study conducted by the U.S.B.C. has given everyone a better understanding of how to strike the ball consistently – whether playing in a competition or just getting together with friends. The study reviewed ball reactions and their results, distinguishing exactly what causes the ball to react a certain way each time. Rolling more carpet burn with your next strike is easy when you follow what was learned from this study!
We’ve included guidelines based on the United States Bowling Congress’ Ball Motion Study so that you can ensure the ball motion goes where it should.
When it comes to bowling, following the guidelines provided by the federation and studying the latest scientific studies regarding optimum ball speed will help you determine if you need to alter your normal ball speed range for the best results.
The data gathered from several field studies show that an effective bowling ball speed, which means a ball calculated to score the most strikes and spares, is between 16 and 17 miles per hour (mph) upon approaching the pins and about 20-21 mph when it is released on to the lane. About 18 mph should be the average ball speed for the highest scores, plus or minus one mile per hour tolerance.
The information collected from field research revealed that an effective bowling ball speed chart for hitting pins is about 16-17 miles per hour (mph) at the point of impact, 19.5 mph when released onto the lane, and an average of 18.5 mph overall speed.
Typically, a bowling ball takes about 2.5 seconds elapsed time, plus or minus 0.15 seconds, to travel from its topmost point of the lane to when it hits the pins at an instantaneous velocity of 16.7 mph is a recommended time by U.S.B.C. and also by ball manufacturers. This is very near 18 mph average velocity.
Typically, it takes a bowling ball 2.5 seconds to reach the pins and then hit them, sending them all over the place. For every pin knocked over, you’re awarded one point which is always a good thing because this keeps score in terms of who’s winning and who’s losing. Two-point five seconds is pretty fast and is easily attainable when following these three simple steps:
- Bowling ball lanes are oily
- Bowling balls have cover stocks whose surface textures affect their hook potential.
- The amount a bowling ball hooks as it travels down the lane varies with different oil conditions.
Using a stopwatch, deliver a series of shots down the practice lane while your friend clicks at the moment you release the ball from your hand and again at the moment of impact when your ball hits the headpin. Stopwatches are one way to track time. Using a stopwatch is an efficient way to determine how long your ball takes to travel down the lane and strike the pins.
Use the help of a friend, and take turns bowling down a lane with your equipment. Instead of using a stopwatch to record the time to impact or total time elapsed for each turn, have your friend use their phone as a recording device and click “Record” on the video recorder app at precisely when you release the ball from your hand (taking care not to hit any pins) and then click “Stop” on the video recorder app at when the ball impacts with the pins.
This elapsed time information can be calculated into an instantaneous speed at impact with the pocket for you to know how closely your speed matches up to the U.S.B.C. (United States Bowling Congress) field studies and manufacturing recommendations for the best ball speed to provide you with optimum performance, driving power, and pin carry.
This speed tracker can provide you with ball measurement results, the elapsed time it takes to go from the moment, it’s been scrolled to your hand and then released back into the ball return until all 10 pins have been retrieved from a bowl. This way, you will know roughly how close your throw speeds match up to previous U.S.B.C. field studies and what the average manufacturers recommend for ideal throw speeds that will give you optimum performance on different lane conditions and allow for greater pin carry along with consistency.
Stopwatches are not perfect measurement methods, but one can achieve inflexible consistency with a little practice. Of course, the use of a stopwatch is not an exact science, but it isn’t too hard to get a feel for how they work either. With persistence, it is surprising how one can accurately read elapsed time using a stopwatch with practice!
Here is a bowling ball speed chart showing an example of how you could convert your own measured elapsed time (in minutes and seconds) into ball-speed measurements for each roll (click to enlarge):
The ideal speed of a bowling ball is approximately 12 to 16.5 miles per hour, as determined by these studies. However, you should stick with a ball speed that falls within the range of 11.3 to 15 if you want your ball to produce heavy strikes regularly when doing take-out shots or getting in line behind someone who has already bowled.
As we can see from the chart, depending on the reading you will have a good idea of how close your ball speed is to what’s recommended. If your reading is in the middle of the chart, you should be in great shape with your average ball speed and should strive to keep that lag time when you are bowling competitively.
If your speed is slower or faster than the mid-range of the bar graph, you may want to consider adjusting your technique to adjust your delivery speed.
Bowling balls are first measured and weighed before they go to the Professional Bowlers Association (P.B.A.) for certification. When manufacturers apply for membership in this association, bowlers test the new ball designs using their certified C.A.T.S. tracking system computer that uses complex mathematical formulas to determine the ideal speed of a bowling ball from 1-15 pounds per square inch of compression ranging from plastic ball weights between 4-16 pounds to steel ball weight between 15 – 16 lbs.
To help you measure your bowling ball speed chart, we recommend using a good old-fashioned stopwatch while referencing the speed chart below. Many professional bowlers use the C.A.T.S.- Computer Aided Tracking System to predict ball reaction on any lane conditions and oil pattern because it’s far faster than a stopwatch. However, nearly all sports have their version of this technology to track performance more precisely with less variability and consequently allow athletes even better preparation for games or competitions relative to weather conditions, for example. For more information about these systems, visit Bowling Basics. Learn how!
Because you don’t have a speed measuring device like the bowler’s special testing ball, you must substitute it with a stopwatch that can time your ball speeds accurately. You can fudge the numbers a little if he throws somewhere between 13 and 13.5 seconds,, but anything less than 12.8 and more than 13.7 will be considered out of bounds unless they are the ‘out’ zones reserved for professionals only!
Bowling may seem like a simple sport when you go to the lanes with a few friends, and it is. You get the ball, throw it, and the pins fall. However, there are many strategies that go into properly executing a bowling game. You want to throw the ball as hard as possible but not too hard, so it lands close to the gutter so you can knock down the pins more easily. The speed of your ball at impact is important, as well as the angle at which it lands. It’s important to have enough control to avoid picking up too many pins, but you also need enough power to knock down them.
One of the most common myths about bowling that many don’t know is the scores. You may think your scores are high because you used the automatic score devices that most bowling centres offer on their lanes, but often those numbers aren’t quite accurate enough. The reason behind this is quite straightforward: the information provided by these scorers can sometimes be incorrect as they are not always calibrated correctly, nor do they measure speed in every lane at all times.
You can certainly use the automatic scoring devices at your local bowling centre to keep track of your scores. However, there are disadvantages to using these services. In addition to the likelihood of inaccuracy, some centres may not always use the best method for measuring speed.
This is one of the many reasons why a stopwatch system, such as stopwatches and the Ball Speed Chart, can help you get an accurate speed, even if your main goal isn’t running. If you decide to start running more, knowing your speed in yards per second and meters per hour will be very useful. But in any case, these two methods will lead you to find something very close to your current true speed measurement.
Because of this, you can use either the stopwatch system or the Ball Speed Chart to measure speed with your dominant hand and thereby determine if you are giving off a fairly accurate reflection of how fast you can release backhands. By making adjustments accordingly, you would be able to figure if you’re currently taking too long on them (in which case you might want to move up in distance), or there’s a chance that you could benefit from some additional backhand repetitions because it seems like they aren’t getting any faster even though your goal is to get quicker with them.
Achieving high scores while bowling is based partly on understanding how to measure elapsed time. One method of determining the amount of time it takes to bowl a game involves using a stopwatch, an application that monitors and records each frame. Consider how all the various factors at play may affect each frame: oil balance and distribution, ball weight, the surface texture of the bowling ball, and more. Without considering all of these variables, your attempts at measuring elapsed time may result in inaccurate readouts.
Mastering the lane friction of the bowling ball is one of the major factors in influencing your scoring and maintaining a consistent form. It’s also something that you have to adjust as your game grows constantly, and you learn more about how you should adjust your focus depending on which sport selectors are.
While ball speed has a lot to do with your bowling technique, other factors may decrease or increase your ball speed – so don’t forget to talk to a certified bowling professional who can help you understand why your ball is moving the way it is and what you can do differently.
If you are a bowler, we highly recommend asking a professional in your area to watch you bowl. They will be able to help address ball speed and other bowling techniques that have room for improvement. Consult with your expert as needed to see if there’s something they can do!
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