I need help, reallly bad left hip pain, please watch my approach video!

[normdukefan]

How are you doing? My name is Adam and i live in Mesa, AZ. I was the guy who made and posted that funny Norm duke video that me and my cousin made a while back, if you haven't seen it, here's a link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPZVbR2EdAQ By the way my bowling coach Josh Blanchard showed the video to Norm and he told me he was "laughing the entire time", so that was cool to hear.

I just wanted to introduce myself. Truthfully I need advice as i've been in a bad bad slump. I think i'll post it on the bowling technique section.

But my problem is recurring and I get so frustrated I want to quit sometimes. I've had two lessons from Blanchard, and one virtual lesson from Rich Shockley and they all tell me the same thing. But I'll get into that later in the technique section.

I would like to tell everyone my big issue and just get an overall analysis of my approach. I'm extremely inconsistent. I bowled my first 300 game a month ago and i thought I was finally starting to "get it", now i feel it was just a fluke.

I've been reading this board a long time for tips but have never posted (well exept for the duke video). There are a lot of good bowlers and coaches on here, and i really hope I can get and even try to give a little advice. Thank you guys. Let me know the best way to present my inconsistency issues (what board to post to and whatnot).

My biggest issue is that I decelerate, come up towards the bottom of my swing, straighten up my leg and generally stop! this puts so much pressure on my left hip, putting on the brakes like this.

I just can't seem to get over it. I'm almost ready to quit. Well here's a link to my virtual lesson with shockley. Any tips or just general feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C56fLwo2ns


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C56fLwo2ns

TIPS:Use short paragraphs.
This applies to all writing generally, but it is particularly important on an internet forum: people hate reading walls of text. Frankly, when people see a block of text, even a relatively short block, it looks daunting and they start skimming.

Use spacing to your advantage.
It is convention to put spaces between each paragraph. Do this and your writing will be easier to read.

[BigErn32]

I am no pro. But I think if you can keep your hand behind the ball like Shockley points out it can help correct some of the other issues. By keeping your hand behind the ball it will help keep your strength behind the ball so you wont have to put your shoulder and back into your throw, which would help keep you from coming up at the end of your swing. By turning your hand at the end its putting all the force on your fingers to get that ball moving. If you can keep your hand behind the ball you now have your full hand and arm getting that ball down the lane.

[normdukefan]

Thank you moderator for cleaning up my first post lol. And thank you Big Ern for the advice. I'll keep checking in on this regularly. Hope I can get even more help.

[J Anderson]

"My biggest issue is that I decelerate, come up towards the bottom of my swing, straighten up my leg and generally stop! this puts so much pressure on my left hip, putting on the brakes like this."

I'm trying to figure out if your foot stopping early is causing you to pop up or if the hip is straightening as a reflex action. Does this part of your approach hurt?

My first suggestion is to make your left foot slide more. If you have high-end bowling shoes with detachable soles go to a slipperier sole. If not you can try brushing the sole back toward the heel for more slide or getting one of those slide socks that goes over the shoe.

The second step it to strengthen the hip and work on keeping it flexible. You might as well work on your right hip at the same time so you don't wind up walking funny.

Another thing to try would be to practice some games with just a one step approach. You'll start a little more than one step back from the line in your normal set up position. Push the ball out and let it fall into the swing. You'll probably need to flex your knees a bit as the ball is swinging back, and when the ball reaches the top of the back swing take that last step and slide. With only one step there will be less stress on the hip and you should be able to focus on keeping down.

[billf]

This was easier than usual, thank you for posting the lesson plan.
One thing that will help keep your head down, slide slightly further without taking away any power is; your balance arm. It's too high as it passes your body. This changes your center of gravity taking away some of the knee bend and knee continuation. Take that arm down and behind you as you accelerate from the release through the follow through.

Shortening step 1 while increasing steps 2 and 3 will greatly improve your timing and balance. Good luck and hope the pain goes away soon!

[Bunny]

Where is your left hip hurting exactly? The front of your hip or the back? Or the side? If it's in the crease between your leg and torso in the front it could be a hip flexor. Try working on stretching the hip flexors after a warm up of course. Search for hip flexor stretches on youtube here's an easy one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKdmbk076ZI

Disclaimer-I'm not a doctor or therapist. Any advice proffered is not medical advice.

[normdukefan]

To J. Anderson: I think it's a reflex action, and it does hurt a ton when i'm bowling. I think it started when i was fouling a lot as a junior bowler. I think it's a way for me to not cross that foul line. I've tried to slicker sole (s10) I use s8. It makes me feel like I 'm gonna slip all over the place. I could try it again though. I might try a practice game with just a one step approach. Trying to stay down. Thank you for the feedback. :)

to billf: I never knew my left balance arm was too hight around the release. I will try to keep it lower and see if it helps my balance and popping up. This is the first time I heard this so thank you for the feedback. I've gone from a five to a four step to elimate that huge first step. It's helped me a lot. Shot my 300 with a four. And you're welcome for posting the virtual vid. I felt it would be the easiest to watch since it has slow mo and stuff. :)

to bunny: my hip hurts me right on the side of my left hip, so definitely not a hip flexor. When my hip is hurting I bowl terrible. When it's not I bowl great. It's something in my technique that I just end up going back to over and over

Thanks for the advice guys, i'll work on all of these. If anybody else has any more advice i'd love it.

[normdukefan]

By the way billf, I always buy from BowlerX, best prices and super fast shipping. :)

[SouthpawTRK]

Perhaps the next time you are at the lanes, practice your swing without your ball and work on increasing your slide. A couple of months ago, I had severe pain in my right hip (I'm left handed), that would hurt for at least one to two days after bowling. I realized that my slide mas minimal/non-existent and was the cause of my hip pain. After realizing this, I went to the lanes and practiced sliding for at least 3-5 minutes before I started to bowl. I kept doing this drill until I could comfortably slide each time. I have not had any pain in my hip for well over two months. I did buy a brass shoe brush to get a bit more slide from my sliding sole, which seemed to help as well.

[Kobra167]

I dont see anything in the video that would cause you harm. Form is pretty good. I sometimes have knee pain because they are weak. You can do what I do that works pretty well. Just walk slower. It will reduce the load force on the hip.

[swingset]

Yeah, agree with the above not seeing anything that looks excessive to promote hip pain....but the force of your body and muscles can be something you're exerting and it doesn't "show" to a casual observer.

My advice - and this is something I believe is effective and healthy no matter what is causing your pain - is to work on your flexibility and hip strength off of the lane. I highly suggest a good fitness program that includes stretching and yoga routine. It will help with your core strength, hip and joint flexibility and make your bowling better and of course benefit the rest of your activities off the bowling lanes. I do P90X, but there are a lot of programs that focus on all of these things.

I struggle with coming around the ball too - and I think in your case your hand is kind of all over the place during backswing and downswing (trying to impart action on the ball, I suspect). Just keep your index finger pointed at the headpin and retain that hand position throughout the swing and release naturally - you'll get all the rotation you need without muscling or effort. I recently made this change and it drastically improved my release and swing.

[sprocket]

I didn't read all the responses, but I'm not seeing anything that obviously equals hip pain. Like all of us, you're not getting any younger. I remember YEARS ago going to the doctor with knee pain on my sliding foot side. The doctor (asshole) suggested I "give up the silly game". I told him to give up golfing. I bought new shoes instead. Problem gone. Right now it is almost impossible for me to bowl without popping three or four ibuprofen an hour or so before bowling. My legs ache really bad without it. It is due to inflammation and the ibuprofen works well to prevent that. If your pain GOES AWAY not long after you are done bowling, then I would suspect inflammation. No inflammation, no pain.

[normdukefan]

It's still a work in progress. I was trying to incorporate all of your advice, and I did bowl better and not any hip pain(I don't know if it's because of the Ibubrofen or my form?) . Didn't bowl great though. A few weeks ago I bowled a 710, I hope I can get back to that form.

I'll keep working, if anybody else wants to comment that would be great

[BigErn32]

Ha. I like how you put "Didn't bowl great though. A few weeks ago I bowled a 710". It makes me laugh because I do the same and talk about my 680's that im happy with but its that 580 that I don't specifically give exact numbers for. Glad no hip pain though. Hopefully that continues for you!

[The German Shepherd]

I tore my hip flexor a couple of years ago playing GOLF of all things. The tear was pretty serious - bruising included. Once it healed up, I began bowling again and found a great deal of pain in my left hip. I spoke to my doctor and he recommended some stretches that totally fixed my pain issue.

Before bowling, I sit with my left leg crossed over my right knee. I then press the inside (the side facing UP) of my left know DOWN with the palm of my left hand. After counting to 10, I then pull the same knee UP toward my chest and count to 10. I do this for a few minutes before throwing my first practice ball.

Works really well for me...

Jay

[Tampabaybob]

It's still a work in progress. I was trying to incorporate all of your advice, and I did bowl better and not any hip pain(I don't know if it's because of the Ibubrofen or my form?) . Didn't bowl great though. A few weeks ago I bowled a 710, I hope I can get back to that form.

I'll keep working, if anybody else wants to comment that would be great

A couple of things jump out at me that might help you out. First your hip pain. I agree with another poster on your slide and with the coach in the video. First, with your slide (last step being that long) you're putting an awful lot of pressure on for body, as far as balance goes. The coach suggested a change in steps and if you haven't done that yet I would certainly suggest you do. I think a shorter last step could help that problem a bit.

Second thing, where he mentions your head coming off the the plane. Something I've always told my students is to think of your shoulders as a plane landing on a runway. You start off that way in a great position, slowly "coming in for that landing" but as he mentioned you pull up a little short. Continue that landing scenario and I think it'll help you a lot. Approach wise you have a great approach that with a little tweaking will have you shooting those 700's regularly. Good luck.