Just to clarify, I'm not posting this in the videos section because I figured this topic could help anyone, not just me. That, and because I'm asking mainly about one component of my game rather than asking for tips to improve my game in general.

That said, I want some help determining what dictates how accurate you are on the lane. The things I do know that are important for the best accuracy are timing, following through, clean release, free armswing, and correct body allignment. This brings me to the one major thing I have changed since posting the above video a couple months ago.

My balance arm, see how high it is? Now, what I do is put that arm in front of me on the backswing, and as I come through the shot it goes to my side(it's fairly low, a lot lower than in that video). I guess you could compare what I do with the balance arm to what Tommy Jones does with his.

Anyways, what I want to know is how much of an effect it has on one's accuracy. It's my understanding that the purpose of putting it in front of you like T.Jones is to open your shoulders to allow for the higher backswing. My coach tells me I need to shorten my backswing(it's still as high as it is in that video) so I can stay under the ball. You probably can't see it in the video but I'm told that with my backswing that high I'm on top of the ball.

Another reason it's that high is because I think I'm muscling the backswing. I came to this conclusion because my backswing doesn't get lower(at least not not very noticeable) when I lower the ball in my stance. So, would you guys encourage me to keep my balance arm more on my side or behind me the whole time, and all the time?

By the way, the reason I'm posting this is because I struggled on the scorpion tonight in my PBAX league. The condition called for me to play straighter down 13 or so(maybe a 1-2 board swing) and over half the time I missed right(3 boards or more). I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I thought I was staying square but I couldn't throw the ball straight to save my life after the second game.

To me it looks like you are not letting the ball fall after the pushaway and then you actually do pull it up into the backswing. To be sure you are really doing this, try this exercise: in your stance, relax your shoulder. Put all the ball's weight in your left hand and completely relax the right arm, including the shoulder (relax the upper trapezius muscles between the neck and shoulder). If your body tries to pull the ball up into the backswing, your shoulder will tense up, since the arm can't pull weight up if the shoulder isn't stabilized.

If you really have your shoulder relaxed in the stance, you will feel it tense up in the backswing. If it's tense in the stance already, you will not feel it tense up later.

This was a real eye-opener for me, as I too used to pull the ball up, but didn't really realize it.

After I stopped doing it, my accuracy went up and my backswing felt as if it only went up to about 7 o'clock, but people assured me it actually gets to about 9:30. (when I was muscling the backswing, it went up to 10:30 or 11)

There's nothing wrong with muscling the backswing, but you do need a lot more practice to do it consistently. So it's simpler to just stop muscling it.

The same goes for using the balance arm to open and close your shoulders. This is an extra movement that just complicates things. The pros are able to do it consistently because they simply bowl so much more than we do. In my opinion it's best to keep things as simple as possible. This means keeping the shoulders pretty much at the same angle all of the time.

I agree with Luksa... you are controlling / muscling your arm swing. You're using your muscles to slow the swing down on the way down, pulling the ball up the back swing and then slowing the swing down the down swing. Then when you get to the bottom, you try and force the ball through.

Gravity is your friend. Let the ball swing on it's own. You'll get more ball speed and be more accurate because you don't have to rely on your muscles doing the same exact thing every single time.

Set up with the entire weight of the ball in your left hand. Then your hand, arm and shoulder need to be completely relaxed. So relaxed that if you took your left hand away, the ball would plummet to the floor. Now use your left hand to start your push away and keep everything else just as relaxed. Now take your left hand away and let the ball fall into the swing. You need to keep your right side just as relaxed though. You're going to want to tense up so you can control the swing. Don't do it. Let the ball fall and swing on it's own. Then let it stop at the top of the back swing all on it's own. And then let it descend all on it's own.

Easier said than done, Lefty!

This is one of my two big bowling problems.

That and not following through.

I've done the easy part (recognizing the problem), now for the hard part (fixing them)!

Good luck on that, anyways!

The Scorpion has higher volume of oil on the outside, and farther down the lane. As it spreads, it forces the bowler to move constantly. Playing the same line in the last frame will not be the same as playing that line in the first.

Last time I bowled the scorpion, there was a nicce shot straight up the board late in the session. It took me 2.5 games to figure it out though. I will be interested to see how it plays early though, next time I bowl on it.

I agree with Luksa and Lefty, you are catching the ball after the push away and then pulling it back. Catching the ball is a symptom of an improper ball fit. If you drop the ball into the swing the ball will feel like it is falling off your hand and then you catch it causing you to pull the ball back.

Your trail leg may also be a problem for you, you are kicking it to the left instead of back in line with your target, this is causing your hips to point to the right and even if your shoulders are square to the target line, the ball will have to cross your body to hit the target. Keep your belt buckle pointed toward the target and your shoulders square to the target line. Your trail leg is like a rudder on a boat and the left arm is what steers that rudder, so keep your left arm square to your target line at the release and you will be fine as long as you learn to just let the ball swing like a wrecking ball.

And it seems to go all the way back to bad ball fit. Since I have to grip it, I can't have a free armswing because the muscles tightened up as soon as the left hand didn't have the ball anymore. Is that right? Now, currently I have proper spans in my equipment with 1/2 forward pitch(at least the ones I was throwing last night), but still had to squeeze/knuckle the ball because I didn't have enough tape in the holes. I think my spare ball was done in a way that it rubs on the side of my thumb(another game or two and I'd have ripped the skin). I told my driller that and he thinks I might just need a little more room in that spot and then I'll add more tape.

If I had enough tape in the holes I would get away with gripping with the base of my thumb rather than knuckling it. I don't think this would have changed the fact that my spare ball was rubbing my thumb on the side though.

I like the idea of keeping it simple. From now on I'll be trying to put my balance arm square to my target line(meaning straight out), but low. One of the main reasons I've lost balance especially in that video is because of the height of my balance arm. That, and timing I bet.

As for my trail leg, I'll admit I got better with it. When I use it correctly, it's more or less under me so it's not way out there and my hips stay in line. I'd show you guys a new video but I can't find the cord that goes from my camera to my computer to put videos on it. I'd still have to make the video anyways I haven't taken a video because I have no cord to put it on the computer.

How much tape are you putting in a hole? Once you get past 3 pieces then hole is probably a tad too big. Either way you should not be squeezing with any part of the thumb if the fit is right, that includes a thumbhole that is too big.

Two pieces right now, probably could have gone to 3 or 4 and that should have been fine. The thing about my thumb is this(and most of the reason I didn't put more tape in). I think I go in swelling. I normally don't take tape out, I just use easy slide. After about 10 shots or so the hole starts to feel a little bigger(I must be shrinking?) and I can comfortably get my thumb in the hole. Even with easy slide, I struggle with the thumb hole a little bit until the swelling goes down.

I don't mean to be negative or anything but I'm finding it almost impossible to have a completely relaxed hand during the swing(especially if I cup the wrist but that's beside the point) because of my thumb. Maybe I'm just one of those people? As far as I know the only people that are able to do it on this forum are CoachJim, Lefty, Cal, cgeorg, and maybe DesertDog and Dennis. Maybe more, but I think there's only a handful of people who can do it. And the fact that my thumb has become really wide compared to my left thumb from squeezing for so long makes it seem even harder to get that right fit.