I'm throwing a really old Ebonite Magnum Reactive (don't think they make it anymore) for a strike ball and a new plastic Ebonite Maxim for the spares on the left side; they are both 14lb.

Welcome to the site Ellen, I like your attitude toward coaching, I wish you luck.

If you are already able to throw a hook in practice, that is half the battle, some women have anatomy problems, their arms bend at odd angles that prevent them from hooking the ball at all. By you saying you can hook it means that you should have a relatively easy time making the transition.

Some women when they stand with their arms straight at their side bend at an angle to their body, this forces the arm and hand to come in from an outside to inside angle instead of the opposite. One other piece to the weird anatomy puzzle they usually have double jointed elbows to go along with the odd elbow angle. It takes a long time to learn to hook the ball for these women and a lot of patients, because there are two more moving parts that need to be accounted for in the swing.

Practice hooking the ball, but wait until you feel comfortable with throwing a hook before using the hook in league.

One of the best bowlers in my league throws end-over-end. If that shot isn't working, he goes to a backup ball as his 'B' game.

So, the backup shot can still be useful for you, even if you learn to hook the ball in the normal fashion. The key is to throw the shot from the left edge of the lane, so the backup action 'hooks' the ball into the 1-2 pocket, just like a down-and-in shot from a left-hander. Generally, the left side of the lane has less traffic, which means more consistency and fewer adjustments (once your ball is drilled properly and your mechanics are down).

Obviously, there are advantages to having a big ol' hook, too.

Well my question sort of falls under this area except that due to a child hood injury and the way my arm bends I actually throw a decent hook with a back up ball, usually standing over the 2nd arrow on the left letting the ball skid out 3-5 boards to the left before it hooks back in toward the pocket. I have a good amount of rev and my speed is around 12-14mph down the lane.

The problem I'm currently having is keeping the ball on the left hand side of the head pin my ball seems to roll out way to early unless I ramp up my speed ( 15+ mph )which takes a toll on my arm and kills my accuracy. I can sometimes remedy this by moving my feel to the right and throwing it towards the edge more but this forces me to throw across my body and my accuracy suffers big time.

I am in the market for a new ball ( currently using a 15lb Storm Dark Thunder ) and I was looking for suggestions on both a ball and drilling pattern that would take advantage of my natural motion and not force me to throw the ball as hard as I can.

Welcome to the site Alan.

Does your previous injury prevent you from throwing the ball with a normal hook, or is this just the way you prefer to bowl?

A backup bowler will do best with left handed drilling patterns this is probably why your ball is burning out.

I'd like to welcome you as well Allan. There's not much more to add to what CoachJim said.

It does prevent me from throwing a normal hook, it's painful throw it, I've had coaches try to "fix" it but I can't do it for more than a game before my elbow gets sore. My ball is drilled with a left handed pattern already and I've had some sucess but I am looking to break my average over 200. My main issue is I lose accuracy when I have to start throwing harder then I'd like.

You may never get to a 200 average with a back up ball, the most I have ever seen anyone average is around 185, not that it can't be done, Robert Smith won a pro tournament in Japan with a back up ball, and that young kid that made the Clash of the champions won some tournament or other and he tosses a back up ball, but those are the only two I can think of and Nelson Burton Jr had to go back to the early 60s to remember the last time he saw someone be even semi successful with a back up ball, but don't let that stop you. Maybe you can learn to bowl left handed?

If you are ever in the Washington DC area I would like to see if I could work with you on throwing a normal hook without hurting your elbow.

I can testfy personally that it takes a long time to switch from a backup ball to a 3/4 roller standard hook. As a teenager it took my brother an entire summer to reteach me. And there were many many times when I stood at the foul line doing the one step drill, sometimes not even getting any pins.

Erin

I've always wondered why it was that I so often heard that I could only take a backup ball so hard. My hook angle and speed (to me) seem to be very similar to what I see from more traditional throwing bowlers. Is it generally the problem I'm having where I just can't seem to consistently get the length before my ball starts hooking?