With a few peoples help on here, I have been playing with different releases. I have made a few videos here illustrating 5 different releases. Coach Jim suggested that I try a few different things and take a video of each. I have some tape on the Ball from Pin to PAP in order to see the axis tilt and rotation but I don't have slow-mo ability to really see what is going on. I also can't tell exactly how I am coming out of the ball with each of them, so if anybody has freeze frame ability and/or slow-mo and can repost that would be awesome.

All shots are on a 2 day old house shot, with both league and open play on them. Best guess is about 10-12 lines bowled on this lane. All shots were made with a Brunswick Red Zone, Pin over fingers and 5 1/4 Pin to Pap, MB opposite my Track in the medium Track area.

The first video is simply my normal everyday house shot release. This is the 480RPM and 18+mph version that has been toned down a bit over the past couple months. As you can see it is pretty effective on the house shot, and it is comfortable for me. I am able to hit my targets and be consistent for the most part. Although I do suffer when the oil is shorter and/or drier.




This second video was requested that I put maximum hook on the ball. I opted to keep the ball inside in the heavier oil on this shot. Had I went further out this shot would have hooked up early and jumped in the back ends.



The next 2 videos were also requested that I try to stay up the back of the ball the best I could. I can actually go straighter, but I still changed axis tilt quite a bit on these shots and its obvious they are straighter.





The following release is with the weight of the ball on my index finger. This is more of a push release, or at least it feels like it to me.



The next shot is simply closing my fingers all close together behind the ball, rather than spreading the index finger out, it is tucked in towards my middle finger and ring finger. Otherwise nothing is changed on this one.



The following 2 releases are what I was calling a short arm/no hit release, but after seeing the video it is pretty apparent I am still following through. The ball speed is quite a bit lower since I am not accelerating through the release point. You will also notice that the ball rolls out in the back ends.






That is all I have for now. Let the disecting, critiquing and ridiculing begin.

Do you really think the ball had more revs in the short arm release? I couldn't tell. I did see the elimination of the hit. You just dropped it on the lane, and the ball rolled all the way.

Did you say you tried this on the Viper? Well, you are playing more straight up and the Viper is a short pattern that will let your ball tail at the end. If you had played straight up 8 to 4, you would have had a wicked tail, with an entry angle greater than 8 degrees. And, leave 10's all the time.

DD the biggest issue you have is a lack of knee bend, this causes you to release the ball from a higher point, getting lower would allow for a smoother quieter release. I'm not sure if you have any physical limits as to how low you can get at the foul line, but more knee bend is always better.

The "no follow through" release looks much smoother than the normal release, and your arm swing looks more fluid. Next time try to vary your release the same way using different finger pressure, but use the "no follow through" technique.

I think what you are calling follow through, the rest of us call yanking the snot out of the ball, so less of that is always better.

I am seeing improvement keep it up.

I would have said "trying to rip the cover off the ball", but I think we mean the same thing.

DD - You're a big guy and my guess is that you don't even feel like you're trying to do much to the ball, but the fact is that you're putting a ton of force/muscle into the delivery.

I'm no small guy myself and I've always struggled with that as well. I literally feel like I do nothing to do the ball when I make my best shots. Video shows that I'm doing more than nothing, but if I feel like I put any hand in the ball at all, I'm over throwing it.


The other thing I noticed is that your videos of staying behind the ball still have a fair amount of axis rotation. Less than you normally do, but still a good amount. it's hard to tell from the video but my guess is that you're still at the 30-45 degree point. Your normal shot is pushing 90 I think. I'm not sure how well you can stay more behind it with your hand, but knowing how you threw that ball and the fact that you still have a decent amount of axis rotation should be something you're aware of.

Axis rotation on my normal shots is in the 60-70 degree range. The axis rotation on those end of end shots were in the 10-20 degree range. I actually didn't try to go straight with them, I was still looking for a little hook.

I have taken a lot off the ball over the past couple months, but I guess I am needing to do even less.

As for knee bend, I can get down further no problem, I just forget to do it is all. I was almost completely upright before so I am making progress I guess.

As for as not hitting or follow through or whatever we want to call it. I am going to need to do something with my armswing to get it higher. I want to stop short of opening my shoulder though. So I guess I better start working on some flexibility in my shoulder and knees as well.

If you re-read my other post I said there was no apparent loss of revs. No gain though, its about the same as far as I can tell.

I was swinging a few boards with this release on the viper, and it would hook up and roll out. The ball doesn't have the finish to it when I don't hit it. This is apparently what I am supposed to be doing since everybody seems to like that release the best.

I will honestly work to develop that release however it will be secondary in competition until I get proficient and comfortable with it, or if conditions demand it. I will be needing to change my arm swing and getting it higher to develop more speed, and I will also have to change my timing a little bit as well. I am sure I can work through it, its just a matter of time.

I was able to freeze some images and get still of the release points and hand positions. They are kind of small but you can get an idea anyways.

Here is my normal release and you will see my hand is more underneath the ball and the distance travelled by my fingers around the ball is greatest.








Here is the no hit release and you will see that the ball actually is off my hand a little sooner but the hand position is the same.







Then of course staying behind the ball, you can see how I come out if the ball a little different on this one. You can also see how my arm stays closer to my body with this release. There is an effort to keep your elbow tucked in when you know you want to stay behind it. I have a tendancy to chicken wing every now and then with my regular release. Its caused from rotating the wrist early.

You may think you're at 10 or 20 degree axis rotation but that video says differently. Especially the stills. I stopped the video to see where your hand was at release and it's well beyond that point. I'd bet your camera is at a 20 degree angle to you and your hand goes past the imaginary line from the camera through the ball.

If you're at 0 axis rotation your ball will roll directly at your target. 10-20 degrees of axis rotatiion would probably put the initial roll straight up the lane because you're swinging it. You've got a good 20 degree angle to the boards so that's going to put you closer to 45.

Lefty, what I think I need to do is get some video closer to the foul line and zoomed in at a higher resolution so we can see what is actually going on. I wasn't trying to go straight on those shots, but I also wasn't rotating my wrist nearly as much or ripping through it either. I was basing my estimate on what I seen while bowling and not on the video, so you may be correct with the 45 degree angle.

To be honest I may not even be able to go 0 axis rotation because of the fingers I use to bowl with. I mean I can't roll it right over the holes end over end if that is what you mean.

You're right, that just might be a limitation you have.. I'm not sure anyone but you is going to know. It's not something I think any of us has ever had to deal with.

The only advice I can give you is maybe to not turn your wrist at all. You already have more built in axis rotation with how the ball sits in your hand. We all do.. you just have more. I have to physically c0ck my hand outward at setup and not turn my wrist at all to stay dead behind the ball. Imagining using the fingers you use, I don't see how I could ever get to 0 without doing serous injury to myself

I think what I will try is leading with the pinky and see how that works as far as a straight shot. When I throw at spares straight I have some axis rotation but the rev rate is very low like sub 200, so it doesn't hook. I am more looking for a strike release on short oil patterns, so I still want the revs but with much less break.

Try your spare release for a strike shot on short patterns. Since it still has some axis rotation, it might just be what you need. This is why I suggested some time back drilling up a short oil ball with the index finger to help go more up the back of the ball.

After watching these videos and seeing how I used to bowl. You might need a coach to show you videos of yourself what you are doing wrong.

I can clearly see the muscling, hitting up on the ball, grabbing the ball quickly and no follow thru. Whats your hurry? Are you trying to kill the ball? Just saying.

The ball should beyond your knee and not release until you're at your center of gravity in a fluid and muscle-free swing.

The bowling alley was on fire so I had to hurry, and my superhuman strength makes me rip through the ball with such ease, I just can't help myself.

I really hate when the lanes catch on fire. It happened to me twice last year. Once, the ballast in the light in the men's room started burning when it overheated. The second time when an opponent's ball got caught in the ball return roller, and started to smoke. Should have seen the groove gouged in his ball. The Mgr said the ball was OK because the gouge wasn't in his Track. He almost got punched.

And, those of us with above human strength have a problem slowing down. It's just normal to knock a wall down when the door is locked.

Ya'know DD, sometimes I have trouble with recommendations that try to make all of us the same. We are all not made from the same cookie cutter. I understand the logic behind getting the ball to roll and react better. But, some of us are not build to do some of those things, and may not be able to physically do others.

That's why I appreciated my Coach when he watched me after an accident I had a year and a half ago. I now, cannot bend at the sliding hip and occasionally am stiff legged and erect on the slide. As a result, he said we have to work with what ever we have, and we went from there.

What I found is that we can adapt. My release is no longer smooth to the floor, and I sometimes get too much loft, but it is a physical thing that I have to work around. And, it can be done. And, with success, I might add.

I guess that's why bowlers are some of the most unathletic, out of shape people in any sport. A body of all types, shapes and abilities can do this.

I still size up opponents by their physical appearance. It's an old thing from athletic competition. Two weeks ago, in our league, my opponent was a short, dumpy, uncoordinated guy. In a boxing ring, I would have had all the confidence in the world, even though he outweighed me. On the lanes, he rolled 20 mph, roundhouse cranked a 14 # ball, lofted 10+ feet, and tripped over his feet a couple of times. But, he rolled the same ball over and over again for strings of strikes, and beat me.

Can't tell a book by its cover.

Dennis, I agree and I am trying to adapt these recomendations to work for me. I read an article about changing axis rotation and I am going to work on that quite a bit so I can be more versatile. One THS though, I am having a hard time seeing the need to change what I am doing now. I do however want to perfect throwing straight at spares, I do see the benefit in that.

I am trying to learn new things and at the same time, not screw up what I do well. It is coming along slowly.

This is why I think a THS hurts your game. You get rewarded for bad Execution. When I say "you", I mean everyone. Consistency and accuracy just aren't important on a THS and you can trade these for bad habits.

You need to figure out what you want to get out of bowling. If scoring well on house shots is what matters to you, by all means go focus on that. If being an all around good bowler is what you want to work on, then you're going to have to be willing to make gains on more demanding conditions that may not improve your average very much on a house shot.

I quit all house shot leagues a couple years ago because I got tired of making bad shots and striking. Doing that wasn't fun to me and I got really frustrated knowing that my scores did not reflect my Execution. In one league I was averaging 237 after the half way point and finished up at 231. I know that I'm no where near good enough to average that. There are dozens of people around here that didn't average that high that I know are much better than me. Since then I haven't bowled in a house shot league.

Again, you have to figure out what you want bowling to be for you. There's no wrong decision either. I just don't think you're going to be happy trying to straddle the fence.

Unless I wanna drive 80+ miles I don't have many options. So THS is what I have available to me. I think it is perfectly acceptable to try and develop more of a complete game, but foresaking what works well on THS doesn't seem like a smart move if I can develop other parts of my game as well.

I am smart enough to know the difference between when I am executing and when I am getting lucky. Yeah, sure THS gets boring at times, but I have no dillusions about going Pro anytime soon, so having a few beers and shooting well at the same time appeals to me on some levels. On some levels I want more of a challenge, and I am going to see what I can work out with the owner of the center in my town as far as having a Sport League or even just some tournements throughout the year.

Straddling the fence is really the best option I have to me at this time. You gotta remember I live in BFE and Tulsa is 80 miles away, Wichita is 110, Kansas City is 140. I'd love to have more options but I don't.

Also please consider that I have missed most of the innovations in this game since about 1989 and I have a lot of catching up to do. I have said it before though, I averaged 200+ in the 80's, 90's and 2000's so I must be doing something right on some level. I have only been back to bowling for 7 weeks now, after only bowling 2 seasons of the past 18 years.

Many people on this site have been very helpful and I appreciate the feedback despite my resistance at times. I have seen improvement in my game and its slowly coming along. I am slowly coming around to just accepting that the PBAX league I joined is really just a sport shot league, and now I can concentrate on dealing with what is out there instead of expecting certain things to work, and getting pissed off when they don't. So please don't think you haven't gotten through to me at least a little bit.

If all your trying to accomplish is to throw a ball that is on a more direct line with only about 5 boards of movement or so. Why not just throw a plastic ball, with the amount of revs that you put on the ball I'm willing to bet it would still move.

The problem is carry and control. If you lift on the ball as you release it, the ball will tend to hydroplane and not grab the lane at the right point and either over hook or under hook. A plastic ball on today's oil would be even worse, it would over skid and never grab the lane and over deflect as it hits the pins.

What DD is trying to accomplish is to be able to alter his release without lifting on the ball. This is a difficult task for bowlers like him and myself who have been lifting the ball at the release for many years.

I have to give thanks to Desertdog. While talking with him, I have realized that I have been bowling poorly, especially, when I try to move left and play an inside line. On Father's day, I took some vids bowling, and posted a couple in the chatroom. Lefty and cgeorg identified some problems and made some recommendations. Well, watching my vids and DD's also, I can see my early turn, know when it happens, and control it.

I have been practicing on PBA pattterns, and trying to control my arm swing to let it swing straight and freely. Well, last night, it was the Shark pattern. A year ago, it ate me up. Last night, I averaged 196 for 6 games, which was a huge improvement.

But, the important thing was a bowler I don't know came up to me in the fourth game and asked, "what did you do?" "I saw you 5 weeks ago, and you are a different bowler tonight." "You are so smooth and the ball comes out effortlessly."

I have to say, talking with DD has helped me to improve. So, I thank him.