Elmo's World Bowling Time - "How Do You Practice? "

[GeoLes]

I am sure that I am not the only Elmo fan on the forum (c'mon guys, you know you watch it with the kids).

As you know he usually interviews a bunch of people asking them how they perform certain tasks. So I have to do the same.

"Dorothy. How do you practice your bowling?" (goldfish just sit there in the tank doing nothing)

"How about you, Mr. Noodles?"

"Okay, Bowlingboards. How about you?"

"How do you practice your bowling"?


The general mindset is to go through the entire motion repeatedly. The problem here is if there is a bad habit in your approach, you are only making it more permanant.

Some of us are unaware of what is happening with delivery because there are just too many things going on at the same time. My wife is a perfect example of that. She drops wrist too soon and begins rotating the ball around her body (as if she can turn the ball), producing a gyroscopic effect. It looks more like she trying to open a jar. The probllem is she is unwilling to isolate just the swing and release portion of delivery. If she would stand at the line, swing the ball through and watch her timing and wrist postion, she could see that she begins wrist release and turn too soon.

She is not alone. I was helping a person last week with the same type of problem, except he bent the elbow, tucked the ball and released it from to grip with bent elbow. I demonstrated his release and then my release from simply standing at the foul line. He then proceeded to to the entire approach. I had to stop him a few times to get him to simply stand at the foul line, swing and release while watching the hand throughout the swing. Even then, he did it once or twice and went back to the whole apprach again, stating he could not get it.


What is it about us that makes us creatures of habit.

I would guess that I have not seen anyone else doing isolation drills on the lanes, so people don't want to stand out.


So Elmo asks you, Dorothy.

"How do you practice?" and how many of you actually do practice drills at the lanes.



"THAT'S ELMO'S WORLD"

[J Anderson]

Lately I have been starting my practice sessions with a game of one step drills to help with my otherwise very lazy balance arm. The first day I tried it one of the youth league bowlers asked if that was really how I bowled. I told him it wasn't so he asked me to show him what my normal approach was. In one of those rare moments when the stars a perfectly aligned, I took my normal approach guessed at the line and threw one dead flush in the pocket for a strike. Then I went right back to one step practice.

[GeoLes]

I get the same thing when I was doing one-step release drills. I am not focusing on pins and people try to help me to get more pins. I tell them it's just a specific release drill, that I don't care about pinfall now.

It's odd that some bowlers don't get it. When you go to the driving range, you do our share of 220 yard drives, but you also do your share of isolated swing drills focusing on different parts of the swing. They chip, the putt, they swing without the ball....

I have jogged on a track and have seen people in training. They do high steps, side step drills, walk backwards, etc.

Why is it so odd to see it done in bowling. I almost never see drills performed at the lanes. They all seem to focus on making a strike every time.. I occasionally see people stretch before bowling, but that's about it.

[J Anderson]

I get the same thing when I was doing one-step release drills. I am not focusing on pins and people try to help me to get more pins. I tell them it's just a specific release drill, that I don't care about pinfall now.

It's odd that some bowlers don't get it. When you go to the driving range, you do our share of 220 yard drives, but you also do your share of isolated swing drills focusing on different parts of the swing. They chip, the putt, they swing without the ball....

I have jogged on a track and have seen people in training. They do high steps, side step drills, walk backwards, etc.

Why is it so odd to see it done in bowling. I almost never see drills performed at the lanes. They all seem to focus on making a strike every time.. I occasionally see people stretch before bowling, but that's about it.

Because most people look at bowling as a simple game ( except maybe the way its scored ) that they can play with whatever level of natural talent they possess. While it can be played by teams there is little that is common to other team sports where different positions require different skills, and players must learn various plays and in particular be able to execute their individual role in each play. Each bowling team member appears to be trying to do the same thing. They don't realize that this simple game can actually be treated and enjoyed as a sport.

[Judy clemons]

i believe this is going to be one of those ideals that i put to use the next time i go practice. it sounds like it could very well be
a win, win situation when all is said and done.

[nathan]

In one of those rare moments when the stars a perfectly aligned, I took my normal approach guessed at the line and threw one dead flush in the pocket for a strike.

I had a similar thing happen to me today. I was practicing on Shark for an upcoming PBAX league, but having some various physical troubles. One pair down, there was an older man offering some basic bowling advice to a teenage boy (I'm guessing his grandson). One time, I stepped on to the approach and overheard the man tell the boy to watch me. I thought "Oh great. I'd better throw this one good." That was the best shot I threw all day. Smooth, good timing, good release, good speed, hit my target (finally!), perfect strike. I don't know why I can't do that every time. (I really need a good coach.)

[TCJ]

I used to just go bowl some games. Most of practice involved working on either my release or playing the lanes different ways. Lately I've been working on developing a consistent slide. I'll probably move to working on maintaining more balance at the line or doing the one step drill to work on my actual swing.

[billf]

I do drills. I also practice without the pinsetter turned on. Both get me funny looks. if I'm practicing a particlar line, why do I need pins? I also practice only corner pins. I'm also the only person I know of who actually practices the 7-10 split (picking it up not leaving it lol)

[Gunz1911]

Can you tell the pinsetter what to put down for you? I've sat there and thrown at nothing but 10 pins, but once I get it down the first time, I just shoot for the same spot. Other than that, I am just trying to work on my approach, aiming and slowing down.

Not to change the subject, but while I was practicing the other day I asked about the lanes. To me it seems long and heavy oil, so I am not sure if that is why I have been having trouble. When they freshly dress the lanes (which they do every morning) it is 41' with 18 units of oil. Does anyone have any tips for shot that long? Also my summer league is at a different house (about 45min-hour drive from my house), sadly the one that is about 10 minutes from my house didn't have any that would match my schedule. Should I try to practice later in the day where other people have dried up the lanes?

[hammerhead300]

I do like the thought of isolating everything you feel you need work on and doing it separate instead of putting it all together at once and trying to make it work. I usually do the whole approach when I practice, but I do focus on specific things. I do a lot of experimentation.

[GeoLes]

I do focus practice about 2/3 of the game and naturally bowl the last few frames.

I do no-step drills followed by one step drills. Then I do a couple of full approachs focusing on relaxing and doing the swing/release/whatever is the focus of the drill. I go do a couple more frames of 1 step drill to fine tune, then finish off with couple of frames of relaxed, natrual bowling to integrate the change. I make note of what happens when I relax and just bowl. Anything out o whack, I go back and do it again next practice game. As the league season is over, I have all summer do de-construct my swing.

[billf]

Can you tell the pinsetter what to put down for you? I've sat there and thrown at nothing but 10 pins, but once I get it down the first time, I just shoot for the same spot. Other than that, I am just trying to work on my approach, aiming and slowing down.

Not to change the subject, but while I was practicing the other day I asked about the lanes. To me it seems long and heavy oil, so I am not sure if that is why I have been having trouble. When they freshly dress the lanes (which they do every morning) it is 41' with 18 units of oil. Does anyone have any tips for shot that long? Also my summer league is at a different house (about 45min-hour drive from my house), sadly the one that is about 10 minutes from my house didn't have any that would match my schedule. Should I try to practice later in the day where other people have dried up the lanes?

That's a standard THS, nothing special and certainly not long or heavy. Bowl whenever and wherever you can. When you're at the drier house, move inside 5 boards.

[Tampabaybob]

Can you tell the pinsetter what to put down for you? I've sat there and thrown at nothing but 10 pins, but once I get it down the first time, I just shoot for the same spot. Other than that, I am just trying to work on my approach, aiming and slowing down.

Not to change the subject, but while I was practicing the other day I asked about the lanes. To me it seems long and heavy oil, so I am not sure if that is why I have been having trouble. When they freshly dress the lanes (which they do every morning) it is 41' with 18 units of oil. Does anyone have any tips for shot that long? Also my summer league is at a different house (about 45min-hour drive from my house), sadly the one that is about 10 minutes from my house didn't have any that would match my schedule. Should I try to practice later in the day where other people have dried up the lanes?

In response to your question about practicing on dried out lanes, yes by all means you should practice on lanes when it's not a fresh shot. As you know, when lanes dry out, that's when the real challenge begins. The question of where has the oil moved, what moves should I make with my feet, target, and/or ball change all come into play. I'll give you a recent example. Last Thursday, during practice I had a beautiful shot. Threw mostly strikes. Started the first frame, left a solid ten pin in the pocket. 2nd & third frame exactly the same thing. The oil had already started to move and the ball was not finishing the same as is was 20 minutes earlier. So what did I do? Went to another ball (earlier roller) and threw the new 6 strikes, won my point and shot 247. Stayed with that ball and shot 257 and 209 the third game.
What I'm saying is bowling on a fried shot will give you knowledge that you won't necessarily get on a fresh shot. So by all means look for the tough ones along with occasional practice on fresh shots. The knowledge you gain will pay big dividends for you.

[GeoLes]

Isolation drills are excellent at "retraining" your body movements. I always integrate in the end by bowling normally, not thinking about any particular part of the technique.. Again not concerned with pinfll, but with the resultant ball reaction. I can adjust for pins when pin results is the specific focus of my practice. Even then it is something specific like specific pin leaves (like 7-pin or 10-pin), or good first ball (line 1-3 pocket without a pin leave).

Later, when I do bowl for pins, I note my faults, marking it as the next object of a paractice session. In fact my current practice is not to record pin fall, rather I record percentage of closed framed. My goal is consistent 90%-100%. I simply count the open frames hoping to exceed 8 out of 10 frames. Say I score 70%. I note the specific spare opportunity, where I stood, where I INTENDED to roll, where I ACTUALLY rolled, and why I missed..

Next practice session: back the drawing board based on the failure factors of that session.