ARG Stuck in a slump

[nickcuban]

I am going to go bowling tonight. I hope I will have better success than I have as of late. I will try to get a video of what I do so ya'll can see all the mistakes I make lol.

[ThongPrincess]

That makes me wonder what I can do to get that feature here?

It actually only lists the certified coaches who pay the fee to be a part of the Coaches Association. You might contact them and see if you could create a similar feature. The email address for questions is coaching@bowl.com.

The other this is have us, the members here list the coaches and contacts we know from our state in the Bowling Buddies section. Or let us do a copy and paste from the USBC site, if that is legal.

Back on topic:

At each practice go with a set plan. Pick one or two things to work on and that is your major focus for the session. From personal experience, often inconsistency often comes from the first step. Make sure, if using a 4 step, that the ball and foot go together on the first step.

As KingPin said, keep positive. If you roll a bad shot, it is just that a bad shot. Let it go, the shot is over and cannot be redone. Evaluate each session based on execution first - did you roll the ball well. Then look at the scores, if they don't match the execution, why? Is it spare shooting, wrong part of the lane, etc. Make a note and use that information to plan the next practice session. Just my 2 cents worth.

[nickcuban]

Well I went tonight and was inconsistent like usual, but at least I started with a good game. Here are two videos of me throwing the ball... The quality is kinda bad and the angle sucks. But oh well here they are:

[onefrombills]

the best advise I can say is you have to bowl thur a slump or go into your local pro shop and see someone in there for a fix lesson

[dougb]

I hit the same wall as you did, coaching took me past it.

[Jord_84]

Well I went tonight and was inconsistent like usual, but at least I started with a good game. Here are two videos of me throwing the ball... The quality is kinda bad and the angle sucks. But oh well here they are:

From what I can see, it looks like you're bringing your arm behind you slightly, instead of straight back.
I also noticed that the first video where you threw a strike, you followed through with your release.
The second video it looks like you didn't follow through, then the ball came in too low.

I'd keep up with the practice and videotape the sessions. Pay attention to your follow-through and see if you aren't more consistent.

[MH1313]

I'm no expert, but it looked as if on the second shot your body opened towards the right. That is never good for a low rev bowler. We need to be square to the lane.

If I were you I'd do what I did after coming back to bowling after 6yrs off. Don't worry about your pin count in practice. Focus on hitting your mark and being consistent throughout the whole process. Bring the ball straight back and straight forward, keep your hand behind the ball (you'll get more revs) lift consistently with the fingers and follow through straight up through the shoulder. Remember, hit right=move right.

Consistency is key! If you aren't being consistant you can't adjust to the lane conditions and your scores will suffer.

[UrMagesty]

After watching the videos I agree with the above posts.

In a textbook situation you want to push the ball in front of you (straight out) and let your arm swing straight back. You shouldn't feel the weight of the ball if your arm swing is "correct".

When you don't push the ball out in front of you then the body has a tendency to try and auto correct the weight distrubition and your arm will pull towards the center of your body on the way out and on the way back will swing out towards the gutter. Or just the opposite and your arm swings out towards the gutter on the way back and on the way forward will spray towards the 7 pin.

Any decent coach that is bronze or better will be able to teach you a consistent arm swing without changing the rest of your motion.

Outside of getting your balance at the line your average being around 160ish is consistent with an inconsistent bowler.

The majority of bowlers in your average range are not converting better then 50% of your spare opportunities a game. All the greats agree that you strike for show and spare for dough.

Hope this helps some...

[nickcuban]

Thank you guys very much for the responses. I feel like I am picking up more than 505 of my spares, but if I go tonight I will keep track... It's a statistic I never even thought about.

Yeah, I am inconsistent as hell. The last time I bowled a 246, the next game was 141

I will try to work on the 'swing' so that I am not going inside out.

The more I try to improve, the more I realize this is just like golf!

[MH1313]

As a high school bowler my coaches used to keep track of a lot of "stats" for us. Some of them were interesting, some sad. A stat I like to keep track of besides my spare % is my 8 or better on the first ball. Typically 8 or better means you are in the pocket, this can tell you how consistent you are.

Keep the ball in the pocket two things will happen, an easy spare, or a strike. rarely will you split (unless you are high or light to an extreme) it just helps to keep something in mind.

as for the strikes vs. spares...I couldn't agree more! focusing on spares are the most important piece to the game. My coach used to say "anyone can get a strike, only someone who has skill can consistently cover their spares!" thats just something I think about when I'm up against a big shooter....