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Direction and Line of Play

Posted: January 14th, 2020, 8:38 pm
by Glenn
I am confused about the proper direction and line of play. And, there seems to me to be two schools of thought.
On the one hand, the slide foot stays parallel to the lanes, the ball-side foot is slightly behind the slide foot, and the body opens up to accommodate the desired line of play as you approach the foul line.
On the other hand, the bowler stays parallel to the line of play, the feet are side-by-side (closed position), and you walk this path to the foul line.
Now, if we are talking about bowling up/near the track area, both approaches agree for the most part.
But as the bowler moves inside, the line of play (angle) increasingly differs between the two styles.
Am I missing something here?

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: January 15th, 2020, 12:05 am
by kajmk
I don't think you are missing anything.

Chris Barnes has exemplary footwork.
Watch this short tip.


ETBF on footwork


A great from another era, take a look at Marshall's footwork in the beginning of this video.



Footwork drill

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: January 15th, 2020, 4:06 am
by TonyPR
Hips, chest and swing should be aligned with intended line of play from address to release.

How much angle?

Ok, if ball is being release on 10 to hit 10 at the arrows in a line towards the bottom left corner of the 6 pin (10 board), launch angle is zero... Now if you were to lay the ball down on 39 in a line towards the 1 board at the pin deck, how large of a launch angle is this? Most would be surprised it’s only 3.14 degrees... so yea one should open up a bit to play deep but how much? The answer is very very little. If one opens up too much it will create a swing that goes around the body and the bowler will need compensations to get the ball back to the line of play at release.

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: January 15th, 2020, 4:06 pm
by kajmk
As Tony said, the degree is very SUBTLE.

By the way, according to Del Warren, your travails are very COMMON.




I studied under Rolf Gauger. Rolf mentioned and wrote about 13 points of contact at the pins. Refining that, Focal points at the pin decks were taught. This video on 3 point targeting details those contact points.

If you were to practice using a straight ball (PAP Marker at Zero degrees) to those focal points, you might start to improve your alignment.






Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: March 1st, 2020, 11:30 pm
by Glenn
Oops, I let this thread get away from me. Sorry!
Guys, I had most of these videos downloaded on my computer, and reference them often. Thanks!
Where I was going with this is that the USBC and KEGEL, etc. teach walking parallel to the lane and adjusting the body to the desired launch angle.
However, the ETBF teaches (taught) bowling through a method called ETT - Everything Towards the Target.
And, I had a PBA/Silver coach some years ago that taught that same ETBF method - he would walk toward the target from a deep inside line.
I was/am trying to determine what would work best for me, and when.

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: March 2nd, 2020, 4:27 pm
by kajmk
Try different things.

I went overboard with references, the intent is to promote awareness, encourage thought, creativity, and trial.

Study some pros, ladies and men. You can slow down YouTube down to .25 of normal speed. According to Mark Baker, Chris Barnes has excellent footwork.
Ladies tend to be more efficient and precise.

To me, this biggest challenge is the deep inside line.
In Bill Taylor's "Target Lines" and Dick Ritger's training, they illustrate the diagonal walk to the lay down point. However at some point, you'd be on the next approach.

Learning how to use the hips and shoulders with a coach is a good idea.

I very much like the ETBF training I've seen, wish it was available here.
Juha's illustration of shoulder mobility via opening, versus old style with its limits via elastic tension.

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: March 2nd, 2020, 9:09 pm
by boomer
That's my biggest issue as well - that deep inside line, especially with the ball return in the way.

How do you walk sideways, keeping your hips/shoulders in line (perpendicular) to the target while walking a controlled fashion away from the target. . .

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: March 2nd, 2020, 10:17 pm
by 44boyd
3 step approach

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: March 3rd, 2020, 5:57 pm
by kajmk
boomer wrote: March 2nd, 2020, 9:09 pm That's my biggest issue as well - that deep inside line, especially with the ball return in the way.

How do you walk sideways, keeping your hips/shoulders in line (perpendicular) to the target while walking a controlled fashion away from the target. . .
Look at Chris's right foot in the stance, opens the right hip. Baker said Chris has great foot work.



The lane is about 17 times longer than it is wide, almost like a yard stick, the challenge is to roll a bb down that yardstick.

There is a true scale diagram on
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-pin_bowling

Here's a thought and it's just a thought from the empty cave between my ears.

VIDEO yourself and always POST your shot!!!

Good idea, bad idea???

Perhaps as a training exercise: Try with a ball first, add a small rubber exercise ball you can palm, Stand touching the ball return, walk perpendicular to the foul line, once that's smooth, use a pllastic ball, straight ball release, focal point between 6-10 for RHB, 4-7 for LHB. Once you get a good feel for alignment of body and a good swing, tweak the release to your normal release on the same line (not trying for score).

Remember the old joke - "Tourist in New York asks a passerby , "How do you get to Carnegie hall?", passerby responds "Practice!"

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: March 6th, 2020, 9:39 am
by krava
I had an issue with this and still sometimes mess up and don't do it correctly. When I do this, I have my feet pointed toward the / line I intend to throw. I twist my body (shoulders) to the right so that my intended swing line is lined up correctly (for instance If stand 2 left of the last dot, I will look at a line from the 3rd arrow to about 8 at the range finder) . Then you have to walk straight and keep your body turned toward the right (if your right handed). If you turn your body left back straight before you throw the ball, you will miss bad to the left because the shoulder is out of play. When I do this correctly, it feels weird and sort of like I am "twisted" when I get to the foul line and throw the ball. When I did this to practice, the only thing I thought about was where is my swing line at during the entire approach making sure I didn't face back straight. A good thing to also do if you are practicing, is after you throw the ball and watched it go through the pins, take a look down at your left foot and make sure you aren't drifting too far right. If you are drifting too far right, your not walking straight.

Things get complicated when there is a low volume of oil on the lane, and your using too strong of a cover ball. The ball will react too soon, and it won't get projected out to the expected spot you wanted. So it makes it hard to figure out, did I keep my body turned to the right or what happened. I had that issue tonight. Switched from a storm supersonic to a hustle ink and things went fine.

boomer: you said something about "walking sideways" your not really walking sideways. I don't think you have to be at a bowling alley to try this. Point your feet / then turn toward that direction. Then keep your shoulders turned that direction and then walk straight. It is very easy to turn back straight though. Most of the time I still have to remind myself not to turn back straight.

Re: Direction and Line of Play

Posted: March 15th, 2020, 9:44 am
by TonyPR
boomer wrote: March 2nd, 2020, 9:09 pm That's my biggest issue as well - that deep inside line, especially with the ball return in the way.

How do you walk sideways, keeping your hips/shoulders in line (perpendicular) to the target while walking a controlled fashion away from the target. . .
If you use the American method (not ETT) walk straight. You can adjust your launch angle by lowering your ball side shoulder, the more you lower it the more launch angle. Remember that lowering the ball side shoulder should be done by a combination of bringing the ball side foot back a bit, opening hips and shoulders a bit, hinging the waist forward a bit and flexing and bringing knees together a bit. Don’t drop shoulder with lateral spine tilt as this will wreck your lower back and lumbar. Belt buckle, chest, forearm and ballside foot should be aligned with your intended line of play.