Ready to quit at this point!

[Amyers]

Dropped a new "old stock " ball off to my PSO, who I bowled against last night. He waited until today to tell me that I wasn't following thru about 80% of the time, which was leading to the wet/dry reaction. No follow thru, acted wet. Follow thru, the ball hooked. Reacted to the over hook by not following thru again, ball slid thru the break point.
So I looked at video footage from last week and compared it to footage from 6 months ago, and he was right. Last week my follow thru ended at my waist. 6 months ago I followed thru over my head. I'm missing half of my follow thru 80% of the time. My PSO apologized for not saying anything during league, but they wanted to win. Can't blame him there.

Lack of follow through could be part of the problem but usually when I'm not getting through the ball good I see a loss of good hit (more 7 and 10 pins) but it really doesn't cause what you're describing for me at least.

[foreverincamo]

When you don't follow thru on one shot and go light, then move right and follow thru harder than before and watch the shot go heavy, and think it's the ball.....you get what I had going for six weeks. Practiced this past Sunday and had games of 244,235,258,300,252,267. Followed thru so hard sometimes I hit myself on top of my head. But I scored well.

[Amyers]

Lol that's true. Glad to hear you found a solution

[Aslan]

Somebody following the advice to not lift the ball could lead to a lack of follow thru.

See....this is the MWhite paradox that I appreciate....but tends to annoy the general public at large.

What you started with...is actually interesting. I'll explain why in a minute.

Unfortunately...you ended by attacking Rob for offering advice that 98% of people would offer...for no apparent reason that the Hatfield and McCoy battle between you two. And the unfortunate thing is...even though you're a LOT smarter than people give you credit for...your message was lost...because people read two sentences in and think, "here we go again"?

See, I LIKE you...because you're like me. You CARE, you're intelligent, and you like to debate. That rubs people the wrong way...but it makes us interesting. There's nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, there's a LOT of people...especially as people get older...that get easily offended...which is a horrible trait to have on the internet. And because most people on this site only know us from the site...they don't have the luxury of truly "understanding" us. Almost unanimously....what I hear from people that meet me in person is, "wow, you're so much nicer in person than I thought you'd be." Duh. Of course I am. If I were as snarky and abrasive all the time as I am when I'm trying to make a point on the internet....it would be exhausting and I'd be a narcicistic sociopath. Iceman, if it weren't for his crazily good health, probably would have had a heart attack when I showed up to the Aslan vs. Iceman Challenge with a birthday cake for him.

Now...as to your point. I used to loft the ball. We both know why. Like Mika, I started bowling on lanes with terrible wooden heads that were difficult to bowl on...as you know very well.

Over time, I stopped lofting the ball...because on synthetics...I couldn't get any ball movement by tossing it 15ft at 20mph.

I also, to help break this habit, started targeting the dots rather than the arrows...

It turns out....while I broke the lofting habit...and can now play well on synthetics...I realized targeting the dots was hurting my follow-through. Now, I had to really struggle and work hard to figure that out. But when I had a lesson with Mark Baker recently, he talked to me about "launch angle". Once I fixed my "launch angle"...I was striking at WILL! To quote Donald Trump, "I was getting bored with winning." I was actually looking for a clock in the bowling alley...because the lesson was boring...because I was striking, striking, striking.

So, the moral of the story, for the OP...is:
1) Follow-through is important...look into launch angle...consult a coach or look at stuff on the internet...it really, really helped my game.
2) Coaching is important. I don't blame my first coach for teaching me to loft. I don't blame my current coach or Rob for breaking me of the habit of lofting. They both were necessary to improve my game.

But, yes, sometimes you break one habit and then have to "re-calibrate". I need to get LOWER...so I can still have an optimum launch angle without tossing the ball 15-20ft landing it on the dots. Being 5'11" with a questionable knee...I have to really work on getting lower...better balance...better timing. It's where guys like Norm and Parker and PDW....their height is actually an ADVANTAGE...their already low.

Based on what you're saying...try to get a little lower and follow-through...improve the launch angle...it worked for me. If it doesn't work...don't do it and consult a coach or try something else. I'm not a coach...I just play one on the internet.

[Aslan]

Practiced this past Sunday and had games of 244,235,258,300,252,267.

Were you practicing in Missouri?

Wow...I should have read that before I posted. Do nothing different...ever. That looks like my "career best" line. Don't invest in coaching, invest in a PBA card.

[foreverincamo]

I'm working on getting my PBA card once I turn 50. I do have a few coaches I use. I still have a lot to learn for that level of play.

[Mike White]

See....this is the MWhite paradox that I appreciate....but tends to annoy the general public at large.

What you started with...is actually interesting. I'll explain why in a minute.

Unfortunately...you ended by attacking Rob for offering advice that 98% of people would offer...for no apparent reason that the Hatfield and McCoy battle between you two. And the unfortunate thing is...even though you're a LOT smarter than people give you credit for...your message was lost...because people read two sentences in and think, "here we go again"?

See, I LIKE you...because you're like me. You CARE, you're intelligent, and you like to debate. That rubs people the wrong way...but it makes us interesting. There's nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, there's a LOT of people...especially as people get older...that get easily offended...which is a horrible trait to have on the internet. And because most people on this site only know us from the site...they don't have the luxury of truly "understanding" us. Almost unanimously....what I hear from people that meet me in person is, "wow, you're so much nicer in person than I thought you'd be." Duh. Of course I am. If I were as snarky and abrasive all the time as I am when I'm trying to make a point on the internet....it would be exhausting and I'd be a narcicistic sociopath. Iceman, if it weren't for his crazily good health, probably would have had a heart attack when I showed up to the Aslan vs. Iceman Challenge with a birthday cake for him.

Now...as to your point. I used to loft the ball. We both know why. Like Mika, I started bowling on lanes with terrible wooden heads that were difficult to bowl on...as you know very well.

Over time, I stopped lofting the ball...because on synthetics...I couldn't get any ball movement by tossing it 15ft at 20mph.

I also, to help break this habit, started targeting the dots rather than the arrows...

It turns out....while I broke the lofting habit...and can now play well on synthetics...I realized targeting the dots was hurting my follow-through. Now, I had to really struggle and work hard to figure that out. But when I had a lesson with Mark Baker recently, he talked to me about "launch angle". Once I fixed my "launch angle"...I was striking at WILL! To quote Donald Trump, "I was getting bored with winning." I was actually looking for a clock in the bowling alley...because the lesson was boring...because I was striking, striking, striking.

So, the moral of the story, for the OP...is:
1) Follow-through is important...look into launch angle...consult a coach or look at stuff on the internet...it really, really helped my game.
2) Coaching is important. I don't blame my first coach for teaching me to loft. I don't blame my current coach or Rob for breaking me of the habit of lofting. They both were necessary to improve my game.

But, yes, sometimes you break one habit and then have to "re-calibrate". I need to get LOWER...so I can still have an optimum launch angle without tossing the ball 15-20ft landing it on the dots. Being 5'11" with a questionable knee...I have to really work on getting lower...better balance...better timing. It's where guys like Norm and Parker and PDW....their height is actually an ADVANTAGE...their already low.

Based on what you're saying...try to get a little lower and follow-through...improve the launch angle...it worked for me. If it doesn't work...don't do it and consult a coach or try something else. I'm not a coach...I just play one on the internet.

I think you have have misunderstood what Mark was meaning by launch angle.

It has no connection to loft.

Lauch angle is related to the direction the ball travels (left to right vs right to left) when you release it, not up vs down.

If you release the ball parallel to the boards, you have a 0 degree launch angle.

If you release the ball on the 1 board, and throw it straight at the pocket, you have a positive launch angle of about 1.25 degrees.

http://bowlingknowledge.info/index.p...sk=view&id=253

[Amyers]

See....this is the MWhite paradox that I appreciate....but tends to annoy the general public at large.

And because most people on this site only know us from the site...they don't have the luxury of truly "understanding" us. Almost unanimously....what I hear from people that meet me in person is, "wow, you're so much nicer in person than I thought you'd be." Duh. Of course I am. If I were as snarky and abrasive all the time as I am when I'm trying to make a point on the internet....it would be exhausting and I'd be a narcicistic sociopath. Iceman, if it weren't for his crazily good health, probably would have had a heart attack when I showed up to the Aslan vs. Iceman Challenge with a birthday cake for him.

.

The funny thing is I think I'm actually less snarky and abrasive on here than I am in real life.

[Aslan]

I think you have have misunderstood what Mark was meaning by launch angle.

I don't think so. But I'll ask him when I see him in April to better explain what he meant. I "believe" he was talking about launch angle in terms of loft.

Some bowlers "loft"...which creates an up and down arc. Some bowlers drop the ball, or don't follow through...and their balls make the hard 'slam' into the lane.

I 'believe' it also depends on whether you come through the ball or up the side. Hard to bring your fingers 'through' the ball without following through.

But I'll check and try to remember to post when I get the answer.

[Langdoj]

I don't think so. But I'll ask him when I see him in April to better explain what he meant. I "believe" he was talking about launch angle in terms of loft.

Some bowlers "loft"...which creates an up and down arc. Some bowlers drop the ball, or don't follow through...and their balls make the hard 'slam' into the lane.

I 'believe' it also depends on whether you come through the ball or up the side. Hard to bring your fingers 'through' the ball without following through.

But I'll check and try to remember to post when I get the answer.

If your coach was speaking about loft he was using the wrong term if he said launch angle. Mike's explanation of launch angle is correct and the only one I have ever heard being used for defining launch angle