The Seven Deadly Sins of Joe and Jane Blow – Part 3

This is the third and final installment of this self-help series. I have attempted to come up with the seven most common things that the average bowler does wrong. These are the seven sins that I find myself correcting the most when I give bowling lessons across the country. I think many bowlers have a pretty good chance to self-correct these things with the help of a friend, a smartphone or tablet for shooting video, and a little guidance. Now, let’s look at sins six and seven to complete the list.

(Editor’s note:  Part 1 and Part 2 of this series are available via these links.)

Sin #6:  Too much daylight

The sixth deadly sin of the average struggling bowler is too much daylight. No, I am not suggesting you become a creature of the night, but, in general, too much daylight is bad for most bowlers. Too much daylight means that at one or more points during the swing and delivery, the ball and/or arm is too far from the body.

If, for example, a righthanded bowler pushes the ball out to the right during the pushaway, there will be a noticeable gap between the bowler’s arm and body, as illustrated in Photo A below. Another example would be a ball that is eight boards right of the slide ankle at delivery, as illustrated in Photo B. When such a bowler is viewed from behind, there will be a noticeable amount of daylight shining through the gaps.

Ideally, we want to see very little or no daylight between the bowler’s arm and the body, or between the ball and the ankle at delivery. This goes for both one-handed and two-handed bowlers. Photos C and D are from a recent workout I did with PBA national champion Kyle Troup (two-handed). You will notice little to no daylight in either photo. Kyle has worked hard on keeping the ball tucked in ...