Question from Ed:
Q – Hi Tony and John,
I am wondering how to determine whether to loft the ball on to the lane or to lay short for best result. I usually release ball at fowl line and let ball roll long thru the oil to breaking point. I use the dots at fowl for releasing points rather than arrows which allows me to keep my head down and better follow thru. I have found when I loft ball 1 or 2 feet out on lane I seem to lose revs and lift on ball and it slides out past breaking point and then I start to turn my wrist over too soon. Laying ball short allows me to stay under ball and get more revs and better reaction. I may have answered my own question but watching tony bowl with different layouts, he sometimes lofts the ball on release and sometimes lays shorter. Does the layout make a difference on release? Thanks Ed
A – This is a great question and topical considering the addition of Mike Jones to our bowling ball reaction videos. The answer is (as it almost always is) it depends. If there is enough oil in the heads, then usually getting the ball onto the surface sooner is better. I personally feel this helps with your timing as well, and keeps you more consistent. Some people either naturally loft the ball, or do it to help clear the heads. Clearing the heads is important if there is not enough oil, or if the heads are burnt up from high rev players.
However, if there is plenty of oil on the lanes, you will experience what you are describing. You will lose that 1-2 feet of time for the ball to setup which will cause it to push further down the lane. And if you haven’t practiced this, your timing will almost definitely be off, decreasing your rev rate and/or speed.
Question from Teejaye:
Q – I currently throw a Storm Furious, which I know is supposed to be a fairly aggressive ball. This is not the case for me… The reason, however, is my fault. I can’t get nearly as many revolutions on the ball as most bowlers out there.. Unless the lanes are really dry, I can’t get nearly as much hook on it as other bowlers who throw the same ball. Save from buying an even more aggressive ball, what are some things I can do to get some more rotation on the ball?
A – Ah, one of the great questions asked by bowlers all the time. How do I get more revolutions and hook. The biggest deterrent to bowlers hook potential is the same as the reason for amateur golfers not being able to hit the big drives. It all comes down to timing and balance at the fowl line. The rest should fall into place. So the answer is Practice, practice, practice.
Some keys to increasing your rev rate:
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Practice your balance, you don’t want to be trying to gain balance at the fowl line. When you are not balance, your focus during release becomes “I need to balance so I don’t fall”, which will take revs off the ball.
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Follow through. If you are anything like me, once the ball is off your hand, you stop your arm. I have worked hard on this. You may want to over exaggerate the motion and pretend you are trying to swing your hand all the way back to your shoulder. This is one of the easiest things to remedy, yet it feels so funny for most of us.
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Think “be aggressive”. I was often told this before league when I would ask Tony for advice before going to league. When you are just getting the fowl line, don’t just get the ball off your hand, think I need to be aggressive and swing my hand through the ball and follow through.
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Don’t try to increase revs by twisting your wrist or arm, or coming over the top of the bowling ball. It’s easy to think that if I rotate my hand around the side of the ball that I will increase revs, but it just isn’t true. You are decreasing speed and adding too much side roll.
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