Drop Your Damn Shoulder!

This month I’d like to share with readers why they should drop the bowling shoulder as much as they can.

I always strive to ground my thinking in sport science research and my own research studies as well as reflection on thousands of hours of video analysis of the best players in the world. Accordingly, over the past 28 years of coaching, my philosophy has evolved. Through this on-going professional development process, my beliefs have become more cemented in objectivity.

This thinking has converged to some critically fundamental cause and effect sequences. To illustrate, my comprehension of the cause and effect relationships associated with space creation continues to evolve. Through this progression, I have come to realize that space creation is the most important element in maximizing biomechanical efficiency in bowling.

This will be no surprise to those readers who have read my swing slot articles over the years or the downswing angle concept that I developed recently. Each of these articles was an evolution of understanding and articulation of the importance of cause and effect associations related to space creation.

My comprehension of the positive effects of increased lateral trunk flexion grows deeper and deeper on a daily basis. Consequently, my appreciation of the importance of increased lateral spine tilt has become a focal point of my teaching due to the fact that the result of adding side lean leads to many positive outcomes including a freer swing, increased ball motion, and improved balance at the foul line. What is most exciting about this realization is the fact that increasing your trunk side bend, also known as dropping your shoulder, is a relatively simple concept to incorporate into your physical game to realize big improvements.

As an advocate of lateral spine tilt, I created an initiative simply entitled Drop ...

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