Nearly everything you do is a trade off.
Gripping the ball causes the arm to be tense.
It also means that you have to tell yourself to “let go†at the proper time or the ball would never leave your hand. Just like every movement in bowling it takes time and practice to learn when to let go and do it at the same spot in the swing every time.
Bowlers can learn to not grip the ball at all; I teach bowlers (that wish to learn) to do it all the time in my clinics and private lessons. But to be able to totally relax the hand you will need to get the thumbhole set up just right and that includes moving the thumb pitch somewhere between 3/8 forward and 5/8 forward for most bowlers.
Keeping the wrist straight or cupped causes the arm to be tense.
Here is a trade off that is pretty much necessary if you want to produce very many revs. If you want to demonstrate to yourself how much difference there is in a relaxed armswing and a tense armswing throw a ball with a cupped wrist and keep the arm as free as possible. Then throw the ball with the wrist open (bent back a little) and see how much ball speed you pick up. The increase in ball speed is just due to the fact that the arm can swing faster when it is not tense…like it is lubed up.
I think a great armswing can be produced if a bowler can learn to start the swing with the wrist open and then close it up at the top of the backswing so the wrist will be in a strong position (when needed) for the release. That means you have to learn a new move at the top of the swing which can complicate things…again a trade off.
Holding the weight of the ball in your bowling hand (even for a second) causes the arm to be tense.
I teach bowlers (that wish to learn) to never even pick the ball up off the rack with their bowling hand. Once the bowling arm supports the weight of the ball all the flexor muscles in the arm and shoulder are energized; as well as all the little stabilizer muscles and the bicep. Once these muscles are energized they do not go back into a relaxed state very easily, you have to really relax them and “shake them outâ€.
If you learn to pick the ball up in the non-bowling hand and keep all the weight there the bowling arm will flow much better.
Accelerating the ball anywhere in the swing causes the arm to be tense.
Again you are energizing muscles.
How tense the arm is has an affect on the swing path (many things affect the swingpath) and the ball speed at different stages of the swing.
So do I teach a free armswing? Yes (to those that would like to learn) but for a different reason than you may think. I think it is a good idea for bowlers to lean what it “feels†like to have a totally free armswing and then add muscled movements where they are needed.
I could write several more pages on just clarifying that last sentence but I want. Let’s just say that to compete at the highest levels in today’s environment bowlers need to use a little muscle in places. The trick is to know what, where and when.
Bowl great!
Ron Clifton
www.bowl4fun.com
