Drag trailing leg behind or keep it in the air?

[BowlingRay]

I've been experimenting with dragging my trailing leg with my toes touching the floor behind my sliding foot and with keeping it about a foot in the air. So far I'm not sure which is best for me to use, but I've seen a lot of bowlers keeping their trailing foot in the air and I've seen the pro bowlers on TV keeping their trailing foot in the air as well. I do feel like I get a more free arm swing with my foot in the air, but my friends said they've noticed I get good shots with keeping my foot trailing on the ground.

Which way is the best to use and does it make a difference at all?

[bluerrpilot]

Do whatever you want that maintains your balance

[bubbiesdad]

Go during open bowling sometime and roll a couple games each way. See if one way scores better than the other. If both ways are close on score, go with the one that is more comfortable.

[Rowdy]

Ray,it does make a big difference. It's a great idea to learn to bowl both ways. Toe down on the lane helps when you're on a "fast" approach,or one that is slick. Keeps you from sliding too far. Some power players use it to keep from sliding and get more of a "plant" at the line for leverage. A lot of women bowlers lay the whole side of their foot down,guess it's to get all the way down to the lane with the ball. If balance is an issue,it would depend on which way you're looing your balance to determine if it would help. For a rightie,falling left it would help. Falling to the right,no. Turning your slide foot to the right a little will fix the problem of falling off the shot to the right. I agree with bubbiesdad,but roll a series each way to figure out which way you like best. One game each way isn't enough frames for good feedback.

[trumanorme]

In my opinion, if you are thinking about your trailing foot, then your mind and attention won't be on hitting your marks. It really doesn't matter if your foot is in the air, or dragging, as long as you do it the same way everytime! And as long as you aren't racing to the line, balance should not be an issue, either. If you tend to fall to one side, then you need to slow down.

The best advice is to do the same thing everytime (repeat the shot), and take most of the thinking out of the game. That way you only need to concentrate on your marks.

[Stampy79]

I disagree. Your body is a lever when you bowl. Your foot position does matter. You will notice better balance if you keep it low and you will also hit the ball harder when you keep it low. I am not sure who you guys see on tour that has there foot up except WRW, and if you notice, his knee is always pointing straight down . I am in the process of looking for a video about this and I will find it. Keeping it low helps you from leaning forward at the line which is one of the biggest flaws in amatuer games.

[Sparehater]

Stampy, im pretty sure robert smith has his in the air?

[Stampy79]

Ok, How many guys are on tour and maybe 2 have their foot up !!!:rolleyes:

[Sparehater]

Ok, How many guys are on tour and maybe 2 have their foot up !!!:rolleyes: Hey i was just letting u know there was another person on tour with a raised foot.

[trumanorme]

If you go watch any scratch (or really good bowlers), you will see some with their trail foot in the air and some that won't. Most people keep it low because it is easier. Especially as we age and put on weight. The main thing is to always do it the same way. Be consistant and persistent.

[dw800seeker]

Up or down I think it is important that trail leg rotates behind the body.

When I gumby my trail leg in the air without rotating around toward the foul line I do not believe I have finished my shot and I get weak results.

[Rowdy]

Had to go back and re-read my Jowdy. Stampy,DW you called it. Foot down for balance and to get down to roll the ball INTO the lane. Otherwise you get all kinds of head lane issues or pull up on the shot,resulting in a weak release or a pulled shot. Final Answer:Foot DOWN for more leverage,revs and a controlled,consistent shot.

[BowlingRay]

Thanks everyone...I'm going bowling tonight and I'll try out what you said.

[BowlingRay]

I did better last night doing what I read in the forums here. My foot did go up quite a lot still as I had gotten used to keeping it up, but I'm learning to keep it down.

[Rowdy]

Scores,Ray. We want scores!

[dqnjuan]

been playing with my approach and release since Im still trying to find what works...left my foot in the air for most of practice today instead of sliding and bowled the worst series since I started...def down!

[BowlingRay]

Sorry for the late reply back!

After practicing I definitely do better with my foot down. My scores while having my foot down have been better than when I had my foot in the air.

Here are my scores while keeping my foot down for a couple games:

Game 1) 148

Game 2) 146

Game 3) 117

Game 4) 179

----------------------

Game 1) 132

Game 2) 151

Game 3) 128

Game 4) 181

Now a couple games while keeping my foot up:

Game 1) 104

Game 2) 117

Game 3) 129

Game 4) 112

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Game 1) 103

Game 2) 113

Game 3) 126

Game 4) 93

As you can see I did horrible while keeping my foot in the air! I'm definitely keeping my foot down for now on!

[Rowdy]

And all because you changed the axis tilt of the ball by keeping your foot down. Sorry I didn't tell you that before,but I figured that would be too much information. But now you know.