what does STAY BEHIND THE BALL mean?

[Judy clemons]

Will someone please explain what it means to stay behind the ball?

[Perrin]

usually when that is said they are talking about hand/arm position.

Turning the wrist/arm too early can cause your hand to come around the side of the ball at release insted of being on the back of the ball.

[classygranny]

While I am probably the last person to be giving advice on here, I did have this problem early on when I was learning to hook the ball.

Staying behind the ball is the opposite of topping the ball. This is when a bowler goes around the ball causing the ball to spin like a top rather than roll - aka spinner. A spinner usually doesn't have much power as it is not getting enough surface contact on the lane.

Staying behind the ball means you let your thumb out a little sooner and lift straighter up with your fingers, sometimes with a little finger pop at the end of your release point. Let the ball roll of your hand without trying to over hook it. The release should be up or toward the ceiling. Thus, "behind the ball".

The more experienced guys/coaches can probably give you more detail than this, but this is what I learned.

[GeoLes]

Will someone please explain what it means to stay behind the ball?

If you can imagine the back of your bowlling ball during delivery, you can see the lowermost part of the back of the ball, This is where you want your hand to be throughout the swing. You can get a better idea what it means if you use a basketball, nerf ball, what have you. No approach movements are required. Just stand about 6 feet from a wall in a comfortable finish position with ball somewhere between chest and waiste level.

1. Hold the ball so it is balanced in your palm with cupped wrist, as if in starting setup position when bowiiing. Notice 4 fingers are pointed forward and thumb pointed up.

2. With a gentle pushoff, start pendulum swing as you normally would, keeping the hand in the same position, with wriist cupped, fingers forward and thumb up.

3. As the ball passed your body on the return swing, maintain the same cup with fingers Still forward and thumb up. Remember to keep that arm straight throughout (don't "chiken wing" it)

4. As the ball passes your sliding foot, (and not before), allow the entire palm to rotate 90-degrees, allowing the ball to roll off the finger tips.

Notce how the hand remains low and behind the ball throughout the swing and naturally rotates ONLY at the point of release.


I do this whenever I go to the gym. I get some strange looks from people on the basketball court though.

That's how I learned to stay behind the ball.

[Judy clemons]

if i am comprehending this correctly, what your telling me is: using fingertip drilled ball
My normal hold is at 10 o'clock ...{ball does have a hook} with release at 10 o:clock
However at 90 degrees i should be releasing it at 1 o'clock and this will give it a significant hook difference
is that correct?

[classygranny]

if i am comprehending this correctly, what your telling me is: using fingertip drilled ball
My normal hold is at 10 o'clock ...{ball does have a hook} with release at 10 o:clock
However at 90 degrees i should be releasing it at 1 o'clock and this will give it a significant hook difference
is that correct?

I'm not sure I'm comprehending your comment.

What I am currently working with my coach on is pretty much starting with my thumb at about 2 or 3 o'clock with the palm flat underneath the ball - supported by the left (non-bowling) hand, with a little bit of a cupped wrist. Maintaining that wrist position throughout a relaxed and straight swing. When you release the ball between the heel and toe of your slide foot, then your thumb would release first, and the fingers would lift straight up and follow through. There are more positions that are correctly identified as "staying behind the ball", but this is probably the most common/easiest to learn first. I had started to open up my shoulder and tended to either overturn the ball or not get back around under the ball and the inconsistency was killing my game. As we advance we will be able to adapt additional hand positions/releases in order to compensate for lane conditions when moving/adjusting our foot/ball projectory doesn't work.

All of our hands are made differently and we all bend more or less than the person in the next lane. Experiment to a point and find what feels comfortable, and works for you. Comfort is easier to repeat than a position that feels foreign to your body. That's why working with a good coach will help you find that "comfort zone" and use it to your bowling advantage.

[Greenday]

1. Hold the ball so it is balanced in your palm with cupped wrist, as if in starting setup position when bowiiing. Notice 4 fingers are pointed forward and thumb pointed up.

2. With a gentle pushoff, start pendulum swing as you normally would, keeping the hand in the same position, with wriist cupped, fingers forward and thumb up.

It's entirely possibly to stay behind the ball, with your hand in the correct position without cupping the ball. It's less strain on the wrist/forearm if you do it uncupped.

[Judy clemons]

i'm sorry! i was taught to hold my ball at thumb position 10 o'oclock from start to finish
thumb releases first followed by finger giving slight push off at follow thru... no one ever
explained why to me... i just know it worked.

[classygranny]

i'm sorry! i was taught to hold my ball at thumb position 10 o'oclock from start to finish
thumb releases first followed by finger giving slight push off at follow thru... no one ever
explained why to me... i just know it worked.

Don't be sorry. A lot of bowlers don't know why...they just know to do something. Most of us really learn by trial and error, so just listen, practice and find what works for you.

Play around with various positions and you will see the difference in the movement on your ball, and what's comfortable to you. I know some like to start with thumb at 3; fingers at 7, so they rotate more on release. My arm doesn't seem to rotate that far over without feeling it, so I'm sticking with 2 o'clock. I get enough rotation on release by lifting with the fingers and minimal rotation that I can be consistent. In order to take something off the ball, I will rotate it more straight up, say at 12 o'clock.

And Greenday is correct..cupping the wrist is optional and sometimes puts strain on the wrist/forearm and has nothing to do with "staying behind the ball". While I say mine is cupped it probably isn't to most people. I just bring it up a bit (maybe 10-15 degrees at most) to make sure there is some bend as it keeps me from letting my wrist break back toward my arm.

[billf]

i'm sorry! i was taught to hold my ball at thumb position 10 o'oclock from start to finish
thumb releases first followed by finger giving slight push off at follow thru... no one ever
explained why to me... i just know it worked.

The former high school coach taught the students that same way. Why? It's the easiest way to teach a "starter" hook.

Most bowlers learn to throw straight first so I have been teaching them to stay inside the ball. It's the preferred method of top players so I figured why not, give them one less thing to learn then re-learn.

There are almost as many ways to hook a ball as there are bowlers. Some are just more efficient than others. The further behind or inside the ball you can get, the more power you can produce. Power is more than just speed or just revs. It's the ability to generate speed, revs and maximize pin carry.