This is something that has really been hurting my game, and keeping me languishing in the 160-175 average range.  I've known for awhile that most aspects of my game are far better than they were.  I've becoming quite accurate on my strike ball and on spare shooting, my form is better than ever, and I'm getting the kind of axis tilt and rotation I've been looking for, as well as becoming much better at reading the lanes and adjusting.  But still, I was stuck.  I figured out recently something that my coach has been trying to get me to understand for awhile, I throw the ball too darn hard for my rev rate.  I tried a number of techniques to get my ball speed down, but none really seemed to work.  I shortened my approach, started with the ball very low in my stance, shortened my push away, just about everything.  I finally realized last night that it's not the backswing that's the problem, it's the moment JUST BEFORE I release the ball.  No matter what I do prior to that, I have the tendency to THROW the ball, rather than roll it as I come through.  My Uncle who is on a different team in my league, who we played against last night, finally made me realize that.  I also found out because this weekend I bowled really well in an ABT tournament, but I didn't quite realize why.  I now realize that I was really rolling the ball over the weekend, I noticed that my hands felt real soft as I released the ball, and finally in the third game last night it all made sense.  Soft hands, roll the ball over my target.  I had my best game of the year by far, and would have shot better if not for a little unlucky carry.  My ball had bite, and it had a lot more drive than it ever had before.  I guess that even though consciously I knew I didn't have to throw hard to score, I was still unconsciously doing it.  I can't wait to get back out and see if I can maintain it!