Hey, long time no talk with a bunch of you. I haven't been here in a while, but figured I would come back to see how everyone is doing. Well, to my surprise I found this new message board software and some new forums. Great work by the admins/developers!

Anyway, I saw this forum and thought I would post some of my progression as a bowler. I found a video that I took last year after my first trip to see Michelle Mullen. Please feel free to critique away. I've addressed two major things since this video: staying behind the ball, and bending my knee more by pushing out my trail leg harder. I'll get a more recent video posted in the near-future.

I'm glad to see everyone again! Thanks for looking.

Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIcUdxHkfKk

WOW, it was like looking in the mirror. Didn't know anyone else took that little shuffle step to start. Push off is really on the second step. Good parallel height on the back swing. Straight elbow complete to follow through. Even the arm swing after release. Good balance and square at the foul line.
The only noticeable difference was the second step. Mine is shorter.

I am going to read the reviews with interest.

Ha!! It must be a Chicago thing.

Hey Dennis. The little shuffle step was my way to bridge from a 5 step delivery to a four step one. If the line I'm seeing is good with a 4-step, it doesn't really show up. I add that little first step these days when I need to increase ball speed. The small first step helps me get my ball into a swing earlier and speeds my feet up. I typically need it on shorter patterns because I haven't really learned how to get my hand around the ball to get it to read further down the lane.

I have my men's league tonight and I'll try and have my teammates get some videos of me bowling and post them here to try and stir up some comments. I'm really surprised at the complete lack of interest shown in the Video section of this website. We'll see...

I bowl tonight also. Another bowler tried to have a friend take some videos while the league was in session. Other bowlers objected that it was distracting.

Maybe it was because the cameraman was lying on the approach two alleys over, and telling people to move.

My short step is to slow down my 5 step approach.

So rcasey, how'd you bowl tonight?
I had a real ugly 614. I was off in timing all night. I say ugly because I had a 224 with 2 opens, and a 214 with 3 opens. The first game, 170 something was different because I strung NO strikes. 3 spaced out in the whole game.
I just didn't feel comfortable, picked up some speed, ball wouldn't finish until I switched to a more aggressive ball in game 2.
Lots of oil tonight.
This makes bowling a challenge.
Spare game needs work, picked off the 6 from the 10 three times, and missed easy left side pins, missing again to the left.

Looks like your timing is a shade late. With that stroker approach and release, you might need to get the ball to the foul line a little quicker. Maybe lowering the ball a little bit might help or even pushing the ball away a fraction of a second sooner. Otherwise, it looks good from here.

I thought the same thing about the timing initially, but when I would pause the video, it looked like things were about where they should be. It's hard to say. Full speed it looks like you're a little late, and when I paused it, it looked like you might be OK.

It's close, and without the ability to break it down frame by frame, it's awfully difficult to say, which is why I mention "shade". It's close, much closer than most people. I just believe, IMO, that a stroker's release needs to be as close to the heel and ankle as possible for optimum power. Usually if a stroker's late, they're turning the ball over or helping it down the lane which kills what nominal power they have.

Well Dennis, I never got comfortable during league either. I shot 213-223-157 for a 593. I was dropping the ball almost all night for some reason unknown to me, and it was difficult to keep the ball on line. I picked up my camera on my way out, but the battery was dead, so getting more videos up will have to wait for a few more days. I'm going to need to go out and get some practice & some videos so I can figure out what the heck I'm doing wrong.

On another note entirely, I just had a trick-or-treater come up to my door wearing a Darth Vader costume & mask tell me he was my father.

Thanks for the critiques Brian & Lefty. I encoded the videos in xvid format, and they are both around 600k. I can get them to you if you want to go frame-by-frame, but I'm just not sure how to distribute them. I am going to try and get more up-to-date videos of me bowling from more angles later this week. Hopefully that will help as well. Thanks again.

I'm no Bowling Coach, but listening to both of you, I replayed the video again and watched carefully.

The push off starts on 2 step and he is still reaching forward on the 3 step. The ball should be down and behind him by then. He only has step 4 + 5 to complete backswing and release. His slide has started and the ball is still coming down. That should be more of a simultaneous movement.

The extended push off takes too much of the approach, 3-steps. He reaches the foul line before the ball. He is late on delivery.

I said he has an approach similar to mine. My ball is behind my knee on step 3. If I do what he does, I pull the backswing up to force a delivery on time.

Not trying to make him like me. Just compared my arm swing position to his, step by step.

Good eye, Dennis. That could be because of the transition from a 5 to 4 step approach. Not to say he had a 5 step armswing, but I know I have tried to "mould" my armswing from a 5 to the traditional 4 step armswing, but to no avail.

The funny thing is, when I bowl right-handed, I have a 5 step approach and armswing. When I bowl left-handed, I have a 4 step armswing and approach. I'm weird.

You know, all the late timing talk got me to go back to that video and look at it closely. I have the ability to go frame-by-frame, and in my second step of the 4-step delivery, my bowling arm is straight down as my left foot flattens on the floor, right in time and where it should be. However, what I am seeing is that my arm is at the top of my backswing for much too long. You know, I must be hanging onto it up there, not letting my arm swing freely back. Look at it again after reading this and tell me if the late timing couldn't be caused by that.

The more I look at it, it almost seems like your third step is quick, at least it *looks* quicker on the video (I'm not counting the little shuffle step on purpose). Like 1...2...3..4. If the transition from your 3rd to 4th step is too quick, then it will seem like your ball is lagging behind at your swing's apex and not coming down at the right time..

Try a frame count from the 2nd to 3rd, and 3rd to 4th step and see if I'm not talking out my behind over here.

The ball should actually start to decend with the start of your last step. I don't think you're doing that. It looks like the ball is still going up as you start your last step. You also hang on to the ball at the end of your pushaway which is where I think your late timing comes from.

I will just echo what has already been said. Today was the first time I saw the video and before I saw the previous replies, I thought to myself, " his timing is late". I also stopped the video on each step and saw that the ball ended up where it should be eventually but at the last step you seem to be waiting for the ball a bit. Which confirms the fact that the timing is late. You don't seem to flow to the line. That is probably a result of changing your steps. I thought it might be a bad video. Maybe a slow frame rate. If you have to wait on the ball, that leaves open the possibility of muscling the ball on the way down.
On the plus side your balance seems to be pretty good. You should look into getting shots from different angles also. Try to get a shot from behind and also from an angle if possible. Get a close up shot of your release.

Actaully, looks to me that you are over pushing the ball, locking out your elbow prior to the ball going into your backswing. That in itself will cause an armswing to be late. A pushaway should look like a backwatds C, yours looks like a U. Shorten the length of your pushaway so that as soon as your elbow leaves your side, it unhinges into the backswing, relaxing your forearm as you do so. Allow the weight of the ball to take your arm into the backswing. One way to get the ball into a good pushaway is to start moving your NON-BOWLING arm a split second before you start your approach. I think if you can do this, you will be less mechanical and more flowing, smoother in your approach.

Again, as smooth stroker stated, your balance at the foul line is pretty good.

that little shuffle step is known as a power step, and if properly utilized, can generate more rpms. The key to using it is not to have an over-extended pushaway.... Holman has a powerstep in his approach in his next to last step which enables him to drive through the ball, effortlessly. Two well known instructors, John Jowdy and Tom Kouros have written about this technique at great length... It does lead to a quick transition between the next to last step and the last step..and that transition can be a source of power.