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Thread: Having one of those days.....

  1. #1

    Default Having one of those days.....

    I just experience my first day of "nothing working" and "can't do anything right" since switching from cranker to stroker. Never in my days, have I felt like I did today. I was dropping the ball, circling or spinning the ball (as track was over label). I even tried my hardest to quit dropping the ball and circling. I was still hitting my mark, playing 5 board, but it seemed as with the 30 different hand positions I had today, none of them worked for more than 1 frame. I did throw 2 or 3 frames the same, but other than that, it was abosultely horrible.

    I know these days happen, but what do others do to work through them or get through the day without killing avg's or losing a lot of brackets. This was a tourney in Kentucky, had a great shot for the line ball shooters as crankers were missing pocket light or coming in to heavy.

    I went back to home house this evening, put a towel 8 inch's past foul line, and never hit it, so I fixed the dropping, but I had hard time correcting circling. I ended up slowing everything down, like I was sneaking up on pins. I realized my arm swing was so far back causing shoulders to open up and made my left foot point towards 10 pin on most shots. Well after a few frames of trying things and talking to my coach on phone, we shorted or compacted everything - including my backswing, it's no more past my right leg on 3rd step which kept me much more square to the lane. We also switched to a 4 step approach. I know all these changes were drastic to get out of what I was doing....But sometimes, you have to do something different even if it's wrong to make something right.

    After about 15 frames, I was consistently getting the ball out on the lane, (not dropping) and keeping my track line closer to the finger and thumb holes at a good slight angle, thus staying behind the ball longer before I released it and kept more pressure on my fingers without twisting my wrist.

    I do wear a full robby glove, but it doesn't stop me from moving my wrist over top, I can feel sometimes the tendency to cup my wrist, which the wrist band reduces it.

    So what does everyone else do when nothing is working, and they can't correct it in time or at all during games?

    Also something funny I heard today at tourney, when I was shooting 10 pins, I couldn't get one to save my life. I'm usually 9 for 10 or so, but today, I left 6 in first 2 games, but didn't get any of them, the lanes were oiled outside (like I like them) but I kept pushing the ball into the gutter after 3/4 down the lane. During the 3rd game, switching to my gamebreaker, I threw first frame, smashed 10. I picked up my ball, got lined up again, and paused. It seemed without thinking, I moved 5 boards left and moved my target to middle arrow - I usually stand 15 left and shoot 10-12 flat to get them, well I picked up the 10 pin perfectly. I heard 1 guy say "Hey Great audible". Next frame, I left 6-7-10. I said I can pick it since I can get 10 pin - same move and picked it perfectly. The 6 pin shot straight over to the 7 like it was a magnet. The audible comment was still flowing then too. It was funny to me, never heard that put towards bowling. Nice move on my part to salvage a game ended with 211 - but it was a bad rolled game. Just got breaks and did pick up some decent splits.
    Last edited by Iceman; 02-09-2009 at 12:48 AM.
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  2. #2
    Cranker Jord_84's Avatar
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    Well, a crappy day for me is not chaining my strikes. If I get a good solid hit in the pocket and still hang a 10 pin, then I know that my timing is off. I move my starting point on the approach forward half an inch and focus on my right arm and right leg moving forward together. If I'm throwing outside my mark....I'll stand up and just swing my right arm like a pendulum....for as long as I can (trick I got from the high school coaches) helps me get the feel of a good natural swing...and I usually correct myself without thinking, because my arm is used to the movement after that. Other than that, I pray to God I don't get splits, do my best to pick up my spares...and I make sure I don't get frustrated, otherwise I'm done for.


    and If I can't correct it in time....a cigarette and some cursing are in order once I get outside the bowling alley!
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  3. #3
    Loved Very Much ThongPrincess's Avatar
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    A few things to consider, if dropping the ball becomes a regular problem you might look at thumb pitches. I had a problem dropping the ball and my coach had me move from reverse to forward pitch in the thumb. After working with Ron Clifton I am at 5/8 forward. I have a fairly long span and according to the charts, I should be reverse. Just one thing to keep in the back of your mind.

    As for one of those days/nights. I have changed my focus to execution and not scoring. When I am off, it is usually my first step. This season I had got in the habit of moving the ball on the 2nd step of a 4 step. This was causing me to have extremely late timing. That resulted in an inconsistent release and inaccurate targeting. Now when I am off, I focus on making sure the ball and foot move together.

    Then there are days that are just a grind out. Those are the days/nights that really test the mental game. It is a matter of making the best of what you have and being thankful you don't have to make a living at this
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  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThongPrincess View Post
    A few things to consider, if dropping the ball becomes a regular problem you might look at thumb pitches. I had a problem dropping the ball and my coach had me move from reverse to forward pitch in the thumb. After working with Ron Clifton I am at 5/8 forward. I have a fairly long span and according to the charts, I should be reverse. Just one thing to keep in the back of your mind.
    We did experiment with pitches and even spans. It seems today's drillers are focused on hand in the ball or making the span shorter than old school drillers. I posted about this during my first few months on here. Maybe you missed it. I'm currently 1/8 forward thumb pitch - I did try 1/4 reverse (Dropped every one unless I showed my flexed muscles in my fingers during pend swing, 1/2 forward (Had very hard time getting ball off my hand, was sticking, tried this way for 1 month, due to my squeezing a little from the reverse pitches. I did like the feel of the shorter span and it did fit like a glove with no strain, but it did hurt my hand during release, my thumb was aching a lot afterwards. That's why I went back to the longer span and less forward pitch. I think 1/4 reverse is like an 1 iron in golf, even god can't hit that. (Or takes someone like him).

    I did the towel trick last night and that worked, so when I feel like I'm dropping, I can visualize the towel on the lane, I never hit it so it made me feel like I corrected that.

    The circling is the focus now, I know I'm coming around to early, and we think it's due to my higher backswing (more than I really need) opening my shoulders and not bending my left leg at slide point. All these things seem so basic for most of us - but I get up on approach and roll it like my old cranker days without hesistation. The muscle memory is there for that. Maybe that's the problem, trying to teach and old dog to forget something and replace it with the correct way for me.

    How would I video record this to better see it? I'm thinking from the right side at the foul line? Which would get my backswing (somewhat) and my release. Which would show the distance on the lane past foul line. I do have 2 recorders, but don't have the sync method to have them record from behind and side. I can experiment with it and time in as best I could.
    Last edited by Iceman; 02-09-2009 at 01:12 PM.
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  5. #5
    Loved Very Much ThongPrincess's Avatar
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    I did not go and read all the posts already on the site when I joined, so I apologize I had not read it. Susie Minshew has an article about pitches and she said the more relaxed the grip, the more forward pitch is needed. You are correct if you start getting hung up in the ball, them you back off on the forward. Ron keeps saying he would love to see how much forward I can handle.

    To video tape you want a lane on the right of the ball return. If the release is what you want to look at, then you need to be at the right side of you. A back shot will not get the motion of the hand/wrist. It will let you see if your armswing in in the slot or wavering. A friend of mine was struggling and he had a few coaches take a look. They watched from the back and couldn't find any problems. One of the coaches stepped to the side and watched and noticed what was wrong. It definitely cannot hurt to take the two views. Good luck and keep us informed.
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    Lefty - ball speed as measured by Qubica 15 - 16 mph
    High Game: 278 High Series: 716 High Ave: 194
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  6. #6
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    Videoing shouldn't be that difficult to do if you have 2 of them. Just turn them on, let them run, and just have them lined up where you want them to shoot from. Most bowling alleys have move-able chairs somewhere in the center. Just put the cameras up on them wherever you want them to shoot. Take a couple of shots, then make adjustments to the cameras until you get the angles you're looking for.

    I would go to the center during a "dead" time, mid-weekday, or early morning on the weekend, ask for the right end lane pair. If your house has 32 lanes, ask for 31 and 32, but just bowl on 31. That way you have the extra room between you and the camera and the wall. You should be albe to get them to let you do this, and you won't have a camera/chair sitting on the approach of another lane.

    Remember it doesn't matter what your score is, just wether you're hitting what your looking at. You might also want to switch to different equipment during the video and see if you throw each ball the same or differently.

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