John Gaines Speaks About Adjusting During League Bowling

[bowl1820]

BowlerSmart Coaching VP John Gaines Speaks About Adjusting During League Bowling

[Aslan]

I met John Gaines and he gave me some instruction at a weekly clinic back when I was pretty new to the sport.

He's TALL.

They kinda "cheated"...when he switched lanes he started throwing 2-4 boards right of where he was throwing. And I don't agree with his (Anthony's) moves. He was just moving his feet...never moved his target. When he did move his eyes, he moved them right...which is kind've a drastic change to his angle. I've never made a change left with my feet and right with my eyes...unless it's early on and my line is too tight....like at a new center.

I also don't understand why you'd go with more surface and move left. I understand the "logic" behind it...but that seems "dodgy" to intentionally throw a surfaced ball with the intention of causing it to lose energy.

This is also a difficult video to learn from because Anthony is obviously a higher level bowler. Lane adjustment is what I'd consider an "advanced" bowling topic. Changing hand positions...I'd consider a very advanced technique. Moving lines (left/right) or targets (vertically) are moderate concepts. But changing speeds and hand positions...that tells me Anthony is a very high level bowler.

Interesting to hear these answers though. I bet if I put RobM, my coaches, and John Gaines in different rooms...all watching me make shots...they'd all tell me to do different adjustments...which is one of the frustrating things about bowling coaching. Like, Gaines talks about carrydown...RobM would disagree with that. Gaines talks about moving right....most coaches (and RobM) would tend to say moving right is almost never a good option. In the same respect, Gaines talks about not having "preconceptions"...which RobM has also talked about. Many coaches and players would disagree with that and absolutely want to know what pattern they are going to face; the more information you have, the better prepared you can be.

It's also interesting that Gaines uses the "benchmark" system. I know a lot of folks on bowlingboards.com use that type of system. I used to use that type of system...but with that system, you have to be open to moving both right and/or left. Many bowlers have abandoned moving right as an option...making the benchmark system less attractive.

I'd also be careful with the "using abralon pads" to change the surface.
1) FAR too many bowlers misinterpret a ball not hooking enough as there being too much oil on the lane. RobM has said this too...so it's not just my random ramblings. If your ball is hitting light and it's due to energy loss...the abralon pad is going to make that worse....not better.
2) Surface adjustments are awesome if you have a ball-spinner. Trying to hand surface with an abralon pad...I haven't seen much data to support that hand surfacing does much at all...and it's alot harder to surface the ball evenly.

I guess my question to John and the pros would be...if you have to work on techniques...one at a time...what order would you suggest for the following techniques:

- changing ball speeds
- changing hand positions
- building an arsenal
- understanding lateral movements/having 2-4 different lines
- vertical targeting adjustments
- ball surfacing

ALL of those are valuable techniques...but I can only imagine a player like me, that tends to overthink things, leaving a 6-pin and suddenly saying: "Okay, I need to move target out a foot and a half, change my hand position to a 45 degree, move to an outside line, hit the ball with a 1500 siaair pad for 12 minutes, and increase my ball speed 2mph. Then, on the next shot when I leave a 4-pin....back to the drawing board...time to buy a new ball, surface it, throw it harder, change my line, start my approach further back, move my target in...etc, etc, etc. So, how would you approach a bowler in terms of mastering these techniques (from the list)...if you have to pick #1, #2, #3, etc...?

I do like Gaines's answer about getting better. I played in a tournament 2 years ago...scratch 5-gamer...got DESTROYED...finished last or second to last place. It was embarrassing...but you have to put yourself out there and challenge yourself. This year, same tournament, I finished middle of the field. Not "spectacular"...but at least I saw improvement. Too many bowlers are deathly afraid of getting their butts kicked.

How is Anthony throwing shot after shot and not breaking a sweat? My shirt would be drenched!

[J Anderson]

Interesting to hear these answers though. I bet if I put RobM, my coaches, and John Gaines in different rooms...all watching me make shots...they'd all tell me to do different adjustments...which is one of the frustrating things about bowling coaching.

I guess my question to John and the pros would be...if you have to work on techniques...one at a time...what order would you suggest for the following techniques:

- changing ball speeds
- changing hand positions
- building an arsenal
- understanding lateral movements/having 2-4 different lines
- vertical targeting adjustments
- ball surfacing

ALL of those are valuable techniques...but I can only imagine a player like me, that tends to overthink things, leaving a 6-pin and suddenly saying: "Okay, I need to move target out a foot and a half, change my hand position to a 45 degree, move to an outside line, hit the ball with a 1500 siaair pad for 12 minutes, and increase my ball speed 2mph. Then, on the next shot when I leave a 4-pin....back to the drawing board...time to buy a new ball, surface it, throw it harder, change my line, start my approach further back, move my target in...etc, etc, etc. So, how would you approach a bowler in terms of mastering these techniques (from the list)...if you have to pick #1, #2, #3, etc...?

For newer bowlers, you want them to develop consistency. So the first adjustments that would be taught would be ones that don't affect technique. First would be making lateral moves, second would be vertical targetting. I think that changing speed would be next, followed by hand positions. Changing surface would be next to last and building the arsenal last. Just to clarify, I define arsenal as three or more balls. An entry level reactive resin plus a plastic spare ball is not an arsenal. It's the introductory basic equipment for the sport.