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I just started bowling again about 3 months ago after taking about 12 years off. I bowled a ton when I was younger and fell off shortly after starting college. Getting the details back down is slow going, my aim is still pretty questionable and my release is all over the place. Picked up a new ball since my hand has changed a bit too much (still had an Ebonite Apex Adrenaline and XXXcel), grabbed the Ebonite Affinity. I hopped into a league that needed a spot filled, and I've been averaging about 170. Going by the shop tomorrow to ask for coach recs and to see if it's worth re-slugging and refinishing the XXXcel since the span still fits okay but the thumb hole is huge. The Apex was too far gone span-wise so I got rid of it, but if I can breathe some life into the XXXcel it might help me out in heavier oil (hit or miss whether they lay down fresh right before my league so far).
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Nov 11, 2017 07:02
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 22:30 |
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Yeah, I didn't plug and redrill, doesn't seem worth it at all. I went in and did have him drill out the slug that was in there and throw a new one in so he could fit it to my thumb, and he sanded it down a bit. I've thrown it for a game or two since then and it still hits great, still hooks decently enough too. It'll be a good compliment to the Affinity while I'm ramping back up. Shot 215/217/157 at league this week, barely missing my first 600 since returning. Got a killer headache at the end of the night, and my thumb was swelling a bit too much before I stopped being an idiot and took some tape out of the thumb hole. The lanes were good to me, for sure, but I'm feeling more comfortable and confident in my release which is a welcome change.
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Nov 18, 2017 01:42
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Double posting since this thread is quiet as hell and I feel like nerding out. Since I learned to bowl in the mid-late 90s, I was taught a traditional release, lifting, etc. As I gained more experience I experimented a little more and ended up developing somewhat of a hybrid between that and what you see in the modern release. I have a high backswing, at the top I get my hand all the way on the inside, cock my wrist on the way down, but on release I still come around the outside a little with a straight wrist and really late timing. Back when I had this down it worked pretty well for me, somewhat speed-dominant, and when I stopped I had hit a bit of a plateau where addressing this weird release would've probably helped me out. Now that I'm re-teaching myself to bowl, my release is probably the shakiest part of my shot so I want to address it. I'm incredibly speed-dominant right now making it really difficult for me to be able to bring the ball back in any amount of oil, and if I'm having an off night (see my first two games in league last night) I'm basically throwing a straight ball. I have some amount of muscle memory for my old release but this is probably the best time for me to learn something new if I'm ever going to. Just spent a good hour running foul-line and one-step release drills. Tried a couple of full approaches at the end but was still falling into old habits. This poo poo's hard. Gonna try running drills like this once or twice a week if I can, and I've got a first session with a coach this weekend.
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Nov 30, 2017 21:44
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It went really well and we mostly focused on my approach rather than my release. The major changes are: 1) 5 step approach instead of 4. This helps my timing a little and it's something I've never really done. 2) Stand taller in my setup. I'm tall and I've always had a habit of bending my knees a lot at the start, which of course then I stand up while walking, and bend down again during slide. 3) Don't be so square to the lane throughout approach (namely backswing). I was always taught to stay square with the lane, but this is problematic during backswing. I've always dropped the ball pretty far from my ankle which is a symptom of this. Need to open my shoulders during the backswing. 4) When I was trying to get inside the ball near the top of my backswing, I was actually getting completely underneath it, and pulling it back outside of my head (backview shows the ball up & to the left from my head at top of backswing). 5) Stay behind the ball during backswing (learnings from point 4), through release & start working toward getting inside the ball there. This was really the only thing about my release we discussed. For now he wants me to focus on the rest of it and just stay completely behind the ball, and as I get comfortable working on the rest of the changes, I can start trying to work inside the ball a little. I do have video of myself from a couple months ago so I can try to analyze my approach a little, but I had missed a lot of his observations. He took some video and had a cool app where he could play two side by side so I got to see the before and after of my approach. I've gone a couple times since to work on it and it's definitely still not muscle memory at this point but it's getting there. My targeting has been thrown way off and in about 8 games worth of practice yesterday it was an outlier for me to hit whatever mark I was aiming for, so that's going to take some time to figure out again. When I can get someone to take some video of my new approach I can post them up side by side if anyone's curious. It's a pretty drastic change for me. I've got league tonight so we'll see how that goes with all of the changes. EDIT: He also heavily advised I grab a spare ball, which I agree with, but I've been trying to not build up so much new equipment so fast (considering I've bought 2 balls already since returning). I had one when I bowled before, but unlike the rest of my arsenal, it was 16 lbs because I was thinking about moving to that. Got rid of it since I decided to stick to 15. rivals fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Dec 6, 2017 |
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Dec 6, 2017 19:19
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Hahah, that sucks and I feel for you if for no other reason than the fact that my team did that about 2-3 weeks ago. We're second-to-last only ahead of an all-blind team to round out the league and we took all 3 + series from the first place team. They were none too pleased. One of them jokingly told a couple of us that he doesn't want to see our averages in the 160s next time we bowl them.
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Dec 6, 2017 22:42
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 22:30 |
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Quick brag. Last night I shot my highest game and series since returning. 176, 212, 256 for a 644 series. In the third game I got the front 7, but nerves were steadily creeping up since the 5th. 8th came off my hand weak and left the 2-4-5. Picked it up, left the 4 in the 9th and closed it out with a strike and spare in the 10th. We still got bopped by the other team though, one of them opened up with a 289 in the first game, and I think they all shot 15+ pins over their average each game. Was feeling out and experimenting with my swing and release a lot throughout the night. When I actively think about it, I can feel myself muscling the ball and get myself to stop, but when I focus on keeping a strong wrist and staying behind the ball I go back to muscling it. Need to work on balancing that and having more of a free arm swing through release.
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Dec 14, 2017 20:32
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