Releasing the Bowling Ball
There are many options for establishing and adjusting the ball path and reaction as it travels down the lane. Some of these optionsare:ball selections from your arsenal of balls, ball surface changes, angle adjustments, speed adjustments, and loft adjustments, and of course, most basically, hand release adjustments that can be implemented when a specific ball reaction is called for. This section is focused on primary ways to release the ball to achieve the desired ball reaction.
There are many ways of releasing your bowling ball. Deciding which is best suited for you can greatly affect the path of the ball as it is released from your hand. Which is the right way? The fact is that most of them are right for specific actions. Each can, and will at times, perform better on the lanes than the other releases. Adjust your release to fit the situation.
It is important to establish a single, reliable release as the foundation for your game for a specific lane condition. Your basic release provides the most accurate release you can consistently deliver on a specific lane condition.
First, some basics
As the ball exits your hand at the moment of release, your hand should continue toward your target following the intended ball path. Ideally, the inner side (the soft side) of your elbow should be facing the pins at the moment of release. Also, it is key to preventing the elbow from rotating away from the body and “chicken winging” the arm, to keep the inside edge of your elbow near your body on the forward swing as you release the ball. One concept is to call the inside of your elbow your “bowling eye”. You should always keep your eye on the ball as it is released. You can maintain this technique as you focus on your hand action adjustments. It is important to avoid rotating your entire arm, only your wrist or hand position when adjusting your rev-rate or power.
Key to any successful adjustment is a commitment toward honest practice and commit to getting proficient at developing variations to your prime release technique. To not make that commitment, will most likely be the cause of stagnation in your game. There is but one way to improving your release, and that is practice.
Wrist and Finger Adjustments
In most sports, advanced players adjust to playing conditions and situations they confront. Golfers select clubs and/or adjust their hand, shoulders and swing positions as they adjust to changing wind conditions, the distance to the hole, or the shot they see in front of them. Baseball pitchers throw the ball slower, faster, curve or drop the ball for different batters. Baseball batters, on the other hand, adjust their stance, how they hold the bat and the bat that helps them achieve the hit they are attempting. Tennis players select their racquet; adjust their stance, swing and how they hold their racquet to create the ball action that assists them in achieving the best shot.
In most sports, the more tools players has, and knowing when they use them, the better they are. Advanced bowlers learn how to select the appropriate equipment and care for it. They've learned how to control their equipment, and how to read the conditions that challenge them. They hold the ball in a manner that best determines how to hook the ball or keep it from hooking so much, how to make the ball skid further or shorter before turning at the break point. Advanced techniques allow bowlers to adjust for changes in lane pattern changes, the volume of lane oil, and the length of the oil down the lane, the lane surface whether they are wood or various synthetics. Advanced bowlers even hold and deliver the ball according to the temperature inside the bowling center. The list could continue on, but the point is that advanced bowlers have learned how to control the ball and how it reacts.
The more you are exposed to bowling, the more you will notice a wide variety of hand and wrist positions used by bowlers. You, naturally, would hope to select a delivery best suited toward meeting your objectives, but which bowler has the right wrist and finger position? The answer is both! Regardless of the wide variety of wrist styles used in the delivery, it turns out that all of them are functional in one manner or another. There isn't a single wrist position for every bowler and all situations. Each technique has a purpose and each should be part of your bowling toolbox. These varied styles illustrate the fact that bowlers match their bowling style, including their wrist and finger adjustments, according to the ball surface they are using, the lane conditions and their bowling styles. It is key to your success that you should match your bowling style, your wrist and finger adjustments, ball surface and where you play on the lane. That is the secret toward achieving success in the sport of bowling.
Take a Closer Look at Your Wrist and Fingers
There are three movements of the wrist. You can rotate your wrist, move it laterally side to side, and cup or loosen your wrist position. There are several finger adjustments to consider: after placing your fingers in the ball, you can spread or tighten the space of your small finger (pinky) from your ring finger, you can tuck your little finger to the first or second knuckle, and you can spread or tighten the space of your index finger from your middle finger. You can adjust the pressure of your fingers and gripping, and how that action is applied. Finally, you can combine these adjustments to enhance your ability to control ball action. Wow! So what does each adjustment do, and when should you make these adjustments?
Bowling release adjustments
During the release, your wrist and fingers positions can be adjusted without the entire arm rotating. These release techniques include several variations to your standard release. Hand and wrist adjustments can add or limit power that augments your release to compensate for changing lane conditions. An understanding of these techniques adds variables to your game to overcome changing lane conditions.
Rotating the Wrist
Horizontal Wrist Adjustments
Vertical Wrist Adjustments
Finger Adjustments
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There are other considerations other than wrist rotation, but for explanation purposes, we are only focused on the rotation of the wrist in this discussion. The wrist moves on three basic planes: rotational, horizontal, and vertical. In this discussion, we refer only to the rotation around the forearm, and not the horizontal plane toward or outward from the body.
·For explanation purposes, refer to the face of a standard clock having hands.
·Stand erect and let your hands dangle at your sides with your thumbs outward from your body. If you imagine the face of the clock, your thumb will be at around the 3 o' clock position for right-handers or left-handers at 9 o' clock.
·It is recommended that right handers will use thumb positions from 4 o' clock to 11 o' clock (right-handers) and 8 o' clock to 1 o' clock (left-handers).
·Rotating your hand from under the ball and around to the side of the ball from your wrist can be used to raise or lower your ball track. Placing your hand on the side of the ball will cause a lower ball track, and your ball to go longer before it transitions into its hook phase and increase the hook drive. Rotating your hand to be placed behind the ball will raise the ball track, and reduce the hook drive.
·As cautioned earlier, it is important to maintain the angle of your forearm when rotating your wrist. You just want to feel a little more of the weight of the ball on the tip of your index finger as opposed to bending the knuckle to keep your finger in contact with the ball.
·To bowl a straight ball, release the ball with your thumb, ring and middle finger at the 12 o' clock position. This is a common way of throwing the ball for most beginners. The ball will roll straight off the fingers, and the ball will have little or no side rotation.
·To bowl a “full roller”,release the ball with your thumb in the 9 o’clock position, and your ring and middle finger in the 3o’clock position. This is called the “suitcase” release. The ball will be released and roll along a line between the thumb and fingers, and track completely around the ball.Breaking your wrist (moving your ball in a downward direction) will further ensure a full roller.
·To bowl a “3/4-roller”, release the ball with your thumb in the (rh - 1 o’clock) (lh - 11 o’clock) position. The 3/4-roller will rotate around a horizontal plane as it skids down the lane, and the bowler will achieve a curve or hook ball as the ball enters the pins. The ball will track close to, and outside, of the thumb and finger holes. This track is often referred to as a high tracking release.
·To bowl a “semi-roller”, release the ball with your thumb in the (rh 3 o’clock) (lh 9 o’clock) position. The semi-roller will rotate around a horizontal plane more than the 3/4-roller as it skids down the lane, hook and enter the pin deck at a greater angle than the other releases. The ball will track further away from the thumb and finger holes, and is referred to as a medium tracking release.
Return to index
As in the previous discussion concerning wrist rotation, there are other considerations other than wrist rotation, but for explanation purposes, we are only focused on the horizontal movement of the hand in this discussion.
The wrist moves on three basic planes: rotation, horizontal, and vertical. In this discussion, we refer only to the horizontal plane toward or outward from the body, and not the rotation around the forearm.
·For explanation purposes, refer to the face of a standard clock having hands.
·Stand erect and hold your arm forward and away from the body, and your palms facing upward. If you imagine the face of the clock, your thumb will be at around the (rh 3 o' clock) / (lh 9 o’clock) position.
·It is recommended that right handers will use hand positions from 1 o' clock to 10 o' clock (right-handers) or 11 o' clock to 2 o' clock (left-handers).
