All self taught, looking to clean up my game.

[HoldFast76]

Well, I went in Wednesday for practice and things went better than I had thought. I was able to finish on my left foot comfortably after only a few frames when I was going with a 3 step approach. Not only comfortably, but by the second game it felt more natural. My timing was horrendous, but I still finished all three games around 180 which for me, isn't too bad. Might go back in today to try and get it down with a 5 step approach which should help my timing since that's what I'm used to (hopefully) and see how I fare on the Sunday league.

[bowl1820]

Well, I went in Wednesday for practice and things went better than I had thought. I was able to finish on my left foot comfortably after only a few frames when I was going with a 3 step approach. Not only comfortably, but by the second game it felt more natural. My timing was horrendous, but I still finished all three games around 180 which for me, isn't too bad. Might go back in today to try and get it down with a 5 step approach which should help my timing since that's what I'm used to (hopefully) and see how I fare on the Sunday league.

great progress! I would suggest trying four steps first before going to 5. To get the feel a little better first.

[classygranny]

great progress! I would suggest trying four steps first before going to 5. To get the feel a little better first.

I see where you might be coming from, but honestly, I would suggest the 5, from the beginning as you will be starting on the same foot as you are with 3. I had a difficult time in the beginning going from 4 to a 5 just because my right foot wanted to start first. It's just my humble opinion as someone who recently changed that it would be easier to add two steps than changing the starting foot back and forth.

[GeoLes]

LOL, that explains how much I know about the "technical" aspect. I was looking at a chart to get the numbers and had them mixed up.
My left foot is at the 35, getting the ball down around the 5.

I do take 5 steps and have started my approach with the opposite foot and just fumble myself up in the process wanting to add one extra step to finish on my right. If footwork is the place to start, maybe I'll try going with my usual approach and instead of taking that 5th step, just finish with a bigger step/slide with my left foot. Luckily we get 2 free practice games a week, maybe this week I'll just practice doing that before I even touch the ball.

I suggest starting at home in your spare time. Shadow bowl without ball or lane. Talk through it. Step-push-step-step-slide/swing. If you get tripped up, take out the prelim steps and practice swing-slde to the left foot by itself. You will have opportunity for thousands of practices before setting foot on the lanes. Once on the lanes, focus just on step and release timing (forget where the ball goes for now. get the footwork and release timing right). Once the new habit sets in you should have an ever better game. Give yourself time to relearn. - Just my suggestion.

[sprocket]

I took a lesson once where all the instructor did was have me walk to the foul line for about 90 minutes without the ball and he could clearly tell me where I was going wrong. I was forcing my release and not relaxing and he could tell that without me having a ball in my hand. I wish I would have stuck with lessons with him, but my procrastination got the best of me AGAIN. He has since passed away.

[HoldFast76]

Everything went pretty good on Sunday. Stuck with the 3 step approach all night and threw a low 200, second game was in the 180s and the last game was a dreaded 140something. Even with that low last game, it's still above my current average so I can't complain at all. This weeks practice session is when I'm going to try adding the extra 2 steps (I have to agree with ClassyGranny, knowing myself it'll just be a smoother transition if I'm starting with the same foot...you'd think I'm learning how to walk again..haha)
Thanks for the suggestion, GeoLes. Someone else mentioned that as well. I haven't done so at home, but I did shadow bowl while waiting for everyone to show up on our league night.

Sprocket, that's part of the reason I want to familiarize myself a little more with a proper approach before finding a coach. Let it become a little more natural and then work with someone to really get it down. Sorry to hear of the coach's passing though, that's too bad.

[tccstudent]

I agree with this since you are already used to using a 5 step approach you just need to focus on starting with the correct foot. I think this should be easier then going to a 4 step.