You're 6'2" and weigh nearly 180lbs... use a heavier ball!

[Evil Queen]

Some men just can't handle big balls. hahaha

To quote a song:

I've got big balls
They're such big balls
And they're dirty big balls
And he's got big balls
And she's got big balls
(But we've got the biggest balls of them all)

[Tuxian]

Ah, but there's a difference there, BlaqueKatt... you're using your own ball. So if it gets cracked (which I doubt you'll do, just using this as an example) you're the only one who will be out money for the ball.

On the other hand, this guy using a public ball, if it gets cracked, then not only is the alley out money to buy a new ball, but that's one less younger person who gets to play until that ball gets replaced. I'm sure that's what was on the manager's mind.

Besides, if the guy really could only use a public 6-lb ball, then he should have been prepared to prove why he needed it.

[MMATM]

I believe the issue wasn't so much that he was using a 6lb ball as that he was whipping it down the lane hard enough to have a risk of cracking it. Thus proving that he didn't in fact need a 6 pounder and also that he shouldn't be playing with a 6 pounder. If you want to whip a ball down the lane ungodly hard, play candlepin.

[kibbles]

Most likely trying to pull a fast one; but, could it be possible that he had a medical condition that stated he could only lift so many pounds?

[Blinky]

I believe the issue wasn't so much that he was using a 6lb ball as that he was whipping it down the lane hard enough to have a risk of cracking it. Thus proving that he didn't in fact need a 6 pounder and also that he shouldn't be playing with a 6 pounder. If you want to whip a ball down the lane ungodly hard, play candlepin.

Bingo.

Stop bringing your own emotions into this. If he was bowling "normally" I doubt the manager would have noticed.

[Andara Bledin]

It's actually fairly easy for someone to use a ball with small finger holes. Put your fingertips into the holes and just "palm" the rest of the ball. My brother used to do this after our league ended, sometimes. He wouldn't throw it incredibly hard, but he'd put some massive spin on it.

As for the possibility of his actually needing a 6 lb ball; if that were the case, the manager would have never noticed what ball type he was using. It was the fact that there was a danger of his damaging the ball due ot the manner in which he was throwing it that got management's attention in the first place.

Somehow, if you weren't capable of carrying a heavier ball, I'd think you also wouldn't be capable of whipping said ball down the lane hard enough to damage it. You kind of need ot take a look at the whole story before going off over one part of it.

^-.-^

[Lingering Grin]

Actually we would have taken it from him either way. We just would have been politer about it.

It's rather obviously what ball they're using, the 6lbs are either Neon Orange or Neon Yellow.

[roguesqd]

Oh yeah, definitely.

Especially if they're hitting the rake. If they hit it once, we just politely tell them to make sure they wait for it to come up... mistakes happen. I've hit it 2 or 3 times myself (not all at one time though)

If they do it again, we cut em off, unless there is an actual mechanical problem.

There was one guy that got banned from the alley because he BROKE the rake. He purposely threw a 16lb ball as hard as he could at it, and SNAPPED it in half. (These things are made out of a strong, but flexible, plastic). They gave him two choices:

1. Leave and never come back.

2. Pay for the rake. ($1500)

He left.

Personally I would have banned him and billed hime for that one

[karma_gypsy]

I don't think I've ever used a six pound ball (probably because they were always behind the counter - and I never knew about it). Even when I was a younger kid, I used 8lb or sometimes 10lb balls, because that's what was available. It's asshats like Mr. I-can-only-handle-a-6-lb-ball who force them to be placed behind the counter.

[Evil Queen]

When I first started bowling I would use a 6lb ball. When I got to the point I was finally throwing the ball correctly I went up to an 8lb ball. I rather like the 8lbs balls until I drop them on my foot. Ouchie!

[Ilpalazzo]

F: "I'm his physician and I say he HAS to use a 6lb ball".

I would have asked for proof of that and I'm pretty sure its illegal to doctor your own family.

[Broomjockey]

Maybe they should go 5 pin bowling. The ball weighs less than 3 lbs. there.

[Bramblerose]

I would have asked for proof of that and I'm pretty sure its illegal to doctor your own family.

No, it's just Not a Good Idea, possibly unethical.

My step grandfather-in-law was a dentist. He did the doctoring for his wife- wrote her script for blood pressure meds etc, so she was convinced she was fine and refused to go to any other dr (please, I know this is all wrong, but she was a difficult person). all was going "well" til a few years ago when she managed to compound fracture a leg. The hospital determined 1) her bone density was amazing- in a styrofoam sort of way and 2) her blood pressure was way out of control. I seem to think there were other complications, but they escape me just now.

My Grandmother was an excellent RN, except when her son my father or I were sick. Happily she knew this about herself and handed us over to her favorite dr. who could stay calm and do the right thing.

[bsaana]

I used to work at a small bowling center - a whopping 10 lanes where it was easy to see everything that went on. This particular place was on a US military base in Italy, so we mostly saw military members (and yes, even on base with a place that only serves them and their families they still wanted a military discount...). We kept the 6 and 7 pound balls behind the counter, they also were the neon orange and yellow. We often had kids and their parents forget to bring them back and if we got busy on the snack bar side of things we would often have adults pick those balls up and wing them down the lanes.

We put a very quick stop to it, but it was quite common, and it even happened with a couple of families. The kids would need a smaller ball and yet we would later see the adults throwing this light ball when it was their turn - also got stopped quickly.

And as for accidents occasionally happening like the rakes getting hit, well I use a 16 pounder which is the heaviest we had and I throw it at 20mph. When we moved to the new building the base built, I threw one that jumped out of the outside gutter on lane 1 and went down the walkway and slammed into a new door. The new manager also witnessed this, and didn't have any problems and said that is why they have the metal protectors on the doers. It cracked the door all the way up to the handle on small edge, scared the shit out of the mechanics too. I gave up bowling for that day too. I couldn't risk doing it again.

[ShinyGreenApple]

Bigger balls are better

What? I bowl with my nephew's youth group buddies, I hear it repeated several times over an afternoon. But these kids are 14-17 and most of them use the 14-16 lb balls; IIRC, my parents bought the nephew a 16 pounder for his last tournament, and he's not exactly a big kid. If he can chuck 'em, I'm sure the SC could. He was probably just too lazy to use a heavier one and Daddy SC will of course back him up.

Or perhaps Daddy SC is one of those people who is always 'self diagnosing' and decided the kid had a problem. The exact term for people like this escapes me at the moment. Unfortunately, my own Dad has a bit of a problem with this, always wanting to try the latest remedy he's heard on the radio, or trying to diagnose himself with ADD.