Seven Solid Steps to Successful Scoring - bowling

Bowling Digest, Oct, 2000 by John Jowdy

Despite natural variations from bowler to bowler, all styles incorporate same basic pieces that make up the parts of a winning technique

In this issue and the next, John Jowdy will discuss the basic components of successful scoring technique. This issue will deal with four of the seven aspects he will describe.

PROPER BOWLING EXEcution incorporates several separate exercises. Although they are separate in concept, they are nevertheless woven into one rhythmic motion. The principle practices are stance, or body position; pushaway; armswing; footwork; kneebend; hand position and release; and follow-through. (The following instructions are described for right-handed players; left-handers should execute them in an opposite manner.)

The STANCE, namely the body position, must be relaxed and free of any tension. There are no set patterns. Some bowlers are comfortable in erect positions; others fee snug in a semi-crouched manner. All of these are optional as long as the bowler is comfortable and relaxed. The principle objective is to assume a position that will enable a bowler to begin his approach to the lanes with no restrictions in the ensuing exercises.

While there are varying views among instructors and coaches, I personally prefer a stance that is erect. I am a firm believer in a free armswing delivered from the shoulder point. It is my contention that an erect position permits a freer flow of the arm than one swinging from a lower or crouched stance. It is a moot opinion. Witness the success of Norm Duke, Danny Wiseman, Bob Learn Jr., Tommy Baker, Marshall Holman, Steve Hoskins, Amleto Monacelli, and Rick Steelsmith. All of these players bowl from a slight crouch and all are successful. Coincidentally or not, all of these players are rather slight in build or height. The above stars have the innate ability to relax the arm in the downswing. With the exception of Steelsmith and Monacelli, all feature a semi-controlled armswing.

On the other hand, many of the top PBA players begin their stance in a more erect position. This is very noticeable in the styles of top stars like Mike Aulby, Parker Bohn III, Chris Barnes, Jason Couch, Dave Husted, John Mazza, David Ozio, Pete Weber, Randy Pedersen, Brian Voss, and Walter Ray Williams Jr. It must be noted that this group of players all use a long free armswing generated from a smooth pushaway.

The PUSHAWAY is one of the most vital maneuvers in proper bowling execution. The pushaway, like the stance, has optional features. Many players who operate from a lower or crouched position tend to apply a semi-controlled pushaway. The majority of bowlers in the group I mentioned earlier--Duke, Wiseman, Learn, Baker, and the others--use a lower outward pushaway and partially control it into the backswing.

Fundamentally, an ideal pushaway is one that is self-propelled; that is, the ball is pushed slightly upward in order to create gravitational force. This type of pushaway cannot be exaggerated or done too forcefully--although the grip in the ball is firm, the pushaway must be soft and delicate, sufficiently arced to permit the ball to free-fall into the backswing.

Voss, in my opinion, possesses the greatest fundamentals in the game. He epitomizes a model pushaway: extended, delicate, unforced, and repetitious. Voss' basic game is initiated with this classic pushaway, a maneuver that places him among the smoothest players in the history of the game.

Aulby's incredible success can also be attributed to his superb pushaway. However, Aulby's pushaway is so gravitationally motivated it occasionally induces an early tilt in his approach. This is one of the few flaws in Aulby's game, but it hasn't prevented him from winning 26 PBA titles, including all five major events: the PBA National (twice), the Touring Players Championship, the BPAA U.S. Open, the Tournament of Champions, and the ABC Masters (three times).

Other leading stars who display ideal pushaways are Bohn, Mazza, Ozio, Monacelli, and Walter Ray Williams. However, several outstanding PBA stars do not employ the classic pushaway. Duke, Pat Healey, Weber, and Wiseman push away more in a downward manner. It's a semi-controlled pushaway that, in essence, leads to a partially controlled armswing.

ARMSWING is the manner in which the arm travels from the pushaway to the release point. Here again, you'll find various opinions among leading coaches. Some recommend an outside-inside swing--that is, a pushaway to the right that returns behind the center of the body for a right-handed bowler. This is the modern pattern for players who delight in opening up the lanes by swinging from a deep inside angle to the outside part of the lanes. It is effective when lanes are dry on the outside and permits the ball to enter at an angle, creating a great strike percentage. Conversely, with modern reactive equipment, it can result in some of the ugliest leaves imaginable.

A number of notable coaches recommend the "figure-8" swing. Actually, it's half a figure-8. Years ago the figure-8 was a common maneuver among star players. The ball swung straight back and the hand actually formed a figure-8 pattern. The modern method, as taught by a number of coaches, starts the pushaway toward the left of the body, forcing the swing to bump out to the right away from the body. The armswing returns in a half-figure-8 manner to the top of the forward swing, then descends in a straight path. The objective is to keep the hand under and inside the ball.