Bowling Diary

[Grimthrow]

Jack
25 years old
6'0, 170 pounds
Right handed, 14 pound ball.

I just wanted a thread where I could put my day to day progress in. I've been bowling for 3 days now.

Day 1: Bowled first 3 games today with my own shoes and ball. Pro Shop guy watched a couple throws, said I'm over-rotating the wrist, and need to slow down my throw speed.

Day 2: Bowled 4 games today. Lots of experiments, not much luck. Using a house ball as a spare ball was a bad idea. On the 4th game I realized that if I relax my wrist and arm on the release, good things happen. Throughout the day I watched bowling tournaments on youtube and realized I have a similar style to Walter Ray and Norm Duke. I'm going to try to emulate them tomorrow.

Day 3: Bowled 4 games. Lots of improvement, I start off way off to the right, about as far as you can go. I don't have much of a hook so this allows me to hit the pocket just right. Only left one split today, happy about that. Need to work on spares still bigtime.
Nothing makes me more mad then brooklyn's, even if it's a strike (all three were strikes). Average over the 4 games was a little over 150, I feel like I got lucky on a ton of throws though.
I only have a 4 step approach...this worries me a bit. Although the Duke and WRW have a 5 step, and they start with their left foot, and I start with my right. So I either have to do a 4 step or 6 step, and 4 feels comfortable right now.

[J Anderson]

"I only have a 4 step approach...this worries me a bit. Although the Duke and WRW have a 5 step, and they start with their left foot, and I start with my right. So I either have to do a 4 step or 6 step, and 4 feels comfortable right now."
Don't worry! Norm and Walter Ray are great role models but you need to adapt what works for them to fit what works for your body. Personally I think you would do better to copy Norm's swing. If 4 steps feels right, do it. Its really the same as a 5 step without the first step.
I only use three steps which drives my coaching friends crazy.

[Grimthrow]

Right on! I just got down watching Earl Anthony's youtube coaching. Amazing stuff in there! He shows everything he does in that video with a 4 step. Kind of weird because in a lot of his tournament matches he's using a 5 step. Either way I feel better. He shows the 3 step too!

If any other beginner happens to read this post, definitely check out "Earl Anthony teaches bowling" on youtube. I've learned a lot already.

[Grimthrow]

Day 4: Great day! For the most part. Bowled 5 games. First four games I was just completely relaxed and hitting my spot. Averaged out to right around 180 over those 4 games. I didn't break the 200 barrier, but at least everything seemed consistent, that's all I want. Still missing easy spares, my guess is that they will come with time as my muscle memory has no idea which spot to hit or exactly where to stand still. The 5th game was ugly. I missed two easy one pin spares in the first two frames and I was just like ughhhhhhh what is going on? This game is soooo much about confidence and staying relaxed. I have to really note to slow my approach and keep my arm straight. If I can do that, pick up the easy spares, I don't see why I can't break 200 soon. Have to watch the rest of Earl Anthony teaches bowling today.

[The Mayor]

This is really cool to see your progress and I look forward to seeing how you progress!

As for spares, take a look at this article which should help you with alignment and where to target on the lane.

http://www.bowlingball.com/BowlVersity/bowling-3-6-9-spare-system

[JerseyJim]

You might also want to watch the videos from Fred Borden, one of the great bowling coaches in the US. He's coached the US Team for a number of years. He's also coached a number of pros. Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BowltechBowlingTips/search?query=borden

[StormGirl]

Wow you're progressing farily quickly. You should also check out Ron Clifton's website, and Slowinski's website as well. Tons of great info on there! Here are the links

http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/roncarchive.htm

http://bowlingknowledge.info/

Good luck!

[Grimthrow]

http://www.bowlingball.com/BowlVersi...9-spare-system

Thanks Mayor! I’m definitely going to print this off and take it with me tomorrow morning. Interesting about angling your feet toward the spare pin. I believe Earl A. talked about squaring up with the target as well. Are you then approaching the foul line at a slight angle when throwing at the 7 or 10 pin?


http://www.youtube.com/user/Bowltech...h?query=borden

Nice Jim! I’m going to check this out next.




Wow you're progressing farily quickly. You should also check out Ron Clifton's website, and Slowinski's website as well. Tons of great info on there! Here are the links

http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/roncarchive.htm

http://bowlingknowledge.info/

Awesome! Thanks StormGirl…I’ll check um out after the Borden video. I just hope I can stay consistent tomorrow, I have a lot on my mind in trying new things and too much on your mind while approaching the line isn't exactly a good thing :P


SIDENOTE FOR BEGINNERS - Morning’s of day 2 and 3 my arm was quite sore. My grip was fairly weak. I decided to bowl through it and today on day 4 there was no soreness, and the ball felt like an 8 pound ball. I could have bowled 3 more games with no problems. Keep in mind I take 2 servings of Whey Protein every day (one in morning and one at night) for muscle repair and get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep. I believe this helped repair the arm faster and take away the soreness.

[JerseyJim]

Grimthrow, the note about the sore arm bothers me. It sounds as if you're muscling the ball. You'll get much better results if you just let your arm relax. Ron Clifton has an article in his archive about that, and so does Joe Slowinski.

[Grimthrow]

Day 5 - Take everything I said about day 4....and completely reverse it :mad:

5 ballls in 7 games...5 BALLS IN 7 GAMES hooked into the pocket nicely. That's horrid. Luckily, my spare game was insane. If my spare game was like it was yesterday, and my strike game was like it was today, I'd be hard pressed to break 100. The spares kept my average at right around 155 over the 7 games.

Why was my 1st ball always so bad? I can tell you exactly why...but could I fix it? No.

BALL SPEED.

Because I still don't know how to get a decent amount of revs on the ball, I have to throw a slower ball in order for it to hook in at the right time. I aim for under 13 mph, 11 and 12 mph seems to always hit the pocket nicely. Today I couldn't seem to keep it under 15. Why? I was keeping my arm straight and relaxed, the release felt a little different today but I wasn't muscling the ball. I kept a relatively slow approach...and still...15+ mph. You could have stuck a gun to my head and said "bowl under 15mph or you die" ala kind of like the movie Speed, and I would have made for a very short movie.

I only planned on bowling 5 games, but after the 5th was over I was still shocked that I couldn't figure it out. 6th game now and I rip a nice chuck of skin off of my ring finger. Awesome. Head to the pro shop and the guy offers me a "defense skin protector". I don't know what they put in that little bottle, I think I read ether, but it stings real nice hahaha. Anyway I asked him for advice on keeping my speed down. He says keep the ball lower on the approach (i assume for a smaller backswing, I tried this earlier, didn't work)...or moving closer. I'm already fairly close to the foul line with my long legged 4 step. But I try it anyway, doesn't work.

LONG STORY SHORT VERSION:
Spare game was awesome today. Strike game was puzzling. Tomorrow I plan on lots of expermenting on the first throw. If anything my spare game will just get better.

[Grimthrow]

@JerseyJim - I think the arm was just sore because I haven't bowled in years, and when I did I used a 11 pound ball. My arm just wasn't used to it. And yes probably the first day I was muscling it a tad. Since then I've learned to relax my arm completely. I bowled 7 games today and it feels completely fine. I would think even a beginner that knows how to relax his entire arm and wrist would still feel a little sore after their first couple days.

[J Anderson]

I can sympathize about the ball speed. I've had nights, especially bowling on the PBA Shark pattern, where I can't throw slower than 16 mph.
Part of your ball speed comes from the swing. The higher the ball is held in your stance, the greater the potential energy, the faster the speed.
The other part is from the speed of your approach. For most people, i.e. everyone but me, moving their starting position closer to the foul line will automatically cause them to take smaller, slower step. We're talking 4 to 8 inches closer.
The combination of the two should get you back down to 12-13 mph.

[Grimthrow]

Day 6 and 7 - Had a party last night so I woke up late...then got called into work so no bowling for today. :mad: It also doesn't look like I will tomorrow because there's a big tournament at my alley. I might go and watch. Be back on Monday for the normal schedule!!

[Grimthrow]

Day 8 - 5 games. Each game I decided to bowl from a different line. This was just to see if anything else worked, and if I could get some extra revs on the ball from left to right.

1st game I bowled in normal position, all the way to the right using the furthest right arrow. Need to work on form still.

2nd game I moved left a bit and moved left an arrow as well. Basically trying to bowl like how Earl Anthony bowled. Not bad, not as good as I normally bowl but maybe it's because I'm new to it.

Spares are still getting better but I'm leaving a couple open frames each game, not good.

3rd game I'm on the left side, not all the way though. First time I've bowled left to right. My hook sucks, every once and a while I'll figure it out, but nothing hits the pocket flush. Lot's of oil around the middle, good thing I brought a towel.

4th game I'm all the way left. Let's just chalk this one up as laughable.

5th game I went back to normal position all the way right. I tried something new and very noteworthy. I tried to keep my first throw as straight as possible, yet it was hooking into the pocket! It was not going straight...it was hooking...into the pocket. Clearly I still don't understand what my hand/wrist/fingers are doing down there. The more I try to put revs on, the less I get. The more I try to throw straight, the more revs I get. Weird.

Either way I'm excited to go back tomorrow. I need to figure this out.

[Grimthrow]

Day 9 - Woke up late, only got to throw 3 games.

So much hook! What happened today? I had to step left a bit to compensate. I kept the speed down just fine today. Other then that, not much to say. I averaged around 150 for the 3 games. I think within the next couple weeks I'll be able to figure out exactly how I'll be bowling for awhile, not as much experimenting. Then I can get a proper average figured out. I'm hoping it will be 170+, just need to pick up them spares.

When I know for sure exactly how I want to bowl (form, approach, ball speed, etc), I want to start heading to other bowling alley's in the Twin Cities area just to get used to more then one alley.

[Grimthrow]

Day 10-15

Only bowled 2 days in the last 5 days. 5 games a piece.

Spares are continuing to come along just fine. I feel like I'm hitting the pocket but I'm leaving pins all over the place. I'm not sure if I just have the wrong angle, not enough speed (for more pin action), or....I really don't know what it is. Still averaging in the 150's at the end of every day. The fact that I'm not getting many strikes at all is what's killing me. I maybe get one or two a game....yet I'm hitting the pocket (or close to it) on almost every throw. Weird.

[Grimthrow]

Took a week+ off for a yearly Treasure Hunt worth $10,000 in my local area. Came really close to winning it. :mad:

Bowled 4 games on Sunday and 4 today.

Sunday was my first time using a sport lane, I really liked it for some reason, a lot better reaction for my throw. Today was pretty bad, just couldn't hit the pocket.

[Grimthrow]

The last week I've been playing about 4 or 5 games a day. One of those games I practice throwing at the 7 and 10 pins the whole game. Just trying to get used to hitting those two marks.

My ball ALWAYS hooks too early on the league lanes. If I bowl any faster or move and boards left though, it won't hook at all. I just can't figure it out. So today I just got sick of it and started aiming at a spot further down the lane to create a little bit more loft. Well the ball isn't hooking much, but it's pretty accurate, and I'm getting strikes. So i'm going to experiment with this for awhile.

[striker12]

in my time of bowling i have been changing styles after styles getting that perfect 1 im a 5 step aproach-righty-tweener-and cracker but the thing i use to do when i first started bowling i had a nice shot but when my one bowling ball that i had with a oval thumb got major dents into it all over my line i had to put it away until i got the money to get it fixed then i was useing my other ball whcih thumb hole was way to big soo at that point i started mussling the ball which luckly this year im out of that and know i got my full thumb in the ball in stead of a half a thumb im still jsut trying to find my right style i have jsut recently tunked my pink in and it helps me out causes its hard with my bowling mostly when i have lost alot of revs form changing to full thumb in but it has also got me out of mussleing the ball my approach is much better i ust eed more practice with my accurace and with staying consisant with all my shots

[Grimthrow]

Bowled with a tucked pinky finger today. I liked it a lot, much more control. I still have a very low amount of revs on my ball, it has to be in my release...

[Grimthrow]

Still bowling with a tucked pinky, I like it, But I'm continuing to hang around a 160 average. I will be trying to get a video up within the next couple weeks so everyone can critique me.

[striker12]

my bowling for the past couple weeks has been really bad, majorly mad breaks i have hit the pocket hard and ncie evry time but never get the corecct carry on the ball,

know going to change alittle more of my style to find the best way to get that dame 10 and 6 pin to fall i might go from the 5 step aproach to a 4 step and if that dose not work i will go to a 6 give me a extra step and see if that works or if not i will just move left abit and play more of the middle of the lane

[Grimthrow]

Got a coach for a little bit to help me with my game. His name is Matt McNiel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTPWxR3R1yQ

The most important thing he helped me with was my release, and making sure I'm dropping the ball down and throwing with the correct timing. It seemed like it really helped. I'll post my progress eventually.

[bowl1820]

Way to go getting Matt for some coaching, I'm sure it will help your game a lot.

[resstealth]

Don't get frustruated man. Im a 225 average and I didn't bowl a game above 140 in league tonight, due to tendonitis. I couldn't get around the ball like normal, so I would go high at normal speed, or through the nose if I slowed it down. It happens. Keep getting coaching and keep practicing and you will get there.

[Timmytomma]

I had a really rough day today. Couldn't really find a line, and everything was just a mess. My ball was just not doing what it did last time I played in that house, it seemed like I got nothing on the backend. Normally thats okay because since I average around 155 I can usually make the spares, but that was not the case today. I was absolutely terrible.

[striker12]

dame i should of had this hell raiser revenge at the start of the year if it was out at that time cause im bowling crappy befor i got it and know every time i go bowling with it i alwasy avg 200+ and just tonight avg a 243 with a 729 series first 700 series of the year and almost another 300 i perputsly screwed up the last shot cause i did not want to waste another 300 game soo i throw a 298 and my games where 200-231-298

[Grimthrow]

What do you mean "purputsly" screwed up? and did not want to waste another 300 game?

[bowl1820]

What do you mean "purputsly" screwed up? and did not want to waste another 300 game?

I believe what he's trying say is: He "purposely" screwed up, so he wouldn't throw a 300 in practice.

I know a lot of guy's that do that. It's a supersistition like not getting up to throw your strike shot when a split is on the other lane.


I'll try a translation.

Dam I wish I had the Hellraiser Revenge at the start of the year, I was bowling pretty bad before I got it. Now every time I go bowling and use it, I'm averaging 200+. Just tonight I avg. 243 shot a 200-231-298 for a 729 series! First 700 series of the year and almost another 300!

I purposely screwed up the last shot, because I didn't want to waste another 300 game in practice. So I whiffed the shot and left 2 pins for a 298 game.

At least that's what I think it say's.:cool:

[Grimthrow]

I believe what he's trying say is: He "purposely" screwed up, so he wouldn't throw a 300 in practice.

I know a lot of guy's that do that. It's a supersistition like not getting up to throw your strike shot when a split is on the other lane.


I'll try a translation.

Dam I wish I had the Hellraiser Revenge at the start of the year, I was bowling pretty bad before I got it. Now every time I go bowling and use it, I'm averaging 200+. Just tonight I avg. 243 shot a 200-231-298 for a 729 series! First 700 series of the year and almost another 300!

I purposely screwed up the last shot, because I didn't want to waste another 300 game in practice. So I whiffed the shot and left 2 pins for a 298 game.

At least that's what I think it say's.:cool:

Wow, what a silly superstition.

[Timmytomma]

Very nice translation! And I agree that's a lame superstition.

[bowl1820]

Very nice translation! And I agree that's a lame superstition.

Like most superstitions they are silly. But I'll admit I've done it myself back in the day. I've threw gutter balls in the tenth so I wouldn't hit 300 in practice. During league if a 7-10 split is on a lane beside me , I've waited till they shot the spare.

There is a little something to waiting on the split. When looking down your lane, with a empty deck on either side. I can't quite describe it, but it changes your perspective of the lane and can throw you off if you not really use to it.

Also there is bowling etiquite see #2

FYI: Old school bowling etiquite
1:If a two bowlers are ready at the approach, at the same time and each has a full rack. The player on the right goe's first, otherwise the first one there goe's first.

2:If two bowlers are ready at the approach, at the same time and one has a spare shot. The player with the spare shot goe's first.

3: You can stay on the approach and post the shot, till the ball falls in the pit.

[billf]

Thank you for the translation. Now I will be looking for it on the rest of Striker12's post lol
The superstition of "wasting" a 300 is silly. I take them whenever I can including our summer 9pin no tap league.

Ask your coach about accelerating the swing from the point where your arm is perpendicular to the lane through the follow through. Don't be fooled, this adds very little to speed but aides in increasing lift and revs. I assume your ball was drilled for your hand and style you planned to play? You may also want to ask your coach about adjusting axis tilt. Knowing how to do this is very beneficial to help adjust when the ball finishes the "skid" phase and enters the "hook" phase.

Don't worry much about bowling too many games. I was on worker's comp for 14 months (blinded by flying metal). The doctors said I could bowl as it's not very strenuous. I bowled an average of 30 games a day. Even learned the cranker style all while not even being able to see the foul line, boards, arrows or pins. My tournament doubles partner would hand me my ball and tell me which way to move on the approach, call out what pins were left and walk me back to our table during league. Funny thing is, now that they fixed my eyesight, my average has dropped. I guess it's easier to throw the ball outside when you can't see the gutter laughing at you.

[Grimthrow]

Thank you for the translation. Now I will be looking for it on the rest of Striker12's post lol
Yes....this please.
The superstition of "wasting" a 300 is silly. I take them whenever I can including our summer 9pin no tap league.
In complete agreement here.
Ask your coach about accelerating the swing from the point where your arm is perpendicular to the lane through the follow through. Don't be fooled, this adds very little to speed but aides in increasing lift and revs. I assume your ball was drilled for your hand and style you planned to play? You may also want to ask your coach about adjusting axis tilt. Knowing how to do this is very beneficial to help adjust when the ball finishes the "skid" phase and enters the "hook" phase.
The ball is drilled for my hand but I wasn't sure about my style yet...I think I'm going to get a different drilling next time. Thanks I'll talk to him about the axis tilt.

Don't worry much about bowling too many games. I was on worker's comp for 14 months (blinded by flying metal). The doctors said I could bowl as it's not very strenuous. I bowled an average of 30 games a day. Even learned the cranker style all while not even being able to see the foul line, boards, arrows or pins. My tournament doubles partner would hand me my ball and tell me which way to move on the approach, call out what pins were left and walk me back to our table during league. Funny thing is, now that they fixed my eyesight, my average has dropped. I guess it's easier to throw the ball outside when you can't see the gutter laughing at you.
Holy crap! Glad do hear you're doing good.

[billf]

Thank you. I was born blind in my left eye. When the part exploded at work a big piece knocked my safety glasses off. A small 4 millimeter long sliver flew in cutting my cornea into three pieces, hit the retina, tore that and bounced outwards through some membranes, hitting the lens and back in. Luckily I stayed calm. My blood pressure was normal when the ER checked. Doc said that is what probably saved my eye as the jell was coming out and the extra pressure would have made that happen a lot faster. The first surgery, same day, lasted five hours. It took three more surgeries and fourteen months but with trifocals I can see at a 20/15 level again. Just another one of life's challenges/tests. I've been thankful from the start as I knew it could have been worse.