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Author Topic: Contructive criticism wanted  (Read 2747 times)

nospareball

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Contructive criticism wanted
« on: October 18, 2007, 02:48:37 PM »
Took the camera to the alley for the first time at lunch today.  I've never seen myself bowl, and it's humbling.

6 shots in the vid, alternating between a Roto RSX and a Epic Odyssey.  I wasn't trying to do anything special, I just wanted to get a baseline on my form as a whole.

I know my balance sucks, I fall off every shot.  My slide knee is shot which makes it hard to get low and stay there at the line.  And my thumb comes out way too quick, I knew it did before I shot the vid, but didn't realize that I was dropping  the ball so bad.

Anyway, here's the vid, suggestions are welcomed.

http://media.putfile.com/Me-bowling-13
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-Clint

 

Rev_O

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2007, 10:57:56 PM »
You aren't all that bad, but god, does the guy on lane 36 suck or what?

Your feet look fast to me, which is usually a big part of being out of time/off balance.
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Rev-O










Maine Man

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2007, 11:05:59 PM »
Good Points:  You seem to do a good job of walking straight on the approach without much drift.  Your ball speed also seemed to stay pretty consistent from shot to shot, which is also good.

Things To Work On:  If you can not get lower with your knee, then you need to really focus on a clean release every time to ensure you will not keep dropping the ball.  Keep your hand under the ball longer and wait to rotate your wrist aorund the ball until your thumb comes out first, this should help with dropping the ball.  Also, it seems that part of your problem with falling off the shot comes from your right arm flailing off to your right after your follow through, which in turn pulls your body in that direction, causing you to fall off consistently to the right.  If you need to swing the ball don't encircle the follow through with your arm to do so, try and angle your shoulders and feet at the foul line to point to the right going across your mark, and make sure you follow straight through the shot, no flailing.  Since you walk pretty straight, you should be able to open up your shoulders a little and see good results and better balance at the line.

Also, try less reverse pitch in your thumb (if you have any now), that will help with projecting the ball out on the lnae.  All in all, not a bad form, these are just my ideas to help you out.  Good luck!!!
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MainePBA (Also known as MaineLefty)
James Goulding
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mrbowlingnut

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2007, 11:18:27 PM »
You are speeding up your armswing because your ball fit is horrible, in shot 1 the ball is falling off your hand before your body is even stopped.

Proper ball fit will allow you to project the ball down the lane that and of course trying to stay under the ball and letting the finger rotate through the ball not around the side.

Get one ball refitted and then repost the new video i will bet money it is improvement right away. YOu are like me very upright from bad wheels, i have learned how to make a damaged body work though. You are alot closer than about 90 percent of the bowlers vid's that i watch, most of the time i do not comment.

But get refitted and it will be a whole new game for you

nospareball

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2007, 12:16:11 AM »
Thanks for the comments guys, exactly what I was looking for.

Just some other info

Current thumb pitch is 0" rev, 1/8 right
I checked the ball speed by going frame by frame and it's pretty consistant, 18-18.5mph for all shots.

I'm going to have a visit with a new driller to have him check the grip.  The only thing that concerns me though is when I do stay in the ball longer, my release is junk.  Loft of any kind kills the few revs that I have.  Is this because I'm not staying under the ball?

Also, what about holding the ball higher to start?  Or should I just get a good fitting ball before changing other stuff?
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-Clint

Maine Man

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2007, 12:57:34 AM »
I would not hold the ball much higher if I were you because it may cause you to develop late timing and cause more problems than it solves for your game.  I would take mrbowlingnut's advice and definetely get a good fitting ball before going much further with adjustments.  It doesn't do you any good to adjust your game if you can not come out of the ball the same way twice because it doesn't fit right.  As far as the loft goes, as long as you get good extension through your release point and stay under the ball the whole time, you should not see any drop off in revs.  I hope this helps, good luck!!
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MainePBA (Also known as MaineLefty)

Edited on 10/19/2007 0:57 AM
James Goulding
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jfirpo

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2007, 10:39:09 PM »
It's not that far off. You're falling off because of early timing. The ball is getting into the swing too quickly. Hold the ball closer to waist level at the start to delay it. Remeber, bowling is a sequence. Anything that happens at the foul line is caused by something that happened much earlier in the approach.
For the release, 0 reverse doesn't sound like too much. If you are squeezing the ball, you likely have too much bevel. Use less.

Joe

nospareball

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2007, 03:56:19 PM »
I stopped by a different proshop today to have them check my spans.  He changed damned near everything in my grip - span, pitches, oval thumb.  It was going to cost like $70 to plug and redrill the RSX with a slug and grips, so I just decided to pick up a new ball.  I had him order a T-Road Pearl, it should be in before the weekend, so I'll get to test it before league next week.

Last night I added a few pieces of tape to the thumb hole to snug it up.  I was coming out of it better, but side to side there was still some play in the thumb.
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-Clint

LuckyLefty

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2007, 04:04:04 PM »
lots of guys buy thinner tape 3/4 and some even tear that in half and add to the side!

REgards,

Luckylefty
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Open the door...see what's possible...and just walk right on through...that's how easy success feels..
It takes Courage to have Faith, and Faith to have Courage.

James M. McCurley, New Orleans, Louisiana

jfirpo

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2007, 11:35:02 PM »
Often times, too much change compounds the problem. Most grip problems have to do with too much reverse ( which didn't like your issue), too much thumb bevel (most likely from your description) or incorrect use of tape.
Consider this, too. A major grip change costs a fortune. If this shop drilled an oval thumb, I hope you pitched forward. You will absolutely fly out of the ball otherwise. I used an oval thumb in the past. I believe it is highly overrated. A small amount of carving and some tape or thumb pads works just fine.
I think you should get another opinion before you sink the money into the new ball with this new grip.

Joe

nospareball

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2007, 12:16:51 PM »
We'll see what happens with the oval thumb.  He can always change it out for a round one again pretty quick if it sucks.  I forgot to look what he had the thumb pitch at, but it felt good on the fitting ball he had.
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-Clint

DP3

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2007, 12:43:20 PM »
quote:


Get a new pro shop...one that cares about the bowler, not the green.
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Bowling, a simple game that has been made difficult by humans.


I agree with most if not all of your thoughts but those shops you talk about in this sentence won't be around after christmas because they can't afford to pay the bills and put food on the table.  Alot of shops care about the bowlers, it's the "good" bowlers that demand discounts left and right that don't care about the shops.
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Edited on 10/26/2007 12:43 PM

nospareball

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2007, 12:57:25 PM »
The shop I'm getting this done at is a different shop than what I usually go to.  

The old shop is cheaper on a plug and redrill ($50 I think with grips and a slug) but they can't do accurate custom thumbs, it's all guess and test with a bevel tool there.  I never got two slugs the same there.

I wasn't going to pay $70 to have a old ball plugged and redrilled.  So I decided to get a new ball, and test the grip on it.  I needed a new ball anyway, the stuff I'm using now isn't working on the shot they are putting out this year.  If the fit is bad, or I don't like it, they do it again for free.  And really the only part I'm worried about is the thumb, which can be switched out with a new slug if I don't like it.

I've heard good things about this shop, and they do post here every once in a while, so I'm confident they'll stand by their work.
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-Clint

LuckyLefty

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #13 on: October 26, 2007, 04:31:40 PM »
Note...I think J. Firpo is probably THE J. Firpo of PBA touring fame.

You are getting advice from a very well known source.

rEgards,

Luckylefty



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Open the door...see what's possible...and just walk right on through...that's how easy success feels..
It takes Courage to have Faith, and Faith to have Courage.

James M. McCurley, New Orleans, Louisiana

nospareball

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Re: Contructive criticism wanted
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2007, 11:26:38 AM »
Got to use my new T-Road Pearl last night with all of the grip changes.  I had the shop open up the back of the thumb a bit so I could still use the carpet.  It's hard to tell by looking that the hole is even an oval, but it fits nice.

Anyway, I bowled better than I have all year last night.  I was coming out of it consistent, and the thumb wasn't flying out like it used to.  I could trust that my release was going to be clean, which is something I haven't been able to do all year.  

They changed the shot from 38' to 41' this week, but the T-Road Pearl was still money.  I used it all 3 games and ended up 5 boards left of where I started the night.  Shot a 627, which doesn't sound like much but it's the first time in 5 weeks I've cracked 600.  I'm going to try and get some vids up soon.

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-Clint