Grumpy gills
Just misunderstood!!!
Hi Den
Great site. Thanks for the extra education.
Cheers
Great site. Thanks for the extra education.
Cheers
jason_doust
The Bowling Geek
G'Day,
I'm a cranker. About 450rpm according to Alan Chen of Brunswick. "Old School" as Samael puts it, although working on my release to accommodate new technology.
Bowl however you want, as long as it brings you joy. Being a cranker makes it tougher some days and easier others. Getting a coach to supervise you is excellent advice. Ed Kee, Stuart Erwin, Eric Jang and others (I grew up in Sydney) taught me so many things that not only made me a better player, but probably saved my back, arm and other joints a lot of pain. Cranking the ball is hard yakka! It's only after months or years of slog that it gets easy, because you've built the muscle mass to accommodate this unnatural act. (Like pace bowling in cricket.)
If you want to be a cranker, then do it. But seek good help. Show your coach a video of someone you'd like to bowl like, so they know where you're headed and you can both work toward that goal. Carefully analyse what that person does with their forearm & wrist, then see where their feet and balance arm are while this is happening. It's like ballet. Everything affects everything else and it's a beautiful thing when it all comes together.
Don't settle for less, but know when to back off for your game and your health. All the good performances I've had came from using about 80% of my capacity. Don't twist it up for the sake of it.
BUT if you are going to crank the ball, watch for when you are in growth spurts. (You mentioned you're in school. So was I when I got serious about bowling.) During these periods, you can hurt your back trying to do too much if not properly supervised. (The joys of having a doctor as a coach!) At this age also, your timing gets screwed up as you get taller and your arms & legs get longer, so expect to have to tune things up from time to time.
You will also need a good ball driller. One who understands how to fit and lay out equipment for high revs. You don't need bleeding hands and blisters and all the crap I went through as a young fella.
Good luck to you! Be what you can be, but most af all enjoy it!
Cheers,
Jason
I'm a cranker. About 450rpm according to Alan Chen of Brunswick. "Old School" as Samael puts it, although working on my release to accommodate new technology.
Bowl however you want, as long as it brings you joy. Being a cranker makes it tougher some days and easier others. Getting a coach to supervise you is excellent advice. Ed Kee, Stuart Erwin, Eric Jang and others (I grew up in Sydney) taught me so many things that not only made me a better player, but probably saved my back, arm and other joints a lot of pain. Cranking the ball is hard yakka! It's only after months or years of slog that it gets easy, because you've built the muscle mass to accommodate this unnatural act. (Like pace bowling in cricket.)
If you want to be a cranker, then do it. But seek good help. Show your coach a video of someone you'd like to bowl like, so they know where you're headed and you can both work toward that goal. Carefully analyse what that person does with their forearm & wrist, then see where their feet and balance arm are while this is happening. It's like ballet. Everything affects everything else and it's a beautiful thing when it all comes together.
Don't settle for less, but know when to back off for your game and your health. All the good performances I've had came from using about 80% of my capacity. Don't twist it up for the sake of it.
BUT if you are going to crank the ball, watch for when you are in growth spurts. (You mentioned you're in school. So was I when I got serious about bowling.) During these periods, you can hurt your back trying to do too much if not properly supervised. (The joys of having a doctor as a coach!) At this age also, your timing gets screwed up as you get taller and your arms & legs get longer, so expect to have to tune things up from time to time.
You will also need a good ball driller. One who understands how to fit and lay out equipment for high revs. You don't need bleeding hands and blisters and all the crap I went through as a young fella.
Good luck to you! Be what you can be, but most af all enjoy it!
Cheers,
Jason
MinusZero
>LOAD "Something",8,1
I bowl a very normal delivery and my teammate is a cranker.
One thing i have observed in the few weeks we have bowled together is that accuracy is the main difference. If i am a couple of boards wide it doesnt matter and i will still get the edge of the headpin, as where my team mate ends up in the gutter. When it comes to sparing the corner pins, that is also a problem.
There are a couple of crankers in my league and yes their strikes are impressive when they get them, but their frequency of strikes is much lower than mine. It rare for me to have any less than 8 on the first ball as where my team mate varies from gutter, 3, 5+ etc.
I would rather have impressive game scores than impressive strikes. Bowling a normal delivery is a better option than wanting to crank the ball just because it looks good in my opinion. <-- my two cents worth
One thing i have observed in the few weeks we have bowled together is that accuracy is the main difference. If i am a couple of boards wide it doesnt matter and i will still get the edge of the headpin, as where my team mate ends up in the gutter. When it comes to sparing the corner pins, that is also a problem.
There are a couple of crankers in my league and yes their strikes are impressive when they get them, but their frequency of strikes is much lower than mine. It rare for me to have any less than 8 on the first ball as where my team mate varies from gutter, 3, 5+ etc.
I would rather have impressive game scores than impressive strikes. Bowling a normal delivery is a better option than wanting to crank the ball just because it looks good in my opinion. <-- my two cents worth
jason_doust
The Bowling Geek
A valid point, but what if you think plonking the ball down 10 board isn't terribly exciting? People should bowl because they enjoy it. If this young man wants to do his own thing, he should. It's not like he's hurting anyone.
What if Jason Belmonte had listened to "good advice" and aimed for less? What if I had? I bet I wouldn't have an SPC or as many 300's under my belt.
I also suspect that your house may not be conducive to hooking it up, or your crankers may simply not be very good. It's harder to learn, but so is anything that is technically more difficult. It comes back to what I said about developing strength. It should be obvious that you need muscles to do this and when you're younger, you don't have them. So, of course it's tricky. If you aim for the stars, you may hit the trees, but if you aim for the trees, you may hit the ground.
btw, Drilled up my first bowling balls since 1993 last night. Shot 974/4. I still like cranking the ball. Even if I did have to fluff it to get through the holiday shot!
What if Jason Belmonte had listened to "good advice" and aimed for less? What if I had? I bet I wouldn't have an SPC or as many 300's under my belt.
I also suspect that your house may not be conducive to hooking it up, or your crankers may simply not be very good. It's harder to learn, but so is anything that is technically more difficult. It comes back to what I said about developing strength. It should be obvious that you need muscles to do this and when you're younger, you don't have them. So, of course it's tricky. If you aim for the stars, you may hit the trees, but if you aim for the trees, you may hit the ground.
btw, Drilled up my first bowling balls since 1993 last night. Shot 974/4. I still like cranking the ball. Even if I did have to fluff it to get through the holiday shot!
AdrianS
This is the future!!!
OK, wanting power is all well and good but it takes time to do it well. Hope you're planning to practice alot. Another thing power and hook don't always go hand in hand, you mightn't wind up swinging the ball from inside 30 board to 5 and back but as long as you're getting out of it clean and hitting the pocket(and striking!!) swinging it from 20 board out to 10 and back or even straight up 5 is fine Hopefully your coach will teach you about what ball reaction is actually about, the amount of boards you're covering is only a small part of it.
S
SwitchAxe
Earlier in my post I had meantioned I actually found out I was a tweener...and with my new ball I am getting tomorrow (Trifecta) it is gonna be awsome. I also now have a cranker on my team and he is inconsistent...and I don't like that so I will stay at a tweener. Thanks for your guys advice.
hi
many crankers develop injury problems and sometimes an inconsistent, or uncontrollable shot. there is nothing worse than watching a ball go down 2 to 3 board and then hooking across the lane to about 25 to 30 board looks awesome, but is really not a good scoring shot.
maybe you should think about going to an accredited coach and learning how to develop revolutions, and other techniques to become a better bowler.
just my thoughts
aj
many crankers develop injury problems and sometimes an inconsistent, or uncontrollable shot. there is nothing worse than watching a ball go down 2 to 3 board and then hooking across the lane to about 25 to 30 board looks awesome, but is really not a good scoring shot.
maybe you should think about going to an accredited coach and learning how to develop revolutions, and other techniques to become a better bowler.
just my thoughts
aj
jason_doust
The Bowling Geek
Why do so many people think that cranking the ball means you have to cover a squillion boards? Crankers do well from some pretty tight lines when there's oil around. Covering extra lane takes energy away from the ball. (Friction slows things down. Ball rotation must be spent as friction to get motion across the lane.) On that note, drill your Trifecta fairly tame and longish if you're going to give it some juice. Don't understimate that coverstock.
Guys that cover too many boards (and it's always guys, right boys?) are either showing off, inexperienced, or possibly both. I was young (and silly-ask anyone!) once too y'know... Besides, it's good fun being young and strong. ;-)
Good Luck to you!
Guys that cover too many boards (and it's always guys, right boys?) are either showing off, inexperienced, or possibly both. I was young (and silly-ask anyone!) once too y'know... Besides, it's good fun being young and strong. ;-)
Good Luck to you!
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