Author Topic: Creatures of habit.... (Read 3596 times)

tenpinspro · « **on:** October 31, 2008, 07:24:51 AM »

Yes we are. Never seems to fail how once we put a ball in our hands and step up on the approach, muscle memory takes over. We'll go and throw the ball the way we normally do without truly paying attention to how the lane should be played.

What I mean is that sometimes we can swing the ball to begin with on a particular shot (and we're doing okay), carrydown presents itself and we continue to swing the ball and wonder why we're no longer carrying.

I've always tried to teach my students to pay very close attention to ball reaction so they can make the necessary adjustments faster and accordingly. If the ball starts going high, then get in, if the ball is not getting up to the pocket or starts deflecting and leaves corners, square or tighten up some to help create a better entry angle. Nobody is telling us where to stand or how to throw the ball, we get to make that decision.

Simple question, if what you're doing is not producing the desired result, why would you want to go up next time and do it again..and again? Pay attention to ball reaction guys and move accordingly. This will help us improve our scores, good luck and good bowling.

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Rick Leong - Ten Pins Pro Shop
Tag Team Coaching - Co-Founder
"El" Presidente of the Legion

tenpinspro · « **Reply #16 on:** November 14, 2008, 01:59:31 PM »

Hey dewatkins,

Glad to hear you're trying to make the adjustment. What I've seen that most people do is to stay safe when shot making. It's also sometimes harder for older bowlers (bowling 25-30 yrs) to get our brains to believe that equipment these days can actually hook that much compared to the days of throwing hard rubber/plastic.

I have videos of myself throwing our Rule Delta 1 (standing 40) which shows that the ball actually doesn't make a change of direction until after 50 ft down lane (at the 5 board) and then returns to the pocket. I've never hooked a ball that much (and so late) so getting myself to "trust" and "believe" it still becomes fairly difficult (let alone position my body to allow this swing angle to occur properly).

quote:
I can not figure out why other than the lanes are much tougher on Sunday, I accused the house of running the PBA experience for both Sunday (ours and the PBA league at the same time) leagues and just not telling us.

It's possible if he oils the PBA pattern first, you will still have some remnants of the pattern physically on the oiling machine (buffer, roller..etc.). If oil was applied to the buffer, it doesn't just disappear when you change the oil pattern to oil the other lanes. Oil residue will still exist on the buffer/roller. This may be a cause of what you're seeing on Sunday (just a thought).
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Rick Leong - Ten Pins Pro Shop
Tag Team Coaching - Co-Founder
"El" Presidente of the Legion

astroboy · « **Reply #17 on:** November 16, 2008, 08:48:07 PM »

To trust the ball, it also involves the bowler himself/herself, who actually executes the ball. In order to do so, should we need to trust ourselves to begin with? IMO, it takes a lot to trust the ball, because one has to be consistent to a certain degree in order to have the trust in himself/herself.

As a less consistent bowler like myself, paying attention to the ball reaction doesn't mean I am able to make the adjustment quick enough. The reason is because I can't execute the ball consistent enough so that the ball would provide a consistent roll over and over. Base on the body inconsistency, before I can actually trust the ball motion down the lane, I have already lost the trust to my own body.

Instead of making a ball work at the same line, I would instead, try to make my body to get back on track so that I can see what the "real" ball motion is doing at the same line.

I can understand that we are all human beings, and we can't repeat a body motion exactly the same way every single time. Since we are all human beings, I am sure that my situation happens to everyone here, but it's a matter of how quickly we can overcome it.

Before we can trust the ball, should we first try to find some ways to be more consistent, or at least try to find some ways to get ourselves back to the normal pace quicker?

tenpinspro · « **Reply #18 on:** November 19, 2008, 12:28:48 PM »

quote:
[/To trust the ball, it also involves the bowler himself/herself, who actually executes the ball. In order to do so, should we need to trust ourselves to begin with? IMO, it takes a lot to trust the ball, because one has to be consistent to a certain degree in order to have the trust in himself/herself.

True but not necessarily completely true. Unfortunately, (because you bowl where I do but later) bowling on very dry lanes is fairly difficult. The other tough shot is if the lanes were completely flooded and you get no reaction. Either condition to the extreme is tough.

Bowling on very dry lanes is hard because you have constant or immediate friction where the ball does not "naturally" get a proportionate and needed amount of skid before it enters its hook then roll phase. We as bowlers "have" to create this slide/skid and that's what becomes difficult for some rev dominant players. Either we will have to use muscle to throw harder, loft, spin or get so far left to delay the ball that it takes us out of our comfort zone (physically or mentally). This is basically why we need lanes to be dressed so that a ball can create some stored energy or rather that a lane helps us create that stored energy easier or naturally.

quote:
As a less consistent bowler like myself, paying attention to the ball reaction doesn't mean I am able to make the adjustment quick enough.

I understand what you're saying here but my intention for this post was for bowlers to at least try and look for the pocket on following shots vs continually going high or lite. Again, in your particular case, the drier shot you're on is pretty difficult but if you trusted yourself to move left with your feet and target even further, I'd say that you would hit the pocket on a higher percentage (carrying that would be another topic).

quote:
Before we can trust the ball, should we first try to find some ways to be more consistent, or at least try to find some ways to get ourselves back to the normal pace quicker?

I can only say that practicing more helps us be more consistent, not sure if there's really anything other than repetition that helps train and builds our muscle memory.

The main key here for us "is" to "trust" our reactions and leaves. If the ball can go high and leave a 6-10 a couple of times, trust that the lane did that and move accordingly.
--------------------
Rick Leong - Ten Pins Pro Shop
Tag Team Coaching - Co-Founder
"El" Presidente of the Legion

Edited on 11/19/2008 1:32 PM

Guined · « **Reply #19 on:** November 19, 2008, 03:42:34 PM »

Good post Rick, Glad to see you back posting.

I think one of the keys to add about practice is how and the quality of practice sessions.

"Remember practice is exaclty that, your not shooting for score."

It's like watching people at a driving range, they go hit buckets upon buckets of balls but that's all they have done. They never line up their shots, work on hand postion, placement of the feet, or ball in their stance, ect, ect.

Bowling works the same way people. Practice is about working on fundamentals then expanding them. Learning different hand positions, foot work, how to change your axis tilt, or rotation, how to venture out of your comfort zones and learn to play a larger portion of the lane. Practice at differnt centers with different surfaces, oil patterns, try them when they are fresh or they are burnt. learn to see ball reaction on these differnt conditions and watch how the ball moves through the pin deck and what the pins do.

Key is to develop a practice routine that works on varying aspects of your game at individual times and then bring them together. This way you are developing your "A", "B", and "C" games.

The last thning I want to hit on is spares. They are one of the most important things you can practice. If you can be effective at picking up your spares your strike precentage will increase. Just look at Walter Ray, he just won his 45th title and he is also the best spare shooter on tour. Maybe it's just a coincidence but I don't think so.

So go out and practice correctly and try stepping out side of the box. I guarantee there is no alligators out there. Lol.
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Rick Guined

Owner/Operator: New Millennium Proshop
Track Regional Staff Player
Vise PBA Regional Staff Player
www.trackbowling.com

Author Topic: Creatures of habit.... (Read 3596 times)

tenpinspro

Creatures of habit....

tenpinspro

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astroboy

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tenpinspro

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Guined

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