How many steps do you take in your approach?

[dpmusic70]

Currently I take 4 but I was advised by coach Ron Clifton to try and take 5. It's a hard transition to make. Anyone have advice or tips for me? I am a righty and my speed is not fast enough.

[Graaille]

If I feel like I'm not getting enough ball speed, I actually switch from 4 to 6 steps so as to not blow my rhythm too badly. Might be worth a shot for you.

[MH1313]

I throw a 5 step approach, but as the lanes break down I'll switch to a 4 step. The only advice I can give you as all of our approaches are slightly different is practice it constantly...

I always try to have my ball's initial movement match up with my first step, as I push the ball away, it starts its backwards movement at the exact moment my first step hits the floor. Not sure if that helps or makes sense...but its what I think about

MH

[jmainville]

I just recently switched from a 4 step to a 5 step and I've noticed a big difference in the feel of my timing. my release became much smoother and am able to play angles I wasnt able to with my 4 step. it worked for me and it wasnt hard to adjust to at all

[JerseyJim]

You can try this drill, it helps me keep my timing if I can't get to the alley often enough. It's something promoted by Joe Slowinski. Basically you're performing the first two steps of a 5 step approach with the ball. http://bowlingknowledge.info/images/stories/slowinski_push_btm_apr_2007.pdf

[mrbill]

I'm a 4 Steper and when I want to throw a little faster when the lanes dry out I just Lift the ball higher in front and maybe a little higher on the back swing.
Or I cut down on my hook by turning my hand from under the ball to on the side of the ball.

[dpmusic70]

Thanks Jim. We probably have that magazine- somewhere...

[tbrownie]

i just recently switched to four.. ball speed was 23+ at the pin deck... way too fast

[JAnderson]

Interesting, D, Ron also moved me from 4 to 5 steps, though I didn't have a problem making the move. Maybe because I'm accustomed to having coaches change things?

With any change to your game, you'll need to find a way to "internalize" the change or "make it your own". Sometimes the same thing will work for two different people. Most of the time it won't. That's what boards like this are good for. We can share with one another, try different things, and keep what works.

What was Ron's recommendation based on? Was it because you were not getting the ball into the swing early enough? Was he trying to help you increase the pace of your steps as you approach the foul line? It's important to know why.

When Ron moved me to five steps, it was to actually help delay my swing timing, get the ball into the swing later. I wasn't getting it right with a four-step because I couldn't disconnect the push away from the initial movement of the first step. However, if he wants you to get the ball into the swing early, what worked for me will not work for you.

One of the things I didn't initially like when moving to five steps was the increased distance to the foul line. I felt like my target was a mile away. This was easily fixed my moving forward on the approach and shortening my first four steps.

If it is a speed thing and not a timing thing Ron was attempting to help, it is easier for me to make some suggestions. In this case, you don't want to move forward on the approach because it will tend to make your steps both shorter and slower.

I'm a big fan of positive visualization. Maybe this will work for you, maybe not.

For the first step, only move your leg. Everything else stays still. Think of a statue that was sculpted a million years ago suddenly and woodenly coming to life. That first step will be momentous, but first, only the leg of the statue comes to life. The first step is short, waiting for the dam of animation to burst.

With the second step, the other leg and the arms break free of the million-year stasis. The core of your body, torso and head, remain still as the arms and legs move. The ball falls into the swing. Everything begins moving a little more rapidly. This step is bigger than the previous step.

On the third step, as the ball gets to the bottom of the swing, the torso begins to bend slightly at the waist and some dust falls off the statue's shoulders. This step is a little faster than the previous step.

On the fourth step, the knees bend a little bit more, the ball rises to the top of the back swing. This step is still quick, but a little bit shorter, keeping the weight centered on both feet. The statue pauses, as if catching its breath, waiting for the plunge, waiting for the moment of truth, waiting for the conclusion.

Now the statue pushes into the side like a figure skater, gliding quickly and smoothly forward on the slide foot, weight on the ball of the foot, as the ball descends from the swing. The slide comes to a graceful stop. Again the torso, the core, the head, are stationary as the statue-skater's arm falls gracefully forward and the ball flows to the bottom of the swing, falls off the hand, and rolls away. The statue now comes to another pause, arms extended in follow-through, knees bent, head quiet, weight balanced on the ball of the slide foot.

Doesn't sound too hard until you try it :o Let me know if it works for you. Really, the only difference is that first step.

[kev3inp]

Thanks, my friends, every single suggestion has merit and we'll try each one in turn and see which works best for her. On the four step she gets into a thing where she pulls the ball toward her on the first step, rather than into the swing right away. She doesn't do it all the time, but it wreaks havoc with timing.

Damn, I love this site! I just can't think of everything no matter how hard I try.

[kev3inp]

And here I am replying and J chimes in to add to my rapture. You, sir, are a sensei of bowling. Excellent writing, clear and fascinatingly written. Kudos, and we can't wait to see you both again this summer. Oh, and that Beatles vid thing Kat sent us was superb.

[Jord_84]

I'm at 5 steps.....never had a problem with timing.

[Strike Domination]

I can do both 4 and 5, probably 6 too. I wouldn't do less than 5 unless I'm either forced in front of the ball return or I'm bowling on a flood. I mainly do 5 steps.

JAnderson, nice post. I struggle with timing issues a lot. Late or early, I'm not sure. I only think I have timing issues because I'm quite unbalanced at the line most of the time, falling off pretty much immediately after releasing the ball, sometimes a pinch later. Seems like early timing to me. I seem to like getting my feet going at a good pace so I can keep my speed up, since I've learned momentum from my steps will have the most affect on my ball speed. There might be a way I can take my first step that will give me the best results. I normally do a little step/slide but I've thought about making it more of a normal step. I know it's hard to help me without seeing me bowl but I was wondering if you could offer any tips for me.

[JAnderson]

Thanks for the kind words folks - I don't know that I'm a sensei, but I'm more that willing to share the knowledge that coaches have shared with me or pass on those things I've learned through trial and error.


Late or early, I'm not sure

Good point. My previous post assumes the reader knows the difference.Sometimes it is necessary for brevity.

You can tell if a bowler has late or early timing by watching the position of the ball in relation to the end of the the slide. With a video camera, a bowler can easily self-assess. Just watch the video and ask, when the bowler's slide stops, where is the ball in the swing?

If the ball has already been released or is being released, this is referred to as early timing. Think of it like this - the ball gets to the line before the bowler does, the ball/swing is "early".

If the ball is right next to the slide leg, in the process of being released, this is not early or late timing. CAVEAT: some coaches will still call this early timing because of theory around the "modern release". Read on.

If the ball is still in the downswing, this is referred to as late timing. Think of it like this - the ball gets to the line after the bowler does, the ball/swing is "late". Most coaches teach late timing as proper timing these days, and anything else is considered "early". For example Len Mal - one of the best swing coaches in the world - will call a bowler's timing "early" if it isn't late.

For the rest of this post, assume the bowler is using a free arm swing and the ball is dropped into the swing from the same height every time. If that is true, the timing of the swing itself is constant because gravity is driving the swing (back and forward) and gravity is constant.

If the speed of the swing is constant the bowler can change the duration of her/his approach to achieve early or late timing. If the swing takes 3 seconds, but the bowler takes 4 seconds to get to the line, the bowler has early timing. Note that the number of steps doesn't really matter. 4 seconds could be 4 very slow steps or 6 moderately slow steps. Early timing can be the cause of many undesirable things: off balance/falling off the shot, lower rev rate, pulling the ball inside of visual target, inconsistent speed, and poor follow through.

If bowler takes 2.5 seconds to get to the line and the swing takes 3 seconds, the ball/swing is "late" and the bowler is said to have late timing. Again, the number of steps doesn't matter. It could be 2.5 seconds for 4 quick steps or 2.5 seconds for 6 very quick steps. Most of the pros seen on TV have late timing. The theory is that the bowler gets to the line in a well balanced, well-leveraged position and can wait for the ball to fall through the release point. A strong release is more easily created when the rest of the body is in a balanced position.

Because it is often difficult for a bowler to change the speed of her/his steps, coaches will suggest changing when the bowler drops the ball into the swing to change timing. So if the bowler uses a 4-step approach, drops the ball into the swing at the same time the foot moves for the first step, and the bowler has early timing, the coach may suggest waiting until the first step lands before dropping the ball into the swing. Think of it this way. If a bowler's swing is a 3 second swing and the bowler takes four steps and each step takes 1 second, the bowler will have early timing. If the same bowler waits until after the first step to drop the ball into the swing, the bowler will no longer have early timing.

Late timing is good if and only if the bowler gets into a well-balanced position and allows gravity to move the ball through release. However, even "pulling" the ball through the release with late timing creates fewer problems than early timing. Usually the biggest problems are missing inside of target and inconsistent speed. With fewer problems, this is one of the reasons coaches teach late timing these days. In this, I speak from experience. Every coach I work with tells me if I can just get over the hump of waiting for the ball once I get to the line 100% of the time (I've purposely built late timing into my game) my game will improve exponentially. I can tell you that on the shots I do get it right, my ball goes wherever I'm looking, I get out of the ball cleanly, my rev rate peaks, my speed in consistent, and there's a huge difference in pin action.

Late timing won't solve all problems with pulling the ball inside of target or inconsistent speed. There are other factors that can cause these things.

Tommy Jones and Sean Rash are good examples of bowlers with late timing. My friends often joke about Tommy Jones getting to the line so far ahead of the ball that he has time to call out for a pizza before the ball gets there. I can't think of any of the big boys on TV these days that don't have at least slightly late timing. Mike Scroggins is close, but still has late timing. When Norm Duke is shooting spares, he's close. He's definitely later on strike shots.

Here's a freeze-frame from a Tommy Jones Video:
http://66.112.204.165/img/late.jpg

As a side note: it's better to view the bowler from the side to see timing. Tommy Jones is so late, you can see it from this angle. It is hard to get an accurate freeze-frame on Internet videos that aren't in slow motion and without a trained eye, it is difficult to watch videos in normal speed to evaluate timing. The freeze-frame picture above was taken a fraction of a second before the end of his slide. You can see just how far ahead of the ball he gets to the line. The swing/ball is "late", thus, late timing.

To see the whole video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VMdyhBgByw

I'll see if I can find video of a bowler with very early timing, but there aren't too many well-produced videos with slow-motion of how not to bowl.

[dpmusic70]

Jay- I'm pretty sure I have late timing since I'm getting to the foul line before the ball does. It doesn't happen all the time but when it does I tend to muscle the ball and I have a bad shot. I can feel that I'm doing something wrong. Last night I tried taking 5 steps and it totally threw me off so I think I'll stick with 4. I'll check out that video too. Thanks.

[JAnderson]

D,

As you've found, it's important not to muscle the down swing when you get to the line first. If you can feel yourself doing it, kudos to you, seriously. It took me more than a year to even feel it when I did it "wrong".

Did you try holding everything completely motionless except your left leg (Lurkers - D throw right-handed, so for a 5-step delivery, she starts with her left leg) for the first step of the 5-step delivery? You're doing this in practice, right? Not league?

I can understand why Ron would want you to have a little more ball speed. The first time I saw you bowl, the first thing that crossed my mind was "what a great roll" (D's natural release creates good forward roll). On lanes with sufficient conditioner, the slower speed won't hurt you because there's enough "push" down the lane created by the pattern to prevent your ball from rolling out. However, on drier lanes, your ball will stop skidding and start rolling early. With slower ball speed, you'll be prone to rolling out which means weaker hits and more corner pins on pocket hits.

The best and easiest way to increase ball speed is that free swing. Let go your muscles :)

Kat and I are looking forward to seeing you two at the Gathering as well. Everyone else is invited! All you need is a fondness, love, or addiction (we welcome all types) for bowling. We're still debating on whether we'll do Fri-Mon or Thu-Sun.

[Strike Domination]

Judging by a couple of the symptoms(sp?) of early timing, falling off the shot and sometimes lower revs and inconsistent ball speed in particular, that's what I have most likely. Not all the time though. From the little experimenting I did today, it seems that holding the ball about waist high and taking a rugular but somewhat shorter first step(5-step approach) gives me of feeling almost no different than just walking to foul line(while swinging and throwing a ball of course). That seems to be pretty successful for me.

[dpmusic70]

Thanks Jay. Let's do some bowling together in N.C. and you can give me some more tips. We are really looking foward to it.

[Jamski]

Wow, this is GREAT stuff and food for thought. I don't consider myself good enough to say how I do it, except that I take 4 steps, and I am very deliberate, for want of a better word. I saw someone (the house proprietor, in fact) rolling that way and tried it for myself, and it seems to suit me and the ball I'm rolling.