This a one shot crop I distilled from the lesson video that Mike Jasnau made for me in Albuquerque. It is rough because I do not bowl very well, and I am new to the editing software. When I tried to play it it didn't finish. Maybe I did not wait long enough to try it? Any youtube mavens out there?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjk_Sdrkmp0

I guess you are looking to see if I come up with the same stuff Jasnau came up with?

Well here goes my best attempt with what little there was:

1. Your timing looked OK

2. You finish 3 ft behind the foul line, move forward at least 2feet

3. Your posture is too upright, you are one of the few people who don't bend enough forward. You want to finish so your chin is just behind your knee and your shoulders are between your waist and your knee if you were to look down after you let the ball go.

4. It looks as though you are leaning to the right too far since I could see the top of your left shoulder when you let the ball go. Keep your head over the ball at the release.

5. I am guessing that you fall off to the right after you let the ball go this is because of number 4 above.

That is the best I can do with what you gave me.

Let me know how what I told you compares to what Mr. Jasnau told you, and I will help you develop a practice plan to get where you want to go.

That was not my initial intent, but I welcome any and all constructive critisism.

I know my game has a myriad of physical flaws. I have the resources (time and money) to work on correcting them. When a student signs up for the lesson Mike, has him/her fill out a form. One of the questions is "What do you feel you need to work on?" I put that I thought I was early with my timing, and I need to find a way to stop topping the ball.

He agreed with you that overall the timing looks OK - but there is a glitch that I get early in the middle. I straighten it out by the release, but he gave me info on how to correct the glitch.

#2, I do not know how this crept into my game. Years ago I was right on top of the line, even fouled on rare occasion. Perhaps as I have aged and had to shorten my steps?...

The upright posture problem is one Mike also focused on. In fact, the way he illustrated it I am actually leaning BACK. When I asked him if pulling the ball through made me stand up like that he said he thought so.
I think I know where that comes from. I had a bad left hip and had to put stuff in to accommodate the pain. Since, I have had the hip replaced. The pain is gone but the bad habit remains. The dropped shoulder has been in there for some time as well, but I do not fall off - at least, not on EVERY shot [sheepish grin]

I spent some time today practicing. Lucky me, there had been a YBT tourney before I got there and their leftovers were out there for me. The lane man told me it was the USBC shot, but I only tossed a couple before I assured him that it was NOT the shot I threw against in Albuquerque.

I spent some of the rest of the day producing another vid...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-INgzu8KmU

First is a rear view that repeats...then the same side view, but it runs 4 or five times. Overall, it is only 2 shots. Some of the reason I am doing this is to learn the video editing software. I need to get a digital video camera...

Thank you very much for your input!

You do hit up on the ball lifting your arm straight up, and pull your body with it. I don't know if your hip will let you, but you should bend at the knee and hip and reach out rather than up.

Surprised how straight your armswing was. that is not a problem.

Yeah, Jasnau made comment on that as well. He said he would absolutely not mess with my set up, the straight swing, and my first and second steps. After that the going gets a little muddy...

I wouldn't mind posting the lesson in segments, but he does use a well know pro to illustrate my flaws and that probably would not be kosher.

Ok....maybe I am leaning how to use the video software. It will probably blow up my 'pute with all the space the files take. Anyways...I got my discs from the USBC tournament. I posted 4 minutes of the team event, but not for any perusal of my form, ugly as it is. About 1 minute in, on the lane to the left of the focus pair, Mark Curran converts the 7-10 split. It could be the only thing that happened positive to our group...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyWIT7Qm_HY

You guys sure do like to try to hook the ball. You were working way too hard at that shot. You can see the line you should have played, the guys on the lanes that made the 7-10 were playing the shot close to right.

Everyone on your pair was trying to hook the ball way too much, the people to the left just rolled the ball to the range finder on the 10 board at 43 ft, some didn't carry, but most hit the pocket and that is half the battle, where nobody on your pair in the 4 + minutes even hit the pocket.

The problem with trying to hook the ball is you tend to hit up on the ball and then it jump hooks at the end of the pattern, where if you are "nice" to the ball and just roll the ball to that range finder nice and smooth, it will turn and set in the pocket.

If you can learn to roll the ball to your break point even on a house pattern you and your whole team will improve.

Being a relative newbies, I'm that last person who has any room to critisize, but I always find myself laughing inside at some of the bad form I see on the lanes. I see lots of wrist movement and thumbless / arm cuppping bowlers at my house.

Hopefully it wasnt you (of so sorry), but one of those bowlers looked like a skeet machine - never seen anything like that. I noticed lots wrist supports as well ...

You could be right, but the only one in 11 teams we went with that posted a reasonable number was bending a Storm particle Jolt from over the 5th arrow out to 10 and back. I think in the short segment I posted he carried 2 Brooklyns, but he managed to find a way to the pocket that carried. If you got a ball to the 9 at the range finder it did not hit the pocket. Mine wouldn't even hit the headpin. I tried deeper in practice, and farther outside too. There is no doubt that we made a mess of it. But look up Mike Taylor's scores for team. Granted he struggled for D/S, so that shot did not hold up. I bowl with a group that includes last year's singles champ. Even he struggled...When I took the lesson from Mike Jasnau he told me I should have been playing farther out,...mebee the 7 or 8 board, but when I tried that it was washout city.

To be honest, I think I gave myself bad advice...I watched a team squad in which every ball in use was shined. The most surface I took in with me wasn't enough. The ball I SHOULD have used didn't even make the trip with me. I will not make either of those mistakes again. Going into an unknown environment means I need as many options as I can get. I limited myself unnecessarily. It may have made no difference, but I sure wish I had had the option.

Thank you for the advice...keep those comments coming!

I was not referring to the line I was talking about the amount of effort or UMPH! put into each and every shot, you guys were working harder than John Henry driving railroad ties. Just because a person hooks the ball doesn't mean he is trying to hook the ball, look at Tommy Jones, he hooks the ball a ton, but doesn't rear up and chuck it like he is trying to lob rocks at the Huns.

What ball did you leave behind, and what surface didn't you have with you? This might help someone else who is going make the right ball choice for them.

6-ball-man, excuse me for asking, but where is Churchville?

And, I too, would like to know what ball you left behind. What surface would have worked better.

I should have taken my Silver Streak particle ball (dull - no more than 600). I know from history that it thrives on that kind of volume of oil. It has found its way out of my bag because I never need it for the bowling I do here at home. That is going to change. I am going to go with a 5 ball arsenal (NO - I am not going to change my handle) that includes the 2 Lanemaster balls I bought in ABQ, the 2 Elites and the SSp. I may never get to use that SSp in any league or tournament up here, but it is going with me from now on. The Lanemaster XSPower may have actually been enough ball with more surface. I didn't think much about them grabbing the display model when none in back matched what we were talking about doing. After the team event I had them whack the cover for me. I used it briefly at the start of doubles and it wasn't a bad look...



Upstate NY, between Rochester and Buffalo, but closer to Rochester. The Buffalo airport is less than an hour away via interstate. A sleepy little bedroom community that my folks moved us to in 1962. There were less than 1000 people here then, but perhaps 4-5000 now. Still only one stoplight and I remember the phone number we had BEFORE dial service came through. We have had the same phone number since. I live in that same house now.

I like having access to several good sized cities and still living amongst the cows.