It's the same as golf's short game; or the quarterback that floats a pass into a receiver's hands between two defenders; or a hockey player who stick handles around two defense men, lures the goalie out of the crease and lays the puck into the open net. Feel!
Everyone has an "A" game, the unconscious method where you put the ball in your hand, stare at a target and let it fly. You might change the ball or move your feet or target but when the "salt and pepper" doesn't work, that's when you need to think outside the box.
There are lots of ways to deviate from your mindless game into something that matches up the conditions better. It's the gray area of your timing and release. What can you change? Three things: your speed, axis rotation and rev rate. Same as in billiards, you can change how hard, the spin or English and the rate of spin. Same philosophy in baseball. Some pitchers are speed orientated, 100mph guys but the ones who truly know how to pitch, change speed, arm angle, and amount of break to deceive the batter.
There are as many ways to alter your game as there are styles of bowlers. What works for me might not be the best way for you but I offer it as a guideline.
I change my speed by moving my eyes from the arrows to the dots, holding the ball lower and moving up on the approach about a foot. I focus on gravity governing my arm swing. This method helps on extremely oily lanes to get the ball rolling earlier. Control of my break point is vital and I don't want to spend cover texture to offset the skid. Sometimes a shinier or very mildly dull surface thrown slower is the better alternative with my "B" game than a dull ball with my A game. On this kind of condition, the rev dominant players has an advantage. Not being rev dominant, I have to emulate one. This can be achieved by keeping my hand revs the same and reducing my speed. This method lets me move my feet left when most tweener/stroker types are grabbing super dull stuff or super strong cores and moving right.
I can change my axis rotation or turn from up the back, about 15 degrees to an aggressive 45 degrees. This causes the ball to clear the front part of the lane better, getting farther down the lane, with a stronger angle at the break point. When I have to play deeper in the lane and cover more boards, this helps get the ball to finish stronger. When I'm more on top of my target and playing up the grain of the lane, releasing more up the back of the ball controls the back ends, especially when the lane conditions are fresh. Generally the last part of the lane is more aggressive when the lanes are freshly oiled do I usually don't need to magnify them with lots of side roll.
I change my rev rate or tightness of spin by adjusting my finger pressure. Releasing the ball with my fingers open lets the ball roll off my hand easier while pulling my fingers toward my palm at release gets the weight block energized. Spare shooting is always performed with my hand in the mellow position but if corners are starting to pop up, a little more "hit" can push them out.
Combinations of these choices work excellent together. Heavy oil would suggest less speed, more turn and more hit playing inside. That would be a Shark combo and my B game. My Agame is mellow speed, up the back with mild hit. That's my challenge, sport flavor. In total, 3 pairs or variables create 8 possible permutations so each ball in my bag can have as many as 8 different looks. Combine that with standing anywhere from 10 to 45 and looking 3 to 25, that's plenty of choices to find the lane's key to higher scores.
Think of bowling as a combination lock. Left 25, Right 17, Left 3? I think that was my locker combination in high school! Well bowling is the same thing. What-Where-How. BALL - ALIGNMENT - TIMING / RELEASE.
There are ways to practice these combos. Start by leaving your resin balls in the bag. Grab your plastic. Bowl. and score. Shoot ALL your spares with it too. When your done, move 5 boards deeper in the lane. Think you're throwing it too hard? You probably are so slow down, lift the ball, turn it. Be patient and let it swing. Less grab, more flow. Gravity fed bowling. Slow your feet and feel your shots. Move outside. Play the gutter shot with your plastic ball. Grab something reactive and practice playing the lane wrong. Stand where there's no shot and make it work. The best bowlers in the world have dozens of changes with many levels for each characteristic and they can dial it in like a recipe from a cookbook.
Practice like this will stretch your game. Give you choices. Soon you'll have confidence that any ball in your bag is a viable option on any lane condition. So the next time you're out polishing your A game, work on the alternatives. Anything you can do to change speed, rev rate, or axis rotation is the goal. The trick is to be able to read a lane and give it what it's asking for as quickly as possible. To throw one shot and make educated complex moves; ball, feet, target, and hand to go from a weak reaction to a strong one... now that's real bowling.
Everyone has an "A" game, the unconscious method where you put the ball in your hand, stare at a target and let it fly. You might change the ball or move your feet or target but when the "salt and pepper" doesn't work, that's when you need to think outside the box.
There are lots of ways to deviate from your mindless game into something that matches up the conditions better. It's the gray area of your timing and release. What can you change? Three things: your speed, axis rotation and rev rate. Same as in billiards, you can change how hard, the spin or English and the rate of spin. Same philosophy in baseball. Some pitchers are speed orientated, 100mph guys but the ones who truly know how to pitch, change speed, arm angle, and amount of break to deceive the batter.
There are as many ways to alter your game as there are styles of bowlers. What works for me might not be the best way for you but I offer it as a guideline.
I change my speed by moving my eyes from the arrows to the dots, holding the ball lower and moving up on the approach about a foot. I focus on gravity governing my arm swing. This method helps on extremely oily lanes to get the ball rolling earlier. Control of my break point is vital and I don't want to spend cover texture to offset the skid. Sometimes a shinier or very mildly dull surface thrown slower is the better alternative with my "B" game than a dull ball with my A game. On this kind of condition, the rev dominant players has an advantage. Not being rev dominant, I have to emulate one. This can be achieved by keeping my hand revs the same and reducing my speed. This method lets me move my feet left when most tweener/stroker types are grabbing super dull stuff or super strong cores and moving right.
I can change my axis rotation or turn from up the back, about 15 degrees to an aggressive 45 degrees. This causes the ball to clear the front part of the lane better, getting farther down the lane, with a stronger angle at the break point. When I have to play deeper in the lane and cover more boards, this helps get the ball to finish stronger. When I'm more on top of my target and playing up the grain of the lane, releasing more up the back of the ball controls the back ends, especially when the lane conditions are fresh. Generally the last part of the lane is more aggressive when the lanes are freshly oiled do I usually don't need to magnify them with lots of side roll.
I change my rev rate or tightness of spin by adjusting my finger pressure. Releasing the ball with my fingers open lets the ball roll off my hand easier while pulling my fingers toward my palm at release gets the weight block energized. Spare shooting is always performed with my hand in the mellow position but if corners are starting to pop up, a little more "hit" can push them out.
Combinations of these choices work excellent together. Heavy oil would suggest less speed, more turn and more hit playing inside. That would be a Shark combo and my B game. My Agame is mellow speed, up the back with mild hit. That's my challenge, sport flavor. In total, 3 pairs or variables create 8 possible permutations so each ball in my bag can have as many as 8 different looks. Combine that with standing anywhere from 10 to 45 and looking 3 to 25, that's plenty of choices to find the lane's key to higher scores.
Think of bowling as a combination lock. Left 25, Right 17, Left 3? I think that was my locker combination in high school! Well bowling is the same thing. What-Where-How. BALL - ALIGNMENT - TIMING / RELEASE.
There are ways to practice these combos. Start by leaving your resin balls in the bag. Grab your plastic. Bowl. and score. Shoot ALL your spares with it too. When your done, move 5 boards deeper in the lane. Think you're throwing it too hard? You probably are so slow down, lift the ball, turn it. Be patient and let it swing. Less grab, more flow. Gravity fed bowling. Slow your feet and feel your shots. Move outside. Play the gutter shot with your plastic ball. Grab something reactive and practice playing the lane wrong. Stand where there's no shot and make it work. The best bowlers in the world have dozens of changes with many levels for each characteristic and they can dial it in like a recipe from a cookbook.
Practice like this will stretch your game. Give you choices. Soon you'll have confidence that any ball in your bag is a viable option on any lane condition. So the next time you're out polishing your A game, work on the alternatives. Anything you can do to change speed, rev rate, or axis rotation is the goal. The trick is to be able to read a lane and give it what it's asking for as quickly as possible. To throw one shot and make educated complex moves; ball, feet, target, and hand to go from a weak reaction to a strong one... now that's real bowling.
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