To say the least my body is not very flexible and I’ve always had a pretty short back swing.

Well the last year I’ve been trying to do what everyone is saying is the way to bowl. I’ve been trying to take a bigger push away and getting a higher back swing that was more gravity driven and relaxed.

I’m here to say it simply doesn’t work for me. I had to struggle not to get my body all twisted out of shape to raise my backs swing. I really needed to open my shoulders to get it up higher but then that added another timing feature to my swing. My shoulder would be wound so tight that it would spring the ball back at all angles and my ball speed was inconsistent. I could get my body in the right position about half the time but the other half could be awful looking.

Yesterday in my summer Peterson points league roll off I decided to finally go back and let my arm swing be its natural length, which for me is barely past my large posterior. Instantly my roll and accuracy improved as well as my ball speed became consistent again. I could once again be aggressive with my swing which is my nature. Unfortunately it means I accelerate hard thru the ball to generate any ball speed.

While I didn’t win the roll off I did out average everyone for the games I bowled (winning two scratch pots) and was defeated by only one pin in my 4 match.

The moral of this story is everyone is an individual and has unique characteristics to their swing that may or may not be fundamentally sound. But often these idiosyncrasies are caused by our unique body type and shape. You often have to find what works for you. You can’t fight mother nature.

Pinbuster
If you are like 99% of the hundreds of bowlers I have worked with accross the country you just need someone to show you "how" to raise your backswing without any adverse effects. Until someone can show you how then you are right to just stick with what you know. At least you are willing to try new things, that is a plus in it's self.
Bowl great!

Ron Clifton