Mary Ellen
I have found a pair of instructors in my neighborhood at the classic bowl in Morton Grove.
The question I have is not if there good or not,
but if you know either of them. I saw them friday
and I think they can help me. The lady is Patty
Ann Tarpley and husband Cliff professional coach
and ball driller. He is also hall of famer. I am
getting lessons from them this wednsday or friday. I am sure there good but if you know of
them I would appreciate a line or two. thanks
bowling joel

Unfortunately, Joel I've never heard of either coach, but knowing that they're hall of famers has some weight to their credibility. I wouldn't hurt to give these people a try and experience for yourself of if they're style of coaching will benefit your game. Good luck there Joel with your new coaches. Pay attention and work on what they suggest that you work on and you'll be fine. Please by all means let me know of how these coaches work for you.

Mary Ellen
I had my lesson yesterday and boy what I learnd.
First they set up lanes to not keep score. Then the one taking a lesson shoots for 1 hour straight
the coaches walk around and check to see what the
students are doing. I was not posting my shots and
they said very important. Boy were they right. I
started posting and strung 5 in a row strikes and
had 1 rail and picked up my spares. Cliff said to
me your feet can't go left and right when you do
approach. Make off your are pushing wheelbarrel.
That worked strung another four. Also worked for
spares. Then moved me around lane to shoot from
different angle.A couple more of these and I may
be a star before season starts in sep. Will keep
you posted. bowling joel

Joel thanks for keeping me informed with your progress with your new coaches. I hope that you learned a lot and took notes. I would work on whatever they had you to work on the lanes so that it becomes your muscle memery. posting your shot is indeed very important and it really results in good timing to the lane. I don't know how many steps that you take in your approach, but work on your timing so that you can consistantly post your shots also gives you great leverage to your shots as well. You're stepping into the right direction of improving your game just work on what you learned and keep up with the lessons there Joel.

Mary Ellen
As far back as i can remember I was a 5 step bowler. Then during my bowling life I changed to
4 steps and about 10 years ago went back to 5. That is where I am now a five step bowler. Do you think I should experiment with 4 again with this
new knowledge or just keep 5 steps. thanks very
much for your help. bowling joel

Joel,

There is a good reason why I advocate 4 steps. When you teach a raw beginner, you teach him 4 steps since it is the easiest appraoch to learn. Now, since this is a game of repeating shots, would it not be easier to repeat shots with 4 steps instead of 5,6,7,8 or more steps?

And good luck with your lessons.

I think the 4 step approach is the easiest to learn, because there's movement in every step. I had once had timing problems with my 4 step and went to a 5 step and did ok. But then I really hit a prolonged slump and decided to go back to a 4 step and everything fell into place and decided to never toy with my approach ever again. If I were you I would experiment in practice with the 4 and 5 step approach and see which one do you feel the most comfortable with. In other words to see which approach would your timing be the most consistant with. With the 5 step approach your pushaway has to begin on the second step. Whereas the 4 step approach your pushaway has to start on the first step. Please let me know what works out for you the best. Best regards, Mary Allen.

Mary Allen,

There has to be a reason why John Jowdy teaches the 4 step approach. Its simple, and its easy to repeat. I like to keep this game as simple as I can. It makes it a lot easier to repeat shots. Jowdy took Parker from a 5 step to a 4 step approach early in his career. The result was a HOF career. He did the same for Mike Alby. Lest someone misunderstand me, I'm not saying you can't repeat shots using other than a 4 step approach, its just that too many things can go wrong if you use a complicated approach.

What do I mean by a complicated approach? For instance, if you wrap your arm behind your back, and then unwrap it to throw the ball, yes you can repeat shots, but its going to be a lot harder to do so than someone who has a simplier armswing. If you have a lot of head movement while you release the ball, again, its going to be problematic when and if you encounter a demanding lane condition. Again, you can repeat shots, but its going to be a lot harder. And also easier for things to get out of time...

Ok, I'm getting off my soapbox now

ExBron Bowler I agree with you to a certain extent, but you have to keep in mind that every bowler is different and has different body rhythums. So what a 4 step approach may work for me may not work for someone else. Earl Anthony had a 5 step approach and he's a legend. Heck I've seen some pros do a 6 or even 7 step delivery, but that's only a few. Everybody has different body types and structures so that's something that a coach has to keep in mind when teaching beginner bowlers. I have 8 students that I teach and only 3 of my students are 5 steppers and the remaining 5 are 4 steppers. What I work with is how a bowler approaches the line in relation to where the ball is to the body and I go from there. That's what experimentation in practice is for- you try different things when working on one thing. I totally agree with the 4 step approach is the easiest approach to learn, because also it's easier to detect timing problems such as the ball getting ahead of one's body and the bowler ends up pulling the ball across one's body. With the 4 step approach you can find where the error in timing lies.

There are set protocols for what is easiest to perform in order to advance in this game.

If you have a game that deviates too far from the "norm", you will have to work harder to repeat motions. That's just a simple fact. I've seen people that have turned 360 degrees upon releasing the ball. I've seen people that turn 180 degrees and curtsey at the line. I've seen people that have used their whole body including both arms to throw the ball down the lane. The more you deviate from what is considered (by the experts) as being normal, the harder it will be to repeat that motion each time.

So trying to keep your approach and delivery as simple as possible has its advantages. Too many unnecessary motions and there's too much margin for error. Such as drifting 10+ boards. Fighting over whether a 4 or 5 step approach is best is not really getting you anywhere. The bowler has to be able to repeat the motion. If 5 steps is easier to repeat then that's fine. In any approach, you have to keep your steps in cadence. So if you find that 4 steps leads you to taking too big a steps and you are out of time, a 5 step might take care of that. On the other hand, a 5 step approach may lead you to rushing the line, too many steps to fit into to short a space. A good coach will find out what cadence (4 or 5 step) is best for their student.

If changing from a 4 step to a 5 step is causing more problems then its solving, then go back to 4 steps and work on other aspects of your game.

Erin