Drill for feeling early turn release and correct release......

[Hammer]

I was doing this drill this morning after reading about turning early before the release. I get into my release position first with the slide leg in the center of my body and my balance leg behind me and in the position it would be when finishing the release. Next I would swing my arm back with a 5lb dumbbell in my hand opening up my shoulders and having my balance arm in front of me at the completion of the backswing. After the swing reaches it's peak I would look back to see if my hand was on top of the dumbbell or to the inside. You want either of those two but not having the hand to the outside of the dumbbell.

What I would do next is let my hand drop and start to close my shoulders to see the position of my hand at the bottom of the swing. If my hand with the dumbbell in it had the dumbbell starting to face towards the inside before getting to my slide ankle I was turning early. What I did next was make an effort to exagerate the downswing by making my arm feel like it was turning to the outside towards the right gutter if you are right handed or left gutter if you are a lefty like me.

What I noticed with the turn early swing in the release area I felt like the dumbbell was light and I could feel no leverage. When I did the downswing with my arm and hand feeling like it was trying to face the right gutter as it entered the release area the dumbbell felt heavy, the swing felt right under my head and close to my slide ankle and I felt like I had quite a bit of the feeling of leverageat the completion of the swing.

Another thing you can do is stand like you are in your release position and with nothing in your hand swing your arm back and on the way forward close your shoulders and turn early with your hand and see what that feels like. Now swing back opening your shoulders on the way back and on the forward swing close you shoulders and leave your forearm facing forward and your hand facing somewhat towards the right gutter and see what that feels like. You will feel like your arm is pulling your head down slightly which means the swing is going forward under your head which it should do.

I am going to take this drill to the bowling alley for practice with a ball. It is surprising how much better the swing feels with the ball hand slightly facing the gutter to the right for righty folks or left for the lefty crowd. You can actually feel the power in the right way swing even without a ball in your hand. I hope this can help you out of the early turn.

[MiggityMatt]

Thanks for this. Whenever I try to open the lane up, I sometimes get into a habit of early turn. Especially now because my wrist strength is down a bit. I'm trying to hook it, instead of allowing the ball to work.

I have friends ask me for pointers sometimes and the biggest thing I try to pass on is "how did that shot FEEL?". You can truly FEEL when it's a perfect shot.

I'm also going to implement this drill for the wife. She has a extremely early turn. I've got it a bit better but I think this will really help her. Thanks again.

Btw, that's the coolest Avatar, ever!

[rv driver]

That seems like a nice drill -- especially with the weight. Thanks for posting that!

[mike_thomas93]

That's pretty good advice and tips. Thanks for sharing

[manke]

Sounds like a great tip thanks for sharing.