Had a lesson today...!

[BowlingRay]

I had my lesson today...5 games worth. He said I was like a wild stallion that needed to be tamed. LOL To start with my push away I needed to push it straight out instead of what I was doing which was out and upwards. Once I corrected that he had me slow down as I was throwing the ball too fast. He also had me move my starting position more to the left. We did experiement with slightly turning my body before I began my approach to keeping my body straight as I am barrel chested. We found that it is better for me to be straight during my approach than turned slightly to the right. Other than that he said my approach was pretty good.

My release needed work as well. I worked on moving my dragging leg farther behind my left leg while bending my knee deeper (which isn't too easy being the big guy I am LOL) and keeping better balance at the foul line. My leg muscles are sore now...especially my left leg. He had me keep my left hand straight out towards the left to help me keep my balance. Also we worked on making sure I didn't bend over at the foul line while releasing my ball and keeping myself straighter. For my release we worked on turning the ball just the right amount on release. Before I would over turn my hand which put too much hook on the ball. I also had a problem with releasing the ball too early...after putting my towel on the lane and he had me concentrate on making sure I threw the ball over the towel I did much better. So I corrected a lot of bad habits today, now I need to practice practice practice. I don't have scores to share though as I was practicing and not keeping score, but I did get better shots and more strikes.

After we were done with my lesson today he said he was surprised at how quickly I over came my bad habits and said the wild stallion is now a tamed stallion. LOL

[Stampy79]

Please keep in mind now. You may not score better or even as well for a while, until it all becomes your regular routine. Good job and congrats on wanting to learn and doing something about it

[Rowdy]

That is a ton of stuff to go through on the first day. Congrats on just remembering it all. You said it Ray, practice,practice,practice. Now you have to groove all those new moves so that they become second nature. Sounds like you're up to the challenge.

[BowlingRay]

Thank you Stampy! How long would you say it would take for what I learned to becomes part of my regular routine? I really do want to learn to become a better bowler. He told me to set up another appointment in about 3 weeks and he'll see how my form is progressing and we'll start working on making spares depending on how well everything else is going.

Thank you Rowdy! That was a lot...by the time I was done I was sweating badly. LOL I'm definitely up to the challenge!!! Can't wait till I start scoringin the 200's like you guys do.

I did go bacl again later yesterday afternoon for another 2 games of practice. 1st game was a 96, 2nd game was a 134.

Then today I went again for 5 more games. 1st game was a 156, 2nd game was a 119, 3rd game was a 139, 4th game was a 139 and my 5th game was a 144. I can tell what I learned has helped me a lot already...even though my scores aren't the best yet, but I know they will go up in time now that I am bowling correctly. You wouldn't believe how sore my left leg and ass are tonight after bowling. LOL

[Rowdy]

Thank you Stampy! How long would you say it would take for what I learned to becomes part of my regular routine? I really do want to learn to become a better bowler. He told me to set up another appointment in about 3 weeks and he'll see how my form is progressing and we'll start working on making spares depending on how well everything else is going.

Thank you Rowdy! That was a lot...by the time I was done I was sweating badly. LOL I'm definitely up to the challenge!!! Can't wait till I start scoringin the 200's like you guys do.

I did go bacl again later yesterday afternoon for another 2 games of practice. 1st game was a 96, 2nd game was a 134.

Then today I went again for 5 more games. 1st game was a 156, 2nd game was a 119, 3rd game was a 139, 4th game was a 139 and my 5th game was a 144. I can tell what I learned has helped me a lot already...even though my scores aren't the best yet, but I know they will go up in time now that I am bowling correctly. You wouldn't believe how sore my left leg and ass are tonight after bowling. LOL

Oh yes I can!!! Don't sweat the scores right now. Like Stampy said,they'll be in the crapper for a while. But they will improve. Kinda like when Nick Faldo had David Leadbetter redo his golf swing. Faldo couldn't play his way out of a paper bag to start,but look where he ended up. If I were you I wouldn't even KEEP score for a while. Just concentrate on whatever you're working on this week. Give it a couple of months and when you start to have trouble remembering your last open frame,then roll for score. Don't press the issue,just roll the ball and see how you do. Good Luck with everything. I really hope those scores go way up for you.

[jackhammer]

BowlingRay, that was the best thing you could do!! You are already doing the up and up in your bowling. Like everyone said it will take time to break old habits.

One thing that I recommend when you practice. Go and throw!! Don't get worried about your score, in fact don't look at it. Also don't go crazy with practice. Its better to bowl a lower amount of games with good fundamentals and mental focus than bowling more and falling apart.

fill us in with your results.....keep it up:cool:

[BowlingRay]

Thanks Rowdy and Jackhammer! I went last night and my scores were ok. I rolled 5 games and my scores were 121, 107, 125, 144 and a 164. Funny thing was my last game was during extreme bowling with the lights out and I picked up most of my spares and got a couple strikes. It's weird I did better when I couldn't see my mark as clearly! LOL I've been hitting the pocket more...I just can't seem to get strikes a lot yet. More practice for me!

[JaraTo]

Ironic Ray, I got my first 600 series with the lights out. Wild considering my horrible astygmatism.

[Rowdy]

Thanks Rowdy and Jackhammer! I went last night and my scores were ok. I rolled 5 games and my scores were 121, 107, 125, 144 and a 164. Funny thing was my last game was during extreme bowling with the lights out and I picked up most of my spares and got a couple strikes. It's weird I did better when I couldn't see my mark as clearly! LOL I've been hitting the pocket more...I just can't seem to get strikes a lot yet. More practice for me!

That tells me that you're trying too hard to hit your mark. You threw just fine with the lights out when you had to roll by feel. Next time you roll try getting lined up and then just let it fly. Watch what the ball does and make adjustments as needed,but don't get caught up in trying to nail the mark. If you need to move a few boards just glance at the new mark and let it rip. Turn your mind off,in other words. Sometimes you can think too damn much in this game.

[TenPinSniper]

When I used to "Glow, Galatic, Rock n' Bowl" whatever it's called... I had to really focus my mark, when I could see or I'd lose it, other times like Rowdy said, you can't see it and you have to have faith your gonna get it there.

So much of this game is mental, concentration and focus... which can all probably be linked together in one way or another.

[Rowdy]

I seem to roll my best when I turn my mind off after I've got everything set to go. I just let the swing go and trust what little mind I have left to let the body do it's thing.

[BowlingRay]

Sorry I havn't been around for a while...my video card went and just got it fixed.

Last Friday my scores for 4 games were this:
Game 1) 203
Game 2) 103
Game 3) 136
Game 4) 122

After dropping from a 203 to a 103 so quickly I called for lessons last Saturday morning and was able to get some more. We worked on picking up spares and correcting a couple more problems I have. One is I almost always tend to grip with my thumb which makes me pull my ball to the left. We fixed that by concentrating on keeping my thumb pointed up inside the thumb hole during my approach. It was awkward at first, but I got used to it after a couple games of practice. My other problem he found was because my shoulders are so wide that my swinging arm tends to swing out away from my body which is also making me swing my ball towards the left. So we fixed that by turning my shoulders towards the right and keeping them that way throughout my approach and release. I also tend to rotate my hand slightly while the ball is behind my back which was puting too much side rotation on my ball. I practiced for 7 games last Saturday morning what I learned and my scores were all in the 130's to 160's except my last one which barely broke a 100. I was getting a little tired during the 7th game which would explain that as my right forearm and middle and ring finger on my right hand were sore from baring most of the weight of my ball fter learning to not grip with my thumb. LOL

Later on that day I went back with a friend to practice some more and bowled a 176 and a 154.

I'm going again tonight for 7:30 with my friends to practice more of what I learned last Saturday. I'll let you know how I do.