Getting a free swing very hard to do, and takes much practice. It took to me 2 years of solid practicing to get it to where it is now. I went back and just looked at a video, and believe it or not, my backswing didn't go above my shoulder. It's nuts how muc it's changed. Keep practicing though, and you'll get there. I think all the other things you mentioned will come easier, the free backswing could take the longest to get the hang of.

i'm fixin to use a new brace that i got from an ol' boy sunday. it mite make a difference in the way i shoot spare now. it lets me move the wrist more when i want to. so its something that i'm fixing to try to see if i can get the hang of. i truly don't believe that i can not use a brace right now. i think it mite be a while till i can get the hang of not using it.

Later that night, I opened up my brace and threw some spares and it was a little better. There was a huge spare conversion increase when I took it completely off.

Sayturos,
I get that but for whatever reason I keep hearing about people struggling tremedously with things, like the free swing, and it took me 3 league nights (about 7 games and 9 frames) to get a free swing. Is because I'm still learning the game that I can adapt so easily or something (talent maybe, yeah right)? I mean, I hate tooting my own horn because usually something whether it be the Law of Averages or Karmic Balance or something like that, will swing back and punch me in the face.

Consistentcy is still a problem, but that will come with practice. I will continue to refer to my swing as freer until I get a free swing on a consistent basis.

Fury,
Definately noticed some rev robbage when I stood up at the line. The ball just skidded down the lane with almost no revs and side rotation. FYI, I was throwing the Cell on the Cheetah pattern. Big difference.

Lastly, I got the thumb hole on my Cell opened up and I'm going to give it a try tomorrow. Also I'm going to try throwing with some white tape in the thumbhole where the pad of thumb is. So we'll have to see how that goes.

Video please? I doubt it is as free as you think it is, especially if you haven't had your grip re-evaluated.

Working on it cgeorg. It probably isn't as free as I think it is either. That's why I say it's a freer swing instead of a free swing. It is probably no where near a completely free swing with the exception of a couple that night.'

I did have my grip and thumbholes checked out yesterday. They're all good, at least that is what the guy at my Pro Shop said, except that he opened up my thumbhole on my Cell a little.

Cgeorg, I have been doing the 1-step drills that you suggested, and was wondering if you or anyone else knows if the Vacum-grips has any effect on the free swing? It feels like there is a lot of pressure put on my fingers and thumb, but again that could be me gripping the ball out of habit. The fingers are supposed to support some of the weight on the downswing, right? (I think that's what I remember Ron C. saying, I might be wrong)

I'll get that video for you.

Vacu-grip drilling just allows your fingertips a little bit of room to shrink/swell. It shouldn't affect your swing whatsoever.

Your pro-shop get can you an initial fit, and check to see that you aren't way off, but only you can tell if your grip truly fits the way it should. If you rely on your pro-shop to tell you that it's perfect, it probably won't be.

If your grips dont fit right , go back and tell him. Driller only able to tell if they fit or dont fit on what you tell them. So if its not feeling right tell him whats going on.

Alright, so tonight I bowled pretty well and probably would've had a 600+ series if I wouldn't have been so dumb, but I'll get to that later.

First things first, I really liked the feel of the tap in my thumbholes. I only used one piece tonight, but I think I need two pieces in my BW Solid. I should layer them on top of each other, right?

I was working on using my keys tonight to keep my swing as free as possible, and release the ball at the right spot. I was rather succeessful at it.

Next, I hear you about the Vacu-grips. I'll have him check it out. My Scout is standard fingertip drills so it can be a good comparison with the other two. I think I'm going to go back to the standard fingertip grip through. I don't quite know yet because I also haven't decided if I want to drop down to 15 pounds.

I was also having some release issues as well. In particular the release point. I couldn't quite find it consistently with my 16# balls. I believe that was turning the ball too early and not letting enough of my thumb to come out, hence the callous I have.

And the reason I'm considering the drop is because of two things that happened tonight. The first is that my 16 pound balls felt like they were pulling me down amd I was experiencing some pain in my wrist, index and middle finger (in particular the knickles of the fingers). What's up with that? And second I threw my 15 pound Scout for a better portion of the last game, and...you know when you have those moments where you go, "Oh! So that's what it looks like" or "Wow! That was easy." That is what it kind of felt like when I was throwing my Scout. If I couldn't faintly feel the joint rotating in my shoulder I wouldn't have believed I was throwing the ball. The release point was right on and the ball had more revs on it than any of my other balls that I've thrown at any other time. Of corse two 4,9 splits from the 2 board aren't exactly good to have but the ball was thrown beautifully, just on the wrong line.

I should have a video sometime about mid-week so bear with me until then.

humm i like my 15s over my 16. when you have a free swing the 16 will feel like a bolder. or at lest thats how mine feels. i can't seem to get the revs on the 16 that much either. one thing i like on my 15 is in the release. i can get a good snap with it and not feel like my wrist is going with it down the lane. dropping down a weight mite be bad at first but you mite get the hang of it after a while. i pretty much quit using the 16lb MoRich. the up rising i use is more powerful than it any day anyway.

Conversely, I tried a 15 and it felt like a pebble. Just using your bolder analogy.