This may sound a bit silly, but just what is a cranker, a stroker, and a tweener? I see this terminology often and I'm not quite sure what it means, or what catagory I fall under. Thanks ...

/a "Raises Hand"

oh I know this one

A cranker is a bowler who uses late timing, probably uses a cupped wrist release, and gives the ball a really hard twist to achieve a hook. You usually see them playing way over to one side, throwing to the other and letting the ball hook back.

A stroker is a bowler who uses more of a smooth release, without cupping the wrist and doesn't rev the ball so much. You usually see bowlers like this playing more outside and down and in type line.

A tweener is a bowler who uses a relase that is somewhat "tween" the stroker and cranker release. They generally still play a down and in kind of line, but will start more inside and let the ball go out a bit and back in, but not as much as a cranker. A tweener is kind of a stroker who uses the fingers more to rev the ball.

Just a quick addendum on the cranker:

These days, crankers keep a stiff wrist which is slightly cupped. They generate their revolutions by uncupping, or flattening out their wrists just after the thumb has exited the ball. It takes some wicked timing and an uncanny sense of feel to do it, but it seems to be a lot less stress on the wrist than the old-style cranker of grip-it-and-rip-it. Watch PBA member Robert Smith's release. As he follows through, notice that his hand is flat.

The old style can be seen in PBA member Bob Learn Jr. He cups his wrist severly and as his thumb exits the ball, rears up at the line. Bob "hits-up" on the ball which these days is really considered a no-no. There is lots of wrist and forearm strain in this kind of hand position and release, and that is one reason you don't see many, if any, new pros with this style.

Hope that helps shed a little light on this topic.

A stroker is more of a straight line bowler who lets the ball hook into pocket at the backend of the lanes, whereas crankers start their hook from there release i.e. start way over to one side. I'm still not 100% on the tweener yet..

I beg to differ on where a stroker plays the lanes. I like this definition.
Stroker: a bowler who uses a muscle free armswing. Smooth as butter at the release. Ball and foot reach the line at the same time. Good timing.
Tweener: semi muscled armswing. Open shoulders for higher armswing. smooth forward swing and release. slightly later timing.
Cranker: Muscled armswing. High armswing. Some cup the wrist, some bend the elbow and straighten it at the release to garner more revs ( like Robert Smith, Tommy Jones, Monocelli ) Open shoulders and realign shoulders at release.

I'll add that not only do strokers have a muscle free arm swing, but that their arm swings DO NOT deviate from that free swing speed. So their arm swings does not accellerate significantly into the release.

Now a stroker that does accellerate, can start to get into the "power stroker" catagory, or the tweener catagory depending on how much slide they have on the last step.

Crankers plant and crank. So they plant their sliding foot (which is an oxymoron for them) and use that stopped position from which to launch an accellerated swing.

Erin

My brother is a cranker and when ever he insists on helping it's... "Now curl the wrist a little and turn the hand over just as you release the ball." Not everything has to be muscled.

Thank everyone, from what I read it looks as though I fall into the tweener catagory. I cup my wrist, slightly muscled swing , fairly smooth release, and just a tad late. This is something I am working on with a coach to correct, to get better timing, and get a more consistant ball speed. As of now my ball speed flucuates between 16- 19 mph., would like to keep it around 16-17mph. Thanks again for the explanations, clears things up.