|
|
How many adjustments are there?
Several? Hundreds? Thousands? The truth is there are only five kinds
of adjustments in bowling. Only five! It's just that within those
five categories there are numerous types of moves available to you.
Remember LASER - Laydown, Angle, Speed, Equipment, and Rotation.
LAYDOWN
There is only one laydown point in bowling and you can think of
it as latitude and longitude. There is the board on which you laid
the ball down and the distance over the foul line the ball first
touched that board. It's my opinion that in your 'A' game, you put
the ball between two and four feet out over the foul line at its
initial touch. This gives you lots of room to lay the ball down
earlier if you need to or to loft it further out if that's what
the lane wants. Now let's talk about how you know when to do either.
I wish I knew. I haven't discovered an if-then scenario for this
one. (You know, if this happens, then do that). I do know that varying
your north-south laydown point on demand is a valuable weapon. If
you're hitting the hole but can't carry, an earlier laydown point
might change that carry. It's an interesting thing that often the
longer the ball is in contact with the lane the better it behaves
and hits. Sometimes the opposite scenario is true. You'll need to
get it a bit further out onto the lane for carry.
However, it's not always carry that will change when the laydown
point is different. Laying the ball down earlier will sometimes
increase skid and delay the hook and sometimes it won't. In fact,
it might cause the ball to move sooner. I would love to tell you,
for instance, that every time you loft the ball, it will hook earlier.
Sometimes that's true. Other times hook is delayed by lofting. Don't
get confused. Think of changing your north-south laydown point as
part of your adjustment repertoire. What you don't want to do is
accidentally loft it or get out of it sooner and discover that's
what you should have been doing all along.
LAYING THE BALL DOWN EARLY
Let's say your normal laydown point is 12" over the foul line. There
may come a time that a certain lane condition calls for you to lay
the ball down sooner. Traditional thinking would dictate that if
you wanted to lay the ball down earlier, look closer. That works.
It just can't be the ONLY way you can get the ball down sooner.
Here are some suggestions for learning to get the ball down sooner
on demand.
• Just lay the ball down earlier. Give yourself a chance to
do it on demand before you resort to tricks to make you do so.
• Look at a target between the dots and arrows. When you can
do that and get the ball down sooner, move the target to the dots.
Keep moving it closer until you can look as close to the foul line
as possible without losing your timing or leverage. Some people
can even look at the foul line and get the job done.
• Let go of the ball behind the foul line. (Not really. Just
think it).
• Get out of the ball that (snap your fingers) much sooner.
• Set the foul light off with the ball.
• Use bowling towels that are 16x26 instead of the little ones
that barely cover your hand. Put it just past the foul line with
the 16" side as the extension and hit it with your delivery.
• Put that bowling towel out there and get the ball over it.
Once that's accomplished, use the 26" length as a challenge. Maybe
you'll graduate to beach towels!
It could be you need to get the ball out onto the lane a little
farther. Traditional thinking would dictate that you look farther
down the lane - from a little past the arrows to all the way to
the pins. It's quite valid and works very well for most people.
It just can't be the ONLY way you can project the ball out onto
the lane farther than your normal 12". This is loft. One important
note here would be to assure that when you are lofting, you are
not letting go of the ball on the upswing. The release point is
still on the outswing.
• Put the ball farther out onto the lane
• Look past the arrows, then past the splice, then halfway,
then at 40 feet and even further until you can change the amount
of loft on demand without affecting your timing or release. Once
you have accomplished this, practice bringing your eyes back toward
you in increments until you can look close to the foul line and
still loft on demand. By changing north-south laydown points this
way, looking farther down the lane is not the only way you can produce
loft.
ANGLE
Changing angle means doing something which changes the path you
take to the pocket. When you decide to move your feet a board left,
for instance, your shoulder goes with you. A one board move with
your feet will change your laydown point by one board in the same
direction. That will change your angle. Moves with your eyes have
the same result. Moving your eyes left or right will change your
angle through the heads therefore changing your target path. Moving
your feet/eyes up or back will also change your angle.
Staying down over a shot will extend your break point to help carry
that 4 pin. Coming up slightly will cause the ball to make its move
toward the pocket a bit sooner and could eliminate the half 10 leave.
On occasion, parallel moves are in order. A parallel move is a move
with your feet and eyes in the same direction. Parallel moves are
not necessarily equal. For instance, you could make a 5/3 move left.
This would mean you moved two left with your feet and one left with
your eyes.
It's sometimes desirable to make moves that are not parallel. A
two board move left with your feet and one board right with your
eyes will definitely change your angle and might open up the lane
a little more for you, but is not a parallel move. Experiment with
both parallel and non-parallel moves to determine which will work
best for you on different conditions.
Don't hesitate to make big moves. Sometimes changing your angle
means more than a one or two board move. For instance, seventeen
boards left with your feet and ten boards left with your eyes would
surely change your angle, wouldn't it? You don't always need to
make a large move like that but if a better angle to the pocket
is five boards left of where you're standing and you move one board
each frame, the game is over by the time you've figured it out.
Big moves can quickly set your parameters (how far left is too far
and how far right can you go) and you'll know your shot is somewhere
in between. In today's game, 5/3 is almost a minimum move. It's
easier to fine tune with parameters than to fish around all 39 boards!
To quote Rolf Gauger, "Overadjust and waste a frame; underadjust
and waste the game."
SPEED
Changing speeds is a matter of mind. No Mildred instructions (see
Your Evil Non-Bowling Twin) will get the job done. Thinking that
you want to make your feet go faster or slow your arm down will
only destroy your timing. Deciding you're going to go faster is
all it takes to go faster. If you want to go slower, then all of
you just strolls to the line. You're giving a simple command to
the greatest computer in the world and it will execute your command.
There is no need for you to become involved in the PROCESS of speed
control - just give the order to the computer, hit enter, and go!
Trying to speed your feet up and ignoring the fact that your arm
must synchronize with your footwork, for instance, will cause the
ball to arrive at the delivery point later than it should (late
timing). Equally disastrous results will occur if you feel that
going faster means throwing harder and you try to 'throw harder'
by increasing your arm speed. If you don't assure that your feet
keep up with that arm speed, early timing will result. Don't think
about how to get the done, just go!
Some bowlers hold the ball a little higher in the stance when they
want to add speed and a little lower when they need a little less.
Practice with these different stance positions to determine if you
can maintain your timing when using them and whether or not they
are effective for your game.
Others add steps to the approach. Going from four to five steps
is not difficult and can be effective in adding speed. It increases
your approach momentum and therefore your ball speed. When adding
this step, you may find you need change nothing else. The first
step just becomes a prompt to help you go. It could be more effective
for you that with the added step, the ball moves a little earlier
in your approach. Experiment with five steps to discern if it can
effectively add speed to your game. Some five steppers go to four
steps to reduce speed when necessary. That's another interesting
practice experiment to add versatility. It's important that you
be able to vary your speed while keeping your accuracy since the
lane won't always require your 'normal' speed.
You're probably always trying to learn different shots and different
rotations to help your game but you must grow your ability to change
speeds as well. That doesn't mean you roll the ball 15 mph most
of the time and 22 mph at spares. That means that you can execute
the shot in your mind and the one the lane calls for with a three
to five mph difference and still be accurate.
Most of us can vary speed a half-mile or so an hour but trying for
more variation destroys timing and accuracy. Learning to vary your
speed can reduce your need to move around a lot and even reduce
the number of balls you have to carry in your bag, or like Earl
Anthony, a true master of speed control, get you where you want
to be with less effort. Speed control is the most difficult of adjustments
as it most easily affects timing and accuracy. Learning to properly
control your speed is a challenging task which is a powerful weapon.
EQUIPMENT
Knowing which of your balls will do what on a given lane condition
is important to your success. If you have not experimented with
all your equipment, know how each ball will respond to different
types of conditions, and feel comfortable in each of them, you are
not using all your available resources. If you have a ball you don't
throw because 'it doesn't feel the same', leave it in the closet.
If you don't or won't throw it, why drag it into the center? Get
it fixed right away!
Your ball speaks the same language you do. As long as your receiver
and the ball's transmitter are on the same frequency, you can read
lanes. "If you stand there and throw me here in this manner, I will
do this." Read and react.
There are two important elements here: what to change and when to
do it. If you don't know your ball's capability, you'll find yourself
continually making poor decisions about where to play with what.
Charting your ball's performance on different lane conditions will
solve the mystery reaction syndrome. That's when you don't try a
certain ball on a lane condition because you didn't know it would
work or using a ball on a lane condition and thinking "I didn't
know that ball would do that!" Why didn't you? Equipment is a resource.
Don't carry a ball into the center because you need something to
fill up the other space in your double bag.
Misreading your ball's message will cause a ripple effect in your
errors - that feeling of being totally lost on the lanes. Misreading
causes you to make bad decisions and your pinfall will reflect that.
Getting an accurate read comes from knowing your equipment, paying
attention, and knowing your delivery style. You should be throwing
a ball which allows you the greatest opportunity to screw up and
still make the spare or hit the pocket.
Not even the pros can throw the ball the same way all the time regardless
of how much you think they look like a machine. They can FEEL the
slightest difference in timing or delivery but you can't see it.
The backswing was 2" higher or they didn't quite 'catch' as much
of that shot at the bottom of the swing as the shot before. We all
need enough room to be slightly different in our delivery and still
be able to hit the pocket. If you don't have that room, pray no
one else does either.
You should be familiar enough with lane conditions for your league
bowling that you always have just the ball you need. If your league
conditions are different depending on what end of the house you're
on, for instance, know what you'll need for that condition. A more
successful strategy I have found for league bowling is to have a
'tournament attitude' for your league play. Check out the chapter
on lane play for lots more information on growing a tournament attitude.
Sometimes you might get a new ball only to find it doesn't do squat
in your league house. Don't throw it away or sell it. What you don't
know yet is what it will do on a different surface and condition.
You might find that it's just the thing for that tournament shot.
All tournament bowlers have a closet arsenal.
Have an open mind about where the shot is and what you should use
to conquer it. You'll need a repertoire of equipment which will
cover a wide gamut of conditions and fine tune your choices to whatever
the lanes give you. It's critical that you play the lanes, don't
let them play you. Don't fight what's out there; use it to your
advantage. Let's say the right corner is really hooking. Your normal
10 pin shot hooks by each time. Where's the 6 pin when you need
it? Why not use this hook? Try to throw the ball in the ditch in
front of the 10 pin. If you've correctly read that the corner is
hooking, the ball should hook INTO the 10 pin instead of past it.
If your normal left side spare method is to go cross-lane and your
shot hooks by, move much farther left. Use the lane to hook your
ball into the spare. Don't fight it, use it! This same strategy
about using hook and not fighting it applies to your pocket shot.
ROTATION
Changing your hand position and/or follow through will change the
rotation of your ball. Being able to do so is important to your
improvement as a player, not just a bowler. Changing your hand position
from a three-quarter roller to pure forward roll, for instance,
will make the ball go longer and still finish. On very oily or very
dry lanes this can be helpful when combined with the proper angle
to the pocket.
Learning to finish the ball with your ring finger might improve
your carry on a condition with stubborn corner pins. Spreading your
index finger could help the ball move earlier just as keeping it
next to your middle finger can reduce the hook. Keeping your little
finger close to your ring finger will give you a different feel
and tucking it to the first knuckle can add hook potential. Spreading
your little finger can reduce hook potential and might make you
want to come around the ball more.
Putting your thumb all the way in the ball (as you normally do)
and then pulling it out about 1/8" will cause your thumb to exit
the ball sooner than normal, which will cause an earlier roll. Keeping
your thumb all the way in and pulling your fingers out about 1/8"
will delay the roll. Putting your thumb in the ball first and then
your fingers and not changing anything else will cause your ball
to go straighter (as well as make it feel like it was drilled for
someone else). Try it for corner pins.
Cup your wrist a few degrees more in your stance and throughout
the delivery. Your ball will hook a bit more. Cocking your wrist
to the left hand toward your body will add even more hook potential.
Cupping AND cocking your wrist will usually get the maximum hook
potential from your release. This requires a great deal of wrist
and forearm strength. This type of style is a high risk to your
bowling longevity as it puts considerable strain on the bowling
wrist and arm.
Placing your hand on the side of the ball in the stance and keeping
it there will cause your shot to go longer before it makes its move.
Your track can be raised slightly by rolling the ball up onto the
end of your index finger in your stance. A caution here - don't
change the angle of your forearm in order to do this. You also do
not want to break your wrist to help it happen. You just want to
feel a little more of the weight of the ball on the tip of your
index finger as opposed to bending the knuckle to keep your finger
in contact with the ball.
Changing your hand position is not the only way to change rotation.
If you extend your follow through, you can delay your break point.
This follow through will also cause more of those Moses strikes.
You know the kind, the ones where it looks like your ball just parted
the Red Sea? By following through with your elbow bent sharply (not
quickly) you can get the ball into an earlier roll. By following
through out toward the target, up toward the ceiling, and then to
the right, you can produce more side roll. Changing your ring finger
insert from a lipped insert to an oval will also produce more side
roll with no change in your release necessary.
Make sure you know what each of your various hand positions does
to your roll before you try this: With every hand position you know,
press against the ball with the tip of your index finger throughout
the swing and release. (Not so hard that your whole knuckle stands
two inches above the ball, just enough to turn your fingertip white).
Doing this firms your wrist. You'll be amazed at the subtle yet
dynamic difference this will make in your ball reaction. There are
specific training plans at the end of the Hand Jive chapter for
many different hand positions.
Understanding that all adjustments fall into one of these five categories
can help simplify the game. The simpler you keep your game, the
less there will be to go wrong. |
