What foot do you use to mark your starting spot on the lane?

[fortheloveofbowling]

It makes no difference where the ball is in your stance. The ultimate determination is where the ball is when it passes your slide leg and the foul line.

A) Determine your setup board with your foot opposite your bowling arm.
B) Determine any deviation of that board at the end of your approach.
C) Determine the distance the ball passes away from your slide leg on a consistent basis.

This information will allow you to know where the ball is at the foul line upon delivery. With this information you can imagine your entire ball bath shot to shot. I watched Anthony Pepe throw 2 games yesterday on xtra frame. Every strike ball he literally split the same board with his slide foot EVERY SINGLE SHOT from the first to last. I can assure you that man knew exactly where that ball was every inch of the lane. I can't tell you how many times i have heard someone say i hit the same mark but got a different result. The reason was the hand eye coordination was good but they slid on a different board and didn't know it. The consistency of your approach is #1 in my opinion in trying to build a solid game.

[Mike White]

It makes no difference where the ball is in your stance. The ultimate determination is where the ball is when it passes your slide leg and the foul line.

A) Determine your setup board with your foot opposite your bowling arm.
B) Determine any deviation of that board at the end of your approach.
C) Determine the distance the ball passes away from your slide leg on a consistent basis.

This information will allow you to know where the ball is at the foul line upon delivery. With this information you can imagine your entire ball bath shot to shot. I watched Anthony Pepe throw 2 games yesterday on xtra frame. Every strike ball he literally split the same board with his slide foot EVERY SINGLE SHOT from the first to last. I can assure you that man knew exactly where that ball was every inch of the lane. I can't tell you how many times i have heard someone say i hit the same mark but got a different result. The reason was the hand eye coordination was good but they slid on a different board and didn't know it. The consistency of your approach is #1 in my opinion in trying to build a solid game.

Lets identify where the ball is located at 4 points.

A) Start of the approach
B) Release Point
C) Target Arrows
D) Break Point


What you are describing above is if you have A correct, but mess on up B, you're not going to hit C or D.

But by saying "It makes no difference where the ball is in your stance"

You are saying that point A is not important, only B, C and D.

That means a bowler can stand anywhere on the approach, an as long as they slide on the correct board, the shot is going to hit their target and breakpoint.

We both know that is absolutely false.

You get to select points C, and D (target and break points), points A, and B are calculated to be on that same line.

You then use the offset to determine if the ball is released on board B, your foot should slide on board B+X.

And if you start the ball over board A, your reference foot is placed based on a different offset A+Y.

X, and Y are not likely to be the same value, even if you use the slide foot in both cases.

Since you need to determine the value for Y in either case of using the right or left foot, it doesn't require an extra amount of work.

Assuming the value of y is equal to x, while using your slide foot as reference at the start leads to shots that felt correct (no apparent drift) yet miss the target inside.

Now if your slide ended on a board other than B+X, you know you've drifted.

[fortheloveofbowling]

lets identify where the ball is located at 4 points.

A) start of the approach
b) release point
c) target arrows
d) break point


what you are describing above is if you have a correct, but mess on up b, you're not going to hit c or d.

But by saying "it makes no difference where the ball is in your stance"

you are saying that point a is not important, only b, c and d.

That means a bowler can stand anywhere on the approach, an as long as they slide on the correct board, the shot is going to hit their target and breakpoint.

We both know that is absolutely false.

You get to select points c, and d (target and break points), points a, and b are calculated to be on that same line.

You then use the offset to determine if the ball is released on board b, your foot should slide on board b+x.

And if you start the ball over board a, your reference foot is placed based on a different offset a+y.

X, and y are not likely to be the same value, even if you use the slide foot in both cases.

Since you need to determine the value for y in either case of using the right or left foot, it doesn't require an extra amount of work.

Assuming the value of y is equal to x, while using your slide foot as reference at the start leads to shots that felt correct (no apparent drift) yet miss the target inside.

Now if your slide ended on a board other than b+x, you know you've drifted.

uh.....ok

[billf]

Mike, when you say start of the approach, where exactly are you checking it? Where the ball is in the stance will affect the swing plane just as if the hinge or push goes anywhere other than straight. I've had great success having the push or hinge go towards the non-ball side knee to increase launch angles.
Rob, I and others were stating line up with non-ball foot to check drift yet you are also adding swing plane to the equation. While I believe I understand what you're doing the distance the ball is laterally from any foot will be different throughout the swing unless that bowler is the exception that has a perfectly level swing plane the entire way then they obviously would not have the "pro loop".

[Doghouse Reilly]

uh.....ok

[fortheloveofbowling]

Mike, when you say start of the approach, where exactly are you checking it? Where the ball is in the stance will affect the swing plane just as if the hinge or push goes anywhere other than straight. I've had great success having the push or hinge go towards the non-ball side knee to increase launch angles.
Rob, I and others were stating line up with non-ball foot to check drift yet you are also adding swing plane to the equation. While I believe I understand what you're doing the distance the ball is laterally from any foot will be different throughout the swing unless that bowler is the exception that has a perfectly level swing plane the entire way then they obviously would not have the "pro loop".

That is why i said it doesn't matter where the ball is in your stance. Some people hold the ball outside their knee, over their knee, or more towards the middle of their body. As you stated, the push away can vary as well. Stephen Hawking is just getting ahead of himself. To me the reason why i want a consistent approach in regards to drift is so i know where my lay down is going to be or where i might want to change it to.

[fortheloveofbowling]

Lets identify where the ball is located at 4 points.

A) Start of the approach
B) Release Point
C) Target Arrows
D) Break Point


What you are describing above is if you have A correct, but mess on up B, you're not going to hit C or D.

But by saying "It makes no difference where the ball is in your stance"

You are saying that point A is not important, only B, C and D.

That means a bowler can stand anywhere on the approach, an as long as they slide on the correct board, the shot is going to hit their target and breakpoint.

We both know that is absolutely false.

You get to select points C, and D (target and break points), points A, and B are calculated to be on that same line.

You then use the offset to determine if the ball is released on board B, your foot should slide on board B+X.

And if you start the ball over board A, your reference foot is placed based on a different offset A+Y.

X, and Y are not likely to be the same value, even if you use the slide foot in both cases.

Since you need to determine the value for Y in either case of using the right or left foot, it doesn't require an extra amount of work.

Assuming the value of y is equal to x, while using your slide foot as reference at the start leads to shots that felt correct (no apparent drift) yet miss the target inside.

Now if your slide ended on a board other than B+X, you know you've drifted.

Personally i know how far i drift fairly consistently and i also know how far away from my slide leg the ball passes. Knowing this information allows to me to create a imaginary ball path that i am trying to achive. It does not matter if i hold the ball on top of my head and skip to my lou with it before i swing it and throw it. The point is knowing what board i am going to end up on and what board the ball is on at that point regardless of the swing that got it there.