Accepted new position

[Blacksox1]

Nothing great happens without taking risks. Good luck and may the paychecks grow in size.

[Kells]

Congrats

[billf]

First article I submitted

The Hinge
By Bill Freitas


For me the hinge instead of the push away goes hand in hand with dropping the ball side shoulder. Many of us were taught to bowl square to the foul line, shoulders parallel to the floor and push the ball out with the first step of our ball side foot.
Well I’m here to say HINGE IT, DON’T PUSH IT! Combined with the proper drop of the shoulder (spine tilt) the hinge will allow for greater accuracy and an increase in pin action allowing for better carry. For some reason the form needed to score well before the modern era is still taught by many today. Now if you don’t want better pin carry then stop reading now. It’s OK, you’re averaging 300 on sport shots so don’t waste your time. While nothing works better for 100% of the participants, I have to say that after years of watching videos, giving lessons and just plain old watching people bowl that the vast majority of amateur bowlers have late timing. This results in the natural bio-mechanical reaction of using the shoulder to pull down on the ball. This is the cause of most misses to the non-ball side of your target. This doesn't even take into account how difficult it is to repeat that exact muscle tension at the exact same time each and every delivery so you can repeat the shot. With the hinge it is a simple, quicker movement. The pushaway is suppose to be the same distance as your ball side step and according to some non-existent book, the same time as that step. I say non-existent because the timing at the timing spot near the end of the approach is far more important than at the beginning.
To hinge merely uncurl your arm into the swing. It's that easy. Unbend the elbow, the two heads of the bicep will expand while the three muscles of the triceps contract just like any other time we extend our arm at the elbow. For those that follow Slowinski's DYDS, hinge towards and over the non-ball side knee
INCREASED ACCURACY

By utilizing the hinge the body is allowed to get into position quicker and easier. This creates better and more accurate timing. As you hinge the balance arm can immediately go forward, the shoulders open up so the body is angled with the proper shoulder tilt allowing the ball arm to enter the swing slot accurately. At this time you can get your hand inside the ball if desired.
Now that your shoulders are facing north and south, front shoulder lower than the rear, knees bent and balance arm out in front leading the way (or to the side for you strokers) you can easily have the swing go under your head, close to the slide ankle. Giving the low stance your target is closer to being on the same plane as your eyes combined with the a more precise, compact arm swing making hitting the target easier.

PIN ACTION

As you become more comfortable and get right where you need to be at the timing spot the reduction of a movement, in this case the pushaway, will generate more power down lane. So while you may still leave a flat ten or ringing ten the chances of getting a messenger to take it out are increased. I know I want to strike more often and if you do too then just give this a try.