Questionin mphs avg speed and top speed 12lbs ball
Answer
Gary and Kelly Kulick/
Hi Skip, One answer is as fast as you are capable, which often depending on your physical abilities! Some bowlers like myself, suffer from arthritis. I have good days and bad days! The fastest I can throw it is about 15/17 mph (with control). Great bowlers will average between 14 and 22 mph overall depending on their ability to deliver consistently and get proper back end reaction from their bowling ball. This is not just the effort to hit the pins, but an effort to allow the ball to slow down enough to create reaction on the lanes, and carry a strike consistently through the pins.
Most who throw the ball very fast are untrained bowlers looking to just have fun! Nothing wrong with that at all! Do most league or competitive bowlers want to do that? No, not skilled bowlers. Any ball thrown accurately, very hard, has the "potential" to strike, even though it may not look too pretty. At the opposite end of the scale is a slower speed bowler who is able to make the ball skid somewhat, hook and roll into the pins, getting great carry, over and over consistently, is what true bowlers prefer!
While I was leaving Sunday's nationally televised match between Kelly Kulick and Chris Barnes, I was surprised to hear that Chris averaged about 20 mph, while Kelly, the 1st Female to win on the PBA Tour, 265 to 195, averaged a consistent 18 mph to win the championship.
When a player learns to "control" there speed with the help of a certified coach, great things begin to happen that gives you that consistency to be a champion Skip! Kelly often chooses to control the speed of her ball with her feet, through good timing.
She is a USBC Certified Coach as well as a successful Team Leader Coach of the Dick Ritger Program. Controlled "speed" of the ball is the cornerstone of a veteran bowler and understanding the "consistency" of your speed produced by your "swing" and your "feet" can make you a juggernaut on the lanes! Learning to control your speed is a gold nugget to success, as well as overall consistency to the pocket! Thanks for your question Skip!
-Gary
Las Vegas, NV
www.TrueBowlerAdjustments.com (It's a great book!)
