Anyone?
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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
Team X website & more about me
"Put some make-up on your face
 Make this world a better place!"
Kahimi Karie, 'Good morning world'

I'd have to say a part of your problem is you have a bobbing action going on.  Your next to last step you're up, you're slide step you're down, but by your release you're up again.  Do you find that you loft the ball a lot?  For my approach what I do to keep a consistent body position I actually start off standing with a slight bend in the knees, on my first step I bend my knees slightly more than at the start and slow my second step down on purpose to concentrate on keeping that position.  I then stay that way through the rest of my approach.  Your head position may be part of the problem too.  Your neck is very straight back when you bowl, try tilting your chin in just a little bit.  This will help you two fold, one it will help maintain your eye on your target, and two it will help force your body into that nice knee bend position.  Mind over matter, if your head and mind are thinking down and smooth, your body will follow.

Just my two cents!  Give it a try and let us know how it works!

Edited on 10/25/2006 8:39 AM

Back again after 1st experiments: I tried to experiment with my footwork, to get the steps more even, and I think it is a way to go. It just needs much concentration - when am too relaxed, the ball pendulum will direct my feet and in the backswing top I will skow down, therefore the "wobbling". But it is something to follow up.

I also tried the "chin trick" - and it is great! This seems to help a lot with my upper body position. It just feels weird, especially on spares, so I fell back to "normal" after 2 games. But I will practice on this in training, I guess that's a good direction for improvement.

Thanks a lot for your ideas!
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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
Team X website & more about me
"Put some make-up on your face
 Make this world a better place!"
Kahimi Karie, 'Good morning world'

Hey Dizzy!  Glad to hear your chin change worked! The way I check to be sure I don't change in the middle is I do a 3 point check.
1. Head/chin position
2. is my butt out and am i balanced
3. are my knees bent

The reason I do this is if you check your chin and it's not in place, and you move it in place, it will force your body to correct your backside and knees.  The reason being if you're butt's not in place you'll feel very off balance.  It's like creating a crane stance where your hips are the anchor so your chin and knee's are over the front of your hips and your butt and elbow are behind it to maintain your balance.  If you can do this quick check before every ball it ensures your stance.

As for your not bending enough, try just slowing down on your last two steps.  One person mentioned you plant instead of slide, that's not necessarily a problem unless you're moving too fast to the line.  A lot of crankers, or high end strokers or tweeners (like myself) plant and don't really slide.  It's more important that your speed doesn't throw your timing off.  So try slowing down just a bit before your last step.  You might find that your body wants to move faster.  That is ok because it's natural movement, but we tend to overdramatize this part of the approach.

I hope this helps! I went through all of this before I started working on different releases.

Hmm, first of all, thanks for the help, anyway.

Well, every bowler is different. I come from having my upper body held forward, in a rather crouching position. I would also not have square shoulders, and everything was too fast overall.
I worked with my club's coach more than half a year on a more upright starting position, and that's where I am now, and I feel very comfortable with it. It also helps me repeating shots. It might look quitze stiff, but it is O.K., since I am not that "flexible" or sporty

The drawback is that I somehow have to lower my self for the release - and that's where the challenge lies.

@KULAYGATAS: I use slick soles and heels, normally Dexter S8 and H5 or less. It is not a shoe problem, at least I do not feel it this way. I might try to put more body weight on the foot tip/sole area, but the problem's origin might stem from a poor knee bend, so that my upper body bending tendency comes through. I guess it is a difficult body mechanics "problem" that results in my "upward" release and loft.
I do this quite consistently (last Wednesday house league left me with a 184 average, not bad for me), but it is not smooth at all and looks quite jerky. I really adore those players with a ninja release, when you cannot hear a sound when the ball lands on the lane. My team mate katel (he recently posted a video in the Brunswick forum) has the opposite problem, I think...

@deadbait: I seem to benefit from a typical, old fashioned stroker release with square shoulders. I simply lack the power to play with an open shoulder. My game mostly relies on gravity, and therefore I tyr to keep everything as simple as possible, just an final muscled push when the ball goes away. Bad thing is that this comes late, or that my fingers stay that long in the ball that I impart so much lift that the ball lofts - but less than a couple of months ago (*lol*).

Overall, I feel that there is a lot of consitancy to be exploited left in my technique, and some of your suggestions are great clues about what to try.

Thank you all!


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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
Team X website & more about me
"Put some make-up on your face
 Make this world a better place!"
Kahimi Karie, 'Good morning world'