Approach and Release

[truthseer]

Hello everyone,

I have two issues I would like someone’s insight with “release” and “angle of approach” in respect to the target.

Release:

Sometimes the release off my thumb is too early, and with a thud, the ball’s trajectory is uncontrolled. Other times the ball hangs on the thumb, and the uncontrolled trajectory is the same as before. I would like a simple answer to gaining a more consistent release.

For some that read the above issue may have an answer, but I would like to convey a picture that requires more detail than what I have wrote above. Please bear with me on this.

With regard to the release issue, I can understand that the thumb shrinks and swells according to the use, the weather, and the humidity; only to name a few. I can also understand having these anomalies occur throughout the three game series of a league and/or tournament; from shrinking to swelling. I am specifically talking more about from each individual release of the ball. One throw of the ball can be falling off, and the very next throw will hang, on the thumb. I know that I am not doing something correct on each and every release consistently, and that “something” is escaping me to correct the problem myself.

I have been to the web site “Next Level Bowling” and it doesn’t help with my specific problem; although it does deal with practicing the release, but it doesn’t help me in this regard.


Angle of approach to the target:


Given the technical and natural angle of the thrown bowling ball, I’ve been taught the art of bowling from the old school era of late 60s and early 70s, and that is walk from start to release towards the target; and in my case the lane arrows. Talking elementary, I aim my approach to release by starting on the left side of the approach (being right handed) and step through towards the target (second lane arrow – the 10 board), and, obviously, release at the foul line. This arc of the ball flows from the ten-board, and then at mid-point, maybe the 5 board, and lastly, the pocket (between 15 and 20 board).

If one drew a line from start to the pocket the “approach portion” would be from left side to mid-point right side. The angle of the approach portion can be viewed at the release point as having the swing of the arm across the chest area (although exaggerated). In other words my shoulders are not perpendicular to the square-ness of the foul line. My shoulders are slightly at a right angle at the point of release.

My question is how can I utilize the approach with this kind of angle and have the shoulders square to the foul line at the same time. To me, squaring my shoulders through the approach, and with the angle of approach, is an exaggerated side-ways walk from left to right, and the release.

As another way of expression, when I am standing at the start of my approach I aim for the pocket via the target arrow, yet if I approach straight to the foul line ending at the same perpendicular point at the foul line, in this case the same left side of the approach, the angle is now some 15 to 20 (or more) boards to the left of where I would have been if I approached towards the target arrow as I always have done.

Coaching someone through the written word dialog is tough; please forgive me of this, and thank you for trudging through the diatribe mess.

[DanielMareina]

First of all, you do an excellent job of describing your issue. That will make this slightly easier on me, although I don't have all the answers for you. First, let us start with the release. Inconsistency happens, as you said, for many reasons if it is due to environmental issues. (heat, humidity, time of day, swelling, etc.) The key to a good release is that all parts of it have to match up. Imagine for a second the ball rolling smoothly off your hand. It should release off your thumb first and then roll off your fingers second. If your hand gets around the ball a little more than the perfect amount, the ball wants to roll off of your hand at a different angle. When this happens, it will cause it to take longer to get off your hand. I find that if you grip with your entire thumb at once, not just the pad, that is most important. Secondly, watch your hand rotation and see if it differs between the shot that comes off nicely and the one that comes off a little late. Personally, because I have a hideous thumb that is impossible to drill the perfect hole for, I like to use Storm Thundertape. I drill all my thumb holes slightly larger than necessary and wear a piece of tape on my thumb ( not thumb tape in the ball). I find that the material makes for a much smoother and more consistent release. That is one option also. Because it is hard to determine the problem without seeing it, I will stop here and hope that part helps a little.
As for angle of approach, what your are doing is completely fine. That is the older way of doing things, but it isn't any less valid today then when they came up with it. At the same time, it is possible to walk straight and square with the foul line and still hit a mark that is to the right or left of what is directly ahead of you. I personally walk straight and throw the ball to the right by changing the angle of my arm swing. I couldn't tell by what you said why you have a problem with the way you do it now. If it works for you, there is no reason to change. If you want to try walking straight, it will be hard to figure out because if you throw a lot of hook, it will be a big change in how your arm swings. When I throw spares, I walk just like you are talking. I face my mark and walk directly towards it. It makes it a lot easier to be accurate. I hope all of this helps. I am more than happy to help you further if you have more questions. That is assuming I helped you at all during this message. Good luck!

[truthseer]

Daniel,

Thank you for the compliment about my endeavor to describe my issues. Actuality I had worked on the post over for days prior to me initially posting it. I wanted to be clear as to the reason why I was asking for help. I have read some other posts, and quite frankly, grammar is lacking, and therefore some confusion can enter. I wanted to stay away from being unclear.

Now it is my turn to grant the compliment to you for actually giving me some good insights.


Release:

You said, “. If your hand gets around the ball a little more than the perfect amount, the ball wants to roll off of your hand at a different angle.” This is the “something” that was escaping my persistence to figure out that problem. Therefore, a big great thanks. While reading your response about a possible problem with releasing, I actually had a mental vision of when those times of releasing the ball in error. Since time past of trying to come up with an answer for myself, I actually have used fabric tape from Brunswick, and I found that it helps with the snugness of the thumb and for a few frames my tendency to “drop” and “hang” the ball was far and few in between. Now for a question that begs, “What practice can be implemented to help muscle memory, and to keep the hand behind the ball, instead of what you described as inadvertently slightly bringing the hand around the ball too early, or too far over?”


Approaching the target:


You are precisely accurate that I didn’t entertain the notion in the post of why it was an issue for me, and you’re right again, and that for me, personally, it isn’t an issue per-say. The real story is that I had bowled with some friends I work with and this person bowls the way you do, straight down the approach and throw out to the right. He doesn’t aim for the arrows. He had mentioned that his target spot is further down the lane. The arrows are too close for him, which makes sense why that type of bowling has problems with those that use closer targets. To him it is natural because that is how he learned to bowl, and very well. I believe he has a sort of an inferior complex and looked at how I approach as being different and therefore erroneous from his perspective. To him the exaggerated crossing the arm swings across the chest was his idea, and not really mine.

From my point of view the angle of my personal approach isn’t necessarily foul line oriented. The orientation is from the line, or direction, of approach. My arm swing is perpendicular to my approach angle, and not the foul line.

I must say that you have a good sense of coaching. Your input was very helpful, and I hope that in the future I can post other issues I may have and that you can dissect with accuracy and with good intentions.


Thank you very much.

[DanielMareina]

You are very welcome! I am happy to help. I am glad that the release advice helped you. It is hard to say exactly what to do to train yourself how to rotate the ball exactly the same amount each time. I have two pieces of advice I will pass along to you. The first is to shake off bad shots and remember good ones. This seems simple enough, but a lot of bowlers have a tendency to throw a bad shot once, and then they try to correct the problem on the next shot. It is kind of like the phrase "don't make a copy of a copy". Basically, you will slightly adjust your shot, over and over again, until your original, good shot is unrecognizable. Start each shot knowing what you want to do, and if that doesn't happen, start over and try again. Bad shots happen to everyone, and you have to just let them go, and know that you know what to do.

My second piece of advice is really something that I have just started coaching. I have not tested it long enough to stand 100% behind it, but it has helped a few of my bowlers. If you have a football at home, throw it underhand to someone in front of you. The rotation that your wrist makes to cause a spiral on the underhand pass is very similar to the rotation you will use to make your ball hook. Unlike a bowling ball, the football is light. Your wrist shouldn't have enough momentum to cause you to over-rotate like when you are bowling. Therefore, this is a good training tool to teach your wrist the right motion. Now comes the disclaimer. I usually use this tool to teach bowlers to throw a hook for the first time. It may not be able to adjust your muscle memory for the hook you already throw. I will cross my fingers for you. Mostly though, practice bowling, and make sure to make mental notes when you throw the ball correctly. The human body is very good at remembering these types of movements.

Try not to let your friend get you too screwed up either. Everyone has their own way of throwing the ball. If you watch Michael Fagan, Wes Mallot, Norm Duke, and Jason Belmonte, you will notice that the only things that these bowlers have in common is that they bowl for a living, and they throw the ball the same way consistently. Consistency is the most important part of bowling! Good luck out there!

[Beech]

If your having trouble with your thumb swelling up / shrinking etc like i did, i had switch grips installed into my bowling balls there awesome. They drill a bigger thumb hole and you get interchangable thumb sockets, i have 3 thumbs, 1 normal size when i start, than if my thumb swells up i put in a bigger one, and than if it srinks i put in a small one or if it starts small i just work my way up. just a suggestion :D

[mdmjdm]

Daniel definitely gave you ALOT of very good advice...release is something we have ALL struggled with, and the weather has a bigger effect on it than many people realize. Take it from someone who bowls year round...tape is your friend!!!

I am a "tape in the ball, not on the thumb" guy. You might be alot like me in that aspect, the ball never feels the same out of the bag. In mid-winter, when the temps are in the 20's or lower, I probably average 5 to 8 pcs of tape in each ball...my thumb just shrinks in the cold. Mid July, I'm usually down to 1 or 2. Therefore, I buy ALOT of tape, and it is the FIRST thing I check before I put it on the rack. I know the "pop" I want to feel out of the thumb, and I keep some in my pocket whenever I bowl along with a small screwdriver to remove it if nec. (Yes, I know, they make tools for that, but my little screwdriver works for me...lol)

The football idea DOES work well for some people. It may not EXACTLY replicate your release, but it does build muscle memory. I occasionally use a bowling ball and the crummy couch in the den as a backstop, but I wouldn't reccomend that unless you REALLY don't like the couch.

The proper release has one more important aspect to it...timing. Daniel may also want to chime in on this, but it is something you should at least look at (or have someone look at it for you). Everyone has their own personal timing...many "modern era" people plant their foot at the line and PULL the ball through, but considering your comments on being taught "old school" bowling, I would guess that is not you. You MIGHT be struggling with timing issues.

"Fast feet" can cause your body to get to the line before the ball, forcing you to "pull" through the shot. Different people have different symptoms, but many tend to come out of the thumb early and end up with a miss outside of target with no turn on it.

Slow can cause the opposite, causing you to stay in the thumb too long, and miss inside of target...with no turn on it.

Based on your average...your body and mind know your timing "sweet spot"...pay attention to it when you are bowling well and carrying the world.

Good luck.

[DanielMareina]

Very well put! Timing is the first thing I teach in my lessons. I teach a park and rec class for little kids, I give personal lessons to league bowlers, and I help seniors find a way to strike when their body doesn't want to work like it used to. Almost every single age group will tell me, "I am inconsistent on where I throw the ball and I don't know why". And almost every time it is timing issues. The problem with teaching timing though, is depending on your arm length, height, ball weight, and amount of approach steps, everyone is different. The key is to try to have a smooth arm swing and then match your feet to that speed. Personally, I use a five step approach, and because of my high back swing, I need to have the ball completely straight out as my second foot hits the ground. For most people, this would make the ball get to the foul line before their feet. If there is a good bowler that works at the center, they are usually decent enough at spotting if you have a timing issues, and they won't charge you. Otherwise, pro shop operators or coaches won't charge too much if you ask them just to see if there is an issue. The great part about practicing timing though, is that it is FREE! You can practice your timing anywhere you can walk. Then you just have to be able to apply it when you have a bowling ball in your hand.

[mdmjdm]

Thank you...I wish I could say I have a good handle on my timing at all times...but you would know I was lying.

Typically I see people who try to slow their feet down do the same thing I tend to do...slow down the first few steps and then (unknowingly) speed up the last 1 or 2, making it all in-effective.

Occasionally I see people whose footwork is too slow, but I would say that fast is much more common than slow...do you agree?

Follow through is big, too. Every good bowler you see finishes at the SAME POINT...always. And the "pose" point is virtually always above their head, too...says alot. Too many people think that their job is over once the ball is off their hand...couldn't be farther from the truth. Practice your finish point without the ball, and aim for that.

[Strike Domination]

I'm inconsistent in my accuracy too. Somewhat recently, I think I've found the cadence that works for me so I probably don't want to change that. I use 5 steps but my last 4 steps go kinda like 1.2..34 if that makes any sense. To give a visual I would say PBIII and WRW use this cadence or close to it. Anyways, I don't think I'm usually off my mark by a bunch but it's enough to go through the nose or barely make the pocket because I'm not able to create much area very often. Assuming it's a timing issue like you guys say, maybe I'm just not keeping my push away speed and shape consistent because I'm positive I start the ball with my right foot. Or maybe a slight possibility it's a body angle problem.

[tomg2100]

my aproach is okay but for some reason i seem to pull the ball across myself and then afterwards I like to move out the way to see where my ball goes at a diffrent angle but i've nearly stopped doing that now.

[DanielMareina]

First of all, changing your foot work pace and size will change the swing of the ball. Lots of people speed their feet up at the end to increase their ball speed. The problem with this is, it makes you pull the ball forward to catch up with your feet. This does speed the ball up, but it ruins a free arm swing. I try and teach people to keep an even pace all the way through their approach. I actually will have them count out loud 1..2..3..4.
As for the two comments about the follow through, watch Wes Malott and Norm Duke and compare the two. Because of Norm Duke's very straight backward and forward movement, he will end with his hand coming straight up beside his head at the end of his follow through. Wes uses a figure 8 ball swing (bringingthe ball out, then behind your body, then pushing the ball out on the release, with an across the body follow through) which makes his arm come across his chest during his follow through, and his hand will end up on the left side of his face. They used to frown on this kind of style, but it is taught as an optional method to increase revolutions. I use the figure 8 style myself due to being the kid who always wanted to hook the ball as much as I could. Now I am trying to tone my revs down a bit, so I am creating less of an 8 than I used to. I do teach people to start with more of a Norm Duke style, because it is much easier to teach them how to rev the ball more than the opposite direction.

[mdmjdm]

Well, Darrell's initial post was concerning his release, and I guess I was trying to get back to the beginning of what could cause it. Bowling is one of those wonderful, annoying, fun, and frustrating sports where it is very easy to find yourself chasing a SYMPTOM of a problem as if it were the CAUSE of a problem.

We've all been there...practice on one key element of our game that we think is THE problem, only to find out later that it was merely a symptom. Everyone has their own way of delivering a bowling ball, and there are certain fundamentals everyone must follow, but the best way is YOUR way...as long as it is consistent. Look at WRW Jr...admit it, if you didnt know who he was, and saw him practicing next to you, the first thought would be "what a herky-jerky, raise-up-at-the-line release...not smooth at all"...and then you would realize that he can hit a fly from 60 ft with the exact same speed and release.

For right-handers, if you fall off to the right, PROBABLY fast timing (body at the line before the ball). If you fall off to the left, PROBABLY slow timing (ball at the line before your body). You should be able to stand there at the line on one foot forever, like a bowling trophy pose

So, I guess what I am saying is this: If you are having release and/or accuracy problems, go back to the beginning and see if you are making a mistake BEFORE the poor release that is CAUSING the poor release. Your address position (whatever it is) should be EXACTLY the same every time. Head, shoulders, elbow, forearm, ball...ALL in the exact same position. Your finish position should be EXACTLY the same each time. Follow through position, knee bend, and good balance all the same.

If you get both the address and finish consistent, you may be suprised to see your release "fix itself". Sorry so rambling, my brain gets going on bowling and wont shut off...:)

[truthseer]

I want to thank those that contributed to this thread. All of you offered very good ideas, of which I’ve taken as suggestions and incorporated them into my practice play.

I would like to add something to all these suggestions, though. While looking at adding another bowling ball to my arsenal, in which I have added since, there were lots of YouTube video clips showing different ball reactions.

These video clips gave me an idea. I used a digital video camera and taped myself from the back for a couple of practice games. I requested to use dual lanes in my practice and moved the camera from lane to lane for each frame. I took the recording back home and edited, what I taped, into a long edition of myself bowling each throw of the ball.

The taped result gave me enormous amounts of information as to what I was doing from the back angle. To make a long story short, as it turned out I was unconsciously breaking my wrist back slightly enough that it forced me to compensate the error into swinging my arm exaggeratedly across my chest; again, all this unconscientiously. This wrist break caused the ball to fall off my thumb prematurely. The tape also showed that I brought my hand around the ball while the wrist was breaking which caused my thumb to hang up in the thumb hole.

Not meaning to purposely minimize those that have good ideas to better the common amateur bowler, but having access to a digital video camera adds to the help of bowlers that don’t have the ability to see one’s self from the back; with tongue firmly in the cheek.

This aspect of bettering one’s self is one way of employing a dedicated and loyal coach.

Thanks again.