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FUNDAMENTALS- BALANCE, BY CHARLEY WILSON
Updated at May 06, 2011 17:17 For me, the three most basic fundamentals for the bowler are balance, a free armswing, and an adequate pace. Of those, the most important is balance. If you have it, however, it is unremarkable. It’s like having adequate lighting while painting a room. You only realize it is important if it’s missing. If, on the other hand, you do not have good balance, at least in the finish position, many other fundamentals will be difficult to master.
We begin the discussion of balance, appropriately, with the stance. Starting with the feet, keep them close together (an inch or so), but not touching. If they touch, the stance will be narrow, which does not contribute to balance; also, moving the first foot may require a sideways movement to clear the other one. Pull your ball-side foot slightly back behind the other one, from an inch or so to 3-4 inches. This helps to position the shoulders and hips along the line you are playing and allows the armswing to be closer to the slide foot. Flex the knees slightly, with the weight balanced on both feet, and the upper body tilted slightly forward from the hips (not the waist). Consider the “ready” position of many athletes in sport (football linebackers, golfers, baseball infielders, etc.). Bowlers simply also have a heavy ball held in front of them; otherwise the positions are remarkable similar.
Hold the ball close to the body to reduce strain on the upper body and arms. The neutral ball height position is approximately at the waist, directly in front of the bowling shoulder. Depending on the type of swing-start used, this height will be modified in later discussions. Support most of the ball weight with the non-bowling arm. This lets the bowling arm relax so the muscles won’t tighten up and restrict the free armswing (more on this later). Lack of swing freedom contributes to balance problems when the body has to get involved in the swing, rather than letting gravity and momentum do the swinging.
Balance is especially significant at the start of the approach. For a 4-step approach, start the ball into the swing in conjunction with movement of the starting foot (right foot, for right-handed bowlers). We will discuss the 5-step approach, and others, at a later time. Since the majority of the ball weight is in the non-bowling hand, use that hand to start the swing. Coaches’ opinions vary regarding the length of the ‘pushaway”. Until you know what works best for you, I suggest you extend the arm until the wrist is approximately over the toe of the starting foot as it completes the first step. You may later decide to modify this distance. The important issue is that you allow the first movement to contribute to a brisk pace (more of this later also), but not cause you to lose your relaxed body position or to run after the ball. Release the ball to drop smoothly into the swing, and let gravity and momentum take over.
Throughout the approach, keep the good upper body position you began with, or even increase your forward tilt angle slightly, but do it from the hips, with a straight spine, not with a bend at the waist. Walk a straight line toward your target, with your feet in line (as on a balance beam) as much as possible. Taking steps widely spaced left-to-right will produce a weaving path and errors in your armswing direction and your balance.
After you release the ball into the swing, extend the non-bowling arm toward your front to counterbalance the weight and momentum of the ball-arm. Failure to use the non-bowling arm for balance may reduce your overall stability, make you use your trunk and waist muscles for balance, and stiffen up your entire body.
As you approach the slide and finish, there is sometimes a tendency to bend over to get the ball lower to the lane (reduces the loud thump). Resist this. Bending forward does several things, all bad. It moves your release point forward relative to your body’s center of gravity (cg), weakening your release. It moves your body’s cg forward toward the foul line, past your stable foot position, reducing your stability. It destabilizes the shoulder from which your ball is swinging just at release, when you need the strongest, most stable base from which to swing. It drops your head from its previously stable position, moving your eyes, your aiming tools, at the time you need them to be the steadiest. So, don’t do it. Keep the established upper body angle and bend the slide knee to get lower instead.
As you slide, be aware of the slide foot position and angle. You need to keep the slide foot under the center of your body, so slide not straight ahead of your last step, but toward the middle of your body. Slide with your foot parallel to the direction of travel or even with your heel in, closer to the center, and the toe out. This position puts your knee in the best position to bend, and not to twist your body in the process. To test this, stand with your feet separated, pointing your toes toward each other. Try to bend your knees. You will find that, in addition to bumping your knees together, the knees don’t want to bend much. Then reverse the angles, with the toes pointing out. The knees bend much more easily. You can see how much more difficult it is to bend the slide knee when you slide with the foot parallel to the foul line. Watch bowlers who do this, and see how much they twist their bodies toward the ball-side. They usually don’t display a great deal of balance, and often step off to the ball-side with the other foot after release.
At finish, “post” your shot. That is, stay in your finish position until the ball hits the pins. Several good things happen. Your stable head and eyes can better see what really happened: you did (or didn’t) hit your target; your ball broke at the right board and distance, the ball was rolling properly when it hit the pins; etc. You can check your slide board to see if you were walking in the intended direction. You know if your release felt the way you wanted it to. Your follow-through went in the right direction. Your armswing was fluid and relaxed.
Strategies. You can’t practice the above balance issues except in practice; true practice. If you really want to fix any balance issues, you have to dedicate yourself to ignoring scores in practice, isolate these issues and focus on them one at a time. Practice the stance and start, keeping the ball swing smooth and consistent, with no approach at all. Place the non-bowling arm in front of you as you start the approach – if you don’t do it right, stop and start over. Spend some time standing at the foul line, using a drill that involves only the finish position and a swing, no approach. You can educate yourself by finding a DVD of USBC Athlete Development Drills at http://usbcsportstore.com/, under the Coaching menu. Good tips are often available at http://bowlingthismonth.com/ or http://bowlersjournal.com/; other educational information is available at www.bowlingbookstore.com or through any Smartbowler Pro Shop. A qualified coach can help you assess your balance situation. Qualified coaches can be found using the “Coaching” menu at http://www.bowlspot.com/ or the “Find a…” function of the USBC website at http://bowl.com/ or, again, through any Smartbowler Pro Shop. Above all, don’t assume that what you need will come to you. Go get it!
Charley Wilson, a USBC Silver Level Coach, has been coaching professionally for eleven years. A retired USAF fighter pilot, he currently works as a coach and pro shop ball fitter/driller. Charley is married (Sheila) and lives in St. Louis, MO. Contact – CGWJR@charter.net
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