Bowling Diary

[Grimthrow]

Jack
25 years old
6'0, 170 pounds
Right handed, 14 pound ball.

I just wanted a thread where I could put my day to day progress in. I've been bowling for 3 days now.

Day 1: Bowled first 3 games today with my own shoes and ball. Pro Shop guy watched a couple throws, said I'm over-rotating the wrist, and need to slow down my throw speed.

Day 2: Bowled 4 games today. Lots of experiments, not much luck. Using a house ball as a spare ball was a bad idea. On the 4th game I realized that if I relax my wrist and arm on the release, good things happen. Throughout the day I watched bowling tournaments on youtube and realized I have a similar style to Walter Ray and Norm Duke. I'm going to try to emulate them tomorrow.

Day 3: Bowled 4 games. Lots of improvement, I start off way off to the right, about as far as you can go. I don't have much of a hook so this allows me to hit the pocket just right. Only left one split today, happy about that. Need to work on spares still bigtime.
Nothing makes me more mad then brooklyn's, even if it's a strike (all three were strikes). Average over the 4 games was a little over 150, I feel like I got lucky on a ton of throws though.
I only have a 4 step approach...this worries me a bit. Although the Duke and WRW have a 5 step, and they start with their left foot, and I start with my right. So I either have to do a 4 step or 6 step, and 4 feels comfortable right now.

[J Anderson]

"I only have a 4 step approach...this worries me a bit. Although the Duke and WRW have a 5 step, and they start with their left foot, and I start with my right. So I either have to do a 4 step or 6 step, and 4 feels comfortable right now."
Don't worry! Norm and Walter Ray are great role models but you need to adapt what works for them to fit what works for your body. Personally I think you would do better to copy Norm's swing. If 4 steps feels right, do it. Its really the same as a 5 step without the first step.
I only use three steps which drives my coaching friends crazy.

[Grimthrow]

Right on! I just got down watching Earl Anthony's youtube coaching. Amazing stuff in there! He shows everything he does in that video with a 4 step. Kind of weird because in a lot of his tournament matches he's using a 5 step. Either way I feel better. He shows the 3 step too!

If any other beginner happens to read this post, definitely check out "Earl Anthony teaches bowling" on youtube. I've learned a lot already.

[Grimthrow]

Day 4: Great day! For the most part. Bowled 5 games. First four games I was just completely relaxed and hitting my spot. Averaged out to right around 180 over those 4 games. I didn't break the 200 barrier, but at least everything seemed consistent, that's all I want. Still missing easy spares, my guess is that they will come with time as my muscle memory has no idea which spot to hit or exactly where to stand still. The 5th game was ugly. I missed two easy one pin spares in the first two frames and I was just like ughhhhhhh what is going on? This game is soooo much about confidence and staying relaxed. I have to really note to slow my approach and keep my arm straight. If I can do that, pick up the easy spares, I don't see why I can't break 200 soon. Have to watch the rest of Earl Anthony teaches bowling today.

[The Mayor]

This is really cool to see your progress and I look forward to seeing how you progress!

As for spares, take a look at this article which should help you with alignment and where to target on the lane.

http://www.bowlingball.com/BowlVersi...9-spare-system

[JerseyJim]

You might also want to watch the videos from Fred Borden, one of the great bowling coaches in the US. He's coached the US Team for a number of years. He's also coached a number of pros. Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Bowltech...h?query=borden

[StormGirl]

Wow you're progressing farily quickly. You should also check out Ron Clifton's website, and Slowinski's website as well. Tons of great info on there! Here are the links

http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/roncarchive.htm

http://bowlingknowledge.info/

Good luck!

[Grimthrow]

http://www.bowlingball.com/BowlVersi...9-spare-system

Thanks Mayor! I’m definitely going to print this off and take it with me tomorrow morning. Interesting about angling your feet toward the spare pin. I believe Earl A. talked about squaring up with the target as well. Are you then approaching the foul line at a slight angle when throwing at the 7 or 10 pin?

http://www.youtube.com/user/Bowltech...h?query=borden

Nice Jim! I’m going to check this out next.

Wow you're progressing farily quickly. You should also check out Ron Clifton's website, and Slowinski's website as well. Tons of great info on there! Here are the links

http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/roncarchive.htm

http://bowlingknowledge.info/

Awesome! Thanks StormGirl…I’ll check um out after the Borden video. I just hope I can stay consistent tomorrow, I have a lot on my mind in trying new things and too much on your mind while approaching the line isn't exactly a good thing :P


SIDENOTE FOR BEGINNERS - Morning’s of day 2 and 3 my arm was quite sore. My grip was fairly weak. I decided to bowl through it and today on day 4 there was no soreness, and the ball felt like an 8 pound ball. I could have bowled 3 more games with no problems. Keep in mind I take 2 servings of Whey Protein every day (one in morning and one at night) for muscle repair and get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep. I believe this helped repair the arm faster and take away the soreness.

[JerseyJim]

Grimthrow, the note about the sore arm bothers me. It sounds as if you're muscling the ball. You'll get much better results if you just let your arm relax. Ron Clifton has an article in his archive about that, and so does Joe Slowinski.

[Grimthrow]

Day 5 - Take everything I said about day 4....and completely reverse it

5 ballls in 7 games...5 BALLS IN 7 GAMES hooked into the pocket nicely. That's horrid. Luckily, my spare game was insane. If my spare game was like it was yesterday, and my strike game was like it was today, I'd be hard pressed to break 100. The spares kept my average at right around 155 over the 7 games.

Why was my 1st ball always so bad? I can tell you exactly why...but could I fix it? No.

BALL SPEED.

Because I still don't know how to get a decent amount of revs on the ball, I have to throw a slower ball in order for it to hook in at the right time. I aim for under 13 mph, 11 and 12 mph seems to always hit the pocket nicely. Today I couldn't seem to keep it under 15. Why? I was keeping my arm straight and relaxed, the release felt a little different today but I wasn't muscling the ball. I kept a relatively slow approach...and still...15+ mph. You could have stuck a gun to my head and said "bowl under 15mph or you die" ala kind of like the movie Speed, and I would have made for a very short movie.

I only planned on bowling 5 games, but after the 5th was over I was still shocked that I couldn't figure it out. 6th game now and I rip a nice chuck of skin off of my ring finger. Awesome. Head to the pro shop and the guy offers me a "defense skin protector". I don't know what they put in that little bottle, I think I read ether, but it stings real nice hahaha. Anyway I asked him for advice on keeping my speed down. He says keep the ball lower on the approach (i assume for a smaller backswing, I tried this earlier, didn't work)...or moving closer. I'm already fairly close to the foul line with my long legged 4 step. But I try it anyway, doesn't work.

LONG STORY SHORT VERSION:
Spare game was awesome today. Strike game was puzzling. Tomorrow I plan on lots of expermenting on the first throw. If anything my spare game will just get better.