Good or bad practice idea?

[I suck at bowling]

Lately I have set up a wall of pillows in my living room and started practicing my form and release by throwing one of my balls at it.

I'm sort of going in slow motion and working on my balance and getting rid of my violent head bob. Now will this actually help me when I go back to bowling on actual lanes?

[swingset]

I bowl down a carpeted hallway into a cardboard box trap I made. It helps, a lot. It doesn't work 100% because the slide isn't there but it's great to work on swing plane, staying behind the ball, wrist positions, you name it. I also have a mirror that faces me which is a great visual aid not afforded to you on "real" lanes to visually check my backswing as I do it.

I think it's a great idea, combined with real lane time is a useful tool.

[SmilingBowler]

This is a great chat topic! I often practice my steps and backswing with a ball, but rather than releasing the ball at anytime or at anything, I slowly rotate it with my wrist as if I'm letting go, as I catch it with my left hand. Then I turn around and do it again. I do this about 8-10 times about an hour before bowling.

On a similar topic, I'm considering shortening my 5-step approach to a 4-step approach, but rather than testing it out on the lanes and getting all off balance, I'm taking the time to walk through the steps and swing without a ball now. Tomorrow I'll give it a try with a ball, at home. I think my third game this Sunday I'll try it out for the first time on the lanes.

Any little bit helps when can practice at home. Whether its a specific motion you are working on, or just slowly walking and adjusting your stance. One other thing I like to do at home is to mimic my stance (without a ball) from approach to release and then do it in reverse. This helps with muscle memory and that, more than anything can help you easily apply the motion to the lanes when you have a practice session.

[ArtVandelay]

I value my furniture too much so Im going to say: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?

But all kidding aside, its a great idea. Its like anything in life: you have to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. The key will be finding a way to translate this to real bowling and find a way to slowly speed it up. But most of all: have patience!

You might want to go to one of those "all you can bowl," things and just roll a whole game straight into the gutter. Dont even try to hit the pins. Just concentrate on if the ball is doing what you want it to do. As you speed it up and get up to speed, incorporate the pins.

For me, this simply isnt practical, but I like the idea behind it!

[billf]

It's a wonderful drill and one that is in the USBC recommended drills hand book. The mirror is also a great idea and one I used to help with my backswing.

[billf]

Here is a link to some of the coaching tips on the USBC website that you may find helpful. They all have videos so show, not just tell, you how to do them.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...ature=view_all

Here is the link to the above mentioned book, which comes with a DVD http://usbcbowlingstore.com/cart.php...&p=23&catID=16

[RoccoRock]

I've done similar things around my house. Releasing my ball on to my couch, or bed. Plus I do it at work with an old beat up ball on a cement floor. In my case, it tool a while, but the hard work and all those drill started paying off.

[jbeck]

These are all great ideas and I also have a mirror to watch my swing. My wife and kids look at me crazy when I'm doing this, but oh well I'm weird to them anyway.

[I suck at bowling]

It actually really helped me on the grip change, but I'm still having a really hard time getting rid of my head bob at release.

What can I do to help stop this?

[ecub]

The head bob looks like of a result that you're REALLY trying to throw the ball hard, so you can get the speed and rev rate. Have you tried a slower release and approach? Eventually, through practice, you may be able to generate the speed and rev rate with a nice slow, controlled approach, like Osku or Belmo. Although I'm a 1 handed bowler, I used to have a really high back swing to generate the speed. Of course, that ruined my timing, accuracy, & rev rate. I lowered my back swing, but increase my follow through speed, which created faster speed, higher rev rate, and better accuracy.