the best tip ever to tell if u power your ball

[Greenday]

Bowling seems to have incorporated the term muscling for forcing and accelerating. When the thumb comes out is where you want to accelerate at. Even pushing the ball out, the pushaway, requires the use of muscle. So in reality a free swing is actually one that is smooth and effortless with no unneeded extra force.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Make my OCD kick in.

The thing is though, a free swing means you aren't muscling the ball through the swing. No one is talking about using muscles to hold the ball when talking about not muscling the ball.

[Gunz1911]

I think Bilf is just going on the literal terms of muscling the ball. What my former boss would say, "Words have meanings." Technically you are muscling the ball by doing anything with it. I always think of muscling the ball as just putting to much force behind it.

[Perrin]

I've always considered Muscling the ball to mean when you 'Force' the ball.

examples.

Pulling the ball down into the backswing vs allowing it to fall/hinge into it.
Pulling the ball higher at the top of the backswing or holding it in that position instead of gravity controlling the height.
keeping the elbow bent or bending it mid swing
pulling 'up' on the ball at release vs. through the ball in plane with the swing.

Things like that.