Terrible backswing... need help

[eltaco]

Well, I'm not entirely new to bowling, but I feel like it right now. I used to bowl about 8 years ago and am finally picking up the game again. I started out this season very strong, took a lesson and was probably back to 90% at one point... even through a 678 series one night. Since then, my scores have been falling consistantly.

I have been noticing my accuracy falling downhill over the past month or so, but didn't really know why. I've been bowling ~10 games of practice a week, but I think I've simply been complicating the issue. Thankfully, one of the guys at league last week told me that my backswing was swinging around my body instead of going in a pendulum motion like normal. Finally, something I can work with!

Now, I've bowled about 10 games since then, and I simply can't seem to stop it. I know the issue is there, but I can't "feel" it when I pull the ball back... it seems it has now become muscle memory. Do any of you have some remedies for this situation? Any kind of drill I can work on? Thanks...

[Dan Belcher]

quote:I know the issue is there, but I can't "feel" it when I pull the ball back...

"Pulling the ball back" may be part of the problem.  After you push the ball away, just let it fall and it will swing back on its own.  You shouldn't need to pull the ball back into the backswing.  If you do, it's going to be harder to repeat shots since you are just adding another variable to the mix.

[stopncrank]

agree with dan, ill go a step further and say check your push away, if you push to the right(assuming you are right handed), this will make you wrap the ball around your body as well. make sure you are pushing straight towards your target. basically what Dan said is you want your armswing like a pendulum, everything swings from the shoulder, nice and relaxed. Any muscle in the backswing makes it hard to repeat shots consistently.
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Taking your lunch money, one strike at a time....

[Danes07]

I agree with what both of these guys have said.

First, check your pushaway.  Make sure that you are pushing straight outward towards your target.

Then just let the pendulum take over.  No two peoples armswings are the same.  If you let the pendulum take over and don't muscle it, the swing will go where it needs to go for your swing.

Don't try to muscle into the position you think it should be in.  That will make things worse, not better.  Just use a freer armswing and don't dry to make it do things it doesn't want to do.
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University at Albany 2007
    -Let's Go Danes-

ROTO GRIP - King of Them All
STORM - The Bowlers Company

Harry E. Inglis 3/31/1915 - 2/3/2009

[srlunatic]

Think the guys have nailed it on the head....

Pushaway is such a big factor on accuracy. Push the ball away straight..let gravity take over and get that free armswing going.  If you start pushing to early, too late, too inside or too outside problems occur. Since someone stated the figure 8 look, that is a big clue to the pushaway not going straight out but to your left or right *righty or lefty* away from your body causing the ball to end up inside of target on your back swing and forcing you to come around the hip with the ball instead of straight back and straight through.  For me it when I do this, I usually take about 20 minutes at the start of my practice session and have someone watch to make sure I am pushing straight out and not to the right..

Hope this helps!

Mike
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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

[BowlingWolf]

Components of the Swing:

In the beginning, the ball is placed (NOT pushed) into an arc by means of control, and if held at waist level of lower, with some force. It is controlled (NOT pushed) in order to accommodate the initial relationship and movements of the feet and ball.  When the ball in the stance is held at waist level or below, force is used in order to effect an arc in the ball placement.  Once placed, the ball moves down into the backswing by means of gravitational acceleration.  At the bottom of the backswing, kinetic energy (stored energy) is employed until the ball reaches the height of the backswing.

After a momentary pause at the height of the backswing, the ball moves into the downswing, once again under the influence of gravitational acceleration.  In the delivery, the ball reaches a point where its gravitational force begins to compromise with kinetic energy (at the point of release).  At this time, acceleration (force) is applied, and the release and follow-through ensue (fastest part of the swing).

Some other important points to remember:

From shot to shot, the length of the swing must be consistent.

Place a towel under your bowling arm and don’t drop it until your follow-through begins.  This is an excellent training method since only by keeping the arm against the body can one succeed in keeping the towel in position.

Keep your elbow behind the ball throughout the swing (inside part of the elbow faces the body), which in turn will place your bowling hand under and behind the ball, effectively ensuring leverage at the release point.

Basically, there are three areas to consider when addressing the swing: 1- its nature in terms of length, speed and type of energy used 2- its direction 3- the relationship of its movements (in the delivery as well as the approach) to other parts of the body, especially the feet.

Problems usually arise during the approach sequence, beginning with stance, pushaway direction and timing with the footsteps, direction of the bowling shoulder and bowling arm during the pushway, speed of the pushaway as related to the length and speed of the steps, etc.

Work on one thing at a time, and if you can’t figure out what to correct or even where to start, seek the advice of a “Qualified” coach, and not just someone who sees you as a walking dollar-sign.

Good luck

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Wise men talk because they have something to say--Fools, because they have to say something.

[JohnP]

To get the feel of a good backswing, on the approach let the ball hang by your side.  Keep the elbow in the same position and raise the ball to the level you want to begin the swing (like doing a curl with a dumbbell).  Now push the ball straight towary your target, let it swing with the swing plane straight toward your target, then follow through straight toward your target.  --  JohnP

[eltaco]

Excellent information, thanks fellas.

It's funny, because I know the things that you're telling me... but I needed to hear someone say it. I'm still not sure that I fully corrected my issue, but league tonight was much more consistant than what it's been lately. I went 178-204-197 on the night, and didn't have the problems I've been having with accuracy as of late. The mechanics feel good now, but I might need to get a video camera out to actually see it.

[FastTracker33]

This thread is entitled to eltaco, but i've also gained some very useful information from this thread. Thank you, everyone. I also have a bad backswing as of late. The ball is released about a foot or more from my ankle and my swing goes way too much behind my back. I am going to try this advice given here and make my own thread about it.

Thanks
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- Brian
http://BeansProShop.com

[eltaco]

I often find that I'm trying to change too many things at once, and it really gets me.

For me personally, the 2 key points of advice that I took from this thread, and the things that I think about in my approach are this: Push forward towards your target and let the ball swing freely (without muscling it)

If I needed to adjust speed, I simply held the ball a bit higher or lower as I squared up the shot.

I'll give it a shot again tomorrow night and for league on Wednesday to see if it's remained consistant for me.

[eltaco]

Well, I thought for sure I had this problem fixed, but my inconsistancies have continued... so I took it a step further today. I brought in a videocamera, and what I saw was terrifying. I wish this thing wasn't a MiniDV, or else I would post it for you all.

The problem is, I can't tell exactly where I'm going wrong. My setup looks good, and the forward motion to release look decent, but it's lost somewhere in between. From behind, it looks like my arm is straight, but that my shoulder is coming out of socket.

I tried for 3 games to fix it without any real solution. I tried purposely to push the ball away from my body, and it still looks the same at the worst point in my backswing. I attempted to push the ball away and let it fall, and it still is behind my back. I left the lanes scratching my head.

Now that I am home, I hooked the videocamera up to the bigscreen, and I think that I MIGHT see my issue. I have a 4 step approach and my mechanics look good from the takeoff to the 2nd step. On the 3rd step, my body moves right about 5 boards and my body leans to the right, which places the ball directly behind me. On the final step, I seem to square up again and my arm continues the pendulum motion through the release.

I'm really hoping that I've nailed it... this has been bothering me for a while. I wish that I could post the video to obtain some more input, or better yet, find someone to coach me locally.