Help me fix my game please...

[ryno108]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t63IATdSAKI&feature=youtu.be

Ended last year at 218. Now that this season has started I'm currently in a huge slump, so I figure now would be a good time to fix my approach, since I'm bowling bad anyway .

I have a very high backswing, and can't for the life of me lower it no matter what I try. This, and my drifting left, cause my accuracy to be pretty bad. If anyone has any good tips I would really love to hear it, as I really want to get my game more consistent. Thanks in advance.

[billf]

The height of your backswing isn't the problem. Look at your slide and release. You're done sliding before your arm comes down from your backswing causing your finish timing to be late. You actually pause at the top of your backswing. I use to do the same thing and it was hard to break that habit. The pause also causes you to muscle the swing forward.
I couldn't really tell how far you were drifting. 3-5 boards is normal. Instead of fixing it you could just adjust accordingly if the drift is consistent.

[ryno108]

Thanks. What did you do/what would you recommend to fix your timing?

I haven't counted, but I will next time I go bowl, but I drift a good bit more than 5 boards. It's fairly consistent but it's from my first step going left in front of my left foot. I guess my problem is I don't feel like my backswing is high while I'm bowling. When I watch it back, it's way up there, but it feels shoulder high. I also don't feel the pause so have no idea how to break that habit.

[Mike White]

I guess compared to Bill I look at it from old school eyes.

I think the backswing is a problem because it is so close to vertical.

At the peak of the backswing the direction of the ball is very susceptible to errant movements because the only natural motion (down due to gravity) is blocked by the arm.
It is at that peak that you do two things that hurt the consistent direction of the ball.

1) You lower your shoulder, which causes your arm to pull the ball towards wherever you move your shoulder to.
2) You rotate your arm from inside the ball, to outside. If you could do this without imparting a force on the ball it would be fine, but any force would be perpendicular to the intended path.


Where does the energy come from that gets the ball up that vertical, and is it applied in a way that doesn't take the arm swing off target?

[billf]

To fix the pause, try to feel the back swing at your lower back. Given that it feels shoulder high now that should get you close to normal. Try to think of the back of your hand bouncing forward off of the wall behind you. One guy I know said he thought of his arm being tied to an elastic band and the other end to the rack and only long enough to complete his back swing. Weird things but they work.