Drifting

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Joined: November 22nd, 2014, 6:07 am
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Positive Axis Point: 5 5/8 up 3/4
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Drifting

Post by ads »

Saw on PWBA tour that some excellent players have their steps drifting left (Right-handed).

Told that drifting to the bowling arm side has the drawback of blocking the down swing. If so, is that drifting to the opposite side an intentional act?


Thanks Jim.

I tried the footwork today . Standing 3 boards right to my usual setup location and right foot walking in front of left "intentionally". Drifting 3/4 boards left at the fool line. Not sure if I should drift more, say 5 boards.

Yes. My delivery was more accurate (6 in a row of ringing 10 :oops:). Only my balance at the foul line was occasionally off.


Last edited by ads on September 25th, 2015, 6:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Adrian
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JMerrell
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Re: Drifting

Post by JMerrell »

Adrian,
Good observation, as average humans we can learn a lot more by observing and adapting to what we see in the woman’s professional game.

Drifting (walking) towards the bowling arm side is a big NO - NO. Most right handed bowlers who walk right to left have a big misunderstanding of how much there ball really hooks. All they see is where they start their feet and where the ball ends up.

Typically, when I move this bowler’s starting position right on the approach, they feel as though their ball will now hook off the lane….never happens. What does eventually happen is that they now will be properly aligned to their target and their swings become straighter, more leveraged and accuracy improves as a by-product of the change.

The way I view it, the bowler has two choices…….walk straight and swing around the body (example #1)……or swing straight and allow the body to walk around the swing (example #2).

With example #1, the bowler walks straight, but often the swing works around the body back and through.

Example #2 is my preferred method for a five step bowler.
1) Step #1 straight
2) Step #2 directly in front of the previous step (clears right hip for back swing)
3) Step #3 straight
4) Step #4 directly in front of the previous step (clears right hip for down swing)
5) Step #5 directly in front of the previous step (necessary in order to maintain balance at the line)

So as to your question whether it’s intentional to walk left........no the footwork left is just a by-product of a straight swing and the body moving to accommodate it.

Adrian,
At your next practice session experiment with both styles. I believe Method #2 will provide more accuracy, especially on sport conditions.
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-JMerrell
"Simplify the Motion.....Maximize the Results"
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