All self taught, looking to clean up my game.

[HoldFast76]

I've been bowling a little while now and I seem to be stuck in a rut. Each year my average has gone up a little bit at a time and I've been happy with that..last year I finished around 180. This year though I've been stuck right around 168 and can't figure out what's going on. I was thinking about signing up for a few sessions with a coach but I'm out of work right now so that isn't an option. In the mean time, I want to brush up on the basics. I'm all self taught and have a bunch of bad habits that need to be fixed.

Two of the biggest things I want to work on now is targeting and footwork. I'm right handed and finish on my right foot as well. That's how I've bowled since I was a kid, so the few times I've tried to correct this, it felt so awkward I said screw it, and went back to the right foot since that's what I'm comfortable with.

I also play the inside, but usually don't have a specific target. I just make sure I'm getting the ball down from the foul line around the 35 and adjust from there as needed. I also start with my left foot at the 5 and veer to the right on my approach, which based off watching others bowl, isn't a good thing to do. When I'm shooting spares, I just target the pins the whole time.

Like I said, coaching will come when I get back to work, but for now I want to start with the basics and tackle one thing at a time, so any suggestions on where I should start with would help tons. Especially if one or the other will help in terms of consistency. For example during my league game on Sunday, I shot a 205 the first game and 148 both the second and third. That's pretty usual for me, a high first game and the other two are significantly lower. Thanks in advance!

[bowl1820]

I also play the inside, but usually don't have a specific target. I just make sure I'm getting the ball down from the foul line around the 35 and adjust from there as needed. I also start with my left foot at the 5 and veer to the right on my approach, which based off watching others bowl, isn't a good thing to do. When I'm shooting spares, I just target the pins the whole time.


Okay your Starting left foot on the 5 board and drifting to the right. Setting the ball down on 35 playing the inside of the lane.

That would be impossible unless your throwing the ball down the lane beside you!

The place to start is foot work, if your righthanded and taking four steps. You should start right foot first and finish (slide) on your left foot. If 5 steps start with the left.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH_i75c_HqU

[bowl1820]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq54_GlzK6A

[HoldFast76]

Okay your Starting left foot on the 5 board and drifting to the right. Setting the ball down on 35 playing the inside of the lane.

That would be impossible unless your throwing the ball down the lane beside you!

The place to start is foot work, if your righthanded and taking four steps. You should start right foot first and finish (slide) on your left foot. If 5 steps start with the left.

LOL, that explains how much I know about the "technical" aspect. I was looking at a chart to get the numbers and had them mixed up.
My left foot is at the 35, getting the ball down around the 5.

I do take 5 steps and have started my approach with the opposite foot and just fumble myself up in the process wanting to add one extra step to finish on my right. If footwork is the place to start, maybe I'll try going with my usual approach and instead of taking that 5th step, just finish with a bigger step/slide with my left foot. Luckily we get 2 free practice games a week, maybe this week I'll just practice doing that before I even touch the ball.

[HoldFast76]

Thanks for throwing the videos in as well, once in a blue moon I'll watch some on youtube but was always unsure if the person making them are anyone I should be listening to for one, and two I had the attitude of my unusual style works best for me and I'll just figure it out myself. That obviously only got me so far..ha.

[J Anderson]

Thanks for throwing the videos in as well, once in a blue moon I'll watch some on youtube but was always unsure if the person making them are anyone I should be listening to for one, and two I had the attitude of my unusual style works best for me and I'll just figure it out myself. That obviously only got me so far..ha.

If you have always ended on the wrong foot this will be hard to try to fix. Doing it "right" is going to feel "wrong" for a while. I think it might help to spend at least a couple games starting one and a half steps back from the foul line. Start your swing and when the ball starts to come back down from the peak of the backswing, take a step forward with your left foot. This should get you used to ending on the left foot.

[classygranny]

As far as your footwork is concerned, you can shadow bowl at home. Just pretend you are on the approach and walk to the line with your arm swing as if you are bowling. This will help you get the "feel" of landing on the correct foot. If you can, use a weight about 1/2 your ball weight (5, 7, 10 lb) in your hand instead of a bowling ball. You just want to get the feel of walking and ending on the correct foot. Also, a one step drill will help you get the "feel" of landing on the correct foot and POSTING the shot. You can do these at home with or without a weight.

[HoldFast76]

Funny that you mention that, because I've tried doing the shadow bowling at home at the suggestion of someone who used to have the same problem. They were able to correct them self that way. I've tried it and at home I can finish on my left foot no problem, but still trip my self up when I get to the lanes for some reason. I never tried it with a weight though, so that's a good idea. Going in tomorrow for practice, so I'll practice the approach and landing without a ball for a bit and go with a one or two step approach and see how that goes if needed. Thanks again for the suggestions, I appreciate it.

Just out of curiosity, aside from running a higher risk of hitting your leg with the ball, why is it proper for a righty to finish with their left foot? Proper balance?

[bowl1820]

Sliding on the proper foot and Moving the ball-side foot to the outside of the slide foot accomplishes several positive things:

• It helps opens the hip to allow more clearance for the bowling ball as it moves past.
• Creates a path or a hole that the armswing will fill when delivering the ball.
• The Armswing has an opportunity to be close to the slide foot creating a strong leverage position.
• It provides a counter balance or action to all the motion that must occur on the ball-side of the body.
• It shifts the weight of the body toward the side opposite the bowling ball for better balance.

The ball side leg must move out of the way early enough to create a path for the ball to be delivered close to the slide foot ankle.

Also If the ball side leg does not get out of the way, the armswing will naturally move into a direction around the leg to prevent the ball from hitting the leg.

http://s5.postimg.org/jfc05ab0n/form_001.jpg

[Geneo2u]

Funny that you mention that, because I've tried doing the shadow bowling at home at the suggestion of someone who used to have the same problem. They were able to correct them self that way. I've tried it and at home I can finish on my left foot no problem, but still trip my self up when I get to the lanes for some reason. I never tried it with a weight though, so that's a good idea. Going in tomorrow for practice, so I'll practice the approach and landing without a ball for a bit and go with a one or two step approach and see how that goes if needed. Thanks again for the suggestions, I appreciate it.
Just out of curiosity, aside from running a higher risk of hitting your leg with the ball, why is it proper for a righty to finish with their left foot? Proper balance?

its all about balance if you want to repeat shots. Also the one step delivery during practice will help tremendously, but you have to do it more than twice to get it feeling right. Barnes 4 step approach is something to strive for. My first 3 steps look like Barns but my 4th step(slide step) looks like Walter Rays. No wonder im confused...

[HoldFast76]

Well, I went in Wednesday for practice and things went better than I had thought. I was able to finish on my left foot comfortably after only a few frames when I was going with a 3 step approach. Not only comfortably, but by the second game it felt more natural. My timing was horrendous, but I still finished all three games around 180 which for me, isn't too bad. Might go back in today to try and get it down with a 5 step approach which should help my timing since that's what I'm used to (hopefully) and see how I fare on the Sunday league.

[bowl1820]

Well, I went in Wednesday for practice and things went better than I had thought. I was able to finish on my left foot comfortably after only a few frames when I was going with a 3 step approach. Not only comfortably, but by the second game it felt more natural. My timing was horrendous, but I still finished all three games around 180 which for me, isn't too bad. Might go back in today to try and get it down with a 5 step approach which should help my timing since that's what I'm used to (hopefully) and see how I fare on the Sunday league.

great progress! I would suggest trying four steps first before going to 5. To get the feel a little better first.

[classygranny]

great progress! I would suggest trying four steps first before going to 5. To get the feel a little better first.

I see where you might be coming from, but honestly, I would suggest the 5, from the beginning as you will be starting on the same foot as you are with 3. I had a difficult time in the beginning going from 4 to a 5 just because my right foot wanted to start first. It's just my humble opinion as someone who recently changed that it would be easier to add two steps than changing the starting foot back and forth.

[GeoLes]

LOL, that explains how much I know about the "technical" aspect. I was looking at a chart to get the numbers and had them mixed up.
My left foot is at the 35, getting the ball down around the 5.

I do take 5 steps and have started my approach with the opposite foot and just fumble myself up in the process wanting to add one extra step to finish on my right. If footwork is the place to start, maybe I'll try going with my usual approach and instead of taking that 5th step, just finish with a bigger step/slide with my left foot. Luckily we get 2 free practice games a week, maybe this week I'll just practice doing that before I even touch the ball.

I suggest starting at home in your spare time. Shadow bowl without ball or lane. Talk through it. Step-push-step-step-slide/swing. If you get tripped up, take out the prelim steps and practice swing-slde to the left foot by itself. You will have opportunity for thousands of practices before setting foot on the lanes. Once on the lanes, focus just on step and release timing (forget where the ball goes for now. get the footwork and release timing right). Once the new habit sets in you should have an ever better game. Give yourself time to relearn. - Just my suggestion.

[sprocket]

I took a lesson once where all the instructor did was have me walk to the foul line for about 90 minutes without the ball and he could clearly tell me where I was going wrong. I was forcing my release and not relaxing and he could tell that without me having a ball in my hand. I wish I would have stuck with lessons with him, but my procrastination got the best of me AGAIN. He has since passed away.

[HoldFast76]

Everything went pretty good on Sunday. Stuck with the 3 step approach all night and threw a low 200, second game was in the 180s and the last game was a dreaded 140something. Even with that low last game, it's still above my current average so I can't complain at all. This weeks practice session is when I'm going to try adding the extra 2 steps (I have to agree with ClassyGranny, knowing myself it'll just be a smoother transition if I'm starting with the same foot...you'd think I'm learning how to walk again..haha)
Thanks for the suggestion, GeoLes. Someone else mentioned that as well. I haven't done so at home, but I did shadow bowl while waiting for everyone to show up on our league night.

Sprocket, that's part of the reason I want to familiarize myself a little more with a proper approach before finding a coach. Let it become a little more natural and then work with someone to really get it down. Sorry to hear of the coach's passing though, that's too bad.

[tccstudent]

I agree with this since you are already used to using a 5 step approach you just need to focus on starting with the correct foot. I think this should be easier then going to a 4 step.