|
|
Here are some gems I have gleaned
from coaching, being coached, bowling, and my wonderful clients.
> Please keep this in mind your entire bowling life. Every shot
you have ever thrown is in your head. Every shot you have ever seen
anyone else throw is in your head. Every shot you have ever seen
on television is in your head. Those thousands and thousands of
shots are quite an inventory. They are a wealth of information for
you. With all of that experience in your head, how can you ever
doubt a move that you decide to make?
> Your game is constantly evolving. It will not stay the same and
it won't always be sharp. Just when you think you don't have another
134 game left in you, out it comes. Peak performance levels are
cyclical. Bowling great doesn't last forever and neither does a
slump.
> It's almost impossible to hit your target if you're not looking
at it. Additionally, if you're not looking at it and you hit it,
how will you know? Since you shouldn't make an adjustment unless
you've thrown the ball pretty much like you wanted to and hit what
you wanted to hit, you'll also not make a good adjustment. There
may be something that will screw you up worse than adjusting off
a bad shot, but I can't think what it might be.
> If it's difficult for you to watch your target until the ball
rolls over it, try this. Think of your eyesight as a laser beam.
Laser your target. Make it smoke! You'll be surprised how much easier
it is to hit when you're looking at it! It has probably happened
to you that you are looking at your target and on the way to the
foul line it just seems to blur out and you don't know if you hit
it or not. Lasering will reduce this phenomenon. It will also help
eliminate the tendency to pull your eyes off the target as soon
as you let the ball go. Don't laser the second arrow. Laser the
right edge of the base of it.
> Now we're going to make a MENTAL trip to the office supply store.
Go to the section that has all kinds of labels. You will find a
package of 2" circular labels in your favorite color - neon pink,
purple, bright red, whatever it might be. Buy the package and put
it in your ball bag. Anytime you have difficulty seeing your target,
when the glare of synthetics is too much, or there's no dark board
in the midlane, just pull one of these labels out and mentally put
it wherever you're looking. Laser that dot. You'll be amazed how
well you can see it!
> If you're one of those folks who bend your elbow too early in
the follow through or would like to project the ball further down
the lane on certain conditions, try this. Hold your arm down by
your side. You'll see a crease on the inside of your elbow where
the elbow bends. Think of leading the shot (your hand and ball)
with this part of your elbow. You cannot biomechanically do this,
of course, unless your elbow bends the opposite way of everyone
else's! What's important is that you think lead with your elbow.
Just feel like you are trying to have this crease of your elbow
leading your hand toward the target. It will be very difficult to
bend your elbow if the crease is going toward the target!
> Once you've found your strike line, don't line up for your perfect
strike shot. You're not perfect, why line up like you are? Try moving
one board left with your feet. Yes, I really mean it. Line up left
of perfect. That way you'll have room to be a little light and maybe
even miss slightly right. Either way you're probably still in the
hole and if you don't carry, you'll most likely leave yourself a
makeable spare.
> When does the ball begin its motion? At the same time as your
first step? Just before? Just after? If you get to the foul line
leveraged and in balance and can deliver the ball the way you want,
it doesn't matter how you start. What matters is that you KNOW how
you start since that is what enables you to have such a good finish.
Things that are wrong at the foul line seldom go wrong at the foul
line. Something in your delivery process causes it to be wrong at
the foul line. Start at the beginning to fix it. This is true regardless
of where it FEELS like it went wrong. Something wrong in the middle
of your approach is usually compensating for whatever was wrong
in the beginning. Get a bad start and you spend the rest of the
approach trying to make up for it.
> Your first step is the most important one you take. Don't ignore
it or take it for granted. Learn exactly what you do with this first
step. When you get in trouble or don't feel quite right, start here
with your fix-it methodology. Perhaps you slide it and you've started
being a little more heel-toe than normal. Maybe you are normally
heel-toe but you've inexplicably started being much more heel-toe.
Maybe you've unconsciously shortened it or lengthened the first
step. Whatever the case, if you know what it does and what it feels
like when it's right, you'll be able to fix it when it's wrong.
> You won't believe this tip but it works for a lot of different
folks. If you're not sliding as much as you'd like and you are sure
it's not the approaches or your shoes that are the problem, tighten
the entire lace on your sliding shoe. If you're sliding too much,
loosen it!
> A 'tight' shot can mean many things. Most of the time, we feel
a shot is tight when the lanes are oily (thus the phrase 'the lanes
are tight'). Actually, a shot is tight whenever you feel you don't
have much room for error. When faced with this feeling or perception,
try moving your bowling shoulder about 2º-3º forward; not both shoulders,
not your body, not the ball in your stance - just your bowling shoulder.
This will help you keep the ball on line and avoid leaking it further
right than you intended and is not enough of a shoulder-closed position
to cause you to pull the ball.
> To really improve your consistency, try this: close your eyes
after your second step. Once you close your eyes the imprint on
your mind will be of whatever you saw last - in other words, your
target! It becomes your whole focus and you'll be pleasantly surprised
how easy it is to hit it. After you've let the ball go, open your
eyes. You'll see the ball roll right over that target. When you
are used to the feeling of closing your eyes and you accept you're
not going to step off the edge of the flat earth, you'll be able
to concentrate on other things. You can really FEEL your armswing
or release or cadence or slide or power step or whatever you have
chosen to concentrate on for that shot. A very eye-closing experience!
> Always pick up your ball from the ball return with both hands.
Picking up your ball using your grip holes fatigues the hand unnecessarily
and can cause excessive swelling.
> The difficult skills needed for bowling must be acquired through
learning and continued practice over a long period of time. The
mechanics of the sport are complex and diverse. Dedicated players
will find they peak after several years and often find they are
still improving after their "prime" athletic years. That's why bowling
is truly a lifetime sport.
> Solid 8 pins, ringing 10 pins, and swishing 7-10's are just as
much a part of the game as Brooklyn strikes, messenger pins or rolling
the bucket for a strike. Don't get crazy over it! Over the long
haul the player who makes the best shots will prevail. It's just
that the 'long haul' is not always a league night...
> Always be ready to bowl when it is your turn. If you're not, it
disturbs the rhythm and pacing of the game for everyone including
those leagues which follow you. It is usually true that the longer
in between shots, the more inconsistent you become. A good rule
to follow is that when the pins are ready, so are you!
> Hold your position at the line until the ball leaves the pin deck.
This does not mean that you should look like the Statue of Liberty
but that all of your body is still after you have delivered the
ball EXCEPT your bowling arm. It is swinging back and forth and
will eventually stop without your help. If you're falling off your
shots, you won't be completing them to the best of your ability
because you get too concerned about not falling down and therefore
cut your shot off short. Balance at the line is critical to a well-executed
and consistent delivery. Several good things happen when you do
this:
• You don't miss any of your great shots because you get to
stay at the foul line and watch them.
• It builds the discipline of keeping your balance at the line
and thus helping you make your shots repeatable.
• Pins tend to fall more when they feel your icy stare…
> You will often find a new strike line throwing your 2 pin or your
3 pin shot. Don't ignore your ball reaction in this part of the
lane. It could be a real strike mine!
> Throwing a ball that is too light for you is just as hurtful to
your game as throwing a ball that is too heavy. A ball which is
too light will allow you to do things you shouldn't. A ball which
is too heavy will prevent you from doing things you should. I don't
think that '10% of your body weight' thing is valid. I believe that
ball weight is determined by athleticism. If I have a 150 lb person
who is 5 feet tall and a 150 lb person who is 6 feet tall, I have
two very different individuals when it comes to athleticism and
strength. 10% might work for one but not the other and no, they
don't make 18 lb balls! For kids, some believe that the majority
of the population can bowl their age - a seven-pound ball if they
are seven years old or an 11-pound ball if they're 11 years old.
Kids are too fragile for a formula, I think. I would consider their
strength (hand, wrist, forearm, legs), their athleticism, goals,
and other activities before I make any recommendation.
> Try to make your approach as smooth and fluid as possible - no
roboty moves or herky-jerky looks. Don't walk like you are stepping
over rose bushes! You also, however, cannot sacrifice form for results.
There are no style points in bowling. It's just easier to do it
more consistently if you keep it simple. The more moving parts you
have, the more complicated the fix when something goes wrong.
> Don't start your approach like you're burning rubber from a stoplight.
That first step should be smooth and easy and therefore simple to
repeat. It is the most important step you take. Make sure it's right
and the rest of the approach can just flow.
> It is usually best to line up in your starting stance with your
sliding foot. It's the one that finishes at the foul line and therefore
the important one in terms of body alignment. Make it a part of
your pre-shot routine that when you step up on the approach to take
your starting stance, you slide your sliding foot onto your starting
board. If you have stepped in anything wet or have something on
the bottom of your shoe, you want to know that now, not up at the
foul line. If you don't get in this habit and do step in something,
you might find yourself recovering consciousness out by the arrows!
Don't take the chance of sticking at the foul line and hurting yourself
(which you can do whether you fall or not).
> Your trailing leg is important as well. If you kick it with some
vigor behind you, it can tend to open up your hips and causes you
to face away from your objective. If it goes too far in the direction
you moved it and you don't bend your sliding knee enough, you'll
be forced to stand up at the foul line to avoid injuring your sliding
knee, as it is not a rotating joint. It only bends, not rotates.
Your trailing knee can be further laterally if your sliding knee
is more bent. Otherwise, you could have that 'pretzel' look at the
foul line!
> Keep your trailing foot on the ground. A good finish position
would have your trailing knee behind your sliding knee and separated
by 6"-8" at about a 45º angle to your body. This will provide you
with a very stable and balanced position. If your trailing knee
is closer to your sliding knee than that, it's difficult to keep
your balance. Think of a tripod. With the legs together, it topples.
Spread them apart a bit and your tripod becomes very stable. Spread
them too far apart...
> More hook does not mean more strikes. You must have the proper
angle, speed, and rotation to carry a strike. If any of these components
is off by a millimeter, a 1/2 mph, or half a revolution, your carry
percentage goes down. Don't be fooled into thinking more speed or
more hook will do more to the pins.
> Replace your finger grips whenever they become worn. Some people
do that about every 60 games and some much more often. When they
are worn, they won't afford you that same good feel you had when
they were new. Use yellow (the first color the human eye notices)
or white or some light color that you can easily see rolling down
the lane. This will help you to watch the roll of the ball and learn
how different releases can affect ball roll and therefore pin action.
|
