BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: xrayjay on November 27, 2014, 04:58:53 PM
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The average distance between the ankle and the ball at the bottom of the release is 7 boards. Is this out dated with the modern game? Should the ball be closer to the ankle? YouTube videos of releases show closer distance between the ankle and ball.
I have 7 boards (learned this many years ago from DR camp) "personal number." And recent videos, I'm still 7 boards.
My game has changed significantly from old school "don't drop your shoulder" to "DYDS," to give one example. Also, I have more body tilt than my old upright approach from years ago, and I'm still walking 1 to 1. Yet, I'm still 7 boards.
How do you decrease this distance by a board or two?
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With me there are a few things that have an effect on ball to ankle distance......early turn, targeting too far right from where I am lining up (right handed)and muscling the swing all cause me to get away from my ankle.
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The average distance between the ankle and the ball at the bottom of the release is 7 boards. Is this out dated with the modern game? Should the ball be closer to the ankle? YouTube videos of releases show closer distance between the ankle and ball.
I have 7 boards (learned this many years ago from DR camp) "personal number." And recent videos, I'm still 7 boards.
My game has changed significantly from old school "don't drop your shoulder" to "DYDS," to give one example. Also, I have more body tilt than my old upright approach from years ago, and I'm still walking 1 to 1. Yet, I'm still 7 boards.
How do you decrease this distance by a board or two?
By slamming it into your ankle!
Unless you're perfectly coordinated robot, 7 boards is a perfectly acceptable distance from your ankle. If you try to get it any closer, you may very well slam it into your ankle because you're trying to change a lot, maybe too much, in your biomechanics. I've seen people who swing the ball easily 2 feet from their ankle (not saying that's right, just that it is). If you're consistently 7 boards from your ankle, remember you're probably just under your shoulder, which is the perfect place to be, in this modern age. If you're less than 7 boards away, unless you have very narrow shoulders, you're probably not in the best position for optimum leverage at the release point.
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I am not a perfectly coordinated robot or have narrow shoulders........but I am quite a bit closer than 7 boards and I haven't slammed the ball into my ankle in 20+ yrs. If someone has the ball 2 feet from their ankle they are losing tons of leverage......just because they are doing it doesn't mean it's right. Doing that the ball must be outside of your head and no way they are creating optimum power and they are losing accuracy.
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A bowling ball is roughly 8.5" thus you take half the width of your foot plus 4-4.5 boards and a board....7-8 boards is normal
The other variable is your swing plane and how it relates to your center of your body...the more your swing stays on an inside path, the narrow that numbers becomes...
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I guess this is something I shouldn't try to change since It isn't broke.
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You change it you could break your ankle (:
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Seven boards is good. Many years ago, I was around 9-10 boards. This was causing
leverage and accuracy issues. I went to see Fred Borden . He was instrumental in getting me to close this distance. Today, I am at 5 boards and have been for the better part of 40 years. PBA legend Don Johnson hit his ankle with the ball at a PBA
stop. The ball bounced off his ankle and went into the channel. Afterwards Don said that
hitting his ankle was no big deal. In fact, he said he remembered thinking to himself
that hitting his ankle was not exactly a bad thing because it was an indication that
he was keeping his laydown point close to his (ankle).
Of course, hitting one's ankle with regularity is NOT a good thing and measures should be taken to correct it. However keeping that distance to a minimum
will definitely improve your accuracy and leverage. Before the days of reactive resin,
exotic cores, synthetic lane surfaces and "crowned" oil patterns, this was an absolute necessity. It is still very important today, but not quite as much, because in
most cases modern equipment/ lane surfaces/patterns will permit a LITTLE more
"slop" in this distance--but not much.
Regarding the dropped shoulder, most of today's power players actually benefit
from it due to their swing mechanics. If you are an old-time stroker, as I am,
excessively dropping the bowling shoulder can create a host of problems.
Since a stroker relies more on accuracy to get the job done, excessive lateral
spine tilt creates too much "play" in the swing because the bowling arm
now has too much side-to side instability. It causes the swing to deviate from its
optimum plane or "slot". My lateral spine tilt is around 15 degrees (from the vertical).
This keeps my arm close to my body and ankle and increases my ability to repeat shots. Dropping my shoulder beyond this amount results in the problem above. A power player benefits from doing precisely the opposite due to their hand position and their ability to throw it to the right.
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The swing plane is dictated by a combination of variables mostly the persons body type and muscle in the swing...
I work with numerous 'power' players as well as contemporary players and a dropped shoulder merely allows the swing plane to remain freer by swinging underneath the shoulder and requiring less deviation created by the body and/or hips...
Much of the olde school mentality had been corrected by understanding the individuality of the bowler plus thinking less cookie cutter thinking...every game should be built around the individual as well as an understanding of the basics
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I have videos of myself with the ball touching my shoe laces. So my ball is within a 1/2" of my ankle. I haven't hit my ankle in years, but then again I'm not thinking of that while on the approach 😉
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Same here. I haven't hit my ankle since I don't know when. It becomes automatic
after a while--thank goodness. lol!
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For what ever reason, my problem is the opposite in that my ball is too far away from my ankle.
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I wish I had the answer for that, but I really don't remember how I was able to get the ball so close and keep it there constantly. I do remember a few bouncing off my ankle though. No pain no gain, Right !
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It has to do with the ball staying closer to your center which at times has to do with your swing shoulder being lower than it's opposing shoulder...staying square tends to force the ball on the outside creating an inside out swing plane (generally) or away from your ankle...
This is the misconception with square or level shoulders...I would try opening up your stance at address to mimic your finishing position and dropping your swing shoulder a few inches lower to allow the swing to swing closer
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See...... you just have to ask the right guy the question !
Hope all is well with you and your family, Ric
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I believe there is one question being asked and two answers being talked about.
The question as I see it is how far from the ankle should the edge of the ball be.
Fortunately we can et the answer from one of the all time best stylists ever to throw a beautiful gorgeous ball until the the day he retired. The great lefty Dave Davis I was lucky enough to practice with when I first was learning to bowl lefty about 14 years ago. One day he threw about 11 in a row in practice and one of his admirers started commenting on his striking.
Dave replied like this, "I didn't notice, but Thank You. You see since 1957 when I warm up for 45 minutes, I always spend the first 10 to 15 minutes working on just my technique. Would you tell me on the next bunch of shots if the edge of my ball is within 2 Inches of my ankle?"
From there he went on to tell what an aid this regular practice routine was to his ability to prevail in his many television matches with quite high pressure. He went on to explain to me the solid leverage and adjustability that came form this form element!
He then went on to practice throwing shot after shot just inside of 2 inches from his ankle.
I got to experience exactly what he discussed in some of my occasional "on" form moments.
The other item of discussion is how many boards the center of the ball lays down from the slide board of the sliding foot. This is the 7 or 8 boards discussed above by JustRico and he gives the Math of how to get there.
It is as simple as the following. Often if the slide board is 20 an example of this would end up with the lay down board of the center of the ball passing over the foul line being 12.
As to being closer that 2 inches to the ankle there are a few elite strokers who do that but it is really not necessary or dramatically advantages to do so and can lead to injuries or bounce offs as famously happened to a very good bowler named Storm DeVincent years ago in a PBA stop.
Right near or slightly inside 2 inches will accomplish all the benefits of foul line stability, balance, leverage over the release and the resulting adjustability at the foul line because of this solid foundation!. Practice it, own it, enjoy the benefits.
Regards,
Luckylefty
PS It might be time for me to try to own it again also! Mastering this fundamental for even brief periods of time can be for a lot of fun and profit.