It looks about the same to me too - Hand on top of the ball, broken wrist and thumb comming out at the same time as the fingers. as cgeorg said, you've got to get your armswing fixed first. As far as your release, stop trying to hook the ball. If you just let your arm swing all on it's own, as you rlease the ball, just think about your palm being behind the ball and pushing it down the lane. If you get your palm on the back side of the ball instead of on top of it, you'll get your thumb out of the ball before your fingers come out of it and the ball will hook without you having to try and make it hook.

Funny thing is, is that my coach tells me not to get my hand behind the ball. He keeps telling me to keep my hand on the side of the ball at all times.. And that is proving to be harder than it should be. Every time he watches me bowl he tells me to stop trying to get my hand behind the ball, so I have been trying to make an effort to not do that.

Should I be looking for another coach?

I would look for another coach, hand on the side of the ball is hard to unlearn and is not proper technique. Hand on the side of the ball doesn't apply torque to the ball torque is what helps the pins move sideways and carry more strikes. You can only go but so far with a hand on the side of the ball release, where the sky is the limit with the hand behind the ball. NONE of the pros on tour use the hand on the side of the ball and only a few of the women still do. If you are able to bowl with your hand behind the ball until the release point then please do so. If you are throwing a back up ball or tracking over the thumb while doing this try c0cking your wrist so the ball will have some side rotation off your hand this should move the Track outside the thumb.

It seems to me that your coach wants you to stay with a beginner release. If your hand is naturally behind the ball during your swing I don't think he should be telling you to stop that, as that is the correct hand position. I believe CoachJim has mentioned a few times on this site before that if your hand is on the side of the ball your ball can't impart torque or something along those lines. That hand position nearly kills the backend of the ball, and possibly robs you of carrying something you otherwise could have. At least I think that's right, someone correct me if I'm wrong here. You should talk to your coach about having a stronger release or consider getting a different one.



I want to touch on a slightly different subject here. Does this mean that you shouldn't turn your hand to try and get revs and that the ball rolling off your hand and the position of your fingers will apply the revs/rotation? I was bowling after league on saturday and I was playing around with this. What I noticed was if I keep my hand in the position I normally do but just roll the ball without trying to turn my hand, I got just as many if not more revs/rotation. This was with my fingers on the inside of the center of the ball(at least it felt like it), though, and I was wondering if I had my fingers at center or outside of center, would the result be more forward roll and possibly less revs assuming I didn't turn my hand at release and just let it roll?

Thanks, for the insight on the subject... I'll go out tonight since it's buck a game night and see what I can come up with.. If I need to try and cup my wrist I might have to take my wrist support off. I'm not sure if I can cup my wrist with that on.

I'll take more video tonight.. Should I start a different thread in the video section for this.. This one looks more like it's heading for a training session for me instead of helping the OP. I don't want to highjack his thread although it already appears to have taken that route..

I apologize to the original poster.

Wow. Amateur, you don't turn your hand like you are opening a door knob. That is the common misconception of most people. Hold your hand in front of you. Now turn it as if to open a door knob. Notice what your hand does. Now, with hand in bowling position, place your thumb in the palm of your hand and rotate your hand counter clockwise. See, you hand doesn't turn, your fingers have. Your thumb never turns down. When you release the ball, the thumb comes out and your fingers rotate around the ball.



Now you've got it. Let the ball roll off your hand and the natural rotation of your fingers around the ball will give you the rotation you want. You don't lose revs. in fact, learning this release may increase revs.

The dirty little secret is that your hand will turn anyway. Don't try and force your hand to stay diretly behind the ball, but if you relax and don't "try" to turn it, things will happen all on their own.


Brian - One of the problems is that you aren't keeping your hand behind the ball either. It's on top of it like you're holding on to a handle. At the point of release your hand should be more in a position to push the ball towards the arrows, not slide something that has a handle. See if you can get the feel for that difference.

Thanks for clearing that up Dennis and Lefty. I will have my chance to try it out in league tonight .

Hi new to the community. Had my first league game last night and also used a new ball for the first time. I think I have the same issue as the OP is for the most part except the Track sometimes runs over the middle finger hole and thumb. After reading this tread I am thinking my thumb and fingers are being released at the same time which may be my issue.
I attatched a picture of my ball layout. My ball is a Brunswick Fury. Can someone describe what layout I have and could this cause my problem, i'm pretty new to this.

The layout doesn't look like it would cause any flare issues - the problem is probably in your release. You need to learn to stay behind the ball and let it roll off your hand. Check out the "Slo-mo release video" thread by luksa in the video section for some Pro Release that show staying behind the ball. Note that if you have to squeeze to keep the ball on your hand, you will not be able to consistenly perform a good release. CoachJim, tell him how he can check his grip?