Is a full-roller really that hard to overcome?

[Big Nick]

When I learned to bowl in college almost 15 years ago, the prof teaching the class got me into throwing a full roller and I had some decent success. Fast forward to about four months ago as I began practicing for the leagues that I've joined, and I found out that full-roller had fallen out of fashion (not that I had ever even heard of a full-roller or semi-roller or any kind of roller for that matter). Further, I read from several different sources that it was extremely hard to convert from a full-roller to any other kind of release. I've had a couple of lessons from a local pro, and over the summer I worked extremely hard at making a significant change to my release. Earlier today I had a lesson, and during the lesson my coach made the statement several times that he was impressed with how well I had overcome my full-roller release. He said that he had coached between 500 and 600 bowlers and that out of those, only 2 or 3 had ever come as far as I have. I was trying not to let me ego get the best of me, but it was definitely cool to hear that my coach was impressed with my progress.

Anyway, to make a long post short, is a full-roller really such a hard thing to overcome? I've found that at times it was difficult, but with a little bit of diligence, I've successfully made the switch and aside from a few small hitches along the way, it's been easier than most make it out to be.

[Ball99999]

What causes one to be a full roller?

[billf]

Everybody is different but in my opinion, your post says it all. Due diligence and lots of practice. Obviously it was the correct type of practice.

[Zothen]

It's not like any other habit to over come! It just take time & practice to RELEARN a new technique. I returned to bowling after a 15yr layoff and I have had to basically relearn how to bowl,ie-Went from reverse thumb pitch to 0 pitch and sung fit. I had to over come squeezing the ball and throwing it cross body,to basically walking to the line and using a big arm swing as oppose to short arming the ball. This has not been an easy road,cause my muscle memory stil wants to go back to old ways,but,with a lot of practice and league mates and pro bowlers giving me tips on what to improve and spending free time working on my bowling,I am now slowly getting my avg up.

Practice,practice,practice to build up muscle memory and you will start to get away from full roller to whatevewr release your looking for.

Zothen

[The German Shepherd]

I have tried to see if I could throw a full roller and have never been able to do it...

Jay

[bowl1820]

What causes one to be a full roller?

A Full Roller is a ball with zero degrees tilt, The track is between the finger holes and the thumb hole. Having no tilt is what makes it very ineffective.

It's also known as the suitcase delivery, because your holding the ball like a suitcase all through the delivery. With no counterclockwise wrist and finger rotation (But maybe aslight clockwise rotation.).

[martin]

full roller = spinner style?

[J Anderson]

full roller = spinner style?

Exact opposite. Full roller = 0 deg. axis tilt, Spinner = 90 deg. axis tilt.

[nordattack]

Exact opposite. Full roller = 0 deg. axis tilt, Spinner = 90 deg. axis tilt.

Sorry, opposite of what you said. With a spinner UFO ball the axis is straight up and has no tilt. The Full Roller has 90 degrees of axis tilt and moves down the lane like a bullet rotating counter clockwise.
I throw a Full Roller.
Here is a video where I demonstrate the release and motion of the Full Roller:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIa1vFDG7og

[bowl1820]

Sorry, opposite of what you said. With a spinner UFO ball the axis is straight up and has no tilt. The Full Roller has 90 degrees of axis tilt and moves down the lane like a bullet rotating counter clockwise.
I throw a Full Roller.
Here is a video where I demonstrate the release and motion of the Full Roller:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIa1vFDG7og

Sorry but J is right!

Axis tilt is the angle between axis of rotation and the horizontal plane.

0 degrees tilt is when the balls axis is parallel to lane. When the axis is perpendicular to the lane that's 90 degrees of tilt not 0 degrees.

So a spinner UFO ball which has the axis straight up (the axis perpendicular to the lane) has 90 degrees of tilt.

• Full Roll (Zero degrees tilt)
• High Roll (3-10 degrees tilt)
• 3/4 Roll (15-25 degrees tilt)
• Low Roll/Spinner (30-45 degrees tilt)
• Helicopter (90 degree tilt)