Eliminate muscling = brand new arsenal!

[GoKidd]

"Aha!!!" <-- That's one of those aha moments actually happening to me.
This first year of bowling just gets more interesting every week.

Last Thursday I'm practicing when a fellow who's seen me bowl a little bit casually mentions: "You're muscling your swing. You're not letting the ball's coverstock do its part." I respect the fellow and thought -- maybe I am.

I remember an instructor telling me to lower the ball in setup and slow down my swing, but somehow it sounded more correct the way this fellow bowler offered it to me. Or maybe I was just feeling open to change that Thursday. I don't think my instructor was big on giving THE WHY.

Anyhow, now I have a whole new arsenal. I put a 4000 grit finish on the Storm Tropical Heat to work the dry side and 400/500 grit on the old Brunswick Danger Zone for closer to the middle of the lane.
Boing! New arsenal with the same two balls!! All I had to do was change me (and then readjust the finish on the balls).
The two balls previously felt like they were just too much alike. Well -- yeah -- I was chucking them too fast for the small amount of revs I produce to create much grip on the lane.

I took the new me to League last night -- pretty cool. I still have a lot to learn and these weren't my very highest scores -- but more consistent than most of my past sessions and all three games over my average.
Fun stuff.

[J Anderson]

Interesting to see when and why we take advice. Glad its working for you. After 36 years of bowling I had my first professional lesson Friday. I was leery of doing it mid season, especially after having two pretty good weeks in a row. In fact I had been planning on taking the lesson left-handed to avoid any big changes, but wound up doing it right-handed. Worked out OK. I was two pins over my average in the sport league last night, one of only three people who could say they were over for the night.

[tracy]

you have to remember not to pull the ball and push the ball with in your swing. you have to let the ball do the work. also, you have to let the ball read the lanes and do it's thing. the way to check your swing is to put the ball on a table in front of you,put your fingers in and slowly pull (step back) the ball off of the table and get that feel of it swinging naturally. that will give an idea of a free swing. work with it and you will see a more consistant ball and more speed will follow.

[gabagoo]

it's easy to say reduce the speed and I suffer from this. I cant figure out how to slow it down and making it feel right

[J Anderson]

I usually hold the ball a bit lower in my starting position when I need to slow the ball down. You may need to shorten your approach ( stand closer to the foul line ) as well.

[jmartin27407]

it's easy to say reduce the speed and I suffer from this. I cant figure out how to slow it down and making it feel right

Anderson is correct. That will make you slow down. Lowering the ball shortens the arm swing, you just have to remember to not muscle through the bottom of the shot. Moving forward slows you feet down and helps keep you in time when you lower the ball. I like to use Norm Duke as a good example of changing ball speed. When he is throwing it hard he holds the ball up near his chest and starts off the back of the approach. When he is throwing it slow he is normally somewhere in between the first set and second set of dots and holding the ball at or below his waist.