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- JUNE 2015
Idle Bowling Thoughts
By Chuck Pezzano
Helen Duval’s Bowling Tips
First Step - Last Step
The first step and last step are so important for good timing and balance, and both
of them lead to good control of the ball if done properly.
The first step is the trigger step to get the body and ball moving together for the four
-step approach.
The ball and foot move forward together and should be easy and slow. If this is
done, then the resulting first step will be a short one. The ball and foot are out ap-
proximately the same short distance. You can practice this at home holding a ball to
give you the idea.
Tip: If you are right-handed and use four steps, you start with the right foot and ball.
If you are left-handed, you start with your left foot. I repeat, this is for a four-step ap-
proach.
Now go back to being right-handed. Put your weight on your left foot—you may
wish to lift the heel of your right foot a little, making it easier to step forward with the
right foot.
Make sure your pushaway is not too far out and away from your body. The weight
of the ball will pull you down in your second step, and you will be down too low at the
foul line for a good delivery. This would make you look like the Statue of Liberty.
A long stretch on the approach is caused by having too much room left over at the
foul line. Guessing where to start on the approach leads to this error.
If you want to find out where to start for a comfortable approach, try this. For a four-
step approach, take four brisk steps back from the foul line, add a half step for the
slide and there you are—your point of origin.
Turn around and try your approach (without the ball); it will probably work. You may
have to make a slight adjustment of a few inches one way or the other. If you are a
three- or five-step bowler, do the same thing and add the half step for the slide.
Use the same point of origin in all bowling centers. (Of course, you will have to
move left or right for your spares and strikes.)
We use the following description of the delivery at the foul line: shoulder, knee and
foot in line. Naturally this will put your head over the foul line, which will help you get
the ball over the foul line for the delivery.
Make sure your left and back are at the same angle. This puts your head over your
supporting, sliding leg. Your had delivers the ball and is in a follow-through position in
front of your face.
One great word sums all this up: BALANCE.
Do you know that you really lean forward at your hips—not your waist—and your
knee bend takes you down at the foul line? Try it.
This article deals mainly with the four-step approach, but it doesn’t mean you have
to take four steps. It’s just easier to coordinate the steps and arm swing. Let me say
that if you prefer to take three or five steps, certainly do it, but only if you can maintain
good balance at the foul line
after
the ball is delivered. In any case—three, four or five
steps—it must be comfortable for you.
Pressure!
Many leagues and tournaments wind up with races as close as a bunch of col-
lege students trying to see how many of them can fit into a telephone booth or a
compact car.
When competition is keen and can go any way, it’s tension time. Tempers are
short and there are flare-ups of all sorts even between bowlers on the same
team. The most docile bowler can become aggressive when a battle is on
whether the reward is a tiny trophy o r the Tournament of Champions title.
Adapting to change is a source of tension. Yet tension is natural. It shows up
when there is a conflict of any kink, a spa with your mate, kids, friends, ene-
mies, or in fighting off another bowler or bowling team or even a lane condition.
You become great at something the same way you learn to swim or ice skate.
By making a fool of yourself until you master the challenge. Good judgment
comes from experience and experience usually comes from poor judgment.
Money can’t buy natural ability. It’s a gift. And experience comes from countless
hours of practice, patience and competition.
The finest athletes in every field of sport, and talent in all other fields generally
agree that you never fully get used to pressure. Don’t let outward appearances
fool you. Tension grips the most seasoned performers. But that doesn’t reduce
ability. Some rise to the greatest heights when under the most pressure. No-
body completely shakes tension. It’s a fact of life and must be lived with—like it
or not.
Winston Churchill said, ―It is very much better sometimes to have a panic feeling
beforehand and then be quite calm when things happen, then to be extremely
calm beforehand and to get into a panic when things happen.‖.
Eddie Rickenbacker once noted, ―Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do.
There can be no courage unless you’re scared.‖
Think about that when you’re making a clutch shot or a style switch in the mid-
dle of a game or tournament. Being tense or scared is not the major problem.
Being scared of being scared causes most of the trouble. The first step in the
battle against pressure is to admit it is there, and won’t fold up or silently slip
away.
Each individual battles pressure in his own way. Veteran performers having
been through it, have more weapons to combat the common malady. Some
chew gum, tobacco, candy, or their lips. Others take a deep breath or try to stop
breathing. Some fidget as much as a lobster in boiling water. Some talk more,
others less. For every action or idea that works there’s another that won’t.
Look in the mirror. You should know the best way to calm the person looking
back at you. Don’t think you’re different because a triple gets you flustered or
you nervously shake when you face even a so called simple spare at a crucial
moment.
On the surface most established pros seem as calm as the proverbial contented
cat. Inside they’re more like raging tigers. Similarly so, though most bowling
competition seems to be decided on the lanes, the hidden element, the battle
against the pressure, really determines the winner.
Some bowlers, when thinking about upcoming key matches, expend so much
energy they tire and sleep well. Some have trouble sleeping prior to the trying
times. One when he’s having a bad night, shakes his roommate until the latter is
awake, then asks, ―What’s the matter, can’t you sleep either?‖
Don’t sleep when it comes time to face pressure, as it does for every bowler.
Face it the best way you know how—and only you really know how.
