Author Topic: How does one work on being consistent? (Read 2050 times)

trash heap · « **on:** December 19, 2003, 11:47:54 PM »

I have reached a level, I want to go to the next one. My main problem is finding a good consistent release on my strike ball. I am close but not there yet. I think I have only thrown 4 in row twice this year.

Besides finding a coach (none really available in my area). Is there some things I can do in practice to help me get that consistent release on my strike ball?

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Over the years I got to be quite a connossieur of soap. Though my personal preference was for Lux, I found that Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor -- heavy, but with a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand... YECCHH!

channel surfer · « **Reply #1 on:** December 20, 2003, 02:51:16 PM »

Walter Ray told me the best way to create good consistency is to bowl on a Sport Shot... Maybe you should try that. When you bowl, watch carefully and see if you put the ball in the same spot over and over again.
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Burak Natal · « **Reply #2 on:** December 20, 2003, 06:23:46 PM »

Couldn't say better my self Bones

.
As Bones stated above, hitting your mark with a consistent approach is the number one rule for a solid release. Alignment and walking to your target are the crucial points.
Here is what I do when I'm coaching:
First of all select a line to practice. Assume that you will stand on 25 board and aim for 10 board. Now calculate your personnel number and find out on what board actually the ball is. (Keep in mind that you should step in on your sliding step for a proper balance. Considering that you do not have a drift, you will find that it will be around 6 or 7 boards on the right from your left foot. This is more or less the same coz ball is 9 boards wide. Half of it makes 4,5 boards. For a proper release you should be at most 2 or 3 boards away from your ankle during release. 4,5 plus 2 = 6,5

)
So, ball path will be roughly from 18th board to 10th board. Now take a rope and place it just 10cm next to this path from the approach to the arrows. (make sure that you wont roll the ball on the rope

)
Try to align your target using this rope as a guide line.
From my experience, this helps bowlers to visualize the alignment and walking through the proper path much better. Especially when diagonal alignment is the matter.
Practicing gutter shot or 5-5 down'n in angle might help also. (this time gutter will be your guide line)
Hope this helps..
Burak Natal

Edited on 12/20/2003 7:50 PM

Burak Natal · « **Reply #3 on:** December 20, 2003, 06:47:11 PM »

oops.. forgot the release part

Best way to feel and perfect the release is the kneel down practice. Medium release is what I prefer to use for most cases when coaching on consistent release.
Just relax and try to feel the thumb release and rotation of the fingers. Stay behind the ball with your thumb 6 o'clock position. Swing it a little and when your wrist passes your ankle, release the thumb and rotate your fingers to 3 o'clock position. Don't forget to follow through with your arm. The purpose of this practice is to tell your muscles where and how they will act, not to strike. Since you won't be able to have a proper backswing, your speed will be very low. Do not aim for hitting the pins by pushing.
Hope this helps also..
Burak

trash heap · « **Reply #4 on:** December 21, 2003, 04:27:27 PM »

Channel surfer, Sawbones, and Burak Natal thanks for replying. All good ideas.

Channel Surfer: That would be a great idea, but I live in hick town Pennsylvania and there is not a Sport Pattern available.

Bones: I pretty close to having a same approach. I have been checking my foot at the line and I am close to the same spot. I have a tendacy to drift left a little (2 boards). Also, I am trying to visualize the 1 or 1:30 thumb position. (Sorry if I am thick headed). Okay, Just pulled my bowling ball out (Please correct on this if I am wrong) If my thumb is at 1 that would be about my normal release. If I move my thumb towards 12 position my hand is not under the ball, but more on the rightside of the ball. I agree with you, there are no shortcuts.

Burak: Thanks for the info. I never thought of how wide the bowling ball is in relationship to boards.

--------------------
Over the years I got to be quite a connossieur of soap. Though my personal preference was for Lux, I found that Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor -- heavy, but with a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand... YECCHH!

Scolai · « **Reply #5 on:** December 21, 2003, 08:24:47 PM »

quote:

- Throwing plastic for a strike ball. Work on trying to get to the pocket and carry. Point it off the outside, then work on taking it straight down 17.

Perhaps the most sound piece of advice in this thread. For you to shoot 550-600 with a piece of plastic, you will have to be pretty consistent (assuming, that is, that you're not just launching rockets at the head pin). Do this for a couple of hours every week or so and your consistency will improve.
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Nut

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:8-14

trash heap · « **Reply #6 on:** December 21, 2003, 08:43:36 PM »

When I do practice I was thinking of only taking two balls with me. Urethane and Plastic. The urethane has no flip block in it.

I think I am getting good rotation. Would the amount of flare on my ball determine if I am getting good rotation? With my Cuda/C it seems to be around 5 inches.

Also since I have been bowling a little more this year I have notice that I have developed calluses on my ring and middle fingers. The calluses start about 1/2 way from the first knuckle to the tip of the finger. It doesn't bother me. Is this okay?

Scolai · « **Reply #7 on:** December 21, 2003, 08:48:57 PM »

Heap,

If you didn't have the callouses, I'd say you didn't bowl enough

. Do you have one on your thumb yet?

I'm not certain how much flare can tell you about rotation, other than that your ball is rolling on its PAP. How does it react to the dry and how well does it hit the pins would be a little more useful information, IMO. Good roll is a product of a good release. A ball will flare whether you release it properly or not.
--------------------

Nut

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:8-14

trash heap · « **Reply #8 on:** December 21, 2003, 10:07:01 PM »

Pin-nut, Thanks for replying. First, I probably won't get a callous on my thumb. I like my thumb hole to be pretty tight. I usually have two pieces of tape in it. I relax my thumb to get it in the thumb hole and when I am ready to start my approach I just have to apply slight pressure to hold on to the ball. Then at release I just relax my thumb. (I do have to use powder in the thumb hole to do this)

I haven't encounter dry conditions since the first week of league this year. Dry has been a real problem for me. I have a hard time keeping the ball on the right side.

I am not sure what you mean by "How well does it hit the pins?". Were you asking when I only encounter dry conditions or what I am experiencing on my current league (Probably a THS).

Burak Natal · « **Reply #9 on:** December 22, 2003, 10:08:08 PM »

Hi again..
You can not understand if you have a good rotation just by looking at the amount of track flare. Sure it has an effect but core and surface determines it mostly. Place of bowtie and the shape of track flare are more determinant factors.
Axis Rotation is known as side roll. (Most people confuse it with axis tilt, but that's totally another issue). And it is the horizontal measure of the angle of the ball's revolutions.
Closer your release angle to the direction of the ball, closer your ball to 0 degrees axis rotation. More angle you have in release to the direction of the ball, more axis rotation you generate.
If you release the ball at 6 o'clock position with no finger rotation, ball will roll down the lane directly with relatively no change of direction. Because there is no side roll, 0 degrees angle between the direction of the ball and axis rotation. Please keep in mind that balls direction is down the lane. On the other side if you release the ball with rotating your fingers at 3 o'clock position (9 o'clock for lefties) your side roll will be maximum and ball tends to rotate exactly parallel to the foul line, but perpendicular to the ball's direction. Which means you will have 90 degrees axis rotation. Get a video cam and see it for your self

Another issue is; I don't believe that there is "good rotation" or "bad rotation". There are different types of rotations. Unless you are doing something very stupid, there is always a way to find a ball-surface-line combination for that particular rotation. But ofcourse, again, a solid bowler must have couple of different games which include different releases and rotations

...

For your calluses, you may try different finger pitches. Or may be it is just the type your skin. You need to consult with a good driller about it.
...

Probably Pin-nut will answer this but "How well does it hit the pins" means:
Is it loosing energy and hits like a marsmallow? Is it rolling out? Skidding too much to create the drive through 1-3-5-9 without deflecting? etc..
In other words, how well is the reaction

...

Practicing with spare ball/plastic ball is a solid idea. I always offer it to the beginners for their first ball. They are cheaper and never wear out when you are practicing to develop a technique in the first couple of months

However, spare balls may be 1 pound lighter than your strike balls. That is something advised by many coaches. So if your plastic ball is lighter and you practice with it to simulate a sport condition, your body will adapt to that weight. Must be careful I guess..If your spare ball's weight is same, no problem..

Just my 2 cents..

Thanks
Burak

RandyO · « **Reply #10 on:** December 22, 2003, 10:34:48 PM »

Giving advice without seeing someone bowl is always a crapshoot, but I will tell you the ONE THING that causes me to have an inconsistent release. Forcing the swing. By this I mean rushing the swing from the top of the backswing to the point of release. THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING to achieving a consistent release is to have a smooth, relaxed, gravity-fed swing without any extra oomph provided by you. Do not muscle the ball. The only oomph or acceleration should occur at the point of release, and it's really not even required at that point if you don't want to. Watch the top stars on TV - the successful ones all have swings that are not forced. Strokers, Tweeners, Crankers, it doesn't matter. Many of them have a noticeable acceleration of the armswing at the point of release, but none of them accelerate the armswing until that point. You MUST master this to have a consistent release.
When you do it properly, the ball feels lighter, and the your hitting power increases with seemingly less effort on your part - it's like freakin magic! When you do it wrong - you will know. You'll lose shots off your hand a bit early, or hang on too late and hit up on the ball, or pull, or any number of bad things. What I try to keep in my head is "Wait For The Ball". You will find that once you have mastered this, using different hand positions will also come much easier, making you a more versatile bowler. It you're not waiting for the ball, you will never be able to master this, nor will you have a consistent release.
For you to have this wonderful swing, your swing timing must be correct. A "GOOD" coach is your best bet, but lacking that, I highly recommend that you get the book "Par Bowling" by Tom Kouros. He's real good at explaining this stuff - AND - use a camcorder so you can see how you're doing. Once you get it right the difference will be like night and day!

sheppy335 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 23, 2003, 08:18:31 AM »

Trash heap,
I am in SWPA and we have atleat two places that have sport leagues. One is in Plum and the other is in Ligoner. also you can check on the ABC website for houses that have sport leagues. Keep up the hard work also!
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Oil is served Best with fingers!

Why does the 8 Pin laugh at me!

Sheppy

star · « **Reply #12 on:** December 23, 2003, 12:21:33 PM »

Balance at the line is possibly the most crucial part of being constant.
If you are not solid at the line its almost impossible to repeat a shot.
I dont know if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but in practice try playing the dots game.
That is start on the the first dot and put in a strike then move to the next dot and so on. If you miss you have to start again.
Its a great feeling when you complete this one as when you get to stand on that last dot I can tell you there's a fair bit of pressure on you to get that final strike.
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Happy go lucky bowler from the UK

.
Did someone say tough luck

trash heap · « **Reply #13 on:** December 23, 2003, 09:25:01 PM »

Thanks for all the replies. I going to print these replies and keep them as a reference. I really appreciate it. I know it is not going to come over night and my average will drop. This year is a short season for the leagues I am in (Won't be much prize money, if any). I thought it would be a good time to work on improving.

Thanks.

Author Topic: How does one work on being consistent? (Read 2050 times)

trash heap

How does one work on being consistent?

channel surfer

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

Burak Natal

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

Burak Natal

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

trash heap

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

Scolai

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

trash heap

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

Scolai

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

trash heap

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

Burak Natal

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

RandyO

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

sheppy335

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

star

Re: How does one work on being consistent?

trash heap

Re: How does one work on being consistent?