Slowing ball speed down or more like forcing it less.

[scottymoney]

Last night at league I had so much trouble getting into the pocket. The oil was definitely different and a lot of guys in the league struggled. Well anyway I could not get in the pocket and if I did I was leaving 1-2 pin spare shots. I tried moving left and right. Left got me hooking too much and right had me flirting with the gutter too much. Yeah I had some form issues which accounted for some of the problem.

By the 3rd game I finally figured out what to do to get it into the pocket. I didn't force the ball like I normally do. Normally right before release I really explode my arm getting the extra power into it. Well I guess it was just too much for the oil pattern (a weird one at that). The ball wouldn't hook as it normally would. Finally when I stopped "forcing" it and just let it come off my hand I was getting into the pocket much better.

I feel like my league is almost a sport pattern league as we have weeks where everyone kills it, everyone does poorly and other weeks where you see certain guys do well or do poorly. I do enjoy the mystery that is our oil pattern but of course it is in the back of my head thinking I could go over to the other house near me and roll 20-30 pins higher each week. Well anyway I am done with this rant, I guess I am just going to give up on the "exploding" through the release like I have done before and slow down my ball to let the ball do its thing.

Any ideas/tips would be appreciated.

[xthe_charismatic_enigmax]

Sometimes house shots are that way. I can talk to some of my friends who bowl in a different league and their lanes are sometimes almost exactly opposite of what mine are doing. I was coming in heavy some last night, and when I moved left I was still coming in heavy, so I decided that after moving left like that and still hitting heavy, I'm going to have to throw faster. Normally on heavy oil, I throw in the low 14 to mid 14mph range, last night I ended up throwing around 16+mph. Sometimes the lanes are just tough and those nights you just have to let be and move on.

[GoodGorilla]

Having the ball roll off my hand is my standard release now, but I'll make changes after that, like axis rotation, revs, ball speed, etc. The main reason I do it to reduce soreness and excessive body motions. If I put a lot of hand on the ball, I'll get sore fingers or wrist. But the less you do to the ball, the less soreness and more accuracy.

[scottymoney]

I am starting to realize this now. I tried throwing harder and that didn't work too well either, became a lot less accurate. I guess I am going to just learn to keep the speed down and start rolling it more. I do have a bit of soreness in my bowling fingers, I am guessing caused by trying to do too much with them.

Looking back at last night I think I should have moved to my other ball with less hook and went back to my power days throwing a much straighter with minimal hook. I think it would have been more effective than trying to move around so much. Guess I am just caught up in using my new ball instead of bowling smart.

Thinking it is definitely a practice week. I do so much better when I practice Saturdays before my Monday league. Stupid holidays, with all these crazy family get together stuff!

[Zothen]

Sometimes less is more! In oily conditions you are better off slowing ball speed down,so the ball has time to build friction so as soon as it hits dry it hooks to pocket. Also are you lofting the ball or laying it on the lane? If you loft it,it wont have time to build friction or will hook as soon as it hits the lane. I bowl in a Sport league and it's amazing how much info I get from the 190+ avg bowlers who know the tricks. I also have learned to bowl up 5 board if my ball doesn't hook or maybe has to much hook. So take your time and nice & easy armswing without forcing the ball will give you better scores!

Zothen

[scottymoney]

I lay it down, the weird thing is times when I have lofted it by mistake I normally end up striking. I am going to work on just getting consistent with lowering the ball speed. I am betting next week the oil will be all different and I can just go back to my normal delivery speed. But at this point who knows. I do know come Saturday the oil conditions are so much different as they oil them different for Kids leagues. Now just to teach myself to adjust quicker!

[billf]

Accelerating through the release is just another adjustment. Wanting to use the new ball instead of the correct ball is a mistake we all make from time to time. Like the times we get a new ball. I'm the oddball as I'm more accurate when I explode through the release.

[scottymoney]

Usually exploding through the release I can stay accurate but last night the only was weird. It had a reverse effect.