Author Topic: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read! (Read 3124 times)

joblo1978 · « **on:** January 28, 2010, 12:11:25 AM »

I've been bowling off and on most of my life and was fairly decent even with little knowledge of fundamentals. A long hiatus in bowling that started when cranking was the thing, changes in equipment and the modern style was tough to figure out. But I've read some books, and really been concentrating on fundamentals. I've bought lots of good equipment over the past year and have made some good gains but I had one major flaw that I had to pinpoint and think I've fixed...knuckling or muscling the ball, and not getting the "pendulum" armswing.

This is mentioned and described in many ways but never really elaborated on how to get it and what it feels like. For me, it was ball fit and never being able to totally relax because of poorly fitting thumbholes, and just experimenting with tape caused me to get awesome results almost instantly.

After putting about 3-5 pieces of tape in my ball and really concentrating on not squeezing and just letting the ball come off naturaly I instantly noticed more revs, speed, control, feel, and consistency. I swear I just added another 50 rpm's and 1-2 mph on my shot's, and spare balls that are now straight as an arrow. It's almost like it's a totally different game for me. I had a fairly good release before, but it took effort. Now it's even better with little to no work at all.

I can't overstate the importance of proper thumb fitment and the use of tape and feel. Everyone should use at least 3 pieces to prevent the vacuum effect on the thumb and struggling with overly large holes.

When you finally get it, it's a weird feeling, the way you need to just let go and allow gravity and leverage to do all of the work for you. You have to "bowl" the ball off the hand, almost like one of those chuck- it dog toys. Getting the the flat spot at the bottom of the swing, timing, and not hitting up on the ball is key to getting it. When done properly it's almost as if the ball isn't even there. Your so solid and balanced at the foul line there's no way it cannot help your game.

It was so awesome to feel that the first time, watch the ball rev up like I've never had it before through the heads, rip the cover off, and then just literally shred the rack.

When you get it the first, you'll know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmvDM1-vwaY

BTW, I fall off shots sometimes because of bad knees, and to get out of the way of the camera. It's lousy quality video, but I can tell a very good release is now there. Ball is a Virtual Energy with a 5x3 layout.
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-John B.
734 high series, 278 high game

Really enjoyin'' the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell right now

dizzyfugu · « **Reply #1 on:** January 28, 2010, 08:31:33 AM »

Welcome to actually "playing" bowling! I had a similar revealing experience when I started changing my timing - before, I'd run to the foul line and had a hard time keeping pendulum and body in sync, so I hung onto the ball much too long, and other negative side effects. Just after I got my timing right, I was able to let gravity rule - much more leverage, a much cleaner ball reaction (the ball can actually "work" on the lane and is not constantly forced to fight against the laws of physics...) and overall much more control, simply by putting less effort into the release.

Yeah, revelation is a good word for it

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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany

Confused by bowling? Check out BR.com's vault of wisdom: the unofficial FAQ section

STBCrushEm · « **Reply #2 on:** January 28, 2010, 09:33:06 AM »

joblo1978 very good post. I,m going to try what you are doing. Where in the thumb hole are you putting your tape? Thanks

STBCrushEm · « **Reply #3 on:** January 28, 2010, 09:41:45 AM »

Also how are you judging how tight to make it? Is there anything different that you are focusing on other than the tighter thumb hole to stay behind the ball? Thanks

joblo1978 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 28, 2010, 10:12:21 AM »

quote:
If you have really bad knees, start with your feet furthur apart.

For you to really take advantage of your recent improvement, you need better balance. Openning your feet up at stace will help your hips remain square to your target line.

While your hips never move away from where they start throughout the swing (excellent!!), you are starting them too open, which is keeping your body narrow as you are swinging the ball. This will increase the likelyhood of a weak pull miss.

Keep your hips square to your breakpoint at all times.

Well done on the improvement!
--------------------
Get on the G train.... GLOBAL BABY!

www.900global.com

Now that you mention it, I think and watch the video again, my feet are kind of getting in the way of each other. And it only makes sense to stand in a way that makes you more square and balanced for 1, and more natural for 2.

I've heard the "walking a tightrope" expression but I will try to get away from this. As opposed to fixing a release, this is easy.

Crush 'em, I would say this

If you're thumbhole is empty, something is wrong, if you think you're getting a clean release, you may be, reason being your squeezing the ball and attempting to loosen your grip at the right time every time causing pushed and pulled shots. If your sticking in the thumbhole and not using tape, your thumbhole is too small. You need it bigger and to add tape to replace what you removed.

Start with 3 pieces in front of your thumb, probably about to the two o'clock of your center of grip or on the meaty portion. 3 pieces will creat a large enough gap inbetween the sides of the thumb to allow air in and out, but to still keep a snug fit. This is what your going for, it's really personal preference for you and I've been messing with thumbhole fitment for awhile.

If you're adding tape and still squeezing the ball to hold on and not fully relaxed, add another piece until this feeling goes away.

Too much tape will change your span so...if you get around seven pieces and the feeling of squeezing still hasn't gone away, you need to maybe check with your driller. If you can't get this feeling with maybe just enlarging the hole a hair and adding a few pieces of tape, you more than likely have an issue with your thumb pitch. See driller again for that.

Your really going to try and rely on feel as opposed to muscle and will take constant experimentation to maintain that feeling. I know now why pros on TV are constantly messing with tape and their thumbholes. And even as I continued to bowl that night, the perfect feel would come and go as I switched back and forth from ball to ball and bowled more and more. My thumb seemed to get smaller the more I bowled which was weird. Either that or the tape became more squished and not as thick.

Get 3-6 pieces of white tape in your thumbhole, and adjust the size of the hole until you no longer feel a need to hold on to the ball throughout the swing, and just bowl the ball off. Only then will you be able to totally relax the arm, remain firm wristed, and get that awesome open handed style.
--------------------
-John B.
734 high series, 278 high game

Really enjoyin' the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell right now

STBCrushEm · « **Reply #5 on:** January 28, 2010, 10:18:13 AM »

Thanks for the info I will try this out today!

joblo1978 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 28, 2010, 10:43:27 AM »

quote:
Thanks for the info I will try this out today!

It was difficult to wrap my head around the idea that a tighter fitting hole would result in a smooth release, but it does.

Reason being is that your arm can reach full extension relaxed. When you reach the bottom of your swing, which ideally will be right next to your ankle (or no more than a foot behind it) gravity will have it''s greatest impact on the ball which is what permits the ball to slip off the thumb even though the fit is tight enough to keep the ball on the thumb during the backswing. Think of it like working a yo-yo. You pull up on the string when it has reached full extension and you can most counteract the force of gravity. 3 pieces of tap will create enough gap around the thumb to allow air to flow in and out of the ball and maintain constant air pressure inside the hole while your thumb goes in and out.

The ball slipping off the thumb transfers weight to the fingertips creating leverage and revs. A balanced and smooth tempo to your approach along with the proper amount of kneebend further permits this to happen at the proper speed and force.

As for feel in the fingers, it''s difficult to explain. I was getting so much leverage that my fingers just felt kinda like springs and I couldn''t keep the ball from doing anything other than rolling off if I really tried. I wasn''t really keeping them loose or stiff, just natural. Generally if the ball comes off the thumb right, it will come off the fingers right too.

I hope some of this helps you and assists with tweening.

I''m going to recalculate my rev rate with this new technique which was 300-360 when I was muscling the ball. I''m almost certain I can get in the 350-400''s now. I see no reason why a 6 foot, 180 lb. male, in decent shape with just a little practice using this can''t easily get 300+.
--------------------
-John B.
734 high series, 278 high game

Really enjoyin'' the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell right now

Edited on 1/28/2010 12:08 PM

STBCrushEm · « **Reply #7 on:** January 29, 2010, 05:21:51 PM »

John you are the man!!! I did just what you said and it works great. I was trying different tightness and found that I almost have to make it so tight that I to give it a little force to put my thumb in. It felt great and I was really abel to fill it on my fingers. It came of my hand very clean. Thank you very much for your post it has really helped my game!!!

Edited on 1/29/2010 6:28 PM

SPR3WR · « **Reply #8 on:** January 30, 2010, 07:58:34 AM »

joblo1978, you lose your balance not because of your bad knee but because of the way you slide. read this article.
http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/tip25.htm
--------------------
High game 300 X 2
High series 810
High ave. 223
Bronze level USBC coach
Coach in the bowl like the pros clinics since 2006

joblo1978 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 30, 2010, 01:01:04 PM »

quote:
John you are the man!!! I did just what you said and it works great. I was trying different tightness and found that I almost have to make it so tight that I to give it a little force to put my thumb in. It felt great and I was really abel to fill it on my fingers. It came of my hand very clean. Thank you very much for your post it has really helped my game!!!

Edited on 1/29/2010 6:28 PM

Glad it helped you.

I bowled again last night and had trouble finding the sweet spot.
--------------------
-John B.
734 high series, 278 high game

Really enjoyin' the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell right now

joblo1978 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 30, 2010, 01:04:28 PM »

Why are many saying that your slide food should be pointing towards your target? Is this not referring to your toes.

I'll try this as well.

quote:
joblo1978, you lose your balance not because of your bad knee but because of the way you slide. read this article.
http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/tip25.htm
--------------------
High game 300 X 2
High series 810
High ave. 223
Bronze level USBC coach
Coach in the bowl like the pros clinics since 2006

--------------------
-John B.
734 high series, 278 high game

Really enjoyin' the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell right now

SPR3WR · « **Reply #11 on:** January 31, 2010, 07:55:38 AM »

Its not sliding toward your target its getting your slide foot under your body for balance .
--------------------
High game 300 X 2
High series 810
High ave. 223
Bronze level USBC coach
Coach in the bowl like the pros clinics since 2006

joblo1978 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 01, 2010, 10:26:56 AM »

I'm not discrediting this at all, but ther sure are alot of pro's falling of their shots.

quote:
Its not sliding toward your target its getting your slide foot under your body for balance .
--------------------
High game 300 X 2
High series 810
High ave. 223
Bronze level USBC coach
Coach in the bowl like the pros clinics since 2006

--------------------
-John B.
734 high series, 278 high game

Really enjoyin' the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell right now

tdub36tjt · « **Reply #13 on:** February 02, 2010, 12:49:37 PM »

Ok so this is something I have been working on really hard. Still struggling with it but like you said every couple shots I'll have that one where it just feels perfect. I also am finding a lot of my trouble came from stuffing my thumb in there instead of just getting it in to where it is comfortable. I still have a long way to go but at least I feel like I am making improvements.

joblo1978 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2010, 01:55:45 PM »

If it's not working consistently, I'm thinking it has to be a timing issues. No that I'm getting the feel for a relaxed swing, I think it's all boiling down to finding that sweetspot where the ball is close to the ankle, but not past it.

That will get you the most leverage to bowl the ball off the snug thumb.
--------------------
-John B.
734 high series, 278 high game

Really enjoyin' the Virtual Energy and Mutant Cell right now

Author Topic: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read! (Read 3124 times)

joblo1978

Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

dizzyfugu

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

STBCrushEm

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

STBCrushEm

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

joblo1978

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

STBCrushEm

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

joblo1978

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

STBCrushEm

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

SPR3WR

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

joblo1978

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

joblo1978

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

SPR3WR

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

joblo1978

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

tdub36tjt

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!

joblo1978

Re: Had a breakthrough last night at the lanes with vid, good read!