How to get the ball out and open the lanes up?

[Hot_pocket]

When issue I have been having is not getting the ball out on the lane. I bowl on a modified shot where the inside moves and anything past 10, if not played straight up, will slide down the lane. I try to play straight down 10 or play inside but at times I find myslef pulling the ball or simply not getting it out enough. I figured out one issue was I wasn't dropping my shoulder enough. Is there something i can practice to get my ball out more? Also how do you figure out what boards to stand on in relationship to what boards you want to play on the lane?

[LOUVIT]

i am so interested in the responses here, I seem to do the same thing. I pull the ball a lot weather shooting inside or outside. I've herd I am gripping to tight, I am outside the ball and timing is off...

[Mike White]

i am so interested in the responses here, I seem to do the same thing. I pull the ball a lot weather shooting inside or outside. I've herd I am gripping to tight, I am outside the ball and timing is off...

You're oil pattern is the opposite of what Hot_Pocket is describing, so the solution for Hot_Pocket probably won't help you on your oil pattern.

The best solution that I've found when the middle of the lane has friction and anything outside of 10 board has little to no friction, is to move my feet far left, as if I were shooting at a 10 pin.

Then aim as if I want the ball to go straight at the 3 pin.

I don't really want to hook the ball much, just get it to stop the left to right motion, and end up near the pocket.

By playing thru the middle of the lane, you have a bit of dry area to the right to help the ball roll.

If you miss right into the oil, just kiss it goodbye.

The mindset on conditions like this is do the best you can, and remember your opponents are dealing with the same crap.

[LOUVIT]

Don't know about Hot Pocket but I make a bad shot and I adjust every shot after that. I know it's wrong yet I am all over the approach and even swap balls during a game. It's not a serious league and maybe that is my issue...IDK!!!

But let's get back to Hot Pocket, I don't want to steal his/her thread....

[Mike White]

Don't know about Hot Pocket but I make a bad shot and I adjust every shot after that. I know it's wrong yet I am all over the approach and even swap balls during a game. It's not a serious league and maybe that is my issue...IDK!!!

But let's get back to Hot Pocket, I don't want to steal his/her thread....

In another thread you described the problems you were having, and you received some advice on how to play the lanes differently.

Personally I think that advice was wrong, but rather than overload you with conflicting advice, I was waiting for you to come back and give some feedback on the advice you were given.

Then I would give you some "better" advice.

If you can, find that thread, post your results of using the advice given, then I'll tell you what I think will work for you.

[LOUVIT]

In another thread you described the problems you were having, and you received some advice on how to play the lanes differently.

Personally I think that advice was wrong, but rather than overload you with conflicting advice, I was waiting for you to come back and give some feedback on the advice you were given.

Then I would give you some "better" advice.

If you can, find that thread, post your results of using the advice given, then I'll tell you what I think will work for you.


I remember a thread on release. I do open a lot of threads so message me a hint...lol.. and let's give this thread back to the author...

[J Anderson]

When issue I have been having is not getting the ball out on the lane. I bowl on a modified shot where the inside moves and anything past 10, if not played straight up, will slide down the lane. I try to play straight down 10 or play inside but at times I find myslef pulling the ball or simply not getting it out enough. I figured out one issue was I wasn't dropping my shoulder enough. Is there something i can practice to get my ball out more? Also how do you figure out what boards to stand on in relationship to what boards you want to play on the lane?

Part of this may be mental. In my experience playing on sport patterns, the lack of miss room to the outside makes you think "I can't miss right",( or "I can't miss left" for the lefties), and the next thing you know, every shot is Brooklyn.

When you say the "issue I have been having is not getting the ball out on the lane", do you mean the ball is hitting the lane too close to the foul line, or is it that the ball is not getting far enough to the outside part of the lane?

To figure out board stand on requires two pieces of information:
1. How much lateral movement do you have in your approach? i.e. Does your slide foot start on twenty and end up on 23? Also does this number change as you play different areas of the lane? Many bowlers who are most comfortable playing up the track will start drifting right when forced to play deep inside.
2. How close is the ball to your ankle at release?

Given these two numbers you can work backwards drawing an imaginary line from your intended breakpoint thought your target to figure out where the ball should cross the foul line. Adding the distance from the center of the ball and adding or subtracting your lateral motion will get you to the board you should be setting up on. If your lateral motion is left you will subtract, if it's right you add.

[JasonNJ]

Usually when I'm pulling the ball that usually means I'm muscling it. Make sure you have a nice easy arm swing. Another thing that might help you is moving your eyes down lane. So if you are playing straight up 10 and targeting 2nd arrow, maybe target 10-20 feet past 2nd arrow.

[Hot_pocket]

In another thread you described the problems you were having, and you received some advice on how to play the lanes differently.

Personally I think that advice was wrong, but rather than overload you with conflicting advice, I was waiting for you to come back and give some feedback on the advice you were given.

Then I would give you some "better" advice.

If you can, find that thread, post your results of using the advice given, then I'll tell you what I think will work for you.

Not sure which thread I posted on. Only thing I saw was the advice about having my feet parallel. But I adjusted my feet to point slightly right to project the ball out. currently have an issue of drifting about 6-7 boards from where I start.

[Hot_pocket]

Usually when I'm pulling the ball that usually means I'm muscling it. Make sure you have a nice easy arm swing. Another thing that might help you is moving your eyes down lane. So if you are playing straight up 10 and targeting 2nd arrow, maybe target 10-20 feet past 2nd arrow.
I had the issue but fixed it with adding ,At setup, doing one loose practice swing to get a feel for it so I'm not muscling.

[Mike White]

Not sure which thread I posted on. Only thing I saw was the advice about having my feet parallel. But I adjusted my feet to point slightly right to project the ball out. currently have an issue of drifting about 6-7 boards from where I start.

I was referring to LOUVIT. He had posted a request for advice in another thread.

My response to you came 2 messages after your original question, although it appears to be just a response to LOUVIT.

[Hot_pocket]

Part of this may be mental. In my experience playing on sport patterns, the lack of miss room to the outside makes you think "I can't miss right",( or "I can't miss left" for the lefties), and the next thing you know, every shot is Brooklyn.

When you say the "issue I have been having is not getting the ball out on the lane", do you mean the ball is hitting the lane too close to the foul line, or is it that the ball is not getting far enough to the outside part of the lane?

To figure out board stand on requires two pieces of information:
1. How much lateral movement do you have in your approach? i.e. Does your slide foot start on twenty and end up on 23? Also does this number change as you play different areas of the lane? Many bowlers who are most comfortable playing up the track will start drifting right when forced to play deep inside.
2. How close is the ball to your ankle at release?

Given these two numbers you can work backwards drawing an imaginary line from your intended breakpoint thought your target to figure out where the ball should cross the foul line. Adding the distance from the center of the ball and adding or subtracting your lateral motion will get you to the board you should be setting up on. If your lateral motion is left you will subtract, if it's right you add.

I think I'm very much mentally strained honestly. I'm so used to house shots, going a sport shot league really adjusted my game on different levels. I drift about 6-7 boards, I'll try an upload a video.

[michiganbowlingcoach]

When moving deeper you need to adjust your body so it's facing your target line or break point. Most people when going deeper will move their starting target (feet)and boards (eyes) but not their body angle. Watch the video and notice the body angle of Marshall Kent, he keeps the same body angle ( i tell people to use their belly button or center of chest) pointing at the breakpoint t the release point. Imagine moving 10 boards right with your feet and 4-5 boards with your eyes but keep the same body angle as before the moves. There is no way you can get the ball out if your body is facing straight ahead.
So in your set up you setup your left big toe (right handed bowler) should be facing your break point . As you move you continue to set up the same way. This way your body is facing the ball path.
https://www.facebook.com/usbc/videos/10154714880580336/

[fokai73]

Playing deep can be done if bowlers can over come (get used too) the visual differences vs playing parallel to the lanes. Knowing their foot work, knowing how to line up their body correctly, and are able to adjust speed and axis rotation/tilt are some ways to bowl deeper angles. Understanding the lane condition, understanding their equipment, and are able to target different areas on the lanes are a huge plus too. especially for the rev challenge, accuracy must be honed in order just compete against the higher rev players who have much more room for error.

when i was overseas over a decade ago, i watched a high school team doing one step drills. all were the stroker type players playing up the boards. Then after several reps, they were doing the drill playing in the middle to the left gutter (right handers). I returned to the states and added this to my practice sessions. From one step to three step to my full approach. Maybe you can try this.?

[1VegasBowler]

Like a lot of bowlers, I like to play straight up the 10 until I can't anymore. So what do you do when it gets chewed up? There are a couple of things that can be done.

1 - if you want to stay put you have to go to a ball that has pretty much very little aggression, like urethane or the BTU.

2 - If you don't have either one, then you will, more than likely, have to move left to open up the lanes.

When trying to figure this out for the first time and you budget is such where you can't get a urethane or a BTU, you need to learn how to get deeper. BUT, do it during practice.

This is how I learned to play deeper. Take your practice session and totally forget your score and just go a little deeper.

I did it by going 15 to 10 and using my entire arsenal (except plastic), and you'll be surprised how much work it takes to get your body and timing in sync with each other before you figure it out. And not just for the slightly deeper approach, but for your normal shot as well, because now that you're getting the idea about playing deeper, you will have a slight tendency to throw it that way on your usual approach.

But that isn't always a bad thing either! Because if you're going up the 10 and getting it out to the 5 (or so) and you have an aggressive ball, you now have recovery room for that ball to come back to the pocket.

One of the good things about going 15 to 10, is, you can actually start out there and stay there all night! Why? Because there are so many bowlers out here who can't/won't throw into the oil at 15 and will stay at the 10 all night and wonder why their ball is over reacting to the friction, and now that you have established the 15 to 10, it can pretty much be your line all night long!

The other good part about this, is, on a THS you have opened up the lanes for yourself and if you go outside of the 10, an aggressive ball recovers extremely well back to the pocket. Heck, I've had a few that have gone as far as the 2 board and recovered very well to the pocket.

To go from an OK bowler to a better one, you have to diversify your game by being able to go deeper and, on occasion, being able to loft the ball, depending on the conditions.

The other thing to keep in mind, and this was said on a separate thread, you have to be able to post your shots on a consistent basis or what you do will go in the toilet very quickly.

[KYDave]

I think part of my problem is when I try to play more inside than my A game is I try to play too steep of angles. Either I'll get it too far out too quick or I'll compensate to much and pull it. It definitely takes some practice to start playing lines you don't usually play.

[fokai73]

speaking of playing outside...

A friend of mine is not comfortable playing inside the track. So he sticks to his A game. We nick named him WRW because he plays "up 5" on THS!!!!! His zones is just between 13th board and to the twig. He has the ability to play outside 10 all night long for weeks on end. while he's so far outside, the rest of us are migrating left. He as the ability to adjust he roll, speed, and rev rate. He understands his equipment, and by that, not just knowing the numbers and covers, but he owns a spinner and does cover adjustments.

Several years ago, besides working with his physical game, I helped him with cover adjustments and he has it down pat for himself. He's doing something right cause he averages just outside 220 on couple of leagues. at one point, at couple of houses too. And when we bowl tourneys with sport conditions, he is able to compete.

SO.... it's very possible that you can stick to your comfort zone and be very proficient at it. Plus, his bad shot doesn't leave as much hard spare conversion vs. guys who play away from the pocket. but adding the "B" game is always a plus...

[LOUVIT]

I stopped trying to loft the ball a bit, I release it sooner and do not grip the ball hard anymore. I just let it slide off my hand at the foul line. I haven't pulled many shots at all since I stopped forcing the ball. I also started adjusting my speed a bit instead of moving from inside to outside and back and forth. Then again I'm still a 160 shooter that throws a good amount of 190+ games if I can string a few.