Bowling Better with
Coach Brian
Be Aware of Your RX for Improvement
By Brian Dodds
Prompted by an e-mail from a reader, I realized that many bowlers don’t follow-up with their instructors after taking a lesson. Conversely, I suspect many instructors do not follow-up with their students. One process change I recommend is to establish a three-lesson plan. Reserve at least three dates, each approximately two weeks apart to allow time for practice and competition, to enable time to adjust and get some feedback for your instructor. Why do I suggest this approach? Sometimes a seemingly small change is really a major one and can either be difficult to accomplish in and of itself, or the change will trigger something else to go awry. A “checkup” visit is required before your whole game is thrown off.
But back to my reader’s message. He was having some difficulty and was inconsistent. Being a dedicated individual who is into all aspects of the game including exercise and nutrition I was curious to know more about his game and what could have led to his woes. He responded with some important information that produced that magic “aha” moment. My reader had a lesson from a well-known instructor and had made a ball position change. Moving the ball approximately half-way between his shoulder and navel in the address position had been done to provide him with better balance and a better leverage position at release. This change requires the bowler to have a slight cross-over step with the first ball-side foot step to enable a path for the arm-swing to stay straight. I don’t recommend this for the average player but my reader is not the average player.
The catch with this “pro” move is that it can easily alter some other facet of the bowler’s approach and soon throw one’s physical game totally out of kilter. Not too long after having initial success, that is exactly what happened. Perhaps the instructor did not explain what to watch for, good and bad. I have no way of knowing. But if the results do not show either steady improvement or a new level of success over several weeks, it is incumbent upon the athlete to re-visit the instructor, at the very least with a phone call.
Often times even a small change provides an athlete with information overload and that may have happened in this case. I have give you a synopsis of the events but there is much more detail that I would have provided had I instructed this bowler makeover move. I suspect that may have been the case with my reader and his instructor. The brain, as we come to know more and more about it, needs reinforcing messages to solidify new information. If you are learning something new from your instructor, be sure to call, write or better yet, set up follow-up appointments to make sure you ingrain your latest change.
The end result of our e-mails was success for my reader when he realized from my diagnosis what the missing element was in his change and the issues it had caused. If you don’t make the crossover step correctly you will likely end up with a back-swing outside your body and the result will be a release left of your target line. You will still be off-balance and, worse yet, see your scores be very inconsistent instead of improving. For the best RX for improvement; see your “bowling doctor” for an initial diagnosis and schedule a couple of checkups at the same time.
“If you like bowling, pass it on!”
Bowlers Journal 100 Top Coaches, USBC Master Bronze Instructor & USBC Silver Coach