Quote from: Long Gone Daddy on February 03, 2013, 07:35:00 AM

What you are doing, Mike, is what Mo Pinel calls the Shift Bowl technique.  He says that bowling is a five count process and came up with this because a lot of people have trouble knowing when to start the ball drop, hinge, push, whatever you want to call it.  He has people  set up like they are going to take five steps.  He then has them slide the foot that will be the one that slides at delivery forward about a foot and a half.  Most of bowlers weight is on the non-slide foot.  When you start the approach, you shift the weight to left foot and step forward, dropping ball when right foot hits the floor.  Google Mo Pinel Shift Bowl.

To others, like I said, there is more than enough video proof to show when pro bowlers hinge their arm. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5nnDbV0znE
This is an excellent video breakdown of the modern game.  At about 2:30 The Hinge section starts.  Every bowler starts their hinge when I say they do.   

Actually, not all the bowlers in the video hinge their arm in the same timing. A notable example is Chris Barnes, who can be seen executing the hinge later in his approach.


In Mark Baker's book, "The Game Changer", he talks specifically about Barnes' late pushaway timing. Baker correctly identifies that Barnes executes the hinge at the end of his second step in a five-step delivery.


The lesson here is that there isn't absolute right or wrong timing when executing the hinge. And it's no different with the traditional push away. Some bowlers push up and out, while others have a less pronounced push forward with a downward angle. What I like about Mark Baker's approach to coaching is that it doesn't matter. His goal is to get you to the point where when your slide foot is flat on the approach, the swing is parallel to the floor. Regardless of how you get there, that's the sweet spot in execution. There is a reason he's the personal coach to both Barnes and O'Neill.   


To Mike, I'm glad the hinge has helped your consistency. Just keep the method of push/drop in perspective with the overall approach.

Norm Duke in his Excellent video states that perfect timing occurs when the ball weight shifts to the bowling hand from the non bowling hand at exactly the same time as the weight goes to the foot at the end of the 1st step in a 4 step or 2nd step of a 5 step.