Folks, I'm baffled .....

When I'm off, it seems my miss is a tug. I can't figure out why.  Any attempt to fix it will result in a few good shots, but it always seems to come back.  When I'm really out of it, any attempt to fix it results in a miss wide -- it feels like I am decelerating my downswing when this happens.  I assume its all timing, but what's wrong??? 

You might be running to the line or your timing is off...those would be the first two places I would check.

You might be running to the line or your timing is off...those would be the first two places I would check.

I'll add to this.

1. Rushing. essentially, running to the foul line, as that puts your ball behind your body at the point of release, causing you to have to pull the ball as your arm catches up.

2. timing. Lane already covered that.

3. Elbow. Once your elbow comes out to the outside of your body (read: turned away from your body), your shot is going to be tugged. Keeping the elbow locked will prevent that.

4. falling off your shot. At the point of release, you see a lot of bowlers have to pull their extended leg back underneath them to regain their balance (falling off their shot); most of the time, that is a sign rushing, which goes back to timing. The opposite of that would be posting the shot. Good examples of posting the shot would be, say, Brad Snell or Anthony Pepe.

I'm sure others will chime in as well, but these are good for starters.

BL.

Besides all the prior stated possibilities, I also pull shots when I drift to the right, I’m right handed. Seems that drifting right puts my body in the wrong position and I pull the ball around my body trying to hit my target. Haven’t had a chance to get someone to video me when I’m doing it. But half the time when I drift, I pull the shot left of target as many boards as I drifted offline to the right.

Doesn’t make sense when I think about it, but it just seems to be what happens.

Make sure you walk straight and not towards your target (drifting).   Tilt your hips/shoulders towards your target but walk straight.  That seems to help me.

One thing nobody has mentioned so far, and that is fit of your bowling ball.

 If your fit isn’t correct, it can cause you to try to “hang onto” the ball, which can cause you to come around and over the top of the ball during the release, naturally causing your arm swing to come inside of your desired swing plane.

 Another thing that isn’t mentioned is your initial setup.

 If you hold the ball to far toward your core center, instead of inline with your shoulder, it can cause you to “go around” your body with your swing. If you do this, early timing will cause you to miss out, and late timing will cause you to pull your shots.