Old advice, old habit coming around the ball

[Fishhawk]

So today a buddy and I threw a couple games at lunch and boy did I get quite the lesson. He's a lefty as well and has an identical span as me so he tried my Marauder. I've never ever seen that Marauder look so dang pretty down the lane! It was skidding perfectly sideways with a defined rotation and packed with punch. Mine always come out like a box of chocolates.

To set this up, he has bowled league and scratch for years with a 200 average. For what it's worth, he's a trusted friend and a darn good bowler. I asked him how come I'm not seeing good revs for a stronger shot like his. He watched a couple frames and said I'm coming around the ball, with the palm of my hand facing my leg at release. That loses revs and power. My throw is more like a spinning top and not like an under-handed football spiral throw like his.

In Jr League, my coach told me to throw this way, so I always did. Just now, I'm realizing this old habit is something I need to work on and break from it.

Enter in YouTube and bowling boards research and now realize the importance of staying under the ball, thumb out first and lift with the fingers. The staying under the ball part...challenging. I see tips to utilize the index finger to keep pressure which results in pushing the ball forward, allowing the thumb to release followed by the finger lift. What a concept! If only I learned this out of the gate.

Multiple frames later I was mixed getting good revs and carry, other times it was the same old "low-fiving my ankle" position. I'm wondering, any tips to gain more consistency for staying behind the ball? First thing I'm going to work on is the index finger press. I hope it works :) I'm not looking for a fancy coast to coast hook, rather a consistent shot with good revs in hopes for a solid pocket hit with good carry and pin action. Something that is very inconsistent with my hand on the outside of the ball.

As we were driving back to the office, we were laughing at ourselves realizing we both had phones to video it but forgot to. Next practice he'll video me and I'll post here.

Any advice or pointers is immensely appreciated!

[GeorgiaStroker]

For me personally, I've found that making a change in my delivery takes a lot of time in practice without thinking about anything else. By that I mean I don't pay any attention to the pins or try to make spares at all. I concentrate on the one thing I need to work on and nothing else until it becomes muscle memory. The last thing I usually look at before starting my delivery is my left foot as I place it on my starting board so I have been known to write a little reminder on a sticker and put it on the toe of my shoe. This reminds me to concentrate on what I am supposed to be working on just before I pull the trigger. But then again I can be a bit of a geek. Lol

[scottymoney]

I have a friend that does this and I am still trying to think of a way to convey it to where he understands fully. He seems to be getting better, but I know in a couple weeks he will start doing it again. If you come up with a way to fix it please post! The only thing I have thought of is to try and get him to stay behind the ball the whole way through and use very little revs. It sounds like it is working for him but he is also a low speed player so the ball doesn't need the revs like others may need.

[Tampabaybob]

There are a couple of ways to practice this and it can be done at home also. At the lanes, if you kneel down at the line, keeping your thumb, say at 1:00, swing the ball 2 or three times, then release. Now the hard part....while you're swinging the ball watch the position of your hand pretty much freezing it in that position until you release the ball. You can also do this at home, setting up a cushion on the floor and rolling the ball into it. Once you feel comfortable and think you can "FEEL" your hand position while in the swing try it using your full approach (at the lanes). Keeping a little pressure on your index finger, while having it point towards the head pin, is also very useful. It helped me shoot a 700 last night in fact. Also check the position of the "inside" of your elbow "after" you release the ball. It should be facing the pins after you release the ball. That will also help you maintain a straight through release.