Spine tilt

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Spine tilt

Post by ads »

Is spine tilt purely a static left/right inclination of upper body, or is it changing over the approach?

Both at setup and during finish, and from a back view, the tilt looks like a left/right inclination of upper body.

However, when moving, say for a RH bowler, the original right inclination of the upper body at setup seems to be vanished and the upper body will tilt to the left when the bowler opens up his shoulder, swings the ball to the back and points his non-ball arm to the ground.

But at the same time, the forward tilt of upper body does create room for the swing to drive back inside the head. And when the swing descends, the left lateral tilt will be diminishing and the body will tilt to the right again when the right leg crosses over.

The lateral body tilt (the left-right inclination) seems to change over the course of approach, from right to left and then back to right (for a RH bowler).
Adrian
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JMerrell
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Re: Spine tilt

Post by JMerrell »

Adrian,
Very good question! First I’ll address your analysis followed by my assessment of lateral spine tilt.

ads wrote:Is spine tilt purely a static left/right inclination of upper body, or is it changing over the approach? It is not static, its goal is to position the head in order that ball position is aligned with the head throughout the approach.

Both at setup and during finish, and from a back view, the tilt looks like a left/right inclination of upper body. Correct

However, when moving, say for a RH bowler, the original right inclination of the upper body at setup seems to be vanished and the upper body will tilt to the left when the bowler opens up his shoulder, swings the ball to the back and points his non-ball arm to the ground. Your analysis is typically what I see when analyzing the average bowler, not what I see when analyzing a high level athlete. More on this below.

But at the same time, the forward tilt of upper body does create room for the swing to drive back inside the head. And when the swing descends, the left lateral tilt will be diminishing and the body will tilt to the right again when the right leg crosses over. Forward tilt of the upper body without sufficient lateral spine tilt typically results in a back swing that works around the body, not a good thing.

The lateral body tilt (the left-right inclination) seems to change over the course of approach, from right to left and then back to right (for a RH bowler). Not true for the high level athlete.

Lateral spine tilt guidelines:

1) The Gold Line is centered on the waist line throughout the approach.
2) The Green Line is centered on the head throughout the approach.
3) The Red Line is centered on Lateral Spine Tilt throughout the approach.

Lateral spine tilt positions analyzed:
1) Address
2) Ball placement
3) Bottom of the back swing
4) Step prior to entering the slide
5) Bottom of the forward swing

Example high level athletes utilized…Michael Fagan & Doug Kent.
1) Comparable height
2) Michael has the physical stature and flexibility of Gumby.
3) Doug’s physical stature and flexibility is closer to Brutus.

My theoretical model athlete maintains perfect alignment of the head and ball throughout the approach.

Unfortunately, the camera is positioned perpendicular to the foul line and not down these athletes target lines.

But as you can see these athletes are far closer to the ideal model than the average bowler.

And at no position throughout the approach does their spine tilt move back to the left.
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-JMerrell
"Simplify the Motion.....Maximize the Results"
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kajmk
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Re: Spine tilt

Post by kajmk »

A typically top notch job from our gift that keeps on giving.

A lot of good information succinctly packaged and clearly expressed.
Good use of compare & contrast.

This is one for every bowlers training book.
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