Page 14 - nov2012

14 www.bowlingworld.com– NOVEMBER 2012
Extreme Pushaway
Are you becoming eager to get to the foul line? Let’s start where we left off last month, with you
holding the ball about waist high, supporting the ball with your non-bowling hand and holding the ball
in line with your bowling shoulder. By all means, be comfortable.
There's trouble ahead if you now push your ball in the wrong direction. The proper pushaway is
out and down, back and roll.
Perhaps you hold your ball quite high, like under your chin, in your stance position. Then you may
push or lift the ball up in the air. When the ball goes up, it breaks your line of vision and concentra-
tion on the target.
As they say, what comes up must come down and down it comes—wow, is it heavy! Now your
body is down on the first step, which is wrong, and this usually causes you to finish up at the foul line
at the delivery point, sort of like the Statue of Liberty.
Many people have no pushaway and drop the ball to the end of their arm. Again the ball is heavy,
and to get swing on it you pull the ball back. This makes your hips and shoulders pivot around and
causes the ball to swing behind you in the backswing. The ball is not doing the work—you are—and
you are making your first or second step tougher than necessary.
When you pull the ball back, another problem arises. You will probably break your wrist—that is,
not keep it straight—and cause a bad release. But more about that later.
Now for the right things to do. Hold the ball as described in the first paragraph. Shake hands with
the ball; check the wrist to be sure there are no wrinkles; keep the thumb at 11:00. Squeeze the ball
slightly with the two bowling fingers. Keep the two outside fingers firm and on the ball.
This technique firms up the wrist—did you notice? Maintaining a firm wrist all through the arm
swing will result in a better lift and finger feeling at the delivery point.
How many of you don't feel the ball coming off the two lifting fingers? Keep saying every time you
deliver the ball, "Did I feel the ball off my fingers as I released it?" But more on that subject in a later
lesson.
Now that you're holding the ball correctly, with both hands, push the ball out slightly, at the same
time trying to match the movement of the ball and foot. The first step must be a slow and gentle,
short step.
Visualize the beginning of a circle and picture the arm as a pendulum from the shoulder. Remem-
ber, the ball and foot must go forward together. For good timing and coordination, if you are right-
handed, the ball and right foot go together. Left-handers move the ball and left foot together.
Try saying this aloud in practice: Push the ball out (1)...down (2)...back (3)...roll the ball and slide
(4). This is obviously for a four-step delivery. Other deliveries will be explained later.
Well, you’re at the foul line finally. If you want to deliver the ball, that’s okay. Keep practicing and
practicing until next month, when we will learn about how to walk straight, why you should stay at the
foul line after delivery, four check points and how to keep from drifting.
Helen Duval’s Bowling Tips
Helen Duval
Veterans Tournament
HOSTED BY THE CENTRAL SONOMA COUNTY USBC
(State Finals)
March 30, 2013 @
Double Decker Lanes, Rohnert Park
go to the next tournament when they were finished. They had so much fun traveling together and
they also traveled with Pros Carol Norman, Barbara Renner, Toni Gillard, Pam Buckner, Tori Carter,
Rachel Perez and Lynda Barnes. Jeanne recalls their asking for directions and it was always Robin
who would ask. Invariably, Robin would return to the car saying, ―I didn’t understand a word he
said.‖ Then, Jeanne would try to decipher the directions. It happened so often it became a standing
joke.
In many ways her entire life, has been devoted to bowling and turning 50 hasn’t slowed Robin
Romeo down. She says the competitive juices are still flowing. She is a collector of bowling memo-
rabilia and has hundreds of items which, of course include her many awards. Her greatest fans are
her boyfriend Tom and her mother. The Romeo family is close but all five kids are independent – a
tribute to her parents.
What does it take to be a champion? Perseverance, focus, good decision making, temperament,
coordination, and it helps to be a class act. That’s Robin Romeo.
( Continued from page 10)
Inside A Champion