I think that's something a lot of people wonder after they see a coach. Glad to hear you are happy with the results so far. I'm sure you will continue to be happy with them in the future as well.
Went to see the Coach today .....why didn't I do this before now!
The area where I live in is also home to one of the Gold level coaches, Richard Shockley, and today I had my first session with him. What a great guy and an unbelievable source of bowling knowledge!
After talking to me for a few minutes he had me bowl a few frames and determined several things that I needed to improve in order to reach my goal of averaging 200 this season. A few small changes in foot position, hand position, follow through and posture and I feel an incredible difference in the way the ball rolls down the lane, I am amazed at how great of a difference it made to make these small changes !
I can't say enough how helpful this has been, and it's only the first session!
I think that's something a lot of people wonder after they see a coach. Glad to hear you are happy with the results so far. I'm sure you will continue to be happy with them in the future as well.
My high school band director always told us, "Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. If you practice your mistakes, you will learn them." A good coach can give you an outside perspective and help you shed your mistakes so you don't end up perfecting them, instead of your game. Good for you!
DV8 Red/Orange Misfit, Storm IQ Tour Fusion, Pyramid Blood Moon
Shockley is awesome. I watch his videos on YouTube.
He is even more awesome in person, I feel very fortunate to have access to someone with his level of expertise and coaching ability to help me improve my game. He goes over everything starting with equipment and fit of the bowling balls.Originally Posted by foreverincamo
I can already see the improvement in my game with one session!
I even convinced one of my teammates to set up a session... I can't wait to see if he can convince the most resistant to change guy in the world to change his game. Seriously, this guy still has a rotary phone in his kitchen !
Hey don't poach my teammates
I am a proud member of Bowlingboards.com bowling forums and ball contest winner
Current arsenal
900 Global Badger Claw - Radical Ridiculous Pearl - Spare Ball Ebonite T Zone
He examines every aspect of the game and pointed out a major flaw after the first throw I made, a bad habit I never even realized I had, bending my torso forward on release of the ball...now after realizing it I can see that it's a very common issue by watching other bowlers and seeing a great number of them doing it.
The good part was that up until release my posture and form were quite good.
He is a great guy but more set in his ways than anyone I've ever known, we tried to convince him a few months ago to go out to a popular pizza joint with a bunch of friends for a special occasion, he declined saying it's chicken night ! He also has a fish night and a wing night and will not deviate from that schedule for anything.....SMH
Is he related to Wade Boggs?
John
The trick with coaching comes later.
Yes, the first lesson you take...or even the first lesson with a new coach...it's exciting to fix little things you never realized or other people didn't think of.
However, if you keep going, to him or someone else...every 2-8 weeks or whatever...there are going to be many more things...some of which will likely cause your scores to go down in the short term. Kinda a 3 steps forward, one step back kinda deal. A lot of bowlers tend to stop going to coaches once that happens. But I've found that for certain things, that needs to happen. There are just certain things that take time and practice to fix...and during that time...scores go down a little.
I've been struggling with footwork since I first started throwing the ball back in 2013. Almost everyone on the website has commented on my videos about my giant/akward first step. But fixing that first step...has been very, very difficult and we've (the coach and I) tried multiple different ways to get rid of it. And it does mess with my game and scoring a bit because screwing around with that first step tends to cause timing issues until I eventually get it under control.
Mudpuppy Cliff Notes: The first lesson is easy. The trick is continuing to take lessons when the improvement isn't easy.
It's a huge issue for bowling coaches as well. What is the biggest reason people stop going to a coach or revert back to old habits? Because the new habits don't work immediately. And bowlers are extremely impatient as a group.
SideNote: What did you end up having to pay and how long was the lesson? Gold coaches can be pricey, just wondering.
In Bag: (: .) Motiv Trident Odyssey; (: .) Hammer Scorpion Sting; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Radical Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 186; Lifetime Average = 171;
Ball Speed: 14.4mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 181
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks