moving up and slowing down

[stormbowler87]

a fellow bowler caught me throwing another game after my league ended last tuesday. as he was seeing me struggle he came over to help. he said grab that ball (pointed to my IQ tour) move up to that dot, slow your approach down and hit that mark. as i did that came strike, after strike, after strike... i never would have thought to move up and slow down, i usually move back and speed up if anything. hopefully this little bit of information can help someone as much as it did me.

[jbeck]

I may try this next time I practice!

[WolfGirl1980]

I stand on the middle board in between the 2nd and 3rd dot and these are front dots closest to the foul line and I don't have a perfect stance like the pros I have too much weight on me for that but I aim for the 2nd and 3rd arrow inbetween those two arrows for my strike ball but the problem is getting the ball between that 2nd and third arrow, sometime I throw the ball and it goes to left of my mark or to the right of my mark and end up in the gutter and that is what I need help with, would lessons help or what some tips that I don't get the I been able to pick up some big splits latley the 10 9 and 7 or it could have been 6 10 and 7 either or and 4 8 and 10 split and then I did the 6 10 and 7 one again thursday for the second time. Seeing this I now I have a learning disability and talk to me like your talking to a beginner at bowling cause I only been bowling in league for 5 years and I haven't been on competitive teams I been on teams thats there for fun I mean we like to win but where there for fun me I am there to improve my game and help my team win more often but in order to do that I need help I need to be able to get more strikes now how far should I move up and what does slowing it down mean how do I slow it down explain that to me and I will try it tonight?

[J Anderson]

I need to be able to get more strikes now how far should I move up and what does slowing it down mean how do I slow it down explain that to me and I will try it tonight?

Without seeing how your ball is reacting on the lane I can't tell you how far to move up on the approach or even if you should move up. Moving up on the approach forces most people to take smaller steps and walk slower. Slower walk equals slower ball speed. We don't know if you're throwing the ball too fast so just file this away for later.

[aussiedave]

a fellow bowler caught me throwing another game after my league ended last tuesday. as he was seeing me struggle he came over to help. he said grab that ball (pointed to my IQ tour) move up to that dot, slow your approach down and hit that mark. as i did that came strike, after strike, after strike... i never would have thought to move up and slow down, i usually move back and speed up if anything. hopefully this little bit of information can help someone as much as it did me.
It's a great tactic to move forward about six inches if you are coming up too high, but doesn't work if you finish very close to the line.
I have found that bowling more down the middle of the lane can work too - there is generally a longer oil pattern down the middle on THS. I usually do this if the track is too dry for me.
ad.

[Tampabaybob]

Storm... Ever heard the phrase "SPEED KILLS" ? It applies in bowling as much in cars. Sure there are guys that can get away with throwing 20 MPH, once in a while, but not consistently. Slowing down, gives your ball a chance to work the way it was designed, skid, hook, & roll into the pocket. It also gives the pins MORE time on the pin deck to interact with the other pins. If you don't believe that watch someone that throws hard some day and watch the pins JUMP over the back row. They leave many of those because of their speed.

[GeoLes]

It's a perfect thing to try in your own personal practice. Start with standard procedures. Adjust forward and slower, see the effect. Back and faster. Flat wr ist, broken wrist, cupped wrist. See how far the ball travels and how ut breaks

[Tampabaybob]

It's a perfect thing to try in your own personal practice. Start with standard procedures. Adjust forward and slower, see the effect. Back and faster. Flat wr ist, broken wrist, cupped wrist. See how far the ball travels and how ut breaks

True. Good, Really good practice, should include many things, as you mentioned. That's the time and the place to find out what's going to work for you (and how it works) and what doesn't. During league where there's money on the line is not real conducive to trying out new ideas. That's why they call it practice ! Right ? :o

[GeoLes]

True. Good, Really good practice, should include many things, as you mentioned. That's the time and the place to find out what's going to work for you (and how it works) and what doesn't. During league where there's money on the line is not real conducive to trying out new ideas. That's why they call it practice ! Right ? :o

I would imagine that if I were on competitive league level, I would have a sense of these adjustment tools under my belt before wasting my money going into competition. That's just me. I am not there yet. That's why the pros are so awesome. They aways seem to find the pocket regardless of lane conditions because they have these tools in their arsenal and know when and how to use them effectively.

Thats' why we post this stuff on the forum, so the rest of us can begin to learn.

[Tampabaybob]

I would imagine that if I were on competitive league level, I would have a sense of these adjustment tools under my belt before wasting my money going into competition. That's just me. I am not there yet. That's why the pros are so awesome. They aways seem to find the pocket regardless of lane conditions because they have these tools in their arsenal and know when and how to use them effectively.

Thats' why we post this stuff on the forum, so the rest of us can begin to learn.

Good points. I teach my students that spares are more important than strikes. WHY ? Because if you can develop your accuracy on all of your different spare shots, eventually and without realizing it, that accuracy will roll over to your first ball shots and you'll start seeing a higher strike percentage. Here's a goal for you......

Men Women
Single Pins Spare % 85% 82%
Multi Pin Spare % 52% 50%
1st Ball Pinfall 8.5 8.2
Max. Opens per 2.0 2.5
Game Strike % 37% 32%

These are the scores that we aspire to have in order to compete for a national championship:

 Men Women
Single Pins Spare % 95% 92%
Multi Pin Spare % 65% 62%
1st Ball Pinfall 9.3 8.8
Max. Opens per 1.0 1.5
Game Strike % 50% 42%

These are goals for one of the best college bowling teams in America. I know because my Daughter bowled for this University. IF, you can achieve goals such as the ones above, you will see great changes in your scores and average.

Good luck, let me know what you think about those.

[WolfGirl1980]

I know I have gotten better since I came to this message baord and my average has gone up it would have even more if was beginning of the league cause it was ending couple of weeks ago and now I just started a new league the summer league that is and I get to fight to bring that average up even higher as long as I practice every week and I will be tomorrow I rested this week cause of my wrist and now it feels better so hopefully I be back to new no more hurting and I can keep aiming for those 200's.

-Sara

[J Anderson]

Good points. I teach my students that spares are more important than strikes. WHY ? Because if you can develop your accuracy on all of your different spare shots, eventually and without realizing it, that accuracy will roll over to your first ball shots and you'll start seeing a higher strike percentage. Here's a goal for you......

Men Women
Single Pins Spare % 85% 82%
Multi Pin Spare % 52% 50%
1st Ball Pinfall 8.5 8.2
Max. Opens per 2.0 2.5
Game Strike % 37% 32%

These are the scores that we aspire to have in order to compete for a national championship:

 Men Women
Single Pins Spare % 95% 92%
Multi Pin Spare % 65% 62%
1st Ball Pinfall 9.3 8.8
Max. Opens per 1.0 1.5
Game Strike % 50% 42%

These are goals for one of the best college bowling teams in America. I know because my Daughter bowled for this University. IF, you can achieve goals such as the ones above, you will see great changes in your scores and average.

Good luck, let me know what you think about those.

I can see where women since most of them throw lighter balls would have lower goals for 1st ball pinfall and strike percentage. Why would their goals for spare % be lower than the men's goals?

[Tampabaybob]

You know John, I'm not sure either. I'm sure some of the Women Pro's would take issue with that. Would love to see Kelly Kulick's response. Are you listening Kelly???

[budda]

As for me, being a person who went from standing with my feet off the back of the approach to standing at the 1st set of dots, it can make a world of difference.
I did lose some ball speed, but the accuracy has been much impoved. It is much easier to hit a mark when I am not running to the line and hurling the ball down the lane.
It is something that will take some time to get used to, but when you do, you will be pleased.
Good luck!

[vdubtx]

When and if someone decides to move up on the approach. Making sure you have good timing is crucial. If you have late timing you will be pulling the ball rather than letting it swing. Also, late timing can make you have fast feet.

[Tampabaybob]

As for me, being a person who went from standing with my feet off the back of the approach to standing at the 1st set of dots, it can make a world of difference.
I did lose some ball speed, but the accuracy has been much impoved. It is much easier to hit a mark when I am not running to the line and hurling the ball down the lane.
It is something that will take some time to get used to, but when you do, you will be pleased.
Good luck!

Thanks for re-enforcing what we typically tell people on the boards. If someone doesn't get it and looks at your credentials, maybe they'll take it to heart and work a little harder to slow down. We've all seen bowlers that run like heck down the approach and then wider why they don't score well.

Great comment, thanks for adding it here.