What happens sometimes playing inside, a big OOPS moment.....

[Hammer]

This more or less will happen to us league bowlers. You have to play inside so you have to adjust your downswing. I know this happens to me sometimes. Say my slide foot ends on board 25 or 30 and I want to go over boards 10 to 15. Well what happens sometimes is I sometimes forget to drop the ball to the inside on the downswing so the ball goes out to those boards. When that happens my ball ends up going straight over board 15 if I am lucky. When it does we all know what the outcome will be. If I am using a plastic ball or a urethane with 4000 grit surface maybe it won't be a big disaster. YIKES! Did this ever happen to you when playing inside? What makes this happen is your brain is fighting the fact that you are walking straight but throwing right for right handed people or left like me for left handed people. It is called vapor lock of the brain.

[LOUVIT]

No idea what you are talking about as far as boards and grit. but I do know that when I play outside and the ball dives way too much and I move inside just a little it's like throwing a totally different ball... Is the release different? am I doing something different?. Moving from inside to outside changes a lot of what we are doing...IMO..Happens to me every time. I end up going wit ha ball that hooks less and going back outside.

[Tampabaybob]

If I understand you correctly, You're trying to slide between 25 & 30 while targeting between 2nd & 3rd arrow. But sometimes the ball goes directly over 15, or 3rd arrow. There are two things you can do to correct that. 1st, you may be looking up a split second before you're releasing the ball. Remember, when you look up too soon, your right hand will "always" follow your eyes that are now looking towards the head pin or to the left of your original target. The fix.... from the time you take your first step "do NOT blink your eyes" until after you release the ball. (It's only 2-3 seconds) Also, force yourself to "SEE" the ball hit it's intended target. 2nd fix may be that your right elbow gets too far from your body on the down swing. Easy fix ? Keep your elbow in and try to feel the inside part of your elbow brush your side both down and back through your swing. The other check you can do, is to keep the inside of your elbow always facing the pins. The way I describe it, is to consider that as a third eye that has to remain focused down lane.

Good luck, let us know if that helps.

[djp1080]

Bob, That's really great advice. I've been working hard on keeping my eyes on my target to see the ball roll over where I'd like it to and that's helped a bunch. What I hadn't thought about is what happens when you look up too early. As for me I tend to want to watch the ball continue down the lane rather than see it hit the target. Thank you!

[1VegasBowler]

One of the things I've been doing lately, is, trying to stay with the same line all night by going directly up the 10.

I start by using one of my most aggressive balls, either the Ultimate Nirvana or the Vandal Smash. Once they become too aggressive I can go to either my Thug Unruly or my Vandal. When they get to be too much I go to my BTU.

[chip82901]

I attended a coaching session last year with Wes Malott and Randy Peterson. One thing they pointed out for a traditional bowler (I'm a 2-hander myself) was in the backswing. They suggested making a small figure 8 almost, bringing the ball back toward the outside, so that when you come back down, the ball is close to your body, with your hand in a position to get the ball to your target. I thought that was a BRILLIANT idea! I even adapted something like that into my 2-handed technique as it helps me get my elbow back inside and keeps me from coming around the side and pulling the ball. Something I think everyone should try

[Tampabaybob]

One of the things I've been doing lately, is, trying to stay with the same line all night by going directly up the 10.

I start by using one of my most aggressive balls, either the Ultimate Nirvana or the Vandal Smash. Once they become too aggressive I can go to either my Thug Unruly or my Vandal. When they get to be too much I go to my BTU.

That's a good way to start but what happens if you run into carry down after that first game? Do you start leaving flat 10 pins. Normally, most coaches would tell you to follow the "edge" of the oil and move left. Sometimes this will work, but it can depend if someone is playing inside of you.

I tried something a couple of years ago because I was running into that exact type of problem. Instead of pulling my "most aggressive" ball out first, I stayed with a medium aggressive, that would go long. (and by the way I'm also a 2nd arrow and outside shooter myself !) When I thought the carry down was making that ball flatten out, THEN I went to the most aggressive oil ball, to cut through the carry down. It most cases where you do have that scenario, it works very well. So if you start leaving flat tens, go back to aggressive, move a little left with your feet and maybe need to shoot 12 board, and see what happens. Good luck

[Tampabaybob]

Bob, That's really great advice. I've been working hard on keeping my eyes on my target to see the ball roll over where I'd like it to and that's helped a bunch. What I hadn't thought about is what happens when you look up too early. As for me I tend to want to watch the ball continue down the lane rather than see it hit the target. Thank you!

Here's another "tip" for your bag of tricks DJ, If you feel as though you're pulling the ball a little too much, move your target further down the lane. Sometimes if you move your eyes just 3 feet beyond the arrows, same board as you were shooting, it helps you to extend your follow through. In many cases the other use for using this is it will also delay the hook just a bit longer (depending on your ball speed). In other words you can actually get just a bit more delay of your ball rolling. Try it sometime, I've used that technique for years.

[Hammer]

If I understand you correctly, You're trying to slide between 25 & 30 while targeting between 2nd & 3rd arrow. But sometimes the ball goes directly over 15, or 3rd arrow. There are two things you can do to correct that. 1st, you may be looking up a split second before you're releasing the ball. Remember, when you look up too soon, your right hand will "always" follow your eyes that are now looking towards the head pin or to the left of your original target. The fix.... from the time you take your first step "do NOT blink your eyes" until after you release the ball. (It's only 2-3 seconds) Also, force yourself to "SEE" the ball hit it's intended target. 2nd fix may be that your right elbow gets too far from your body on the down swing. Easy fix ? Keep your elbow in and try to feel the inside part of your elbow brush your side both down and back through your swing. The other check you can do, is to keep the inside of your elbow always facing the pins. The way I describe it, is to consider that as a third eye that has to remain focused down lane.

Good luck, let us know if that helps.

What you said is right. If my slide foot ends up on board 30 and I don't drop the ball inside on the forward swing to swing out to the left-I am left handed-to hit between boards 10 and 15 I will throw a nice straight ball between boards 15 and 20. I think my concentration lapsessometimes or my hand does not feel behind the ball on the forward swing but starting to turn early and being more on the side for a pulled shot. When I do it right it feels good coming off my hand with good leverage and revs. Part of the problem is I haven't bowled in a year and a half because of surgeries. I guess I lost the feel for that inside swing when playing inside.

[Tampabaybob]

Hammer, heres a link to You Tube for some great slow motion releases. Check out the the ones by Dean Champ titled "Analysis of the modern swing...".

You can also practice at home. Best way is to get down on one knee and roll into a pillow.