I think my form is at least as good lefthanded, but I have no desire to redrill everything, buy new shoes, and practice a ton to get my strength up.  I'd probably have to drop to 13# at first to get any decent ball speed.  7 pins?  Ha!  I'd have to get Peachy to press the reset button for me.

Anyway...  Without knowing you personally, I would guess that your two biggest problems are trying to many changes (pitches, spans...) too fast and you're a perfectionist.  You also seem to be very hard on yourself.  Wouldn't you do the same things when you switched to lefty and your scores counted?

Since you still work in a proshop, at least you can get the ball work done cheaply.  Maybe you can do a summer league lefty with just 2-3 balls and see how you score.  If you like it, you can change for the following winter.  If you still struggle with being over critical of your preformance, at least you'll know where you stand.
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Penn State Proud ......THB with loft

The bowler (term used very lightly) formerly known as Strider

i bowl both ways, and have 300 games both ways.

i only bowl righty now though.
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Rev-O

I have a couple of questions for Hamster and Rev o lutions.

1. Are you ambidexterous?

2. Can you do anything else just as good with your left hand, as your right? (keep it clean)

Hamster, as I read your post I look over at your name to make sure that I am not typing it.  I, too, feel your pain.  You poured my thoughts out onto paper or computer screen that is.

As for lefty, I practice occasionally.  I just throw whatever is handy.  I don't have a special ball drilled lefty for myself.  I always said that if I shot 900 I would quit bowling righty and go to the Darkside.  I believe I could average 160ish right now lefthanded.  However, like many others I would have to drop weight for awhile to gain the proper speed and consistency.  


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FUFU

One of, if not the primary reason people miss inside and cannot get the ball out is because the elbow is kicking out in your follow through. Try that, see if it helps. Make sure you keep your elbow straight.


goodluck

few things

1-its not hard to get side rotation on a ball and keep your elbow in, actually its pretty natural.

2-contrary to what people on this board say its not THAT easy to switch hands.

3-It sounds to me like your game as a right hander is way too mechanical. Too many things must go right in order for the shot to be a success. Before you change your entire game, in essense learning how to bowl all over again, you should attempt to fix what you have now. It will not be easy to switch hands and over a long haul or tournaments you simply will not hold up, and the simple matter is you most likely do not have as much control of your left arm as you do your right.

4-My suggestion. Before you go changing things. Stop worrying about doing this right or that right. Go practice, instead of working on doing this or correcting this or having this happen. Work on this, simplify your game

in Stance, arm to the side of you, small controlled, repeatable pushaway, free loose armswing, open up your hips to push the ball out, get into a knee bend, long and low at the release, and accerate thru. Work on each step progressively, get to each point after mastering one. First start in your stance, do pushaway drills, repeat doing pushaways only, maybe 30-40 times. After this feels natural, go to the next step. All this you don't need to use a ball or even be on a lane to do. This is called muscle memory, it is used by pitchers at the collegiate and proffessional level (trust me i know, i lived them for 2 yrs in college) and they work wonders. Your muscles will learn these movements and repeat them.

This game isn't that hard, it sounds to me like your trying to do too many things or worry about too many things. Your always nitpicking the tiniest detail like sticking, or seeing something in your line of sight. Pick a target, hit it with a compact, simple, basic approach and delivery. You don't need to turn it up, or worry about how much side rotation you are getting or how much ballspeed, worry about it being natural. Like many say on here, perfect your A game before going to B and C.

I went thru the same thing you did. I used to have a huge pushaway, a long sweeping backswing, and just rip the cover off the ball at the bottom of the swing, i had a whole bunch of stutter steps, stops, drifts, etc. and it was just impossible to repeat shots. I was getting ready to quit competitive bowling until i decided to just simplify what i had. Make this game easier, less to worry about, less to go wrong. My average has went up, but more importantly my consistancy is up. I used to be a 279, 155 type bowler. Now almost every game is 180+ i dont have many terrible games, and unless i lose carry or something happens i am within 10 pins of my 220 average. Now i have lost some of the rotation i had, i was about 500-530 rpm, i've backed it down to 400-450 which is plenty, my ballspeed is in control, i am in control, and i can repeat shots meaning i will score on many more conditions.

Just try it, it will take alot of work, but you say you wanna be good at this game, one of the best. It doesn't happen over night and switching to another hand will only make it a harder and prolonged journey. Instead of pouting around and saying i'm terrible, get out there, fix it.
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am i still considered a lefty, i never get to play the left side of the lane

I had to switch to lefty after injury to my right thumb as a young righty bowler.

I throw a nice looking ball lefty.  Always did.

My first season I averaged 142, I AM not ambidextrous!

I threw a lot of gutters and missed spares all the time.

Now with a LOT of work I've gotten quite a bit better and had a lot of success.

I still after 4 years of doing it religiously have these problems/advantages.

In 4 to 5 man league formats I get out of sync--- (too much waiting).
I struggle with spares unless I practice just corner pins over 2 hours a week.

I can't get warmed up for a league in just 4 or 5 throws.

I get tired after 2 games most of the time in competition, not practice.

I can get into coordination funks that last for a week or so.

Why these are advantages for me also are.
1. I can decide to devote 20 30 or 40 hours to spare practice before a big tournament.

Bottom line is that because of formats of league I average almost 20 pins less, due to lack of warm up time, lack of flow, lack of evenness and usually a terrible first game.

Tournaments it's a different story.

Bottomline I'd bowl righty my coordinated side any day if I could.

REgards,

Luckylefty
PS I've seen a lot of guys try to switch who throw a beautiful ball, most struggle for a month or two and don't get above 165 because of the problems listed above.


2.  Most tournaments don't have 5 bowlers on pair.
3.  If I get in synch and flow watch out.