Quick Tip: Non-Bowling Arm Do’s and Don’ts

[bowl1820]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJaaplGJ77U

Non-Bowling Thumb Position
With the thumb up on your non-bowling arms hand, your shoulders want to close throughout the bowling approach and this creates pulled shots and other inconsistencies. With the thumb facing down on your non-bowling arm’s hand, your shoulders stay open longer, allowing the bowling swing to naturally flow throughout the bowling approach.

When your shoulders are stable throughout the bowling approach your accuracy and balance increase, which leads to more consistent shots:
One-Step Drill
The one-step drill is designed to slow down the slide and finish position on the approach. Isolating these areas with this drill will help develop the non-bowling hand’s thumb to stay down naturally and give you an idea of what open stable shoulders should feel like.

– Start by putting the left foot behind the right.
– Then drop the bowling ball down by your side.
– Put the balance arm out in front of you with the thumb pointed down toward the approach.
– Pick out a target on the lane, bump the ball forward and slide into your finish position releasing the bowling ball toward your target with your non-bowling arm’s thumb facing down throughout the drill’s entity.

[RobLV1]

In this time of free everything lessons on the internet, I have to say that a video like this is pretty scary. If I were coaching a 200 average bowlers who had a desire to make the jump to serious tournament bowling, I wouldn't hesitate to talk about the non-bowling hand position. If, however, a 180 average house bowler with an ego that's been overly inflated by bowling exclusively on a house shot tries this on his own, I can't help but think that paramedics should be standing by with a stretcher when he tries to throw a show while thinking about his non-bowling hand!

[J Anderson]

In this time of free everything lessons on the internet, I have to say that a video like this is pretty scary. If I were coaching a 200 average bowlers who had a desire to make the jump to serious tournament bowling, I wouldn't hesitate to talk about the non-bowling hand position. If, however, a 180 average house bowler with an ego that's been overly inflated by bowling exclusively on a house shot tries this on his own, I can't help but think that paramedics should be standing by with a stretcher when he tries to throw a show while thinking about his non-bowling hand!

I'm not too sure about needing the paramedics. My guess would be the 180 average bowler would try a couple of shots thinking about the non bowling hand and miss the target badly each time and give up saying that it's a stupid idea.

[RobLV1]

I'm not too sure about needing the paramedics. My guess would be the 180 average bowler would try a couple of shots thinking about the non bowling hand and miss the target badly each time and give up saying that it's a stupid idea.

LOL You're probably right!

[classygranny]

Actually, I had a coach tell me about this years back. It definitely isn't a natural position for most of us, but I will say that it does play a part in your foul line balance. I was glad to see this as it was a reminder to see if this might be something I could see if I had quit doing it. Yep, sure 'nuf...thumb up. Started thinking about this again, and my posting at the line has been much better the last few bowling sessions.

I will say, that in the beginning it is difficult to "concentrate" on this and hit a mark but it really only takes a few balls to get back on track as it creates a better balance and seems to help wit the timing as well.

Thanks for the post!!!

[Aslan]

It's one of the many things I 'should' be thinking about that I usually forget about and then wonder why I can't make shots the way I want to.