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www.bowlingworld.com
– DECEMBER 2012
Check Points and Concentration
Did you know you should do four things every time you deliver a ball? Here they
are:
Remember exactly where your sliding foot is in your stance position—that is,
what board it’s on.
Watch to see whether you rolled that ball over your spot on the lane and what
the ball was doing at the arrow or spot area.
See where your hand is after the delivery and what position it is in.
Look at where your sliding foot is at the foul line and check to see if it is in a
straight line from stance position to delivery point in relationship to your
target.
Let’s talk about each of these check points one by one.
Let’s presume that you are lining yourself up for a strike. Put your feet together,
pointed straight ahead, sliding foot slighting ahead of the other. Here’s the reason
for this foot position. If you pick out your position on the approach with your sliding
foot, then bring up the other foot behind it, you will be more conscious of the posi-
tion of the sliding foot.
Now let your bowling arm hang down against your leg, fingers pointed to the
floor. The fingers should be hanging pointed over the last dot on the approach if
there are five dots. This dot is on the same board as the second arrow. Some
bowling centers have seven dots. If this is the case, use the second dot in from the
end as this dot is in line with the second arrow.
Wiggle your feet around until you are in the right position and remember where
that sliding foot is.
Now deliver the ball and keep your eye constantly on the arrow until the ball rolls
over it. Did the ball roll over the spot or miss it? You don’t know because you
weren’t concentrating on the spot? Do it again. The ball must continue over the
spot (second arrow) another 10 or 15 feet before it hooks. So that means you must
stroke the arm toward the target and that will help to get your hand up in front of
your face in the follow through.
Stay at the foul line until the ball hits the pins. This assures a solid delivery and
you have control of the ball. If you can’t stay at the foul line, we’ll discuss this later.
Why did I say to bring your hand up in front of your face? Several reasons: It
helps you keep your balance, helps point you in the direction of the target, but,
most of all, it tells you what position your hand is in.
Remember, your thumb steers and guides the ball. So the position of your
thumb will tell you the whole story. Where your thumb goeth, there goeth the ball.
The simplest explanation is to shake hands with the pins or your target. Your
thumb should be at about the 11:00 position, wrist firm and with no wrinkles on it.
Look at it—it’s probably ―broken‖ with the fingers open and no feeling of lift. How
can you feel the ball coming off your fingers if you don’t keep them curled?
Here’s an easy way to do it. Before you push the ball out in the delivery,
squeeze the ball slightly with your two bowling fingers and keep the two outside
fingers firmly on the ball. Keep that same feeling all the way through the arm swing
and delivery. Now you will deliver such a great ball and it will really shake the pins
and break up large combinations of pins.
Hope you’ve stayed at the foul line so you can see where you sliding foot was in
relation to the foul line at the delivery point. If you walk crooked from your starting
point (which you remembered, I hope), you will know why your ball missed the
spot or angled badly after passing over the spot.
You must become consistent in your approach so when you start walking toward
spares, you can do the same thing—only walk at an angle towards them, using the
same technique as for your strikes.
I’d venture to say that 85% of the bowlers walk crooked to the line. How can you
swing the ball in a straight line if you walk crooked?
Here are some helpful tips: If you are really concentrating on the arrow, you’ll
see it ―move‖ to the left or right if you walk crooked; your first or second step is
usually the one you go off to one side with; have someone you can trust watch you
from the rear and this may help you.
If you drift across the approach on strikes—and I’m only talking about strikes—
before you start, point your toes in the opposite direction of your drift. It works; try
it.
Remember the four check points and make yourself do them every time you
bowl. I’ll bet by now some of you have raised your averages at least 10 pins. So
keep practicing until next month.
Final tip: Did you know that there are five boards between each dot and each
arrow? Also that all the dots are on the same board as the arrows?
Helen Duval’s Bowling Tips