WELCOME Coaching / Help Forum

[Graham]

Hi everyone

This is a new thing .. and something that I personally would like to see a lot of in the future.

Questions about how to improve different aspects of your game, whether it be physical or mental. Also feel free to ask on drillings for bowling balls.

There is a wealth of information here on this forum available for everyone As well as some of the best bowlers in the country, we also have some of the Australian Coaches, who have kindly agreed to answer some questions here.

I don't care who posts here or offers advice, but PLEASE one thing I ask is if you disagree with something that is said, provide evidence to back up your claim. Also please don't take it personal if someone disagrees with you - it is human nature - someone may have a better way. And if they provide evidence to back up their claim, well then cop it and move on. Otherwise we will just have nothing but people disagreeing and arguing and not getting on with helping people - and the support and resources we have here (which are tremendous)will disappear - SOMETHING I DO NOT WANT TO SEE HAPPEN.

So please support this .. it's up to you

 

[Sinful Sinister]

l do not think this will work but if it does l'll be happy.
l'm a 19 year old male who has been bowling for just over 7 years. l have have my share of problems and have always come out of it until now. Now l am stuck...
At the moment l have coming over the ball and giving the ball a "helicopter" spin rather then the normal semi roller spin. l have tried everytihng to get out of this habit but l can not do it, if you could assist with any help l would be more then apreciated. i am still scoring very well. its just l do not like how l'm releasing the ball at the moment. Spare shooting l am fine cause l bowl straight at the pin. But my strike ball l'm having all sorts of problem so if you could help me with some hints l would be grateful.
Thank you
Brad Histon.

 

[RobbieB]

Brad,
If you mean you are 'cuffing' the ball, ie coming over the top at release and following through to the left, you may be getting the ball too far inside your shoulder in the backswing. This is strongly affected by where you hlod the ball in your stance, ie left or right of the shoulder.
If you are coming straight through the ball at the release point and actually spinning it off the hand, you may want to look at a grip change to keep your hand more behind the ball - wider bridge, less thumb pitch, etc.
How do you set up in your stance, and is your follow through square to the shoulders?

Rob.

 

[Sinful Sinister]

Rob,
How do l set up in my stance.. well l hold the ball down in front of me with my arm straight (thus left of my right shoulder) and my left hand supporting the weight of the ball. My hand position is at 10 O'Clock or inside my body when l swing it past my body. l also have been told by my coach the l turn my hand to the outside of my body when l do my backswing (which prob is a reason why l'm coming over the ball).
l will tell you that l have always had a problem getting my thumb out early and at the moment one of my bowling balls is "teardropped" to get it out faster which has worked but has not improved my current situation.

Another thing for my "shot" to work l must keep my steps slow as l can cause l can't balance at the line for long unless its perfect (l have mild cerebal palsy) but this does not affect anything.
Maybe what l should try is not putting revs on the ball and just let it off the front of my hand and lift the fingers... would that help?
hope this has helped but probz not.
Hear from you soon.

Brad Histon.

 

[wchester]

Sinister..

Yours is a common problem and here is how I help to overcome it. Next time you go bowling try leading with your ring finger pointed towards your intended target upon releasing the ball. This serves two purposes. Firstly it will enable you to keep your elbow tucked in close to your body, thus keeping your swing in a starigher arc. Secondly, it will keep you from depending on your middle finger for "turn" and get your thumb out of the ball quicker. I hope this helps.
Give it a try and let me know how you go.
Wayne

 

[RobbieB]

Brad,
If you are having trouble clearing the thumb, you have a ball fit problem regardless of any other swing/release problems. If you are on good terms with your ball driller, pick up a couple of cheap balls at cash converters or another second hand shop, and try tweaking the fit - different spans, pitches, etc. Its cheaper to put four sets of test holes in a five dollar ball and then throw it away than to keep plugging and redrilling.
Holding the ball too far left can cause a swing to go behind your back, which is a classic cause of a cuffed shot as you instinctively try to realign the ball on the downswing. It may be, though that you are simply trying to hit the ball too hard. Revs come from timing and leverage first, and strength second, and in trying to hit it too hard you may be turning the ball too early.
At least you have a coach - that's a good start. Hire a video camera - it helps a lot to see yourself bowl from different angles.
Good luck, Rob.

 

[Brenton Davy]

Brad,

This is gonna sound kinda goofy, but trust me, if all else fails THIS WORKS.

If you can't get out of throwing the helicopter shot, then you need to attempt the opposite mistake, ie, try to throw a backup ball. The reasoning behind this is as follows:

Your current release has been occurring for sometime. As a result, your "feel" of the shot is that you are behind the ball, when obviously you are not. If you can't "feel" the mistake you are making, then it is impossible to correct it. By attempting to create the "feel" of the opposite mistake (the back up feel) your conscious and sub concious minds enter conflict. The conscious mind is trying to throw the back up ball while the sub conscious mind is screaming out "this is wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!". As a result instead of the intended back up release, the two portions of your mind cancel each other out and you end up with (9 times out of 10) a mid point, in this case an upright rolling semi roller. The only difficulty with this concept is convincing yourself to throw your normal target. However if you do this, the cahnces are something like 90% that you will end up throwing a strong rolling semi roller.

I have tried this concept on more bowlers than I care to remember, and there has only been a few times it has failed.

I said it sounds kinda goofy (even just plain nuts!!) but for the majority of chronic technique errors IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!

Best of luck

 

[Sinful Sinister]

Thank you Wayne, Rob and Brenton l will try all the advive you've given me
And you never know Brenton your trick just may work in my Case,

Catch ya soon.

Brad.

 

[Sinful Sinister]

l can't believe l'm going to say this but Brenton your trick worked, going to trow the backup shot and what happens l come out with a nice semi roller. l don't know how you came up with this idea but it did the trick so l thank you for it.
Rob and Wayne l thank you to my aiming is better thanks to some tips.

anyway l've sed enough so take it easy.

Brad