Bowling: Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
I want to address one of the most common mistakes most bowlers face. Quick footing is a big problem most bowlers deal with, quick footing is when your feet are ahead of the swing during or at the end of the approach. When bowlers are faced with fast feet they generally lose their balance a bit and turn sideways at the end of the approach.
Quick feet also lead to errors in other areas of the bowler’s play, such as dropping the shoulders, the inability to stay down with the shot and keeping his balance on the free-throw line once the ball has gone, and an inconsistent pitch.
Here are some ways you can solve the plague of fast feet, whoops, I meant problem.
The big mistake: bad placement of the ball
Listen carefully when I say that good ball placement is an absolute must, fast feet are related to poor key-step placement. Another mistake is to push the ball up from a waist-high position.
How to fix it: When the heel of your foot hits the ground during the step, try to time your ball placement.
The Big Mistake: Shoulders Too Forward
When the shoulders are too forward, the waist is bent too much and the knees are not bent enough, causing the ball to hit the court too soon, resulting in loss of leverage and a feeling of imbalance during the approach.
How to fix it: Shoulders should be square and knees should be slightly bent. As you start to get closer, your knees should gradually bend (but not too much), and your waist should be slightly bent forward.
Rule of thumb: The deeper your knee flexion, the less you need to bend forward at the waist.
The big mistake: Steps too long
When you take your steps, each one is as slow as molasses (just kidding, I hope they’re not that slow). Holding the steps too long causes the swing to float during the approach, which means you won’t get power behind the ball.
Rule of thumb: If you’re taking a five-step approach, the second step is crucial, so you definitely want to keep an eye on the length of that step.
How to fix it: Since I’m playing the role of the bowling mechanic in this section, I want to help you fix this problem. Take a normal walk step and all other steps will fall into place, during the five step approach the first step is for the drive and is usually shorter than a normal key step.
The Big Mistake: Walking on Tiptoes
This is a very common problem, I knock over a chair every time I see someone tiptoeing during the approach, well maybe it doesn’t bother me that much but I think you get the point. When you tiptoe, you have too much speed on the approach, his shoulders will be too far forward and you will lose a lot of leverage.
How to fix it: To avoid walking on your toes, place your heel first and toes last with each step, this results in a much smoother approach. By walking in this way, you can slow down the entire approach.
Rule of thumb: Since you build momentum from the back-and-forth motion of your feet, your leverage will increase as well.
The Big Mistake: Muscular Arm Swing
Most of the bowlers I deal with think that having all the muscles flexed during the swing will give them more power when releasing the ball. I’m here to tell you that flexing your arms during the arm swing won’t increase your throwing ability, but it will probably win you a bodybuilding contest or arm wrestling contest if you’re lucky. A muscular arm movement can also lead to injuries, such as pain in the arm, shoulder, or wrist.
How to fix it: When you swing the ball, it should come off your shoulder with a minimal amount of muscle flex. If this seems difficult, practice relaxing your arm and just swinging it back and forth without a ball in your hand. Your goal here is to get the arm as relaxed as possible. Doing this allows the weight of the ball to drive the swing through the approach.
Well there you have it folks, the most common mistakes faced by most bowlers who are always wondering why they can’t consistently bowl a strike or why their game doesn’t improve. My auto shop just gave you the solution: It’s to go out and bowl the right way.