New in ohio

[Derrick1183]

Hello name is Derrick new to forums but not to sport. Been bowling for about 7 years now. I did start out bowling without a thumb at first but was not very good at it so I started using my thumb and it has been alot better since then. Now im starting to get more serious about bowling since I know that I can do better than what i have been doing. I do have one question about form if there is anyone that can help or had the same problem. I have recently been recording myself bowling and noticed that I am releasing the ball at my knee instead of my ankle and I am also bending my elbow on my downswing and I just cant seem to figure out how to fix it. If I can upload one of the videos to youtube I will post a link. If anyone has any info on how to fix im open to any suggestions.

[kev3inp]

It's hard to break old habits. The changes feel weird at first. To make you more aware of a bent elbow you could try an Ace bandage or elbow brace to give you more feedback. A release at the knee sound like not enough knee bend, too upright at the line. Video is amazing. You see how you really look instead of how you think you look.

[Derrick1183]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkasJXi3iIY&feature=youtu.be
Hopefully that works if it doesnt let me know if it doesnt and i will try something else. And yes it is very hard to break old habits specially when u have done them for so long not knowing what you are doing wrong. That is why im am trying to work on approach first cause i know that is where I am going wrong most of the time

[got_a_300]

Hmmmm...... after clicking on the link and when you get to youtube it just says

This video is private
Sorry about that

[Derrick1183]

ok ill change that thanks for letting me know

[Derrick1183]

changed it from private to unlisted hopefully that helps. let me know though

[Derrick1183]

well bowled in a king of the hill tournament this past weekend at a house that i have never bowled at before and i did alot better than expected. I ended up taking second place and didnt even think I would make it that far and what really suprised me is that with the handicap that I had all 8 games that we bowled my lowest game was a 202 and highest was a 250. Now I think I am ready for state to come so I can see how we do there

[striker12]

nice games derrick1183 thats pretty good second place keep it up that first place will come in there at some point

[Derrick1183]

The next one that they have is april 1st goin to that one as well. If there is anyone in the medwest area of ohio or you know where bellefontaine ohio is you should come over and join in on this one its a good time and the more the better. There was 21 total guys there and they just started the womens (Queen of the hill) last weekend as well

[Derrick1183]

sorry got a little off track there but yes I was only 31 pins from having first so im not upset about that at all. After the first 3 games I got pretty nervouscause I made it to the top 10 and that is where it went to one on one. The funny this is I was only nervous when it wasnt my turn and when I got up to bowl it all went away and was able to make good and consistent shots and was able to move on to the top 5 and then from there it was low man out to the end. Once it got to the top 2 I opened in the first frame with a split but then was able to get a 7/ and a double but the 5th and 6th frame had pocket 8 pins which was kind of upsetting cause if it was for those I probably could have won it but next time I guess lol.

[striker12]

yeah that nice but it takes time to get rid of that nervous part in your body i had it on my first yer but i got rid of it on my first year of bowling too by jsut saying i can do this im one of the best bowlers here even thought i wasn't butit gets rid of it and yeah ik what u mean 31 pins i was 2 pins away in my doubles event from 3rd i could of had it if i did not leave the 7-10 split in the 10th and the singles event dame that was jsut hard all together got 5th but only by 1 pin soo many gutters like i could not belieave it

[Timmytomma]

You throw brooklyn a lot, but its otherwise a good ball.

[striker12]

yeha forgot to say when you go up to the line most thing that happen is you forget everything that has happened and only think on the 2 feet your standing on dont think of bowling just think of a happy palce too take your mind of stuff but also when your ready to bowl think of you target for a second or 2 then go and throw it

[Gordon325]

OMG... watching you bowl was like watching a different looking version of myself bowl.... I also have trouble bending my knee and end up releasing closer to my knee than my ankle... I have also been working on keeping my elbow straighter and have gotten quite a bit better at it.. what helped me was, when you straighten your elbow you can kind of feel when you elbow is locked into place (like the crinkle of your skin on your elbow and the tightening of the skin inside your elbow) it is an unnatural feeling and kind of awkward to hold for a long time (if you aren't used to it) what I would try to do is keep that feeling through out the whole swing, basically TRY to over extend my elbow at first. ( my scores weren't the best and I would ONLY do this when practicing) but after a while it just became natural to keep my elbow extended and not bent on the down swing... It is too the point now where if I do bend my elbow on the down swing I can feel it happen and can almost guarantee my throw will be a bit high.

I too used to bowl with my thumb out, when I would go recreationaly with my friends and use a house ball, once I got my own ball about 4 years ago and had finger inserts put in using my thumb helped tremendously as i could control the swing better. (and my arm wouldnt hurt nearly as much) getting a house ball to hook like a pro shot takes a lot of bicep a kind of caused me to chicken wing every throw...sure it looked cool and impressed my friends that I could do it... but it gave me bad habits that took quite a bit of time to work out.

Keep at it and it will get better in no time!

[Derrick1183]

since that video has been posted I have been trying to get closer to my ankle with my release and have noticed a big difference in the way the ball has been reacting. Summer league is right around and that is the time when I can start getting alot more practice in since they offer 3 free games a day when your in one, so hopefully by next fall ill be able to up my avg. some from what it has been since it has been down for a while now. Thanks for all the advice and will try to keep this updated on my progress.

[billf]

The video editing is wonderfully done lol. What's funny is even in person I never noticed the poor release height. The King of the Hill tournament was fun but next time we need to finish #1 & 2.