Muscle free hinge?

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deanchamp
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Muscle free hinge?

Post by deanchamp »

I have been having a discussion with a very knowledgeable bowling coach about the ball placement/ hinge (we don't use the term 'pushaway').

I like to hinge with a very relaxed arm, so when the ball drops it breaks my wrist back slightly as there is no muscle being used to keep it firm, thus the ball swings my arm and gravity accelerates the ball into the upswing. This gives me quite a quick ball drop which also allows the ball to swing to a decent height using this momentum and the speed of my footwork propelling my body forward to 'walk past the ball'.

Most the pros I watch though have a very firm wrist, either cupped or straight during the ball drop, that doesn't collapse under the weight of the ball. This requires muscle, it has to, to support the weight of the ball. When I tried it, it required muscle through the forearm, and it also caused the ball to drop at a slower rate, which affected my timing quite dramatically.

So the question is, I want to keep my ball drop and swing muscle and tension free, but I would also like to make the ball placement smoother without my wrist collapsing back under the weight of the ball. Is this possible?

Dean
Last edited by deanchamp on June 29th, 2014, 6:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Bowling without tension right arm tension

Post by Pulsetech »

Start off un cupped.
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Re: Muscle free hinge?

Post by Daryl »

Just to make sure I have it right, how are you defining wrist collapse? Is it wrist extension upon release of the ball?

Thanks,

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Re: Muscle free hinge?

Post by deanchamp »

Daryl wrote:Just to make sure I have it right, how are you defining wrist collapse? Is it wrist extension upon release of the ball?

Thanks,

Daryl
I am just talking about the very start of the swing, not the release. I don't start with a cupped wrist either or any tension in my right hand.

I was just wondering how to keep my wrist firm at this point without using any muscle, or if that was even possible.
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Re: Muscle free hinge?

Post by russelldean »

Dean I struggled with the same thing. If I don't start uncupped, I get my head and shoulders in front of my feet early. All kinds of bad things start to happen. The key for me, is recupping at the top of the swing. Ala Mark Baker. The uncupping at release to increase rev rate. I see bowlers who do have muscled hinge back swing, and seem to make it work. Most of them get the ball moving early, and have a high back swing, where they seem to be able to disengage before starting downswing .
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Re: Muscle free hinge?

Post by deanchamp »

russelldean wrote:Dean I struggled with the same thing. If I don't start uncupped, I get my head and shoulders in front of my feet early. All kinds of bad things start to happen. The key for me, is recupping at the top of the swing. Ala Mark Baker. Then uncupping at release to increase rev rate. I see bowlers who do have muscled hinge back swing, and seem to make it work. Most of them get the ball moving early, and have a high back swing, where they seem to be able to disengage before starting downswing .
Yeah the guys with the muscled hinge tend to start with a lower ball position, and then pull the ball into the back swing (e.g. TJ, Jason Sterner). I remember Bill O'Neill said once that the key to his game was making sure he just let the ball drop from the top of his swing, implying that he used muscle to get the ball to that point.
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Re: Muscle free hinge?

Post by spr3wr »

I tell my students that "its not a muscle swing if your not slowing down the swing". I believe you can stay under the ball with a free swing .To not collapses, maybe you could move the elbow 3-4 inches forward a small round motion instead of a pure drop into the swing.
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Re: Muscle free hinge?

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spr3wr wrote:I tell my students that "its not a muscle swing if your not slowing down the swing". I believe you can stay under the ball with a free swing .To not collapses, maybe you could move the elbow 3-4 inches forward a small round motion instead of a pure drop into the swing.
That's close to what i've started doing, where i'm anchoring my elbow into the side of my hip (which is further forward than where i used to start the ball) with my forearm parallel to the approach, and just letting the ball drop from there, using my left hand to guide it, with no outward movement at all.

This feels much smoother and i am able to keep under the ball without muscle into the upswing. I am starting the ball moving a little later to stay in time, but it feels ok and as a consequence now, my whole swing feels smoother as there is less movement in my wrist until the down swing.
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Re: Muscle free hinge?

Post by kajmk »

Dean, I meant to chime in and add my two cents when I saw your post but never got here.
The first bowler that came to my mind was Mike Fagan, it's no accident he is called the King of Swing.
Watching Mike reminds me of Jim Merrell's phrase Minimize the Effort, Maximize the Results.
Granted I can't tell you what Mike feels, only what I think I see.
He seemingly rides the ball loading up at the last moment so to speak.
It is nice if you can do it.
Now if the bowling ball feels like a baseball in your hand, that's other thing ...
There are some videos that include Mike on the Wiki.

I'd settle for having Mike's game any day.

I've included Spigner's Analysis of Mike Fagan. You can also find this on Bill Spigner's Website
http://www.billspigner.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Capture.JPG
Spigner on Fagan 1.JPG
Spigner on Fagan 2.JPG
Spigner on Fagan 3.JPG
I think it is a good idea to have a LIGHTER bowling ball when tinkering with the release if there are elements of risk from injury.

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and to that freedom for all.

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Re: Muscle free hinge?

Post by deanchamp »

thanks for your reply John. i've read all the Bill Spigner articles many times and it is always interesting to read about how he sees the different bowler's styles.

i tend to do the same thing as Fagan in terms of only trying to get under and inside the ball as it nears the release zone, and i try and keep my wrist relaxed until that point. i can't get as insanely inside the ball with the same amount of wrist cock as Fagan, but that's the benchmark to strive for.

i've been working on my hinge and found the best way to stop the ball dropping so quickly as to break my wrist back is to keep the weight of the ball longer on my left hand, and to have the ball drop more in an arc than straight down. this also slows down the ball drop speed slightly, which helps to keep my hand under the ball without using any forearm muscle.

thanks for everyone's input as it has all been valuable.
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