My confidence is shot

[manke]

Bilf great answer. I don't understand why people say get a coach right away. The average bowler does not want to spend hundreds of dollars to get to be a 180 bowler. Timbrr if you have some good bowlers you know ask them to watch you bowl and give you tips first. listen to bilf keep your head up and have fun.

[Amyers]

Bilf great answer. I don't understand why people say get a coach right away. The average bowler does not want to spend hundreds of dollars to get to be a 180 bowler. Timbrr if you have some good bowlers you know ask them to watch you bowl and give you tips first. listen to bilf keep your head up and have fun.

Getting a coach doesn't have to be seriously expensive. My wife, daughter and I meet with our coach about every 3 weeks. He charges $50 for working with all three of us for a little over an hour a piece since we agreed to meet on days that he's already there. It has been a big benefit to all of our games. Instead of spending weeks and months trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong and stressing on it and wasting serious money paying for bowling to only reinforce a bad habit now the problem is cured in as little as 15 minutes.

I do agree coaching isn't for everybody if you want to show up once a week, drink beer, and not listen to anybody then don't get a coach. If your serious about the game, willing to practice, want to be better, and have desire to bowl at the upper level quit wasting time and money and get a good coach. Your teammates will thank you. My guestimate is the average poster who is taking time out of their day to post on a bowling web site fits more into the second category and not the first.

[RobLV1]

Professional bowlers have coaches. Certified coaches have coaches. For your average bowler, coaching does not have to be an expensive proposition. One or two lessons at $25-$50 each will give any bowler the skills he needs to move forward and improve. To suggest that advice recommending seeking competent coaching is anything but in the bowler's best interest is ridiculous. Sometimes spending a few dollars to help you enjoy your free time more is money very well spent, or you can just keep spending money to rent lanes to practice all of your bad habits. Some choice!

[1VegasBowler]

During the summer, I entered a 14 week coached session at one of our centers here, and there were 8 of us. $13/week that included the coaching, 3 games, standing sheets, and award for the most improved, and a little pizza party the final night

I did it because I wanted to improve my game from top to bottom. I wanted to fix what was wrong with my game so that I could be better in leagues and in tournaments.

The first hour was the coach working with all of us on a myriad of different things. When we went to bowling our 3 games, he helped us in G1. After that we were on our own.

I not only found out what I was doing wrong, but I got most of it corrected. My average in those 14 weeks went from 170 to 184.

It also made enough of an improvement, that, during my Sport League sweepers I finished 12th of 60 people for a nice pay day.

And as a regular on the 9 Tap Tour, for the previous 6 weeks I have participated I have cashed in 5 of them ranging from 8th place to 3rd place. The 3rd Quarter Championships are this weekend and I am certainly looking to be around on day 2.

Yes, there are some who may want to discredit this because it's 9 Tap, but the fact of the matter is, if, you can't average around 240 for 4 games, you're not going to make any money. At $64/squad and still coming out over $500 ahead during that time isn't anything to sneeze at. And only ONCE during those 6 weeks did I have to bowl a second squad.

Coaching helps. Make no mistake about it. The time and amount you spend on it will depend on how good you want to be.

[classygranny]

Bilf great answer. I don't understand why people say get a coach right away. The average bowler does not want to spend hundreds of dollars to get to be a 180 bowler. Timbrr if you have some good bowlers you know ask them to watch you bowl and give you tips first. listen to bilf keep your head up and have fun.

The idea of getting a coach right away is so that you can stop the bad habits immediately instead of continually reinforcing them. When I feel myself starting to decline on my approach/delivery or just not mentally staying in the game, I try and schedule a coaching session. It may not be a fix-all, but it does help to bring back that confidence that at least I know what I am suppose to do and usually that in itself is enough to assist in correcting the bad habits that seem to drift in and out of our games.

[fokai73]

This is not a knock on you. But with scores like that, I'd go find a coach. There are certain things I can fix myself, but even then I'd like to have a trained eye watch me bowl. Trying to diagnose yourself is like changing a flat tire with a flat spare tire. You can make it worse....

[Wherearemyballs]

Do you bowl with anyone who has similar limitations ? Pay attention to their loft. Some older generation bowlers will add or reduce loft for their adjustment. I had a senior with a rubber ball holding a 175 average. I don't think the mans Knees bent much at all.

How much ball weight have you dropped down to? 10 pins per pound of ball weight was the norm for years. But I think a good bowler can average an extra 30 pins.

I don't think Fordman1 is going to let me live down the 1/2 board adjustments I use off of my right foot.

Use what fits your shot. A better plan can make up for some loss of flexibility.

[RobLV1]

Anyone who still hits up on the ball has plenty of L*O*F*T*! Unless you are left handed, why would you line up off of your right foot?

[Wherearemyballs]

Anyone who still hits up on the ball has plenty of L*O*F*T*! Unless you are left handed, why would you line up off of your right foot?

Don't you use the dots , boards and arrows for adjustments on the approach ? Or is that old school nowadays? I line up the foot closest to the swing and step toward my target arrow. It controls my starting point in both directions.

[RobLV1]

The only way to control your direction is to line up on the approach with the same foot that you end up on at the foul line (left). If you line up with your right, and slide with your left, how do you know if you have drifted?