Made a Video, need some advice

[thegoldenchild]

Got a new digital camera and took it to the lanes and recorded some throws. I didn't realize I bent over so much during my delivery. Is it something I should be working on? Will it help my random lack of balance at the foul line? Any other advice/criticism would be appreciated.

webpages.charter.net/mjgolden/Bowling.wmv

[idlehourlegend]

I think you need to slow your approach down and take your time on the approach, the fast approach could be throwing you off balance at the line and making you fall off your shot to the right which in turn causes your shoulder to drop and causes you to pull the shot. Also I notice that it seems that your rushing the shot at the line and not following through, trying moving back on the approach and this should stop you from rushing the shot and should help you with following thru.

[Thepainscoming]

Hey idle, usually when i drop my shoulder badly, i shoot it right, am i just wierd when i do that?

[JaraTo]

A Wee bit.

[idlehourlegend]

Hey idle, usually when i drop my shoulder badly, i shoot it right, am i just wierd when i do that?

I dont know I would have to see it, with him it seems like he drops it and trys to recover from dropping it which causes him to pull it, I do the same thing when I drop my shoulder bad I try to recover and I tug it. It could have a different effect on different people I guess.

[Thepainscoming]

I dont know I would have to see it, with him it seems like he drops it and trys to recover from dropping it which causes him to pull it, I do the same thing when I drop my shoulder bad I try to recover and I tug it. It could have a different effect on different people I guess.
O ok. jw if i was wierd, but i probably am anyway

[thegoldenchild]

I'll start with slowing down and see where that takes me.

[idlehourlegend]

I'll start with slowing down and see where that takes me.

o.k., if you need help slowing down and dont want to change your approach at all, as your going up count your steps, it will keep you slow.

[thegoldenchild]

Being bent over so far looks really weird to me. I think fixing that may require some lessons with a coach. But cyber-coaches are almost as good.

[j to the p]

first thing i noticed in no follow through... that may help and then also the bending over is weird looking just try to keep more straight up and bend your knees instead of your back

[JoshWithrow]

Personally, your "bend/slouch" isn't so uncommon. If it is comfortable and works then it's fine, but only you can be the judge of that. Don't change it just because Jones doesn't do it... change it because it helps your game.

But the thing I REALLY noticed was that you have NO follow thru whatsoever. You're trying to hard to make the ball hook and are "flicking" your wrist, but in doing so you're actually hurting your balls reaction.

My advice: Get a good, solid follow thru (don't worry about how much the ball is spinning or hooking) and work on your balance.

[JaraTo]

Follow through position is fine depending on the coach. You're directing it towards the pins outward and not up. Like I said, it depends on your coaching but last I checked pins were not on the ceiling so there's no need to follow through all the way up there.

[thegoldenchild]

Thanks for the advice, keep it coming. I never really focus on what my wrist does. I really have no conscious thought about what my wrist/hand is doing during the release. My normal focus is relaxing my grip then the rest just happens.

[TenPinSniper]

To me it looks like your head is move around quite a bit. Try and keep it over your ball and more stable.

Your wrist starts cupped but flops to a weaker position? Is that by design?

That and you get low way to fast and raise up at the end which is cause you tug shots and kill reaction.

Let the ball do it thing. If you have good knees try to keep them bent through the follow through and until the ball passes the arrows. (Depending on the condition of your knees.) Bending the knee will help with balance at the line too.

Does your ball ever hit the approach on the down swing?

Thanks for posting the Video.

[thegoldenchild]

I've hit the approach twice on the downswing but not for a long time.

[JoshWithrow]

Follow through position is fine depending on the coach. You're directing it towards the pins outward and not up. Like I said, it depends on your coaching but last I checked pins were not on the ceiling so there's no need to follow through all the way up there.

I beg to differ. Your follow through in bowling is comparable to your follow through in golf. The quality of your follow through directly effects the hitting power of your ball for multiple reasons. One, if you end your follow through low (as does the original poster), you're not putting all the power you can into your delivery. Just like golf. If you stopped your swing after the southern most point of your downswing you wouldn't get the appropriate amount of power transferred to your ball. It's the same thing. And I'm not saying he needs to reach way up into the air, but his delivery stops around or below his waist, and at the end it even has a recoil back down towards his ankles. It's not unrealistic to suggest a follow through that would end with his thumb pointing at the ceiling and coming to the side of his face.

It effects speed, accuracy, pin carry, AND it has been proven to effect the gyroscopic forces on the ball (generated from the core).

/me goes off to find this article where he read this stuff...

[JaraTo]

Don't beg, dogs beg. Check out a vid of Brian Voss for instance. The philosophy is to cut down on any erratic reactions. Your feeding the ball into the lane to get a better read as opposed to lofting or throwing the ball. Beg all you want, woof woof, but like I said it's all a matter of coaching.

[JoshWithrow]

Check out a vid of Brian Voss for instance.

Im not following you... Voss has a fine follow through.

The philosophy is to cut down on any erratic reactions. Your feeding the ball into the lane to get a better read as opposed to lofting or throwing the ball.

Exactly... and the OP has alot of that going on. So I'm still not following... ???

[JaraTo]

It's different than golf, you're not losing any power. I gathered from the original response that releasing the ball in a upward manner supposedly maximizes power. Before I go any further, did I incorrectly assume the premise of your original response?

[JoshWithrow]

It's different than golf, you're not losing any power. I gathered from the original response that releasing the ball in a upward manner supposedly maximizes power. Before I go any further, did I incorrectly assume the premise of your original response?

A bowler with an inadequate follow through is losing power. It's been stated many times over by many different people and with many many examples. It effects accuracy, power, pin carry, and consistency. The two bolded words are related.

My response was that the OP asked for criticism that could improve his game. I said that he needs to work on his follow through and his balance at the line. That's it. Nothing tricky or complicated. On none of his examples did he hit the same mark, never once did he fully repeat any element of his swing outside of his back swing, and never once did he end his approach exactly the same at the line.

An follow through and balance will help his game.

[JaraTo]

Yea both of us on different pages.

[slap]

Are you're referring to the low, long, and fluid follow through method taught by Jowdy? If so the OP, is not fully executing this technique. The direction of his follow through is correct, it's low and towards the pins. However he is not finishing the motion. The abrupt stoppage of the follow through is a sign of muscle in the armswing. A free armswing is like a pendulum, swinging from the shoulder.

[JoshWithrow]

Yea both of us on different pages.

Well... now I'm REALLY confused LOL XD

[slap]

To the OP.

My first suggestion (and a tough one) is to concentrate on your first step. Ideally, in a four step delivery you want ball and foot to move simultaneously. If you watch your video in slow motion, you will notice that you take a full step before starting your pushaway. Otherwise your pushaway is excellent. Great direction, straight towards the target. That's hard to teach

My second suggestion is bend a little more with your knees and a little less with your waist. Your release point is close to the surface of the lane. That's good. However a deeper knee bend will put your body in a more stable finishing position and improve your balance at the line. Bending your knees more in your setup is a good place to start.

[JaraTo]

Are you're referring to the low, long, and fluid follow through method taught by Jowdy? If so the OP, is not fully executing this technique. The direction of his follow through is correct, it's low and towards the pins. However he is not finishing the motion. The abrupt stoppage of the follow through is a sign of muscle in the armswing. A free armswing is like a pendulum, swinging from the shoulder.


That's what I was getting at... not perfect but a good start.

[thegoldenchild]

This is all good advice. I appreciate it. I'll try to get some practice time in this week. I didn't want to start changing things tonight at leagues.

[Steve1591]

Maybe its just me, but it looks like your thumb and your fingers are coming out of the ball at almost the same time...for the most part, you want to get your thumb out of the ball first, and let your fingers do the lifting..

But as i said, could just be me not seeing it correctly :p

[TenPinSniper]

Follow through is just as important in Bowling as Golf.

BV follow through is there, it's just not very fluid, very mechanicial or forced. (By fluid I mean it does not look free and loose.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ_0b5g6klo

[can-ham]

gold Your video is pretty good. There is a lot of great advice here as well. I find it easier to focus on one or two things at a time. I think your dropped shoulder if fine, in fact Mo encourages it: http://www.morichbowling.com/MosCorner/February2004/February2004.htm.

http://www.morichbowling.com/MosCorner/February2004/February2004_4.gif


If I where you I would start with your follow through. I used to do the elbow hing as well. Just try to answer the phone after you throw...

[Rowdy]

gold Your video is pretty good. There is a lot of great advice here as well. I find it easier to focus on one or two things at a time. I think your dropped shoulder if fine, in fact Mo encourages it: http://www.morichbowling.com/MosCorner/February2004/February2004.htm.

http://www.morichbowling.com/MosCorner/February2004/February2004_4.gif


If I where you I would start with your follow through. I used to do the elbow hing as well. Just try to answer the phone after you throw...

Now THAT is a great visual image. I'm "borrowing" that one.:)