Hi, Im 17 years old and new to this and this is my first post. I'm having problems with my game. I'm confused about my approach, release,speed, and armswing. I first started bowling seriously about a 2years ago and i was a thumbless bowler, and my average was about 185. I was told that i wouldn't get much better unless I put my thumb in the ball. About 4 months ago i went to my thumb in the ball. Now i have a world of problems with my game. I have the armswing and timing of a cranker but not the release, speed, or maybe my approach is wrong.It seems like when i try to come around the ball my thumb is in the way. I can make the ball hook but i have to throw it very slow. I need someone who is a cranker to help me with my game.

Maybe instead of trying to learn how to crank, you should learn how to bowl. Then after you learn the basics, you could learn how to add revs and if you still want to crank then be my guest. Your young, your body could probably handle it.

First of all, you still need to learn how to have a proper release. You still need to learn timing. With my release, I can cover just as many boards as any cranker I've seen and I'm not a cranker. It's all in the release. The cranker does have an advantage when the lanes dry out because of their superior speed.

Now the release. A good release has the thumb come out of the ball first. This happens by keeping your arm in close to your body. You bring your hand in tight to your ankle. Your hand should find a flat spot at the bottom of your armswing. With your arm hanging straight down, this is the spot that your hand should be flat, but close to your ankle. This allows the thumb to clear the ball first and the weight of the ball is resting on your fingers for a little while. Your fingers provide all of the leverage needed to give the ball enough revs to plow through the pins.

For extra revs you need to turn your hand at the top of your armswing so that its facing the lanes to your right. You need to keep your hand facing this position all the way through your armswing. Or you could turn your hand into this position near the bottom of your swing. This would put your index finger directly behind the ball if your index finger is spread. When you get to the bottom of your armswing and the ball is just behind your ankle, then you begin to turn your wrist. Your thumb will clear the ball first and your fingers will provide the leverage. You only turn your wrist. It is only a slight movement.

I use this release with much success. If you add the late timing and the muscle into it you will have a cranker release. This will give you a lot of power at the pins but it will make you competitive on really only one condition. That is a dryish condition. If you want to be competitive on all conditions, then you will need to be a bit more versatile. Learn how to bowl on all conditions. Learning a good cranker release takes a lot of work and is very difficult. Most bowlers on a lower skill level turn their hands too much thinking that is how you make the ball hook. That is not it. In bowling, LESS IS MORE!

thanx for the tips, i will practice them.I have a coach and i learned all the basics. It's just that im so used to seeing my ball's reaction with no thumb.I want to see that now with a thumb in the ball.I have a nice release but when I speed up the process for a cranker approach, with the backswing and muscling the ball it messes up everything. My timing is late but its inconsistent, my thumb stays in the ball too long, and when i do get a good release, the ball has revs but no turn.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">
but when I speed up the process for a cranker approach, with the backswing and muscling the ball it messes up everything.
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">That's because muscling the ball is bad no matter what your style is. Good crankers don't muscle the ball. As Smooth said, LESS IS MORE.

so how do you speed the ball up and still get revs on it.

first work on increasing the revs, then if extra speed is necessary, work on that. Muscling is bad. Don't muscle the ball. If you watch someone like Michael Fagan, he gets a ton of revs without muscling the ball. He has a high backswing and he comes way inside the ball with his hand. He lays the ball down as smooth as silk. It is totally silent when it hits the lanes. Revs are created by keeping your hand way to the inside of the ball. The more you can keep your hand inside, the more revs you will get. You don't have to bring your hand all the way around the ball. A slight turn. The ball should roll off of your fingers.

Don't worry so much about being a cranker. Increasing the revs is a good thing. The idea of the game is to knock down all ten pins. You can increase speed if necessary for dry lanes with a higher pushaway, starting further back on the approach, speeding up your feet a tad. If you speed up your feet, the armswing will follow. I would be very careful about speeding up your ball. It can wreck havoc with your timing. You should only increase revs as much as you can still control the ball. One last thing, even crankers need dry boards for the ball to react. I have seen crankers that throw the ball real hard, but don't cover the whole lane. Cover as much of the lane as you need to reach the pocket. You will be hard pressed to duplicate the revs of your thumbless delivery. Stop trying. Increase your revs as much as you can control it without muscling. You just want the ball to reach the pocket with maximum energy and drive through the pins.

A competent coach/instructor can help you in achieving your goals...

ok, i will practice that but the reason why I'm trying to be a cranker is that when i bowl i have a high backswing, and my ball only goes between 12-13mph.

Then there are other things that are going wrong, and you should talk to you coach about that as well. Muscling the ball won't be the answer.

You can get alot of power behind your ball by being balanced at the foul line, with the power coming from your legs. Muscling the ball with your arm is not a good thing as Smooth suggests.