Cause of pulled swings by Bowling This Month magazine..

[Hammer]

Tyrel Rose(the coaching canuck) from BTM magazine wrote about the cause of pulled swings. He said: Pulled swings are from a bowler who is in too much of a rush to grab the ball and generate revs or who has slightly late timing and needs to get the ball down to the release point faster. This can be corrected through timing adjustments and keeping the bowling shoulder back during the swing. As mentioned above, the bowling shoulder should come forward as a result of spine rotation, not the other way around. If the shoulder moves forward before the downswing starts, the wrong muscles are being used, setting off a chain of inefficient movements.

I never gave this idea a thought. I always thought that I was swinging the ball right, with my arm that is. What it sounds like to me from what he says is that the rotation of your spine swings the ball forward.
The only thing your arm does is let the rotation of your spine swing the ball from the top of the backswing to the release. He said that as you near the release area you can add a little muscle or push to the ball to give it more energy and revs. I nalways thought that the swinging of your arm rotated your spine. Huh! I had it backward. I guess if you do this right this is how you get the pro inside out swing. The turning of your shoulders on the forward swing will make your arm and the ball come inside closer to your body because of the weight of the ball.

That explains my pulled swings and missed targets I get sometimes. It is similar to golf. In golf you use the rotation of your torso to swing your arms and club at the ball. When you use just your arms and hands to move the club you get grounders, slices and tops. So in bowling you use the rotation of your spine and torso to swing your arm forward. I will have to remember that on league night this Saturday.

[RobLV1]

I think what he's referring to is called "late timing trying to be early." I've seen some pretty high average league bowlers who do this on a regular basis. The main detriment to them is that it dictates that they have to play a right to left shot; it is physically impossible to play left to right. Be careful in thinking about the spine rotation in your league bowling. The key issue is the late timing. In golf you use the rotation of your spine to generate power. In bowling, you use it to let the ball swing freely and get yourself out of the way. I wouldn't suggest messing with it until you get your timing in sync. Just keeping your shoulder back without fixing the timing just results in misses right instead of left.

[swingset]

Just keeping your shoulder back without fixing the timing just results in misses right instead of left.

Agreed. If I hold my shoulder back and my timing isn't perfect I'll plop it in the moat sure as can be.

[Aslan]

Agreed. If I hold my shoulder back and my timing isn't perfect I'll plop it in the moat sure as can be.

Agreed. Since I started experimenting with DYDS...I no longer pull shots. Hardly ever!

Why? Becuase my right shoulder is rotated back and as long as I get my swing leg to the left....very difficult to pull a shot.

Flipside? As Rob and swing eluded to...IF I DONT GET PARALELL WITH THE FOUL LINE....if I get "lazy"....right gutter. I tend to drop about 1 per game/3 per series directly into the right gutter...because I get too caught up in dropping my shoulder and forget that if I'm not square...I'm aiming for the gutter...and the ball WILL go there!

One thing I'd recommend (and consult a REAL coach for REAL advice...this is just my 2 cents)...IF you're a person that has a problem pulling shots...try to work on getting your swing/balance leg more left (for rightys, opposed to back). Your body physically CANNOT pull the shot if your leg is over there...without breaking your spine. I've found that in the past...with a lazy leg kick...1-2 frames per game...pulled the shot, over-rotated the shoulders. With the DYDS right shoulder going back (opening up) and making sure that right leg kicks more left...rarely ever pull a shot. You'd have to work at it to pull a shot with you balance leg left.

[dnhoffman]

Walk straight, people.

[MICHAEL]

Walk straight, people.

Your asking Aslan to walk straight??? How about this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMYZBVbifh8

[Mike White]

Agreed. Since I started experimenting with DYDS...I no longer pull shots. Hardly ever!

Why? Becuase my right shoulder is rotated back and as long as I get my swing leg to the left....very difficult to pull a shot.

Flipside? As Rob and swing eluded to...IF I DONT GET PARALELL WITH THE FOUL LINE....if I get "lazy"....right gutter. I tend to drop about 1 per game/3 per series directly into the right gutter...because I get too caught up in dropping my shoulder and forget that if I'm not square...I'm aiming for the gutter...and the ball WILL go there!

One thing I'd recommend (and consult a REAL coach for REAL advice...this is just my 2 cents)...IF you're a person that has a problem pulling shots...try to work on getting your swing/balance leg more left (for rightys, opposed to back). Your body physically CANNOT pull the shot if your leg is over there...without breaking your spine. I've found that in the past...with a lazy leg kick...1-2 frames per game...pulled the shot, over-rotated the shoulders. With the DYDS right shoulder going back (opening up) and making sure that right leg kicks more left...rarely ever pull a shot. You'd have to work at it to pull a shot with you balance leg left.

You have the reasoning wrong.

It's more difficult for you to pull the shot because you start the ball on the left, then push it forwards and to the right.

From a top down view, this is a clockwise rotation around the shoulder.

On the forward swing, the ball still has some of the clockwise rotation, causing the ball to go towards the right.

However it's also more difficult for you to throw the ball straight as well.