Track Lines

[Iceman]

One other question I forgot to mention - from the video, I have lowered my starting position alot - mostly to accomodate my timing at the line. I don't worry or think about my feet work since that switch, I concentrate soley on swing and target.

The question I have - based on some of the video posted currently - without regards to the arm swing going towards the 10 pin (caused from hand around the ball early) the follow through is not as high as suggested, and I've heard that from many others at the bowling house - I do have a tendency to cut off or short arm my swing. I know everyone has different styles, but from the video WMV when I take it into Adobe Premiere and watch frame by frame, the ball looks like it's out of my hand the majority of the time when my arm swing flares to the right, my common sense tells me this is not hurting my ball direction, but conditionally it would effect it overall, based on the swing direction from the highest backswing...

So how high is a good follow through is it truly based on the starting position, I'm thinking yes due to physics....

It's hard to think about work, as I am thinking about my findings over the weekend and anxious to go attack the progress later this afternoon.

[JAnderson]

I'll defer to one of the great coaches who is in both the ABC/USBC and PBA hall of fame: John Jowdy.

In his book "Bowling Execution" he talks about the follow through saying that once the ball leaves your hand, nothing you do is going to change the ball motion. He does recognize, however, that the follow through is an important tool to ensure that everything before the release happens the way we want it to. In a free, pendulum arm swing, the follow through would be as high as the back swing. Mr. Jowdy recommends that you follow through at least to your break point - your hand is high enough so that in your field of vision, it touches the break point. Beyond that is fine, but short of that can lead to swing problems.

[Iceman]

Understood with the follow through - last night was a tough feeling of the changes I made. lower backswing, but I did not come behind my back, just felt funny with the release. I did get to play 4-6 boards while ev1 else played THS 10 board - they carried - I didn't

As the night went on, I did push a few shots, got to the line with my arm first (due to lower backswing) and I also still came around the ball early. only shot 555, but only 1 open which was a 7-10 pocket (light), so everything else in my game was fine. I'm heading back up tonight to get some more practice in with the release points, I'm going to extend my release out as late as possible in my swing until I get the feel for the release with my hand behind the ball and roll off my fingers.

I'll keep working on it.

[Iceman]

Tuesday night - I went to practice some more, I focused on staying behind the ball longer than before, and it made a huge difference in the ball reaction. My track line is still not where I want it exactly, but it moved closer to the fingers, so I'm still coming around it early. But I did get it moved closer....(pats Janderson back)

I then got loose and the pocket was so big for me - I was able to play 2 lines with Ogre (Boards 4-6 and 8-11), then moved left 5 boards, played Immortal (boards 12-15) and then used my Gladiator solid over 18-20, I couldn't miss the pocket and the carry was good. I did throw 15 strikes in a row, and I used all 3 balls during that string. Once I played 10 board 2 frames, I went to 15, then to 20 for 2 frames each, then back to 5 - I had confidence that I knew exactly where to stand with each of the 3 balls.

It was a great learning night for me, I played areas of the lanes that I felt I couldn't play before, the inside 15, I was very unconfortable, but tonight, my just slowing down my swing, and staying behind the ball longer, I was hitting the areas very accurate and getting to the pocket. I even took my hardest ball, the Ogre and played it up 5, a lot of 10 pins there, then moved it to 10-12 and carried well, then moved to 20 and I didn't think that ball would react as much as it did. It all goes to say - any ball will strike on any condition, if your release and speed is right. But, having the area consistently is the key, this is where any ball may not work.

I'm ready for the New Years Day Tournament feeling better about it at least. Now it's time to practice my mental focus for today and not drink too much later tonight. Hope everyone has a great and safe new years eve!!!

[JAnderson]

Good luck and have fun on the New Years Day tournament.

It's great that you're willing to work out of your comfort zone, try new things, and experiment. As a "what if..." type of person, the general bowling populace's unwillingness to try new things boggles my mind, but that's an entirely different rant...er...post. There's a quote I like from the PBA's Robert Smith. It applies to any endeavor, not just bowling:

"If you're not willing to change, you're not willing to improve."

The flip side of that would be, if you keep doing the same thing you should expect the same results.