Any tips for staying behind the ball?

[BowlerGuy1500]

Hey, so I've been trying to practice this lately. Ever since I've started to learn how to bowl, I've grown a tendency of turning early. (That's just how I was taught, so it's a hard habit to break.) For the past few years now, I've been working with a new coach that's really good. I still wish I could get my hand in a better position at the bottom of swing though. It just feels so natural to turn it early that I haven't yet developed a feel for leaving it in the right position through out the swing.

I just wondered if you guys had any tips or advice for building muscle memory to develop this feel?

Thanks!

[J Anderson]

I've been working with a new coach that's really good.

I just wondered if you guys had any tips or advice for building muscle memory to develop this feel?

Thanks!

So why are you asking us?

No step foul line drill. You can even do it at home, rolling the ball into a cushion. With no steps involved you can focus on what your hand and wrist are doing as the ball passes your ankle.

[RobLV1]

The main thing that you have to understand is that modern bowling balls hook all by themselves without any help from us bowlers. In fact, the more we try to make them hook, the less the ball will actually hook. Turning early tends to cause the ball to spin, not hook. Anyway, focus on keeping your ring finger leading the shot. When you lead with your ring finger, you can't help but to stay behind the ball.

[Aslan]

There's lots of drills and what not.

The football drill is good to get the feel for what your fingers are supposed to do. The "shaking hands with the headpin" imagery. Rob's leading with the ring finger. Keeping your elbow in. Keeping your shoulders quiet. Etc...

[boomer]

One thing I've used is to let the ball pull me, not me pull the ball. If I pull the ball through, then I'm going to get around the ball early as my hand tries to get past the ball (gravity being gravity, the ball is only going to go so fast . . .) but if I let the ball pull me through the swing, I stay behind it.