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Author Topic: Grabbing the Ball  (Read 1228 times)

Kan_Man

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Grabbing the Ball
« on: June 17, 2004, 09:54:47 AM »
Hey All,

I need some help.  I have been grabbing the ball for as long as I can remember.  I have tried all sorts of stuff to stop it, but just can't shake the habit.  My span and pitches have been changed numerous times and nothing has helped. So the problem is me not the ball.  Are there any drills, tips, or techniques someone could give me to help me out.  Any help I can get would be great.  Thanks in advance.

Steve
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Steve K
McKendree College Bowling Team

 

shotmaker

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Re: Grabbing the Ball
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2004, 10:16:24 AM »
Have you tried changing your finger pitches to about 7/8 away? If you still grab it after that at least the roll may be better.
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strikealot

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Re: Grabbing the Ball
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2004, 10:41:28 AM »
when grabbing the ball, do you mean at release or squeezing the ball the whole time. ive learned to squeeze the ball with minimal pressure, i did squeeze during the backswing and at release, not good combination. i changed my pitches to 3/8^ and 3/8>, im right handed. this helped me get the feel of not squeezing, ball came off hand ok just not really soon enough for me. tried this for 5 months, didnt really effect my scores. could hold ball on my side and it stay on my hand while my hand was relaxed. but now im getting away from that pitch, good for not squeezing but cant clear thumbhole soon enough.
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pin-chaser

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Re: Grabbing the Ball
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2004, 12:14:55 PM »
"Grabing" refers to hitting up on the ball, causing earlier reaction on the lane surface. This was very prominant in the 80's and very much a detriment with the friction created today.

Altering the pitches in your bowling ball can help with this but only slightly because in essence what you are accomplishing with this method is loosing the ball earlier off of you hand. If succesfully accomplished with pitch changes then you loose direction and become more of a slave to requiring pitches to provide different releases.

The real issue with hitting up or grabing has to do with timing and leverage at the line. Typically, those that hit up on the ball have there shoulders well over the balls of there feet during release, sometimes even extending there head over the foul line. This position typically cause the follow through to nearly go straight up and not out toward the pins. IF the ball is still on the fingers at this point you have no choice but to hit up, even relaxing the pressure on your fingers still induce upward rotation on the ball. Moving your shoulders back in your slide and pushing your chest toward the pins in a more errect position will flaten out the down swing and you will find that you will release the ball in the flat bottom of your swing and not in the upward movement in the follow through. As for timing, you should also attempt to move toward a more stroker type of timing where your thumb clears the ball just behind the ankle just before completing the slide. This timing will reduce the amount of bowler applied torq that can be applied to the bowling ball with the release.


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BrunsHeat

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Re: Grabbing the Ball
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2004, 07:50:19 PM »
I've had that problem for all my bowling years.  Just recently, my coach met with the MoRich guys and introduced him to the "Claw Grip."  I used to have a wide span, fingers pitched slightly away, and the thumb thrown back about a quarter.  With the claw grip, my span has shrunk by just under an inch.  When I heard abuot this, I thought my coach was crazy, but then I tried it, IT'S INCREDIBLE.  I'm not up on all the techincal terms and all that, but I was given an excellent anology.  Most people would think that a smaller grip would cause you to squeeze more.  Look at it this way.  Take a softball in one hand, and a baseball in another.  Hold your hands out to your sides.  What ball are you going to squeeze more?  You'll squeeze the softball because the grip is wider.  The baseball is smaller and comfortable because it just sits in your hand.  I know that this doesn't work for everyone, but it has helped me considerably.  My spares have improved, and I even added a few revs.  I still "grab" occassionally, but not as much as I used to.

Hope it works...........
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I thought all you had to do was stand left and throw it right??
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