Lateral Spine Tilt

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pjape
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Joined: May 13th, 2011, 1:16 pm

Lateral Spine Tilt

Post by pjape »

This morning I finally had time to do some videotaping of myself. I then checked out how close I am to Mark Baker's ten "hall of fame" positions. There are several positions that I don't match up, but would with one addition--lateral spine tilt.

I seem to have a lot of difficulty achieving this during my approach. I wonder if it's because I'm a bit youthfully challenged (age 52), or if I'm just not used to it because I've never done it. Although I took up the sport relatively late in life (1992), to the best of my memory, lateral spine tilt wasn't really talked about much back then.

Have any of you older bowlers been able to successfully add lateral spine tilt to your game? Any tips you can give me?

Thanks!
JMerrell
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Posts: 1440
Joined: August 1st, 2010, 1:45 pm
Positive Axis Point: 5 1/8" x 1/2" up
Speed: 16 mph @ foul line
Rev Rate: 230
Axis Tilt: 20
Axis Rotation: 50
Location: Florence, Ky

Re: Lateral Spine Tilt

Post by JMerrell »

Lateral spine tilt has been around forever, just research a lot of older video on youtube and you will be amazed at the amount of lateral tilt you'll see back in the day.

I've attached a photo of Sam Coleman from somewhere around 1950, and as you can see he had sufficient lateral spine tilt. During his era Sam was a dominant local bowler and participated in many BPAA's long before the PBA emerged against some of the greatest of that era.

As a coach I have been using video for analysis for over 30 years. But it wasn't until I had the privilege of taking good friend Mo Pinel out for lunch (approx. 15 years ago) and we did what coaches do...we watched the PBA during our lunch. Over and over again he pointed out that during their release if the head moved left........they missed left. It was right there before my face...just needed the Guru to point out the obvious.

pjape
A good starting point to increase lateral spine tilt is at address.
I've attached Doug as an example.
Notice a line through the center line of his head is outside the right foot.
There are some athletes that can start at address with minimal lateral spine tilt and achieve excellent lateral spine tilt during release.
The find this to be the exception rather than typical.
You are never too old to increase your lateral spine tilt.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
-JMerrell
"Simplify the Motion.....Maximize the Results"
pjape
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Posts: 412
Joined: May 13th, 2011, 1:16 pm

Re: Lateral Spine Tilt

Post by pjape »

JMerrell wrote:Lateral spine tilt has been around forever, just research a lot of older video on youtube and you will be amazed at the amount of lateral tilt you'll see back in the day.

I've attached a photo of Sam Coleman from somewhere around 1950, and as you can see he had sufficient lateral spine tilt. During his era Sam was a dominant local bowler and participated in many BPAA's long before the PBA emerged against some of the greatest of that era.

As a coach I have been using video for analysis for over 30 years. But it wasn't until I had the privilege of taking good friend Mo Pinel out for lunch (approx. 15 years ago) and we did what coaches do...we watched the PBA during our lunch. Over and over again he pointed out that during their release if the head moved left........they missed left. It was right there before my face...just needed the Guru to point out the obvious.

pjape
A good starting point to increase lateral spine tilt is at address.
I've attached Doug as an example.
Notice a line through the center line of his head is outside the right foot.
There are some athletes that can start at address with minimal lateral spine tilt and achieve excellent lateral spine tilt during release.
The find this to be the exception rather than typical.
You are never too old to increase your lateral spine tilt.
Thanks Jim. After I posted this, I was watching some old videos from "Championship Bowling," and lo and behold, just as the picture of Sam shows, a lot of these guys definitely had the lateral spine tilt going. I have to admit, I've never heard of Sam Coleman, but I'm going to try to find clips of him on Youtube.

Time to get to work!
JMerrell
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Posts: 1440
Joined: August 1st, 2010, 1:45 pm
Positive Axis Point: 5 1/8" x 1/2" up
Speed: 16 mph @ foul line
Rev Rate: 230
Axis Tilt: 20
Axis Rotation: 50
Location: Florence, Ky

Re: Lateral Spine Tilt

Post by JMerrell »

Sam was actually known as : "Slamming Sammy" in his youth. I don't think you will find any video of him, not a lot of televised events during the earlier days.

Just as pro shops have improved in the last decade so has the level of available coaching.

And it's not because we have re-invented the game, we have come to have a better understanding of cause and effect. This knowledge gained through websites such as BowlingChat and social media.

While you may not have the flexibility of a twenty year old, you can still improve your lateral spine tilt with the aide of a friend, coach or video.
-JMerrell
"Simplify the Motion.....Maximize the Results"
crashin12x
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Posts: 470
Joined: November 23rd, 2011, 5:56 am
Positive Axis Point: 5" x 7/8"
Speed: 15.7 MPH Off Hand
Rev Rate: 250
Axis Tilt: 18
Axis Rotation: 65
Preferred Company: Hammer, Ebonite and MoRich

Re: Lateral Spine Tilt

Post by crashin12x »

Some questions on this topic:

1. What would be the typical range of lateral spine tilt for effective delivery?
2. Is this the same for female and male bowlers?
3. Should a bowler changes tilt from address to delivery what would be the "allowable" change in that tilt?
4. What's the common reference in measuring spine tilt along the horizontal or vertical planes?

Appreciate your inputs, thanks!
LHB
PAP 5" over LEFT x 7/8" over UP
Tilt 18*
Speed 16 MPH (Off Hand)
Rev 250 RPM
Rot 65*
JMerrell
Trusted Source
Trusted Source
Posts: 1440
Joined: August 1st, 2010, 1:45 pm
Positive Axis Point: 5 1/8" x 1/2" up
Speed: 16 mph @ foul line
Rev Rate: 230
Axis Tilt: 20
Axis Rotation: 50
Location: Florence, Ky

Re: Lateral Spine Tilt

Post by JMerrell »

crashin12x wrote:Some questions on this topic:

1. What would be the typical range of lateral spine tilt for effective delivery?
An effective amount of lateral spine tilt places the head over the ball during release.......there is no one number for all
2. Is this the same for female and male bowlers? yes
3. Should a bowler changes tilt from address to delivery what would be the "allowable" change in that tilt? Same answer as question #1
4. What's the common reference in measuring spine tilt along the horizontal or vertical planes? vertical

Appreciate your inputs, thanks!
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11318" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-JMerrell
"Simplify the Motion.....Maximize the Results"
crashin12x
Member
Member
Posts: 470
Joined: November 23rd, 2011, 5:56 am
Positive Axis Point: 5" x 7/8"
Speed: 15.7 MPH Off Hand
Rev Rate: 250
Axis Tilt: 18
Axis Rotation: 65
Preferred Company: Hammer, Ebonite and MoRich

Re: Lateral Spine Tilt

Post by crashin12x »

JMerrell wrote:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11318" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hi Jim,

As always, appreciated your reply. Followed the link you posted and those were the exact same questions. Hat off! Thank you!
LHB
PAP 5" over LEFT x 7/8" over UP
Tilt 18*
Speed 16 MPH (Off Hand)
Rev 250 RPM
Rot 65*
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