whats the diifference between a short and long slide.

[striker12]

hey everyone,

I was asked this question by a friend of mine a few minutes ago and really had no clue how to answer it so I told him I will have to get back to him on it.

his questing: I slide to the right about 4-5 boards, I have a long slide, when I watched a video of my self it shows me leaning to the right more, where my left leg had a lot of angle on it.
then when I do a short slide my left leg does not angle as much and not as much lean to the right???


this was his question I have no clue how to answer it.

do you guys have any idea to this question and why he leans more on a longer slide then a short one!!!!

[bowl1820]

He's out of balance, drifting 4-5 boards right and falling off the shot.
The longer the slide, the more time he has to fall off to the right more.

He needs to work balance and posting the shot.

[striker12]

ok bowl if I get this right from what you said, when he does a longer slide he will end up leaning more to the right compared to his short slide.

bowl he has good balance barly falls off on his throws but he wants to fix the leaning to the right.

should I tell him to stick to a short slide for now until he learns to not lean to the right?

[bowl1820]

ok bowl if I get this right from what you said, when he does a longer slide he will end up leaning more to the right compared to his short slide.

Too long of slide can cause you to be off balance.

Some other causes of being off balance sideways usually are because your drifting on the last step and the trailing leg is not counter-balancing.


bowl he has good balance barly falls off on his throws but he wants to fix the leaning to the right.

If he had "good" balance, then he wouldn't be "barely" falling off his shot.


should I tell him to stick to a short slide for now until he learns to not lean to the right?

he needs to work on balance, sliding straight, not too long, flexing the knee and getting his trailing leg over.

Being able to post the shot will show how well he's balanced. If he can't hold position and post the shot after release, he's out of balance.

[Mike White]

hey everyone,

I was asked this question by a friend of mine a few minutes ago and really had no clue how to answer it so I told him I will have to get back to him on it.

his questing: I slide to the right about 4-5 boards, I have a long slide, when I watched a video of my self it shows me leaning to the right more, where my left leg had a lot of angle on it.
then when I do a short slide my left leg does not angle as much and not as much lean to the right???


this was his question I have no clue how to answer it.

do you guys have any idea to this question and why he leans more on a longer slide then a short one!!!!

If you can, show us the video, otherwise we're just guessing.

[striker12]

I bowl with him tomorrow I will get a video for you guys.

[Hammer]

If he's right handed he shouldn't be sliding to the right. His approach should be straight or a little to the left. By sliding to the right he is walking into his swing. His swing will have to go around his body which will make the ball go too far right or end up being a pulled shot. Maybe it won't be a problem if he isn't going too far right. For some folks it is a little hard to open up the shoulders and hips a little to your on lane target and walk straight or a little left and throw to your target right.

[Mike White]

If he's right handed he shouldn't be sliding to the right. His approach should be straight or a little to the left. By sliding to the right he is walking into his swing. His swing will have to go around his body which will make the ball go too far right or end up being a pulled shot. Maybe it won't be a problem if he isn't going too far right. For some folks it is a little hard to open up the shoulders and hips a little to your on lane target and walk straight or a little left and throw to your target right.

I disagree with your saying he IS walking into his swing.
He could be, but there is no reason to assume he is.

Lets say you start out playing exactly up the 8 board. (8 to 8)

You start on the approach with the ball positioned over the 8 board, and your left foot is offset to the left of that.

You walk in a way that the ball is constantly over the 8 board through the release.

Your feet walk in a line parallel to the ball's path, but offset to the left.

Now you decide to make a 4-2 adjustment left. (12 to 10)

Your ball should start over the 12 board, and as you walk to the foul line, the ball moved to the right reaching the 11 board at the foul line, and 10 board at the target.

Your feet still walk a line parallel to the ball's path, and that means you walked to the right.

When you need to play real deep, you have to walk around the ball return. Once you do that, consistent walking becomes an art. Some people can do it, some can't.