How do I slow down?

[Jaescrub]

ok I have very low revs plus High speed I'm talking a 16lb ball is around 18-19 if I step up on the approach I get way less accurate and still have about the same speed. So im at a loss was thinking if getting a ball with a low RG that was suggested to me. But unknown I still need to slow down but how?

[vdubtx]

Where do you start your approach. 4 or 5 step?

Also, when in your stance, where is the ball? Waist high, chest high??

[J Anderson]

ok I have very low revs plus High speed I'm talking a 16lb ball is around 18-19 if I step up on the approach I get way less accurate and still have about the same speed. So im at a loss was thinking if getting a ball with a low RG that was suggested to me. But unknown I still need to slow down but how?

Old school way would be to start with the ball held lower in your stance; ball has less distance to "fall", therefore less acceleration due to gravity.

New school would be to hold the ball higher while starting closer to the line; feet have to slow way down to keep in time with the swing.

Oddly enough both methods can work although usually not for the same bowler.

p.s. If you're a five step player, switching to four might slow you down too.

[bowl1820]

Increase ball speed by holding ball lower with faster footwork.

Hold higher with slower footwork for slower ball speed.



CONTROL YOUR ROLL INCREASING/DECREASING BALL SPEED
By Bryan O’Keefe

Bowling is about the ability to repeat shots and the readi- ness to adjust to changing conditions.
Today, we have bowling balls that absorb oil and we compete on an invisible playing field that changes with virtually every shot that goes down the lane. Bowlers need to con- stantly adjust to those changes.
Too often bowlers immediately feel the need to adjust by moving on the approach, left-to-right across the lane. Remember, the lane is 60 feet long but only 39 inches wide. There’s much more room to make front-to-back than left-to-right adjust- ments. Sometimes the best adjust- ment is stay on the same line and
simply increase or decrease the ball speed to better read the changes in the lane. If you need the ball to slow down faster, throw it slower. If you need the ball to not slow down quite as quickly, throw it faster.
Of course, increasing and decreasing ball speed is not a new concept in bowling, but the manner in which people attempt to adjust their ball speed is the subject of con- siderable debate.
One misconception is that you can adjust your ball speed by using your upper body. It’s a mistake to think that you can keep your lower body the same and simply use more muscle to throw the ball harder, or slow the ball down by grabbing it more and forcing yourself to throw the ball slower. In truth, you may

“The best way to increase or decrease ball speed is by using your legs, not your upper body.“

In truth, you may actually accomplish faster or slower ball speed, but your accuracy and consistency is going to be very difficult to repeat.
The best way to increase or de- crease ball speed is by using your legs, not your upper body. Using your lower body to adjust your tem- po to the line will allow you to main- tain a fluid, natural swing and will greatly increase your ability to repeat shots.
To increase ball speed, start your approach a step behind your normal starting point, which will give you more room so that you can walk faster. By moving faster to the line, your stride will be slightly longer. That extra pace to the line will get your lower body working while your upper body stays relaxed and ball speed will still increase.
Conversely, if you want to decrease your ball speed, move up a foot in your approach. Whether you’re using a four-step or five-step approach, your steps will be shorter and your pace will be slower.
Naturally, a byproduct of quicker/ slower tempo to the line is that your timing must adjust with the tempo, and that’s where the biggest misconception about adjusting ball speed comes in.
Prevailing wisdom suggests that in order to throw the ball harder you start the ball higher (lengthening your swing), and to slow it down you start the ball lower in your stance (shortening your swing).
By adjusting your tempo to the line, the opposite is actually true. Start with the ball about six inches lower if you want to increase ball speed, and start with the ball slightly higher if you want to decrease
ball speed. Confused?

Here’s how it works: By speeding up your tempo to the line, you’ve actually got less time to get the ball from your stance, through your swing and to the release point. Let’s say your normal swing takes four sec- onds from stance to release point. There’s a natural tempo, so your feet are instinctively going to keep track of that to keep you in your timing. Now, if you cut your swing to 3.5 seconds, your feet are going to move faster to stay in synch.
It’s all about the distance your swing travels. If you take a shorter swing, your feet automatically have to go faster in order to stay in time.
In essence, your feet have to move faster to make up for the lost distance in your swing. If your swing is longer, your feet have to move slower to maintain proper timing.
So, to increase ball speed, move back one foot on the approach and adjust the ball position six inches lower in your stance. To decrease ball speed, start one foot forward on the approach and position the ball six inches higher in your stance.
To a certain extent, the distance of your swing dictates your foot speed. Adjusting the length of the swing shorter or longer than normal will allow you to increase or decrease ball speed.
That can come in handy because often times you’re on the right part of the lane. Instead of moving left or right, adjust your ball speed to adapt to the changing lane conditions.
— Bryan O’Keefe is Assistant Coach and Facility Manager at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas.

[bowl1820]

Now my thoughts:

There's a old book "Bowling: Knowledge is Key" by Fred Borden in it there's a part where he talks about "vertical placement" (Holding the ball higher or lower).

In it he talks about not holding it higher or lower to increase or decrease speed. But use it as a way of controlling arm swing timing to match the tempo of your feet movements. Raising the ball retards the arm swing in relation to the feet movement, lowering the ball advances the arm swing timing in relation to the feet movements

So Bowlers with a naturally fast tempo, hold the ball lower to match up with their footwork. Those with a slower tempo, hold the ball higher because it retards the swing.

Now if holding the ball higher retards the swing, that would mean it would be basically a longer, slower swing. And so the higher you hold it, the longer and slower the swing be.

Now if your trying to increase speed , using a longer and slower swing wouldn't help. You would wind up having to accelerate your arm through that longer, slower swing. Not only To make up for the speed you lost with the longer swing, but to get that extra speed you wanted in the first place. That would mean adding muscle to the swing, but muscling isn't something we want to do.

Now if you increase or decrease speed using foot work (as Bryan O'Keefe's article suggests). then using a lower ball height for faster and higher one for slower makes makes sense, because it's just matching up the swing timing with the foot work. Plus you can still have a free swing, with no muscles involved to increase the speed.

It just seemed to me that you could infer from Fred's idea above, that if you wanted to increase ball speed by faster footwork. You would have to hold the ball lower. And that is the basic idea put forth by Bryan O'Keefe's article. Increase ball speed by holding ball lower with faster footwork. Hold higher with slower footwork for slower ball speed. So to me it would seem to support Bryan's idea.

It's kind of a old idea, now new again.

[Jaescrub]

Ok to answer all questions. I used a 5 step all spring and summer and held a 140 avg. then after some coaching me and a buddy started to use a 4 step once I started that my avg dropped to around 100 :/. Last night I went back to a 5 and was hitting my target spot all night and did very well. Now onto the ball I have always started out with the ball at about my waist so in this I would need to hold it about at my chest to slow my ball speed down right? Also would it pay to get in a lower RG ball as well to aid in my high speed/low rev game?

[J Anderson]

Ok to answer all questions. I used a 5 step all spring and summer and held a 140 avg. then after some coaching me and a buddy started to use a 4 step once I started that my avg dropped to around 100 :/. Last night I went back to a 5 and was hitting my target spot all night and did very well. Now onto the ball I have always started out with the ball at about my waist so in this I would need to hold it about at my chest to slow my ball speed down right? Also would it pay to get in a lower RG ball as well to aid in my high speed/low rev game?

"To decrease ball speed, start one foot forward on the approach and position the ball six inches higher in your stance." Quoted directly from the article by Bryan O'Keefe

For the lower RG ball I would wait and see how well slowing down works for you

[Perrin]

Right.

Lower RG ball will startup quicker (not a ton though your talking a couple feet)

you can also modify the way you have the ball drilled to encourage the ball to startup sooner to work with your game.

[zdawg]

Very interesting, as I've struggled with slow speed for a while, in fact it coincided with me raising my ball in my stance a lot. I'm gonna try lowering back to belt height, and see what that does for me, I just would like to stay around 15 - 16 mph no need for Mach 1 speed.

[Jaescrub]

Cool cool thanks every one I'll try and play around with everything that was said in here as well as look into getting some new equipment. Wanting to jump into some Storm and Rotogrip as that's what everyone in my team uses thanks to me winning them all balls ha ha ha

[Aslan]

Simple.

I had the same problem early on and have had to make significant changes.

1) Move up. I used to have my toe on the front dots or my heels on the back dots. Now my heel is usually on the front dots. It forces me to "walk" rather than "run" towards the foul line. 70% of your speed is from your approach…so move slower towards the could line = lower speed.

2) To help keep your timing while changing the approach…start the ball at waist level…push out (or hinge…whatever) and keep that backswing in check. I used to start with the ball at face level and the backswing would go above my shoulders. The higher the ball starts, the higher the backswing, the more speed you'll generate.

And you have to stop "muscling". The "muscling" should be used only to impart revs on the ball…not actually "throw" it…or cause it to go higher on the backswing or faster during the downswing.

If you're like me…it'll take time. It's sort of like golf…and if you're used to other types of sports (like I am)…it doesn't come natural. You "want" to try and use your shoulders and arms and hands to manipulate the ball and "make" it do what you want. And lots of bowlers do it…even ones that claim they don't. Getting a ball to simply be a pendulum…with NO muscling…very rare.