Hi all. I finally found some time, took advantage of the $1 a game deal today (Canada Day), and went practicing for the first time in nearly 2 months. The first thing I worked on was a free swing. With it, I was able to get my backswing MUCH higher, thus vastly improving ball speed. I was also able to throw much straighter and more accurately on spares with that style (finally picked up several left-handed 3-5-6-9 buckets and 3-5-6's by throwing straight down 25; I found that to be more effective than hooking). Considering I was a bit rusty, consistency improved quite a bit too. OK, now here are my questions:

I found that my rev rate is significantly reduced with the high backswing. Any idea why this is so? I mean, I know that more hook does not make you better, but I do know that too little hook will get you a lot of flat leaves (like those buckets I left) and washouts. So how can I fix this problem? I'm trying to cup my wrist, but it's just not as it used to be.

With a free swing, how do I control my ball speed? One way to compensate for my lower revs would be to slow the ball down, but it seems kinda hard unless I muscle the ball at 10mph, like I used to, again.

When I'm shooting spares, the ball seems to bounce twice right when I release it. Sorry, but I'm currently unable to make videos as I am without a working cameras. Possible reasons?

Thanks for reading, and any feedback is appreciated.

How are you coming out of the ball? If you have too much side rotation, you will kill the revs. Sometimes a higher back swing is accompanied with your hand turning. (Hand on the side of the ball) Stay behind the ball.

Sorry if I didn't understand correctly, but isn't side rotation what makes a ball hook?

Anyway, my wrist is fully uncupped at the top of the backswing. Is that a problem?

"Anyway, my wrist is fully uncupped at the top of the backswing. Is that a problem?"

I don't think so, not on its own anyways. What I try to do is get my wrist in a stronger position as the ball descends from the zero gravity point(top) of the swing. That's when it takes the least amount of effort since gravity is working with me. At least I think that's the case. I simply don't have the wrist strength to keep a firm wrist during all parts of the swing unless I muscle the swing a lot, so what I just described is my only chance at any type of good wrist position.

With the higher backswing, do you feel like you're losing the ball early? That could also be a factor in loss of revs. Maybe you could use more forward pitch in the thumb to accomodate for this change. This could be connected to your double dribble on your spares if you're changing your release especially by breaking your wrist. I'm not really sure though.

For speed, common suggestion when using a free swing is to raise the ball in your stance to increase speed and lower the ball in your stance to decrease it. Try these things and see what happens, I've heard the opposite can be true as well especially if your swing isn't truly free.

Thanks, Amateur. What do I need to get some forward pitch into the thumb hole? Will the Pro Shop guy have to plug and re-drill completely?

I don't feel as if I'm losing the ball early. In fact, sometimes when I try to hook a bit more I let go too late, pulling the ball. For spares I'm rolling end-over-end (not completely over the holes, but definitely rolling forward and not sideways), will thumb pitch help?

If you work the inside of the ball ...you can go more or less up the back of the ball and still create alot of hook. I usually never go past 45 degrees and lots of times if i cant control that I try throwing it end over end with even less axis rotation...




No its not. I wait until the top of the swing and then cup/and or firm my wrist during the forward swing. what you do at the start of the forwardswing is more important. Lots of people thay really rev the ball open their hands alot at the top of thier backswing if you pay attention...

you know what one day i played with "pulling" the ball up to create a higher backswing and i had the exact same problem. my coach told me i was prolly not getting my hand under or behind the ball as much as i usually do. you may also be giving yourself less time to get your thumb out depending on how much faster you swing is...

Try charging the battery

There are several reasons for bouncing the ball, the main reason is the ball is going down at an angle into the lane instead of the ball hanging on the hand into the release zone (the area from 6" behind your foot to 6" in front of your foot).

What might cause the ball to fall off your hand, or head down into the approach instead of landing like an airplane?

1. Too much bending at the waist will cause the ball to head down into the lane. Keeping your shoulders behind your knees and your chest pointing at the target at the break point and bending from the knees instead will help this.

2. The ball is falling off your thumb because of improper fit:
a. Too much reverse pitch
b. Hole too big
c. Too much bevel causes ball to slip off too soon.
d. all of the above

I agree with CoachJim. If you're not generating many revolutions and you're bouncing the ball, something, or everything on his list is most likely the culprit.

Good stuff from Jim.

re: slowing it down, start the ball lower before the pushaway. Smaller swing in the front + free = smaller swing in the back.

I now have a slow motion / frame by frame controller for my cameras. I can now see in my Videos my hand at the start of the down swing start moving down outside the side of the ball. Is this me still “muscling” the down swing? I have no place to go at release.

My light bulb is definitely on a dimmer & slowly brightening. Soon, when it’s a little brighter I'll post a Video again for evaluation.
Knowing and doing is definitely not the same thing!


~ John

John, if you hand is migrating to the outside of the ball as soon as the ball starts its downward motion, it is definitely muscle that is causing it. Your most likely culprit is pulling the ball down as it is still moving up. Your arm starts moving down and cannot slow the ball down fast enough to change its momentum so the hand has no choice but to move to the outside of the ball. I would watch your video and see if the ball ever hits a true "stop" at the top of the swing. If not then you have found your problem.

Either that or just after your push away see if you are catching the ball instead of just dropping the ball into the swing in one motion from the set up to the back swing.

That may be it! I did notice some back soreness after that practice session that I usually don't experience. Yeah, I'm probably bending too much.

I'll try slowing down the swing and see how it goes. It may simply be that I'm not used to the new backswing (I used to have a muscled backswing where the ball only goes to waist level).

Try just doing a "Walk through" approach where you kind of walk through all the steps to the slide without the ball, then turn around get the ball and repeat the half speed approach by just dropping the ball into the swing and let the ball swing your arm and just walk to the line and let the ball go, without worrying about where the ball goes, just get the feeling of letting the ball swing your arm and not bend at the waist and follow the ball down after the push away.

One more thing. Would a bit of loft help, since I fell like I'm getting little lift on the ball on release?

I've been working on the free swing as well. This is what I learned:

Don't try and loft the ball because the swing will become muscled at the release. Instead, increase your follow-through with your thumb going up towards the ceiling. A good release will feel like the ball is just rolling off your fingers.

I found with a free swing a good fitting ball is a must or your reflex's will kick in and corrupt the swing. A loose thumb hole will cause you to grip the ball too tight. To test for a loose thumb hole: stand with the ball hanging down along your side without gripping it (Have something like a cushion under the ball in case it hits the floor). If you have to grip the ball to keep it from falling off your hand then you may need to add some tape to the thumb hole. Of course you don't want the thumb hole to be too tight so that your hanging up in the ball.

Hope this helps. If I'm wrong or missing something here anybody please feel free to step in.

On a typical shot, the ball should lane no more than a foot past the foul line with your slide foot no further than 6" back from the foul line. If your ball is not making it past the foul line, then you will need to keep the ball on your fingers longer through the release, by extending your fingers through the bottom of the ball.

Lofting is associated with lifting, and is not good with today's equipment that likes to skid in oil and over hook on dry, lifting the ball with your fingers enhances this reaction and makes the ball very hard to control.

I thought it was okay to apply some force (ie. muscle) on the ball right at the moment of release. Otherwise I wouldn't get any hook at all (which is what I want for spares but not strikes. For spares I would completely relax my arm and hand). I've seen a lot of slow-mo vids of pros and many of them bend their elbows at release.

BTW, how do bowlers like Mika Koivuniemi and Ritchie Allen do so well with so much loft? I'm not trying to emulate them or anything, I'm just wondering.

The pros don't bend their elbows at the release, the bend their elbows before the release, then snap the elbow and wrist straight at the point of release which drives the fingers through the ball without forcing the fingers upwards.

If you throw your strike ball like your spare ball and just let the ball roll off your hand, but put your wrist in a strong position before the release, then snap your wrist straight at the release, you will achieve more revs and less lift. Nobody on tour besides Richie Allen and now Joe Nollen rip through the ball at the release, even Richie Allen looked like he smoothed his release down quite a bit from previous years. There are exceptions to everything, just because it doesn't work for any of those guys doesn't mean it will not work for you so go ahead grip it and rip it and see for yourself.



Mika's ball comes off his hand from a higher point and is traveling parallel to the lane when it lands, having the ball come in downward from a steep angle will cause the ball to bounce and sit up on top of the oil and hydroplane. Even Mika has decreased the amount of loft he uses and gets much lower at the foul line than he used to.

Lofting the ball is good for when the head oil is totally gone and there is still some oil in the midlane, this way it is like extending the lay down point of the ball and it doesn't matter if the ball bounces because there isn't much if any oil where the ball lands and encounters oil shortly after that.

Thanks Jim! I'll be sure to keep these points in mind when I practice.

Hey, I've realized now that the reason for double-bouncing the ball on my spare shots was because the ball actually hit the ground before the release, both because of the broken wrist, and that apparently I was using too much bend at the waist. Now that I have a plastic ball I think I'll try my regular release for spares; I'll see how that goes.

Thanks, dj. I've already lowered my backswing to something like what I had before, for my strike shots. I'll try following suit for my spare shots.

beefers, are you sure the ball is still on your hand when it is bouncing? Most times with a slack wrist the ball will come off earlier, meaning you will have the ball coming onto the lane at a steeper angle. The steep angle can cause the ball to hop because of the sudden change in direction. That would be my guess, its just coming off the thumb and fingers early because of the release change.

I don't think it's caused by me dropping, since I had someone look at it and it didn't seem so, but that may be the case. Of course, it's not hitting the ground while my fingers are fully in the ball, otherwise I'd probably end up with messed-up fingers, but while they're leaving the ball. I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks.

This information confuses me a bit. It seems that it would be tough to bend your elbow during your release with a "free" swing. Doesnt the arm have to tense up at least a little bit before the release to accomplish this?

Think about the motion of your arm when you release a yo-yo.

MJBowler,
Remember that rules of thumb are for a bowler to learn to bowl, pros are quite a bit more advanced and capable of controlling muscle usage. They use gravity on the down swing to aid in bending their elbow (the ones that do bend) so that they can use little to no muscle.

League bowlers over muscle the ball completely, so taking it all away and then having them add just a touch is much easier than telling them to go from 75% muscle use (as they are) and take it back to 5%.

I also have had a problem bouncing the ball on my strike shots. I have a high backswing and I bend forward at the waist during the approach. I thought it might be a timing issue, my ball getting to the line a bit too soon.

I am going to try to lower the swing and keep my wrist more relaxed and see if that improves the problem.