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Inconsistent

Posted: February 20th, 2017, 11:58 pm
by Quick
As stated I am horribly inconsistent. I'm completely self taught and have a similar grip to Tom Smallwood.

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Re: Inconsistent

Posted: February 21st, 2017, 1:30 am
by TonyPR
Welcome to Bowling Chat. Have you considered not using your thumb and keeping your left hand on the ball throughout your whole approach? You are almost a two hander.

Re: Inconsistent

Posted: February 22nd, 2017, 11:09 pm
by TonyPR
Ok here we go:

One thing is your whole swing is muscled, it is very difficult to have a consistent swing if it is not assisted by gravity. Gravity is always constant unless something knocks our planet off our orbit and I don't see that happening any time soon. On the other hand your muscles can be more rested one day than another, more hydrated one day than another, less tired on the first game than the eight... see where I am getting.

Another thing is you are releasing the ball around hip height, with a bent elbow and far away from your body and this is causing over rotation of the throwing arm shoulder and putting you in an unbalanced and weak position to release the ball. The ball should be released under your head and close to your ankle.

A bowling ball is a heavy object, the heaviest ball in all sports, it is easier to deal with a heavy object when keeping it close to your body. I was told by coach Rick Witse at Kegel that Jason Belmonte once told him he likes to feel his arm brush against his torso on the way to the backswing and on the way to the release on the downswing and thus releases the ball 5 boards right of his sliding foot, virtually no gap between the throwing arm and body.

I suggested bowling to handed because it is very similar to what you are doing and it will be easier to do my two recommendations this way. Supporting the ball on two hands throughout your approach will let you loosen your swing using more your legs for speed and let you relax your arms and prevent wrist injury or long term carpel tunnel. Bowling two handed will also help you keep your ball close to your body and under your head at release helping you with your balance which is key to repeating shots and preventing shoulder over rotation getting you to a stronger position at release where you can transfer energy more efficiently to the ball releasing it into the lane and forward towards the pins.

Bowling thumbless (two handed) will help you stay behind the ball which will also give you more efficient energy transfer and a more consistent stronger release because you can easily be under the equator and inside the ball and you don't have to worry about your thumb coming out.

Hope this helps. If you do wish to bowl two handed I can prescribe drills.

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