officaly suck at bowling need helpwent from 170 avg to 30 avg

[wes]

use to avg about 170-180 back when i was about 19 i bowled constantly i quite for many years i am now 24 and i can not bowl at all i have forgot so much i remember the arrows and the oil patterns but most of my swing is gone. tonight i bowled to 30 pin games i was incredibly embarrassed by this so i left early i was geting no length down the lane at all the balls would hook far to early it and usually only manage to hit the 7 pin. i aimed for the 2 and three arrows and adjusted my swing strength but was unable to shake it. what should i do i am considering hiring a coach i switched arrows a little trying to stay on the oil as long as possible but could not find it. please help.

[Ball99999]

Do you let your arm fall freely back and forth or do you basically consciously, using muscles, swing the ball like a baseball bat?

[wes]

muscles i was geting extremly high revs i tried a rhino re and still manged to gutterball it

[billf]

Was there any oil? You said your target point but not your starting point. How far left did you move? Were you hitting your mark? I don't mean to badger after such a frustrating night, just need more information.

[wes]

no problem i really want to go back. so i want help. i cant remember boards ill have too look that up again i was strating about where i use to brb ima look it up

[wes]

and seemed to be alot of oil my hands were geting very moist i wiped my ball after every frame

[wes]

starting point between 30 and 20 on the closet set of dots (name for the two set of dots?) i didnt start hitting my mark the second game

[billf]

Always strive for the free armswing. As you are learning all over again,, muscling a bowling ball gets you a score that you don't want. Given a starting position of the 30 board and going over the second arrow you should have been putting the ball in the right channel. That angle at 15' wouldn't leave a chance for much else. So where you were only getting the 7 pin or worse, it's more likely that your swing plane was drastically out of whack. It may have felt like you were swinging straight out and straight back but the results (given the info) say otherwise. You timing was probably off a little also. Combine a poor swing plane with late timing and you stuck on the wrong side of the pins.

[Ball99999]

muscles i was geting extremly high revs i tried a rhino re and still manged to gutterball it



Oh yeah, muscles are bad. Counterintuitive I know, but gravity is a lot better at timing than your muscles. Gravity will do the same work your muscles do. When I use muscle I gutter like crazy.

[wes]

what is swing plane? also when i use to bowl i was even further more like the 39 board i think..does the 30 board base off you right foot? i was bowling mostly with a track 715a. i notice also that i struggled with my feet and slide. it was hard to get it in three steps. would it be useful for me to go back to a spare ball and work on my mechanics? so what about the muscle i shouldnt use any muscle just a free fall from the neutral starting position?

[billf]

I use the big toe side of my slide foot to determine what board I'm starting on, sliding on, etc.
3 steps? Is that what you normally use? 4 step is the most common taught and all timing is based off of 4 steps. If you use more than 4 then the additional steps at the beginning the arm doesn't move. Given the average you had before it won't take long to get the rust off. Using the spare ball to shake that rust off is up to you but I wouldn't recommend it. It's easier to track progress with ball motion of a reactive ball.
Swing slot article http://bowlingknowledge.info/images/stories/swing_slot_btm_july_08.pdf
Hinge it to release it article http://bowlingknowledge.info/images/stories/slowinskifeb09.pdf
Swing shape article http://bowlingknowledge.info/images/stories/slowinskimay12.pdf

Those should keep you busy for a few minutes.

[wes]

thanks for all the help ima read through them all ima go back on wednesday its quarters night :) be back on then :)

[Ball99999]

what is swing plane? also when i use to bowl i was even further more like the 39 board i think..does the 30 board base off you right foot? i was bowling mostly with a track 715a. i notice also that i struggled with my feet and slide. it was hard to get it in three steps. would it be useful for me to go back to a spare ball and work on my mechanics? so what about the muscle i shouldnt use any muscle just a free fall from the neutral starting position?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdeWmuaJyaY

[billf]

Great video. Of course I'm slightly biased with Ron Hatfield being one of my coaches.

[Ball99999]

Has anyone here met Fred Borden? I don't know how old those videos are but I've seen quite a few by him in bowling classes

[Tampabaybob]

Wes, sounds like more than a bit of frustration on your part. I've taken a couple of years off myself because of working hours conflicting with league schedules, and yes it does take a while to get back in shape. You mentioned hiring a coach. If there's one near you it would save you a lot of aggravation to have one work with you. They will be able to set you straight a lot quicker than you shooting a hundred games by yourself trying to figure out what's wrong and how to correct it. Your profile doesn't say where you live, but if you go to bowl.com and look under certified coaches you'll find one close to you. Time and practice will get you back.....a coach will shorten the time.

Bob

[J Anderson]

what is swing plane? also when i use to bowl i was even further more like the 39 board i think..does the 30 board base off you right foot? i was bowling mostly with a track 715a. i notice also that i struggled with my feet and slide. it was hard to get it in three steps. would it be useful for me to go back to a spare ball and work on my mechanics? so what about the muscle i shouldnt use any muscle just a free fall from the neutral starting position?

With three steps you don't have time for a push-away. Try holding it waist high and letting it drop as you start your first step. Or you could switch to four or five steps and make things a lot easier for your coach.

[billf]

Has anyone here met Fred Borden? I don't know how old those videos are but I've seen quite a few by him in bowling classes

I haven't met Mr. Borden. I did hear that he was not re-certifying his USBC coaching certification due to some sort of dispute with the USBC. It came from two other Gold coaches talking about it but they did not get into specific details.

[wes]

currently dont have a permanent residents live back and forth between corinth mississippi and pulaski tenn. how much does it cost to hie a coach?

[billf]

Prices can seriously vary but the average seemed to be around $80 per lesson when I was at the certification seminar. I currently charge $25 a lesson that lasts 90 minutes and includes video but I am also in a rural, low income area where unemployment is 18%.
Most of the coaches listed on bowl.com will also have either an e-mail or phone number listed. Just ask how much and what's included. Before you go to a lesson have a detailed list of what you believe you need to work on. Not only will this assure you get what you need but also lets the coach know how serious you really are about this.

[Tampabaybob]

Wes, go to this link at bowl.com. This is where you'll find coaches in your area.

http://membership.bowl.com/USBCsearch/SearchCoachesMain.jsp

Bob

[wes]

i went bowling last wednessday guyd and my score went up im deff not here i wana be but i am up around 120 now

[wes909]

hey guys i have been thinking and i really dont hve much of a hook right now and when i do its just not consistent so i was thinking should i buy a beginner bowling ball like the tornado its something i always regretted (not geting a beginner ball) i jumped right into bowling with and expensive ball it really hurt me but now that i am relearning i could redo this