How can I add more revolutions?

[trekker34]

I've been bowling, fairly regularly for about 3 years now but I've never had any coaching (not really sure why).

I recently purchased a 14lb. Storm Victory Road. I'm not a particularly fast bowler, usually around the 12MPH range, and have been looking to add more revolutions. I have watched countless hours of bowling on TV and watched many videos online showing some of the pros and how they release their ball in order to see how they produce so many RPMs. I've never had my RPMs judged but compared to some people I see play, I can tell you that it's not a whole lot. I sometimes see high school kids putting so much torque and revolutions on their ball and I'm always totally dumbfounded on how they can achieve that while making it look so incredibly easy.

I have, since I started, tried to change my technique, but more RPMs have always eluded me. Perhaps I need to hire a coach and take a few lessons. I will at some point do that, however, in the meantime, can anyone offer some advice on how I can accomplish this?

Thank you.

[bowl1820]

Getting a coach is the best option, but until then. take a look at this article of Joe Slowinski's.
Click here for Simple Method to Change the Amount of Revs

Also

Click here for Strong Finger Position One Key to Creating Revs

Here's simple at home drill to practice your release. Take a child's small Nerf football and throw a underhand spiral, it's the same motion you use for creating rev's.

[J Anderson]

You may need to get more speed to go with the increased revs or else the your ball may react too quickly and roll out well before hitting the pins.

[striker12]

well when your on your release you can pull up on your all when your throwing it to give it abit more revs but this way dose hurt abit at the start till u get use to it.

also theres another way you can tuck your pinky in and it will give you more revs recently i have been tucking my pinky and i have gotten alot more revs since i have changed bowling styles.

when i had my old style i had alot of revs when i changed lost alot of those revs and know with tucking my pinky in i have almost gotten themall back but not fully

[JerseyJim]

well when your on your release you can pull up on your all when your throwing it to give it abit more revs but this way dose hurt abit at the start till u get use to it.

also theres another way you can tuck your pinky in and it will give you more revs recently i have been tucking my pinky and i have gotten alot more revs since i have changed bowling styles.

when i had my old style i had alot of revs when i changed lost alot of those revs and know with tucking my pinky in i have almost gotten themall back but not fully

Striker, tucking your pinky just increases your axis tilt slightly which results in a tad more skid. Your ball will react stronger at the break point because it used a bit less energy getting to the break point. It's one of the methods that Joe Slowinski talks about to alter ball reaction.

[bowl1820]

I agree with JerseyJim here also. According to most of articles that talk about it, they say that what your changing most is axis tilt and rotation (now rotation is not the same thing as Rev's).

Also a often overlooked thing when using a tucked pinky, is the ring finger span. You should have it checked, to make sure it's not too long when using the pinky tucked.

[striker12]

well when i tuck my pinky my axis tilt is always the same just my revs are increased but yeah it give alittle more skid and give a strong backend and my ball dose not roll out as much when i tuck my pinky or do alittle lift on the ball eather one my ball never rolls out but when i normal release my ball sometime rolls out cause of not enouph revs

[aussiedave]

Getting a coach is the best option, but until then. take a look at this article of Joe Slowinski's.
Click here for Simple Method to Change the Amount of Revs

Also

Click here for Strong Finger Position One Key to Creating Revs

Here's simple at home drill to practice your release. Take a child's small Nerf football and throw a underhand spiral, it's the same motion you use for creating rev's.

Nice links mate. Thnx.
ad.

[littlelegs]

Speaking from a personal perspective, after spending too much time reading too much crap, I've found a small group of things key to getting my revs to somewhere I'm happier with.

Slightly higher backswing - the problem there though is that I lose accuracy the higher I go, so in my case it is 'slightly'. A big backswing will give me a lot more revs (and is obviously the way many modern power players go) but my ball control suffers hugely.

Keeping my wrist cupped - this is key for me, especially without the huge backswing. If I break my wrist I lose revs as I don't stay underneath the ball. It's also the area that took me longest to get used to doing. A wrist brace for nearly a year was needed to get used to the position. Until then I simply couldn't stop breaking my wrist backwards. Now I have a noticable cupped position on release.

Wrist rotation - timing of the wrist rotation is probably as important for me as the above. When I time it right (just as the ball gets to my ankle) I get good revs. Too early and there's hardly any. It's also worth mentioning that we're talking wrist rotation and not whole arm. There's a huge difference.

Not leaning forward - if you lean forward too much you're simply the wrong side of the ball. Your hand needs to stay underneath the ball for good revs and dipping your head and both shoulders towards the ground makes that almost impossible.

A relaxed arm - this is a must for accuracy too IMHO. However, a relaxed arm and relaxed swing with nature taking its course, helps improve the revs too I find. Muscle it and the revs drop for me (as does the accuracy).

I mention all these as most aticles and guides I found when looking for help are for people who already have a decent rev rate to help them adjust it. I struggled to find much on the real basics and through a LOT of research and trial and error the above all helped me with rotation. Stuff such as finger placement on the ball etc etc helps tweak revs but doesn't really help generate them to start, for those that are rev challenged. Very few articles cover the real basics. I'll also add that key for me over everthing above is timing, especially the rotation at release. Get the timing out and it can hit the revs hard as well as many other aspects of your game.

And finally...watch guys in your league/local alley who can generate good revs. Excluding two handers/shovellers, they'll all usually have one thing in common...their hand is under the ball at release. Pros on TV/video are obviously also worth watching too but I find it easier in real life to get a 'feel' for exactly what people are doing. Most of the above simply helps achieve that and again, as a disclaimer is stuff, 'I' needed to work on to get anything useful going rev wise. Hopefully some of it may help others.

[10-in-the-pit]

I'm a little old school, but I think some other ways to help increase rev's (without seeing how you bowl) is to increase your knee bend to get lower down to the ground. This changes the launch trajectory of the ball. Your arm upon your release should bend at the elbow where your hand follows through on the release. As mentioned previously, this usually is accompanied by an increase in ball speed as well which would probably provide you with some added benefits. I would also have your span rechecked to make sure your ball is drilled properly for you.