Your slide does not end on the same board you start with doing this......

[Hammer]

For folks playing deep it is said that you should walk straight or left and throw right so you don't walk into your swing. If you walk left from where you start on the approach how can you end up on the same board you started with? I guess it can still be considered consistent if for your strike ball you start out on board 30 and end up sliding on board 35 for each of your strike
ball shots. To end up on the same board you start with you would have to walk straight. So I guess there are different forms of consistency.

[RobLV1]

There are really two separate thoughts on the whole playing inside footwork issue. The more old school thought is that some drift to the left is O.K., while drift to the right is a definite no-no. One of the best examples of a power player who drifts left is Robert Smith. More contemporary players tend to drift left initially, but then slide back to the right to end up on the same board where they started. This allows the armswing to freely go in the same direction as the intended line of the ball; from left to right.

[Hammer]

There are really two separate thoughts on the whole playing inside footwork issue. The more old school thought is that some drift to the left is O.K., while drift to the right is a definite no-no. One of the best examples of a power player who drifts left is Robert Smith. More contemporary players tend to drift left initially, but then slide back to the right to end up on the same board where they started. This allows the armswing to freely go in the same direction as the intended line of the ball; from left to right.

So I guess what you are saying is that the bowler will start walking to the left but ends up sliding to the right which will bring him back to the board he started on.

[Jaescrub]

I have an old DVD I got from a bowler that wanted to see me get better and in it the guy was talking about how we all drift a lil. He has you find where you want your foot to end up at the end of your slide. Then he has you start in the middle dot and do your approach 5 times and mark where you end up. That will show you how much drift you have by how many boards. Would this work with a walk left the slide to the right approach? If I try and walk to the left then slide back to the right I feel that I would be very inconsistent.

[RobLV1]

Consistency is the most important thing in bowling, and the amount of drift is no exception. Whether a bowler drifts left, walks straight, or walks left and slides right, it is critical that it be the same on every shot. That's not to say that the amount of drift will be the same from one part of the lane to another. While ending up on the same board on which you started should be your goal, getting there is a long, hard climb. Personally, when I get left of 30, I will start to drift two boards to the right. My goal is to maintain that two board drift, even when I get out to 37 or 38. It's so easy to let that two board drift turn into five or six, but I know I have to keep working at it. It's not easy, but it does pay off when you get consistent with it.

[fortheloveofbowling]

This is a very important topic and one that it overlooked a lot. Like rob said, consistency is the key. When you find the amount you vary from start to finish consistently you then then try to look at video and see how close the ball is to your slide foot as it passes. You can then really step back and see your entire trajectory from foul line to break point. In today's game when we play the back part of the lane so much and different angles to that point achieve different results imagining your ball path is extremely valuable.
It is kind of playing a bank shot in pool. You know where the cue ball starts and you imagine where to hit the bumper to get to the pocket (foul line-arrows-break point). It is really important to know where the ball is throughout the lane not just arrows and break point. If you know that you slide 2 boards left and the middle of the ball passes the middle of your slide foot by 7 boards then you know the exact spot (5 right of your start) the ball will pass the foul line. You can then see that imaginary line before you even throw the shot.

[dnhoffman]

I literally orient myself left to offset right drift

[RobLV1]

I literally orient myself left to offset right drift

One problem: what happens when you run into the ball return and run out of room?

[dnhoffman]

One problem: what happens when you run into the ball return and run out of room?

With my revs? HAH!

I lay down at the 13 on a fresh THS, so unless we're talking a 10-pin shot there's no chance of hitting the ball return

[RobLV1]

Contrary to popular misconception, you don't need a ton of revs to move inside, unless you keep trying to play the same breakpoint down the lane. As the lane breaks down, it doesn't do so only at the arrows, it does so at the breakpoint as well. When the end of the pattrn gets fried, the ball starts to lose energy and will no longer get back to the pocket. When you can learn to move your breakpoint in, along with your feet and your target, you can overcome this. One of the most impressive games that I've ever seen bowled was in a PBA Senior Regional Tournament in Flagstaff AZ. a few years ago. Terry Leong, a very low rev player, shot 279 on the Scorpion pattern, playing the fourth arrow. He was very deep, with very few revs, but he knocked down the pins.