John Jowdy's book says that a ball should be released 6-7 boards from your slide foot for best leverage.

I've had some people explained that personal numbers range from 8-10 boards (If I'm trying to hit 10 I need to stand on 18-20 with my left foot).

What are some of you guys personal numbers? I feel like it depends on where the ball is in your stance and physical look. If one holds the ball at the side you're further from the left leg. If one holds the ball the way the modern game is the ball is much closer to your left leg.

Coach what do you think since you've helped my rhythm. I've tried it yesterday with the ball in my hand and it was 5-6 boards away from my left foot. I'm just getting to a point where I'm tired of looking at a target 8-10 boards away from where I'm standing but I'm hitting 2-4 boards inside of it, whereas in reality based on where I'm starting the ball I may be hitting an actual target and lot looking at the right one.

The number isn't based on where the ball is in your stance, it's where the ball ends up at delivery. While it would be nice if it didn't change between stance and delivery, Not everyone has perfectly straight armswings. To find out what your number really is, you need video or a good friend to see what board you actually lay the ball down on, and then look at what board your slide foot it on.

The way you are explaining yours, it seems like you are mixing drift and swing path differences into your equation. So it's possible that you are standing on 20, and then drift right 3 or 4 boards to slide on 17 or 16, releasing the ball on 10, in which case, you are still in a good leverage position.

To find your personal number: line up with your sliding foot on the 20 board...then deliver the ball over or towards the 2nd arrow[ 10 board]...look down and see what board your sliding foot is on. Do this 10 times, find the average number of boards +/- from 20 in your drift... Most bowlers deliver the ball 7 boards away from the ankle. Add your number to 7 and you have your personal number. Once you know your number you can hit any target just by adding the target's board number to your own PN and walking straight. I.e. if your number is 7 and you want to hit 9 then stand on 16, walk straight and deliver and the ball should cross 9 at he arrows. Do this a few times and you'll see it works. If you want to belly the ball, say from 9 to 3, then add the 6 board belly and stand on 22, deliver and the ball should go across 9 and out to 3.
Okotte

Like Okotte, said the best way to figure out where you should stand to hit what you are aiming at is to figure out where to stand to play straight up the boards, that means lay the ball down on say the 10 board cross the arrows at 10 and break point on 10 and see where you need to stand to make this happen. At this point you will know where to stand in order to play straight up the boards, this way you can adjust to hit the pocket accordingly. Bill Taylor's book "Target Lines" explains this perfectly.

Like CG said most people's armswings are not perfectly straight, but everyone's body position needs to be 90 degrees to their armswing and their target line in order to achieve maximum leverage. If your body is closed to your target then you will have to pull the ball across your body to hit your target, if your body is open to your target, then you are blocking your target line out with your body, and your swing will have to wrap behind you to hit your target line.

Well.. I tried this idea since this is new to me.

Anyways, I am not sure what I am looking for here. I start my sliding foot on 20 and finish on 20 but I have no problem hitting the 10th board. I wonder if the glasses make it easier to see. I did this for a few games today and still at 0 with an odd 1 or an odd 2 board off from where I started.

So, I tried playing down the board starting at 5 and ending up at 10 and aiming at the 1st board. Then I tried playing from 39 to 10 just for fun and 15th but I ended up crossing about 15-10 board on both shot. Interesting enough. I end up sliding where I started on the same board for any target within a 5-10 board reach..

Maybe I am missing something here. Just curious to try this out since its more knowledge for me.

How often does this happen, when it does, even if you hit your target, the ball will not be on the right target line unless you miss your target. If you can lower the number of times this happens, your consistency will improve.

If your foot is off one board from where it normally is (if you drifted 8 boards instead of your usual 7 for instance) and you hit your target on the 10 board then by the time the ball gets to the break point it will be two boards to the right of the break point, on a house pattern this usually means the ball will hit the dry too early and hit high in the pocket and you will trip the four or have a high 9 strike; however, on a sport condition the ball will end up two boards to the right of the pocket on the 17 board and finish too flush on the three pin and you will most likely end up with a version of the 2-10 split or a washout.

This is how important good consistent footwork is for tournament bowlers, if you are a house bowler and don't bowl tournaments, you will still benefit from consistent footwork, eventually the ball will start over/undering and not hitting the pocket at the right angle to carry, unless the house you bowl at is ridiculously easy in which case you may need a blind fold to make it somewhat of a challenge.

DJ, if you are talking about finishing in the same spot no matter where you start your footwork, but when you play your normal stand 20 aim 10 your footwork is fine, this means you tend to stand in one place too much and not practice other lines much.

You need to free your subconscious mind from trying to control everything. What happens is when you stand outside and play up the twig, your subconscious sees the angle change and tries to correct it for you. The fix is to look down at your feet through the approach and make sure your feet are staying on Track, if not stop and start over. After this try looking at your target and then close your eyes at the top of the back swing and see if this allows you to hit the target.

As a side note to anyone who tries this, the results of this are going to be many gutter balls so don't do this during league.

Well.. let me correct you a bit Jim. I know you're going on with a rant here.. :P

But, I was asking.. (maybe, I wasn't clear) what was I missing here. By the way, I was only experimenting different shots to see if I had a number or a drift but if you watched my videos in the other session which were taken in a bowling clinic from Montreal. I am a straight walker even so.. there is an odd time that I do rush my shot and come off balance.. but that something that going to be there for a while because of my old style.

Now.. what line am I looking for? Where my right foot would be aka the leverage line which is parallel with my head or my sliding foot is?

I did a few angle shots but I am not sure what my personal number would because my sliding foot if walking straight finished on the same board that I started on if I was targeting 5 board right or 10 board right. My ball made it to the 2nd or 3rd arrow with no need to push the ball out there.

I only made the comment of being right of my starting board by 1 or 2 board once every odd times but I think those were rushed shots.

If you ask me what I like to play. I like to play a simple line as down and in and depends on what ball I feel is matching up to the lane correctly. I can hook the ball from left to right if necessary but I like to be open mind on the lane so I can be more creative if I get into a situation that I can not find a line to play or the lanes are really challenging that I have many options then just a bunch of balls.

I wasn't trying to rant, I didn't and still don't understand what you are asking then, I was just trying to help you with what I thought might be a concern for you.

I don't try to remember how anyone used to bowl in past videos because they most likely made changes. If you want to shoot a current video and post it I will be happy to look at it. I probably couldn't tell if you drifted or not during your approach unless you shot straight at your footwork close enough so I could see the boards.

If you are asking how to find your personal number then you need another set of eyes or a video camera so you can see how many boards the ball is from your slide foot at the release.

Alright. Forget it.