Lazy balance arm and leg video

[billf]

I've been struggling the past two weeks. The video shows me making the same mistakes as before. So frustrating.

http://youtu.be/4sO033eu5aE

I included a whiff on a spare attempt and some funny others including where on a 7-10 split the ball came out of the gutter and went between them. What else do you see?

[billf]

Damn. A 1 hour video took two hours to edit, an hour to load and now it's forever processing on YouTube!

[striker12]

bill what ball are you throwing i seen the HHR but not sure of the other balls i think the red one at the start was the nexxus but the blue ball what ball was that.

another thing i seen around the 4min mark when u left up the 1-2-4-10 u should o thrown your HHR or nexxus witch ever ones more agressive u should stand on the 20board and push the ball out to the 7board and u ill make it go broocklin and u will convert it i have done that and i have made it 11/11 times.

[bowl1820]

My thought is your approach is off some, I'm not sure just how to phrase it.

I want to say your a little to far from the foul line, even with a five step approach and you rush the line.

You take three kinda of short steps at first, then on your fourth step it almost looks like a skip not a step.

It's Like your trying to make up some distance, before the slide step.

Then you take a long step and plant not really a slide. (not that there's anything wrong with a plant and shoot) but it looks to forced not smooth.

Try shortening your approach some and even the step spacing out some.
5-STEP DRILL
http://bowlingknowledge.info/images/stories/5_step_drill_btm_jan_07.pdf

TIMING DRILL
http://bowlingknowledge.info/images/stories/slowinski_rubber_band_timing_tool.pdf

Plus I think you carry the ball a little long. maybe get it in motion a little sooner.

[eugene02]

what i've see is that you walk 4 steps.. and instead of sliding you kind of put ur left leg further up and stay on the spot when you throw instead of sliding through.. shall continue watching before i comment more..

[billf]

Spacing the steps instead of them being short is another thing I've been working on. Ron Hatfield moved me back that far (I was at the closer dots) to increase the step length and ball speed. I keep reverting back to the short steps and not sure why. I take rather large steps when I normally walk.

[billf]

bill what ball are you throwing i seen the HHR but not sure of the other balls i think the red one at the start was the nexxus but the blue ball what ball was that.

another thing i seen around the 4min mark when u left up the 1-2-4-10 u should o thrown your HHR or nexxus witch ever ones more agressive u should stand on the 20board and push the ball out to the 7board and u ill make it go broocklin and u will convert it i have done that and i have made it 11/11 times.

The blue one was the Reckless. You were correct about the other two. That HRR is pin up and polished.

[JaMau24]

I've always noticed the little "skip" step you do, but hey, if it's what you're comfortable with, than go for it.

[billf]

I've always noticed the little "skip" step you do, but hey, if it's what you're comfortable with, than go for it.
I want to bowl not do ballet lol

[striker12]

never yeah u should of playing alittle more left with the HHR it was doing good but not hitting hard enoph if u where alittle mroe left and pushed it out maby 2 or 3 more boards u probly would of been getting some better pin action i use to stand 4 boards left of the last dot but had to mvoe right cause i kept hitting the ball return with my ball on my back swing soo know i stand on the 2nd arrow on the left and it just hits the pocket hard and gose right threw. 1 thing i did see a few times was your balance was off abit but only jsut as you released the ball but u got it back, like i seen your body moving one wya but then it stoped and u stood right back up.

[striker12]

next time u got for the 7-10 split go for the 10pin with alittle hook on the ball will make the 10pin bounce off the wall and if u got the ball fast enoph could make the ball go jsut ahead of the pin and the pin will deflect off the back of the ball and right back onto the lane.

i do that when i leave up the 4-6-10 and hit it 50% of the time sometimes my speed is too slow

[billf]

The only way I've been able to pick up the 7-10 split is by hitting the 7 with speed. I usually do stand further left with the HRR but for practice I will shoot every board combo that I don't normally use with that ball. Like with the Reckless; most wouldn't stand on 35 with that ball. Striker, even the Misfit made an appearance lol
The balance issue was back. Part of that is my balance arm and leg being lazy. Another part, I believe, is the issue with the step spacing throwing my timing off slightly which affects center of gravity. Of course the combination of these issues affected my ball speed greatly. Explains the loss of 5mph the last two weeks as my average speed was only around 14.7mph

BTW, after 9 right knee surgeries some of my lack of holding a finish position is physical and also psychological. I know my knee can't hold the weight for long. The left holds the weight but has been making up for the lack of strength in the right for so long I worry it's been over worked. Come to think of it, my problems returned after the right knee locked up on the approach a few weeks ago. Now as I type, I'm wondering if without realizing it, I reverted back to what didn't allow the knee lock up/pain/swelling, etc

[JaMau24]

BTW, after 9 right knee surgeries some of my lack of holding a finish position is physical and also psychological. I know my knee can't hold the weight for long. The left holds the weight but has been making up for the lack of strength in the right for so long I worry it's been over worked. Come to think of it, my problems returned after the right knee locked up on the approach a few weeks ago. Now as I type, I'm wondering if without realizing it, I reverted back to what didn't allow the knee lock up/pain/swelling, etc

Could be the case. Think of it like this... In baseball, if a pitcher hurts their leg, they often times aren't allowed to stay in the game. Their arm and upper body is completely fine, BUT having an injury to the lower body is going to make them favor the other leg. Consequently, the throwing motion by the pitcher is going to be different and they are going to put more stress on their arm, and risk major injury to their arm/elbow/shoulder.

Now while you may not have a major injury risk while trying to mask the other pain/injury, it still can cause you to throw it different. So basically, if you're knee is hurting you, or you locked up/hurt your knee a few weeks ago, obviously you don't want that to happen again and you don't want it to hurt, so you and/or your body could be making you throw it differently. So if you want it to return to normal (if there is no injury or pain), you just have to trust it and go back to what you were doing before it locked up on you.

[GeorgiaStroker]

Couldn't add to anything already said but I did notice the lane you were using seems to drop the 7 pin quite often. Reminds me of the days I worked as a pin chaser. I hated it when that would happen over and over during a league. Lol

[ztbowler15]

at 5:50 I can see you throw a strike, then you walk back, grab your ball and go again. i think that maybe you should slow down a bit. take a little time when standing on the approach to run some thoughts through your head. just a suggestion. maybe it'll help a little!

[vgw]

I think you could benefit by raising your left arm out there for balance. Your steps appear a little off as mentioned earlier. Your release looks alright for what you are doing. I would prefer an earlier release or timing, but the arm/approach should be addressed first.

[billf]

I think you could benefit by raising your left arm out there for balance. Your steps appear a little off as mentioned earlier. Your release looks alright for what you are doing. I would prefer an earlier release or timing, but the arm/approach should be addressed first.

My whole approach, release and balance is keyed off of my balance arm and leg. When going right, my balance arm will go out towards my target, helping my steps be correct in length and tempo and when it comes around to the side it puts my torso in the correct position for the release and balance. When the arm gets lazy the tempo, step length and everything else goes to heck.

[Tampabaybob]

Bill.....several good suggestions presented here, but let me add a couple, if I may. First of all your approach speed is a little fast and it appears you may be getting to the line before your ball. You're completely stopped before the ball is next to your leg. Just stopped the video on your last step, and your ball is 'just starting on the way down' in your backswing and your slide foot is almost stopped. You're way ahead of the ball. (slow, slow, quick, quick, with your steps).

The other thing I'm noticing is on your last step (again use a stop motion sequence to see this) you are hitting the floor heel first on your slide. You are planting that last step instead of sliding. Try dragging that last step and sliding on the ball of your shoe. Not the easiest thing to change but it'll help you bring everything back into time; feet, arm swing and slide. Keep your left arm out, away from your body, on the 2nd, 3rd and last step at the line with your thumb pointing down.

Also, next video, try to get your entire body in the picture, and have it a little lighter. Good luck, want to hear your thoughts.

Bob

[billf]

I can't control the lighting there especially when they are busy. I wasn't trying to get my whole body in as I was confident my head wasn't an issue but boy was I upset when I saw how bad everything was. As for the slide; I gave that up years ago but the heel first is a new thing that I believe Bowl1820 nailed the cause of. I am getting to the line ahead of the ball but the speed on the approach is not the issue. No disrespect to anybody here (or myself) but I will defer to Ron Hatfield on that as he is the one that wanted me to speed up the tempo on the approach. When I'm not butchering the rest up the ball going at 23mph at 50 feet with matching revs is a beautiful thing.

My real question is, how were you able to save the video to play it on a different player? I would love to be able to view some of the vids posted on my Storm software.

[Tampabaybob]

Bill, notice in your video how many times you're keeping your balance at the line throughout the shot and how many times you end up having to catch your balance with your right foot. That to me is a red flag. The times you are balanced you are just a bit slower with your feet and when you have to catch yourself your feet are just a touch faster.

When you finish at the line you want your hand/ball to be right there too. Ron may have wanted you to speed up your approach but I think he still wants to have everything get there together. You can try raising your ball in the stance which will lower your back swing and therefore get the ball down sooner and maybe come together quicker. Just a thought.

Bob

[billf]

Bob, he lowered the ball in my stance, even lower than where I was in the video, to try to lower the backswing. I thought I was parallel then but it turned out that it was over my head! Talk about muscling the ball without realizing it. With the ball high in the stance i let it swing way too far back.

[Tampabaybob]

You know Bill, people that are not bowlers think this is a really easy game. As you and many others on this site have found out it takes a lot of work, effort and practice to get to where you want to be. You are one that realizes that and are a good example for these new bowlers to follow.

GRAVITY, GRAVITY, GRAVITY. I struggle with the same problem where my muscles try to interfere. After bowling one way for all of these years, its not that easy to make changes. I've been playing with the "relaxed" swing for a few months now and I can tell you it's not easy. Those stupid muscles keep trying to do the work. You'll get it where you want it, just keep practicing. We have a couple of guys in my league that do this (both lefties), and to watch them, you just kinda stand there in amazement. It almost looks like they just dump the ball on the lane with little or no effort. And they're both high 225+ averages !

Bob

[billf]

I have another coaching session scheduled with Ron Hatfield and Andy Parker next month. I will be so disappointed if I can't correct the stuff they wanted me to work on last time. Things were going great most of the summer.

Yes people. The coach gets lessons. It's like the old adage, "the lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client." I'm smart enough to know that a person has a hard time seeing their own flaws. I about passed out from embarrassment the first time I recorded myself. It was that night that I sought out coaches I trusted.

[edpup316]

at 5:50 I can see you throw a strike, then you walk back, grab your ball and go again. i think that maybe you should slow down a bit. take a little time when standing on the approach to run some thoughts through your head. just a suggestion. maybe it'll help a little!

I like this very much. Its something everyone should do. I tell my gf im going to practice and when i come back 2 hours later she asked if i bowled 10 games. I only bowl about 5 games but I take my time. At least a min between frames. Sure it would be physically challenging to keep bowling back to back to back but most of us have the physical part down, its the mental part of the game that we have trouble with plus you dont bowl like that in league or tournys.

Do you have the mental game to wait more the a min between frames?

[Tampabaybob]

I'm not sure it's the minute between frames thats important, but I teach bowlers to analyze their second shot while waiting for the ball to come back. This way you know what you're shooting, where you want to stand, and where you'll be targeting. Then I tell them to take an extra second or two when they get positioned with the ball on the approach. Several studies have also been done at KEGEL with taking a deep breath as you're setting you feet and exhaling as you take your first step. Their findings state that accuracy greatly improves. Keep in mind you don't want to over think the shots, but you do want to take the time to know what you're going to do and where to throw it. Once you're ready, your mind should be blank, and then just execute. Thinking during the shot can be hazardous to your accuracy.

Bob

[billf]

Part of it is I know my line for each spare and which ball I will use for that spare 99.9% of the time. So grabbing the ball is a no-brainer. The target line is usually the same way. The other part is getting use to the fast pace for the record attempt. If you van get ready and shoot that quick then you can definitely do it slower, in my opinion.
As for bowling that way in tournaments; I have. When they go to the cut and it's match play, PBA style (you shoot two frames), I will purposely pick up the pace. This has been especially effective on older bowlers. They can slow down but remember, there is a shot clock so they can't take too long. I can have both my shots off before some can get the lid off their drinks. That's where I use my physical game to screw with their mental game.

[Tampabaybob]

If your spare shooting percentage is in the 95% range then stick with what you're doing. Because I see so many bowlers pick up the ball and run on the second shot, I try to instill in them to take an extra second or two to KNOW where they want to throw the ball. Spare shooting to me is one of the most important aspects of this game. Give me a good spare shooter on my team anytime as opposed to a guy that throws 5 or six strikes in a game, then can't hit a bull in the *** with a bass fiddle, when he goes to shoot a spare. We've all seen those types of guys, and personally I love to shoot against them , because I know at some point in the game they'll blow it by missing that all important game winning spare.

[billf]

I've never tried to hit a bull in the *** with a bass fiddle. I've shot a camel in the *** with an AK-47 from 2,000 meters, does that count?
As I'm watching the ball go through the pins on the first shot I can usually tell what's going to be left. I already know that if a second shot is needed I will be using my spare ball. My target it the 18 board so all I need to know at that point is start position which depends on the pin leave. Anybody who practices spares should know that information right off the top of their head. So why should I wait a minute or longer? On league I have to wait my turn. During that time I don't even think about my shot. I've visualized it already, have my marks set and equipment in hand. What the hell else is there to think about? * I often wonder what people are doing on the approach. I get set, take a breath and go. Some people can be timed with an hour glass.

[billf]

I noticed over the past week that my first step was a baby step (once again!). Today I focused on my athletic pose and a full first step while reaching forward at my target with my balance arm. Things just started falling into place. My release was a lot earlier, speed back and the correct rotation with some sick reaction. So basically my footwork was backwards; small first step with a long last step instead of a full first step with a short slide step. So Bowl1820 was correct. My slide (lol) step was heel first and very long trying to make up the distance. That distance was due to such a very short first step. Whoever would have thought that such a simple thing as walking could cause so many issues?

[Tampabaybob]

I noticed over the past week that my first step was a baby step (once again!). Today I focused on my athletic pose and a full first step while reaching forward at my target with my balance arm. Things just started falling into place. My release was a lot earlier, speed back and the correct rotation with some sick reaction. So basically my footwork was backwards; small first step with a long last step instead of a full first step with a short slide step. So Bowl1820 was correct. My slide (lol) step was heel first and very long trying to make up the distance. That distance was due to such a very short first step. Whoever would have thought that such a simple thing as walking could cause so many issues?

Yeah, planting that heel on your slide step jumped right out at me. Pretty hard to get a good slide in, when the heel hits the floor first on the slide step. Looks like your on the right track.

Getting ready for my league to start in 2 weeks and have been practicing on Saturdays after coaching the kids. Not shooting a lot of games each week sure makes a difference. Just makes you have to hone in on executing each shot. Shot a 660+ the other day, so I'm not too concerned. One of the Kids, loves to beat me, and shot a 251 at me the first game. He was all cocky, and I told him the series is 3 games NOT ONE. He fell apart the last two and I remind him once again, " Old Age and deceit will always overcome youth and skill" !!

Bob