Yes it has everything to do with bowling!  Nothing to do with other exciting stuff!

A full report coming late next week!

AWEsome!

REgards,

LUckylefty

Edited on 1/10/2005 7:34 AM

I'll be hanging on by the edge of my seat
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Eric T. Spivey, P.E.
 Visionary Test Staff Member
http://www.visionarybowling.com

The seminar was organized by Ken Webber who writes on grips and fit for Bowling This Month(his articles are based on the Bill Taylor concepts on fit!.   He works with the UCF(central Florida) bowling team and is a former stud athlete and a nice guy.

I had called him before my awareness of this seminar and had talked to him regarding his ovaling techniques and had made a tentative arrangement to meet in Florida on one of my business trips there.  He then went off to some collegiate tournaments while during that time I became aware of this seminar thru Bowling this month.  I also went to www.natural-bowling.com referred to in Bowling this Month and saw the complete schedule out there and the other interesting items on the site.  It may be of interest to others also.

Anyway I called Ken and asked if we could combine our ovaling meeting with my attendence at the Bill Taylor natural bowling seminar!  Have a few openings!

Yahoo!

It fit perfect with my schedule and the price was definitely easy to take!

I had read here that one of the goals in the seminar was to start out by getting your grip perfect and then bowling with it over the rest of the class.  However I had read that very often there was lack of coordination in making the proshop aware of this goal in other versions of this seminar in other places of the country.

I called Ken and sort of mentioned this.  Then in confirming directions to the bowling center I somehow dialed the proshop number and found that they really didn't have many plans to do anything special regarding being open over the weekend.  Yikes!  Just what I had read about here on this site.

I had expressed some concern and immediately the proshop also expressed a desire to make sure things went right!  Another call to Ken Webber and he said "I'll do everything I can to make this right and see if we can make this go off real well".  He also let me know that he usually tried to be better organized but had been traveling with the college team.  Anyway a classy response by both ends of the equation.

The Seminar!

Starting time is 6:00 PM... Friday!  Directions are good and I as I walk in to the Center I immediately see the well equipped pro shopped manned by WPBA star Kendra Gaines and Kenny Lawson.  She gives me a nice friendly greeting and directs me to the seminar.

11 of us and Ken and "The Man".  He gives us a friendly greeting all and I immediately know it is going to be a fun time.  Each of us is measured.  Arm length, leg length body balance!  Now a great deal of time is taken to measure our hands and using the Bill Taylor fitting tools!  During all of this Bill is telling stories of previous bowling events and predictions of his of pins that will be left because of either physical characteristics or techniacal execution flaws.

I encounter a book I have never seen before called "Bowling Balance"?? I think the book is only about side weight etc.  Instead the book has a large sectio on different body positios and what leaves come from what final body position at the foul line!!! Fascinating!!

REgards,

Luckylefty

Edited on 1/13/2005 9:52 PM

Edited on 1/13/2005 10:05 PM

Edited on 1/17/2005 11:34 PM

Edited on 1/17/2005 11:35 PM

AHHHHHH!  A cable modem and a half decent computer!

Back from the land of warm sunsets, fast woman and tired old computers!


The Fitting

Now what I had been waiting for.

On Friday night along with a lot of other intros stories etc. Bill now has each of us bring a ball to the front that is near our best fit and also that we don't mind having slugged and redrilled.

Caveat.  One of our good bowlers and fellow students had brought his recent 300 and 800 ball to the seminar.  No way was that getting slugged and refit.  MAny others felt the same way!  Bring an additional ball that you don't mind playing with!

Now!!!!!.  Drumroll please!!!  HOw does he actually do it!!

First of everything is done with the Bill Taylor fitting device.  You've see them.  Browinsh clear plastic.  Size of the ball but a flat piece of plastic.
Tons of holes thru plastic to get size of thumb!

Bill places thumb in fitting device and stretches out middle finger.  Where the drawn middle of first and second joint of the middle finger falls is the span.

He very quickly then does same with ring.  But does not really seem like the measurement is written down he just notes it!  Then he confirms the ring by placing hand on ball WITHOUT thumb in the ball and then he grabs ring and middle (so you can't move them) rotates hand in same position and with same amount of cup as having your hand on a bowling ball and notes the difference in middle and ring finger span!!!  It is here that he seems to really determine ring finger span.  Or confirm it!  In my case for the first time ever I ended up with ring shorter than my middle by 1/8 as my middle with this method is 7/16 longer than my ring.  Don't tick me off I'm ready to strike with the fateful middle digit faster than ever!!!

Hey, what center did you do this at?? Aloma or Altamonte is my guess because those are the 2 centers kendra opened shops up at.  I'm glad you had time to meet with them.  Sounds like a great time so far, wish I could have attended.  

Mike
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University of Central Florida + Brunswick = Collegiate Domination

Yawn......  Ok now I'm awake!

Whoops take a breather and your post is written for you!

OK Goof wrote almost word for word what I was going to put.
Better than I would of, or could have written it!

Lateral pitch was determined right in the Bill Taylor Ball fit disc.
I did not expect this.

Back of my thumb line when pulled in and out of ball gently continued to hit the 3rd marking on the thumb hole from center.  Lateral pitch of 3/8.  Bill also determined my oval rotation from this.  34 degrees???  HOw I did not figure out!

Note this was not the ball fit disc with the swivelling oval in it(or as Bill affectionately calls it!.... the Swovel).

THE BIG KAHUNA forward and lateral pitches.

NOw here I was surprised.  No balls were drilled now.  

The next morning Bill asked us to bring a ball close to the span specs he used or any ball.  I had one sort of close.  Throw it.  From this point Bill determined Proper forward and reverse thumb pitch.

SURPRISE!!!!  In my case I ended up surprisingly forward of the tables.
THis left me questioning.  Bill informed me that the tables were a starting point only and most of his top bowlers ended up quite a bit forward of that.
Similar to the Magic Carpet method.  Go forward from tables until you hang and then back off 1/16!  As I said a big surprise.  He discussed the great Durbin at this time and how he had ended up quite a bit forward at the peak of his great career!  Informative.

Again Ken Webber at this point emphasized that one wants the greatest seperation of early thumb release and late finger release to have the maximum time betweeen them.  He also discussed his very recent article in BTM and noted that he uses 5/8 forward and does so because he uses the new slippery tapes on his thumb that get the ball off so quick that the forward allows him to control the point when to release.

Note, most of Bill's students who are in the 4 1/2 inch span range do end up near 0 but most of them in contrast to other bowlers on this site end up with lateral under palm thumb pitch!

As in his book Bill spent very little time on finger pitch during our sessions.

Now the drilling.  In my case because my ring finger span was dramtically changed my ball ended up being drilled with my thumb mostly outside the thumb slug and in the ball.  Not raving about that but just the way it worked out!
Middle finger and ring left alone!

CRITICAL point.  I asked Bill why I had so much trouble holding on to the ball.
Bill emphasized to me that with my technique which he was going to recommend a change I had so much lift on the bottom of the swing with a high and muscled backswing that he wasn't surprised that the pressure of the ball at release was great.  Think maybe a muscled armswing slower version of  Jason Couch.

He would have none of that for me.  One would seek to end up closer to his star pupil and favorite bowler David Ozio!  As he states, "Just perfect"

REgards,

Luckylefty
PS more on technique coming unless Goof writes it for me!  I need to pause.
PPS seminar was held at Aloma bowl.  Some other UCFers were there!