Suggestions?????

[TotallyDefiant]

Well league starts tomorrow and I may be just over thinking everything due to my score varying so much here lately. I have worked extremely hard on my technique since the first of February and everything finally started coming together and feeling great at the first of May. However, the past couple of outings I have had has not been to great. My scores have been sub 180 even on my high games the past 12 games and here is what I am thinking.

I have video'd almost every session here lately and have not been able to nit pick anything in my address or release that looked to out of the norm. So what I see on the lane is about three shots in a row the ball will have a good rotation on it and a great reaction down lane. After those first 3 shots the ball will seem to not have any rotation on it and just simply break maybe 2-3 boards which is frustrating. As the game goes on it gets worse and the ball just goes straighter. Based off what I am thinking and seeing I have started to put two and two together. This seems to start happening after I throw my spare ball and the more I throw my spare ball the straighter my strike ball goes. Could this be the possible culprit or do you think it is something far worse? Maybe the ball is starting to go dead?

[Jaescrub]

So are you saying your think it's carry down oil? Or you think it's your hand trying to release your 1st ball like your trying to release your spare ball?

[TotallyDefiant]

Like spare ball.

[Amyers]

I don't think it could be the ball if it was the ball it would be dead all the time. DO you flatten your release or break your wrist when throwing your spare ball? If you do this you may be not changing back when going back to your strike ball. Watch your release in your videos I bet something is different as you are going along

[TotallyDefiant]

I don't think it could be the ball if it was the ball it would be dead all the time. DO you flatten your release or break your wrist when throwing your spare ball? If you do this you may be not changing back when going back to your strike ball. Watch your release in your videos I bet something is different as you are going along

The only things that I change when throwing my spare ball is my speed and what I look at. For example when throwing at the 10 pin I will look at the 3rd arrow and concentrate on a faster swing. I really don't think a lot while I am throwing the ball.

[rv driver]

Sooo... here's an old fart/noob stoopid question:

Coming from someone who's never thrown a strike ball/spare ball -- just thrown the same rubber ball no matter what's standing -- if you're using a fingertip grip on the strike ball, do you also use a fingertip grip on the spare ball? On the one hand, it seems like, "what's the point" if the ball's gonna go straight anyway, and you want it to go straight. On the other hand, it seems like moving from fingertip to conventional would really screw up your release groove.

[Amyers]

I'm sure some people do switch between the grips but most people throw the finger tip on both. You can hook plastic just not a lot a few boards for most people

[noeymc]

you want to keep everything the same so nothing changes and any ball is good to go imo

now if your balls going straighter as the night goes on hum the first game 1st frame and at the end of the 1st game if u here a difference your changing something i wont tell u what yet cuz you will think about it just hummmmmmmm nice a steady all the way up to u let the ball go remember what both sound like cuz that will be key

[Stormed1]

What ball are you throwing as your strike ball? Keep in mind most centers put out less oil in the summer due to decreased play overall.if you are throwing an aggressive cover stock then most likely the ball is burning up as you are rapidly depleting what little head oil there is

[RobLV1]

Seeing that your location is in Arkansas, I assume that it's pretty hot and humid this time of year. Humidity tends to cause an over/under reaction on the lanes. Moisture tends to settle on the oil, increasing the skid in the oil, and the heat dries up the parts of the lane where there is less oil. Because of the increased skid in the oil, many bowlers are tempted to play more in the friction, and that area dries up quickly and the ball straightens out as the increased friction robs it of energy. During hot humid summer conditions, you have two options: either play in the oil with a strong ball, or ball down and play in the friction. The one thing that doesn't work on over/under lane conditions is playing the oil line.

[TotallyDefiant]

Sooo... here's an old fart/noob stoopid question:

Coming from someone who's never thrown a strike ball/spare ball -- just thrown the same rubber ball no matter what's standing -- if you're using a fingertip grip on the strike ball, do you also use a fingertip grip on the spare ball? On the one hand, it seems like, "what's the point" if the ball's gonna go straight anyway, and you want it to go straight. On the other hand, it seems like moving from fingertip to conventional would really screw up your release groove.

I use finger tip on both balls. The conventional grip is not comfortable to me at all.

[TotallyDefiant]

you want to keep everything the same so nothing changes and any ball is good to go imo

now if your balls going straighter as the night goes on hum the first game 1st frame and at the end of the 1st game if u here a difference your changing something i wont tell u what yet cuz you will think about it just hummmmmmmm nice a steady all the way up to u let the ball go remember what both sound like cuz that will be key

Sounds to me like you are suggesting maybe I am increasing my ball speed.

[TotallyDefiant]

What ball are you throwing as your strike ball? Keep in mind most centers put out less oil in the summer due to decreased play overall.if you are throwing an aggressive cover stock then most likely the ball is burning up as you are rapidly depleting what little head oil there is

I am throwing a Roto Grip Totally Defiant. Not the most aggressive ball on the market and is a pearl to boot but this sucker sucks the oil up like crazy.

[TotallyDefiant]

Seeing that your location is in Arkansas, I assume that it's pretty hot and humid this time of year. Humidity tends to cause an over/under reaction on the lanes. Moisture tends to settle on the oil, increasing the skid in the oil, and the heat dries up the parts of the lane where there is less oil. Because of the increased skid in the oil, many bowlers are tempted to play more in the friction, and that area dries up quickly and the ball straightens out as the increased friction robs it of energy. During hot humid summer conditions, you have two options: either play in the oil with a strong ball, or ball down and play in the friction. The one thing that doesn't work on over/under lane conditions is playing the oil line.

Rob this does make sense as well. The problems I have are 1) I do not hook the ball enough to move left to play the center of the lane where most of the oil is and 2) I do not have a more aggressive ball to be able to move that far left and 3) I do not have a ball to keep playing the friction once it burns up.

So if this is the real reason why I am losing the hook and rolling straighter as the night goes on, it sounds like I am screwed once I burn up all my lines between the 4th and 2nd arrow. Hopefully I will not have this issue on league nights since they will be putting fresh oil down.

[rv driver]

Rob this does make sense as well. The problems I have are 1) I do not hook the ball enough to move left to play the center of the lane where most of the oil is and 2) I do not have a more aggressive ball to be able to move that far left and 3) I do not have a ball to keep playing the friction once it burns up.

So if this is the real reason why I am losing the hook and rolling straighter as the night goes on, it sounds like I am screwed once I burn up all my lines between the 4th and 2nd arrow. Hopefully I will not have this issue on league nights since they will be putting fresh oil down.
Solution: Win a less aggressive ball here in the weekly contest.

[RobLV1]

It is a common misconception that you have to hook the ball a lot to move left. First, you just move everything left, keeping the same angle that you used when you started. Remember that on a 40' pattern, you still have 20' of friction past the pattern. Hopefully, you are not relying on the extra friction that is outside the pattern when you start. If you're not, then parallel moves left will work just fine. When you get to the point that you run out of room making parallel moves left, simply open your hips and your shoulders to help you to project the ball out just enough that it will come back to the pocket on its own. Just keep throwing your normal shot. The two things to be careful of are: 1. Make sure that you keep walking straight, and not back to the right, and 2. Make sure that you do not "try" to get the ball back; the more you try to hook modern bowling balls, the less they hook. They are plenty strong enough to come back on their own.

[TotallyDefiant]

It is a common misconception that you have to hook the ball a lot to move left. First, you just move everything left, keeping the same angle that you used when you started. Remember that on a 40' pattern, you still have 20' of friction past the pattern. Hopefully, you are not relying on the extra friction that is outside the pattern when you start. If you're not, then parallel moves left will work just fine. When you get to the point that you run out of room making parallel moves left, simply open your hips and your shoulders to help you to project the ball out just enough that it will come back to the pocket on its own. Just keep throwing your normal shot. The two things to be careful of are: 1. Make sure that you keep walking straight, and not back to the right, and 2. Make sure that you do not "try" to get the ball back; the more you try to hook modern bowling balls, the less they hook. They are plenty strong enough to come back on their own.

My ball hooks MAYBE at most 5-7 boards. not much hook to it at all. On the fresh oil from league play last night it would seriously look like I was rolling a straight ball when releasing up the 10-11 boards. I moved over standing left foot on 10 and releasing straight up the 5 board in the 3rd game which resulted in a much better roll and a tad more of a hook looking ball lol. 211, 141, 235 was my first ever league series. First game of the series my adrenaline was pumping and my ball speed was 18.8mph. By the time the third game came around I was settled down and ball speed back to normal at 17.3mph.

[Amyers]

For an inside line I would suggest trying left foot about around 25 or 30 put the ball about 15 at the arrows and keep your hips closed so the ball doesn't swing out much farther than that you may not get a lot of hook movement but you will notice the ball flip and change its roll before it enters the pocket as long as you are getting that its fine the ball doesn't have to move 10 boards to be effective you just want to make sure its rolling and not skidding when it hits the pins.

What causes some people problems is opening up too much on the shoulders and hips and the ball goes out farther than it can come back. I have the opposite problem I struggle to open up when I need too. you may want to reduce your speed a little too not sure what your ball speed is. Experiment a little with it in practice see what works for you.