Speed question

[backahead]

My elbow felt good yesterday so I went to the lanes for some much needed practice. My focus was pendulum action and staying behind the ball. I've wanted to bowl like that for the past month but the elbow caused me problems. So yesterday I did it. My hook was obscene. The lanes I played were very dry.

I figured I could overcome that with speed but for some reason I couldn't get my ball above 11mph. No matter how high I brought the ball on approach I could not get any speed. I ended up just tossing it about 10ft to compensate but that didn't matter either, I was still going across the head pin.

Yesterday was the first time I was truly behind the ball and it felt great to see that hook, but why did I drop 5mph from my relaxed wrist throw and what is the solution? Thanks guys.

[The German Shepherd]

How was your tempo on your approach? Were you by any chance walking more slowly to the foul line?

Jay

[backahead]

@TGS: I started like normal, which admittedly is a slow approach. So I tried to speed it up after the first game and I lost focus on pendulum by the 3rd game. I didn't want to think about that and it wasn't helping anyway, so I went back to my normal speed for the last 3 games.

[Stormed1]

Keep in mind that the speed is measured down by the pins , and that how a ball hooks is it slows down and when the rev rate and speed match it hooks. So if the lanes are dry the ball will slow down quicker and slow down more

[billf]

Dry lanes will affect speed quite a bit. To gain a lot of speed you need to increase the speed of your feet. Starting with the ball higher usually won't yield more than 2mph. Starting with your normal position but with faster feet, your arm will naturally move quicker to keep pace.
When comparing speeds to see what's working for you, try to compare with similar lane conditions.

[backahead]

@Stormed1 and Billf: Thanks guys. I will try to consider/impliment what you said in the future.

[The German Shepherd]

Dry lanes will affect speed quite a bit. To gain a lot of speed you need to increase the speed of your feet. Starting with the ball higher usually won't yield more than 2mph. Starting with your normal position but with faster feet, your arm will naturally move quicker to keep pace.
When comparing speeds to see what's working for you, try to compare with similar lane conditions.

And I would add that you should keep your arm-swing free and not try to muscle the ball. Carrying the ball instead of letting it swing reduces velocity as well...

Jay

[billf]

So true. Many bowler's when they try to increase speed, especially by holding the ball higher, tend to muscle it. Not only does that have a negative effect on speed and revs but can lead to injury (and lower scores).

[backahead]

@TGS and Bill: You guys are correct. My only purpose was pendulum and staying behing the ball. When I tried to speed up I lost pendulum and tried to force it. I want to bowl so bad right now I can taste it, but it's not smart...I need to rest. Plus tomorrow I get 3 free games per day for the next two months.

[Tampabaybob]

Much has changed over the years coaching this game. It used to be raise the ball higher for more speed, lower it for less. I just went looking for an article in US Bowler magazine and couldn't find it for you but I'll keep looking. Basically what's being taught by the "best" coaches is if you lower your ball ( and I'm talking only about 6" lower) your backswing "should" increase giving you a little more speed. Raising it should slow it down. Now with that said, every bowler is going to be different in style and mechanics, but give it a try and see if it helps. In the mean time, I'll try to find that article and post it.

Bob

[Mike White]

Ball speed comes from two parts. Arm, and Leg. Both of these two parts have the shoulder in common.

Imagine standing at the foul line. When viewed from the side, consider your shoulder at the center of the clock, and your foot at 6:00.
If you push the ball out to 3:00 and let it fall free, it will swing back to 9:00, then down to 6:00. If you let the ball go at 6:00 (going forward) you have one of the elements of ball speed. The ball is swinging around the shoulder which is in a fixed position.

Next stand at the back of the approach with the ball hanging at 6:00. Walk to the foul line (like a bowling approach) without any swing on the ball. As finish your slide, release the ball. All of that speed comes from the legs, which act on the ball thru the shoulder.

When you combine these two parts, the time it takes for the ball to swing from 3:00, back to 9:00, then down to 6:00 needs to match the time it takes the legs to get from the back of the approach, to the foul line. Since gravity dictates how long it will take the ball to swing, the bowler has to adjust the leg rate to be in sync.

Now to making speed adjustments. If instead of starting at 3:00 you start at 4:00, that means the ball with swing back to 8:00, then forward to 6:00.
Again, gravity dictates how long that will take (which is less time than for 3 - 9 - 6). To compensate the legs need to complete the trip from the back of the approach to the foul line in this new shorter amount of time. Therefore the legs must move the shoulder forward at a faster rate. This means you get less speed from the arm swing component, but more speed from the leg component.

[backahead]

@Tampa and Mike: Thanks guys, I think I've overcome that issue. But I'd be glad to read anything more on the subject. That day was the first time I was able to stay behind the ball. My wrist was a full 90 degrees all the way through my swing. Since then I've learned to relax my wrist at the backend of my swing and flex it again at the bottom just before release. I'm getting the speed and the hook I want. My best throws happen when it feels like I'm doing nothing to make the hook happen, the ball just trickles off my fingers.

[Mike White]

When the arm feels free, and the ball comes off the hand easily with plenty of revs, and you're balanced solidly at the foul line on just your sliding foot.... it feels like a tuning fork ringing pure.... Memory of that feeling is what brought me back to bowling. However currently my tuning fork is just going BZZZZZZZ.

[backahead]

When the arm feels free, and the ball comes off the hand easily with plenty of revs, and you're balanced solidly at the foul line on just your sliding foot.... it feels like a tuning fork ringing pure.... Memory of that feeling is what brought me back to bowling. However currently my tuning fork is just going BZZZZZZZ.

Bowled terrible tonight. We were in first place, tonight we played 2nd place. We lost all 7 pts. It was too wet for me. Couldn't slow my ball down. 17mph was easy. I was BZZZing on 90% of my throws. Buddy had a new frantic and it was going nuts, lol. Right, left, squiggle left, back right and then a 20 board hook. Ugh.

[backahead]

Dang it, bowled like crap again tonight. 9 games, 13-18mph with a 152 high. I need real coaching if I'm going to become a good bowler. Just contacted a USBC silver certified coach 15 mi away.

[Tampabaybob]

Right thing to do. The coach can see things you can't and should be able to give you a list of things to work on. Let us know how you make out with him.

Bob

[Hot_pocket]

I see different answers but i was always taught to raise the ball up for more speed but there is more to it then just raising the ball. You should also concentrate on still making a relaxed arm swing because if you try and muscle it you are actually still restricting the back swing. I think this video is something most if not all bowler should watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5nnDbV0znE&feature=related

[billf]

I see different answers but i was always taught to raise the ball up for more speed but there is more to it then just raising the ball. You should also concentrate on still making a relaxed arm swing because if you try and muscle it you are actually still restricting the back swing. I think this video is something most if not all bowler should watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5nnDbV0znE&feature=related

That technique to raise speed was popular but is outdated. It helped created more lift and the follow through was by the ear when completed. With today's balls the research shows that by starting with the ball lower the feet will speed up to keep pace plus it raises the back swing slightly. Today's modern follow through for a sweeping hook is now out and in front of the head. The straight up players still follow through by the ear.
Neither way is right or wrong, just more suited towards today's game. I still prefer a follow through by my ear though.

[Tampabaybob]

There was an article in US Bowler a few months ago and I haven't been able to find it. It came to me as a shock because I always taught raise the ball for speed and lower to slow it down. I'm going to keep looking. I'll post it if and when I find it.

Bob

[bowl1820]

There was an article in US Bowler a few months ago and I haven't been able to find it. It came to me as a shock because I always taught raise the ball for speed and lower to slow it down. I'm going to keep looking. I'll post it if and when I find it.

Bob

Sept. 2011 "Control your Roll" by Bryan O'Keefe.

http://classic.bowl.com/usbowler/USBowler_Sept_2011_PDF.pdf


heres a extra article to look at also:

A How-To for Adjusting Ball Speed:A Research-Based Method
http://bowlingknowledge.info/images/stories/slowinskimay10_ball_speed.pdf

[Tampabaybob]

That's it ! I was still looking for it when the message popped up on my email. Great job, you probably just saved me hours of looking. This is the article that I first saw that really got my attention about lowering the ball for more speed. Hope this helps the guys on this site. Thanks agin for finding it.

Bob