In my last article, I kicked off this series outlining the seven most common bowling sins I see the average bowler commit as I travel the country giving bowling lessons. I chose these seven bowling sins because most of them can be corrected without the watchful eye of a good bowling coach. With the help of a partner and some smartphone (or tablet) video, bowlers can start their own self-help program. The first three sins were covered last time, so if you have not read that article yet, go read it right now; we will wait here for you!
Sin #4: Putting the ball into the swing
There are three sins I often see Joe and Jane Blow commit when it comes time to put the ball into the swing. I call these sub-sins, and a bowler can be guilty of any one, and often all three:
- Pushing the ball up high when doing the pushaway.
- Overextending the pushaway.
- Impeding the ball from falling freely into the swing.
Remember from last time when we were eliminating the sins of the stance (Sin #2), we were holding the ball with our forearm level, so from that position we only need to push the ball about six inches away from our body and then let it fall freely from there. The ball is about 8.5 inches across, so we are talking about moving the ball out less than the width of the ball. Pushing the ball way up and/or way out during the pushaway is one of the most common sins I see Joe and Jane commit.
When the ball is pushed up in the pushaway, it generally has to be pushed way out as well in order to get the ball into the swing. Pushing the ball high at the start will actually rob height from the backswing for the average Joe. Robbing height from the backswing will usually cause Joe or Jane to have a higher foreswing than backswing. The height of the backswing is what produces most of the speed and energy that propels our ball down the lane. We never want to see the ...
This article is only available to Bowling This Month subscribers. Click below to get instant access to this article and all of our other premium instructional content.
Subscribe to Bowling This Month
Already a Bowling This Month subscriber? Click here to log in.
Image Credits: Bowling pin illustration (©iStock.com/bisli) is licensed for use by BTM and is the copyrighted property of its original creator.
