Super-Senior Slow Bowling Ball Speed

By: bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 1/15/16; Updated: 11/7/2021

Don’t worry about your super-senior slow bowling ball speed.

If you are a super-senior bowler over 70 years of age and are concerned your ball speed has gotten too slow and your average is dropping, there are a couple of things you can do to help maximize the skills you still possess.

First, if you know for certain your ball speed is very slow, the first thing to do before investing in any new bowling ball is to consult with a professional instructor, one who is experienced working with senior bowlers and understands the challenges we face with the aging process.

If after doing so your coach advises you that your technique will not allow you the luxury of increasing your ball speed noticeably, then don’t worry about it.

All you can do at that point is use a bowling ball which is at a weight easy for you to handle and one which will not hook unpredictably due to a lack of ball speed.

Plastic bowling balls are OK to use for any bowler of any skill level.

During the 1970’s no one had access to anything other than rubber and plastic bowling balls with low surface friction. Many of these senior bowlers during those years carried very respectable averages so why shy away from using something today which may help? Besides, many bowling balls today might be be “over-engineered” for slow ball speed players and not going to benefit you at all.

Your coach can certainly help you develop a consistent release technique which allows for a slight hook motion on the plastic ball and then you can rely on accuracy and your ability to play the lanes to your advantage (and making spares, right).

The ball speed numbers tossed around bowling circles are really not useful to most bowlers because they generally are not presented to you directly from a sophisticated CATS system (a computerized tracking system).

Most speed readouts you get are measured near the pins by canisters or electric devices used by the automatic scorer ball speed feature. In many cases, these devices are no longer calibrated as accurately as once when first installed.

Your speed is also dependent on how long it takes for your bowling ball to travel down the lane on oily lane surfaces or dry surfaces and based on how many boards on the lane your ball crosses away from the pocket before hooking to the pocket.

If you simply can no longer generate as much speed as you would like, work around it and first consult your pro shop personnel or a local bowling instructor to offer tips which directly relate to your game. Just because one bowler dropped ball weight a pound or so and enjoyed an improvement in average scores does not mean that is necessarily the course of action for you. Remember, most bowlers resist ever taking bowling instructions and favor doing things their own way. These bowlers may be missing opportunities to increase their bowling ball speed and accuracy and are usually found to take short cuts in an effort to improve. Are you one of these bowlers?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Most Popular Articles To Improve Your Game:

How Do I Make Bowling Adjustments With My Spot And Feet?

How Senior Bowlers Can Pick Up More Ball Speed

Focus On Your Bowling Follow Through