Balance Arm Question

[Phonetek]

This is probably a RobLV1 question. My left arm (balance arm) seems to go straight out parallel to my shoulders and comes back behind me on the follow through. If you were right next to me I'd close line you pretty good if you didn't kicked by my long leg first. Anyway, is there a proper position for it to be in or direction the hand should be facing? I never really thought about it or paid any attention to it before. I'm not having any balance issues anymore like I was the first couple times out. I'm posting every time without issue now. I was just curious about this.

[J Anderson]

This is probably a RobLV1 question. My left arm (balance arm) seems to go straight out parallel to my shoulders and comes back behind me on the follow through. If you were right next to me I'd close line you pretty good if you didn't kicked by my long leg first. Anyway, is there a proper position for it to be in or direction the hand should be facing? I never really thought about it or paid any attention to it before. I'm not having any balance issues anymore like I was the first couple times out. I'm posting every time without issue now. I was just curious about this.

Without seeing it, this sounds basically good. Fingers should be extended straight out with the thumb pointed down. Arm parallel to shoulders is textbook position. Power players or players with a higher back swing will tend to have the balance arm pointing somewhat down. In other words, the ball and the opposite hand will be 180 degrees apart.
In my opinion, for bowlers throwing less than 10% of their body weight, the balance arm is not essential in posting the shot. If you don’t believe me look at old videos of Earl Anthony. It is still important keeping the head and shoulders in proper alignment through the delivery.

[Amyers]

Balance arm position I've worked with some and what I've discovered is if I'm thinking about it the scores tend to get worse. One of those things if the timing's good leave it alone things most bowlers have much bigger problems

[Phonetek]

Without seeing it, this sounds basically good. Fingers should be extended straight out with the thumb pointed down. Arm parallel to shoulders is textbook position. Power players or players with a higher back swing will tend to have the balance arm pointing somewhat down. In other words, the ball and the opposite hand will be 180 degrees apart.
In my opinion, for bowlers throwing less than 10% of their body weight, the balance arm is not essential in posting the shot. If you don’t believe me look at old videos of Earl Anthony. It is still important keeping the head and shoulders in proper alignment through the delivery.

Everything is pretty much parallel, back swing, head, shoulders and arm. I never paid any attention to the hand position or the thumb. I have to take video at a different angle. It's too hard to tell with what I have so far. The body weight thing is pretty close, I'm 6'2" but I fluctuate between mid 155-165 lbs. Yeah I'm pretty skinny, always have been. Then again I've been throwing 16lbs since I was a kid 5'2 and 80 lbs LOL This really isn't a big concern, I'm just curious. Call it my OCD

[J Anderson]

Everything is pretty much parallel, back swing, head, shoulders and arm. I never paid any attention to the hand position or the thumb. I have to take video at a different angle. It's too hard to tell with what I have so far. The body weight thing is pretty close, I'm 6'2" but I fluctuate between mid 155-165 lbs. Yeah I'm pretty skinny, always have been. Then again I've been throwing 16lbs since I was a kid 5'2 and 80 lbs LOL This really isn't a big concern, I'm just curious. Call it my OCD

I generally don’t pay any attention to my balance arm. If some one points out that it’s being lazy, I have to ignore it untill I have time to practice. When I’ve tried to fix it while bowling I missed my mark by five boards for a couple frames before putting it out of my mind.

[bowl1820]

the hand position or the thumb.

Balance Arm for Consistency | USBC Bowling Academy


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JTFA5HZNEo

Published on Oct 1, 2014

Team USA Head Coach Rod Ross and professional bowler Chris Barnes demonstrate why it is important to focus on keeping your non-ball side shoulder forward during your approach. You can accomplish this by turning your palm down when you follow through to counter balance the motion of your swing arm.

[michiganbowlingcoach]

Thumb down ,elbow slightly bent and make sure you don't pull back early or too hard!

[Phonetek]

I figured the left arm was kinda insignificant for the most part other than balance. One of those things I never gave a second thought. Obviously it is important. I have a couple other video's of me I can look at later to see what I do with it. My son moves all over the place when recording me, as I said before it's like watching COPS. Maybe he got it in a few shots. Thanks for the input guys!

[Phonetek]

IIIIIIInnnnteresting! I looked at the videos and it seems I have my hand thumb facing up then toward the pins. I'm gonna noodle around with this next time I practice and see what changes for me.

[TCJ]

Its funny, but I learned how to bowl with a limp balance arm. My hand would rest almost straight down at my side and then as I threw the ball, I would rest my hand on the side of my leg. It was not a thing that I did consciously. I still *usually* had a good balance and could post shots. It wasn't really until I switched bowling styles that I ever noticed what I was doing. Next time I bowl one-handed I'll have to try fiddling around with the balance arm.

[Phonetek]

Its funny, but I learned how to bowl with a limp balance arm. My hand would rest almost straight down at my side and then as I threw the ball, I would rest my hand on the side of my leg. It was not a thing that I did consciously. I still *usually* had a good balance and could post shots. It wasn't really until I switched bowling styles that I ever noticed what I was doing. Next time I bowl one-handed I'll have to try fiddling around with the balance arm.

A slow throwing cranker I used to bowl with used to grab his left leg before the front swing. It was the only way he could bend his leg. On his follow through he got a ton of lift, if he had anymore revs he'd put a burn line down the lane. He threw a ton of strikes with the help of the side boards but he couldn't pick up a spare to save his life. He'd either throw 240's or 110. LOL

[Phonetek]

I tried this out last night, pointing my thumb down and wow did it screw me up at first. LOL I did see the difference though. It's gonna take some getting used to because it doesn't feel very natural. Then again, any change after doing something the same way for over 3 decades won't.