Chapter 10. Common Faults and Their Remedies

Even the experts bowl badly at times, but one of the chief differences between the top-score and low-score bowlers is that the former learn to recognize their faults and get rid of them.

Following is a list of the more common faults and what to do about them.

Improperly facing pins at start.

By this we mean having one shoulder ahead of the other, not standing in an easy, relaxed style or not facing the target you desire to hit. As a result, you do not go up to the foul line in a straight line.

If you are crouched tensely, you will probably finish with a sidearm explosion instead of a smooth, easy delivery.

REMEDY. Take a relaxed, easy position, with your eyes directed straight forward and your shoulders parallel to the foul line. In your starting position, check yourself to make sure that you are facing directly forward.

First step out of line.

A bad beginning that almost always results in a poor ending. If your first step is out of line, you will proceed toward the foul line in zigzag fashion, or go toward your target at a bad angle. You may wind up delivering the ball from the center of the alley instead of from the corner where you intended to release it.

REMEDY. Be deliberate on your first step. Make it short and make sure your step is directly toward your target.

Allowing the right shoulder to be pulled back.

The right shoulder may be dropped (as the weight of the ball makes itself felt on the downward swing), but the ball's weight must not be allowed to pull the shoulder back so that you are turned to the right instead of facing the target.

REMEDY. As the ball swings downward and backward past your right leg, make certain that your body and head are directed straight forward, and that the ball is taken straight back. By using the right shoulder as the pivot base for the arm swing, you will not bring the ball back too high.

Not keeping the arm close to the body.

This probably applies more to women than to men. If one allows the ball to swing outward and away from the body during the back-swing, it will cause the forward swing to take an outside-in arc, making the bowler deliver either a "backup" ball or an across-the-body ball that is very inaccurate.

The trouble with this sort of argument is that the player has forgotten the number of times he failed to make the spare. He could increase his average several points a game if he really went at his spare shooting scientifically.

REMEDY. Remember to take the ball straight back-not outward. Keep the right arm close to the body in a natural manner.

Too high a backswing.

Probably one of the cardinal sins of bowling. It causes the bowler to throw the ball instead of roll it, forces him off balance at the delivery, and makes him hop at the foul line.

REMEDY. Let the ball swing backward naturally in a smooth, easy motion. Do not try for speed. Concentrate on timing and rhythm. As a general rule, do not take the ball back any higher than your shoulder. All you are seeking is enough momentum on the downswing to allow the ball to roll the alley distance at natural speed.

Not enough backswing.

This fault is committed more by women than by men. If you do not take the ball back far enough you will have to push it on the delivery, you do not have natural speed, your follow-through is poor, and the ball may be pulled out of line, which results in inaccurate shots.

REMEDY. Let the ball swing back naturally as far as it will go. When it has reached the peak of its arc, let it come forward on the downswing with the weight of the ball furnishing the necessary power for a smooth delivery.

Never overthrow the backswing

Lunging at the foul line.

Not only beginners, but even those who have been bowling for years, often lunge at the foul line, which throws off the timing, makes the delivery jerky, forces the bowler to snap the ball and, as a result, makes a smooth follow-through impossible.

REMEDY. Make each step deliberate and smooth, and every motion flowing. Remember that your slide to the foul line is merely a smooth glide intended to bring your left foot, your body, and the ball up to the foul line in a natural, easy motion which imparts the necessary momentum to the ball.

Turning the ball too soon.

Here is a fault that makes your hook erratic and inconsistent. Sometimes it will "take" and sometimes it won't, because the ball is spinning like a top, and anything can happen. This is also a common cause of sore thumbs, because the ball rotates on the thumb instead of off the fingers. It also brings about a poor follow-through.

REMEDY. Turn your ball after it has passed your left foot.

Overturning the ball.

This results from snapping, twisting, or jerking the ball at the moment of release-trying to put too much "stuff" on it. Bear in mind that you cannot "lift" or roll the ball when you force it.

REMEDY. Let the ball do the work. Let your thumb and fingers come out of the ball easily and smoothly. Try to make the release a "flowing" motion.

Wrong finishing position.

This could describe any of the positions of a bowler whose left knee is not bent, whose body is not bent from the waist down, whose left foot is parallel to the line, or whose shoulders are not parallel to the line. His right foot may have swung so far around that his body is turned sideways, and his right arm may finish out of line, too high or too low.

REMEDY. Finish with your left foot pointing straight forward, left knee bent, body bent from the waist down, shoulders squared to the foul line, right leg in back of you but not necessarily touching the floor, and the right arm extended straight out toward your target as though reaching for the pin or pins you are attempting to hit.

Lack of concentration.

How often one sees a bowler who apparently is trying to keep up his social contacts when he is up there ready to bowl! In other words, when he should be concentrating all his thoughts on the pins down there at the end of the lane, he is joking with his teammates or opponents, talking to the fellow on the next lane, or letting his eyes roam around to see who the latest arrivals might be.

REMEDY. When you step up onto the approaches, banish from your mind every thought except how to topple those pins. Try to recall how your ball acted on this lane previously. If you are shooting a spare, be sure to play it from the correct angle. Confine your entire thinking to the length and width of the alley itself.

Tightening up in the delivery.

This usually manifests itself at the start in a jerky motion, and at the finish in an unnatural delivery. There is no smoothness apparent anywhere, for one must be relaxed to be smooth.

REMEDY. When you feel yourself tightening up, stop a moment and relax. Then take up a comfortable starting position, tell yourself that you are going to concentrate on smoothness and timing, and then get your approach under way with a short, deliberate, first step.

Releasing the ball too soon.

When a bowler releases the ball too soon, he winds up with a very low follow-through or none at all, and therefore finds it difficult to direct the ball in the desired path to the target. He also cannot develop a grooved delivery, but instead produces a jerky motion that cannot fail to have ultimate bad effects, from a standpoint of both accuracy and smoothness.

REMEDY. Wait until the ball has passed your left foot before you release it, and then release it as smoothly as possible. If you do this, you will maintain control of the ball until the last possible instant and will have a better follow-through. For the better bowlers, this means adjusting one's self at the last fraction of a second in the delivery.

Not releasing the ball soon enough.

By hanging onto the ball too long, you lose the desired smoothness. The ball is pitched or thrown out onto the lane. It bounces, loses its "stuff" and in general is not effective.

REMEDY. After the ball has passed your left foot, allow the fingers to come out of the ball easily and effortlessly. Keep in mind that the trajectory of the ball from where it leaves your hand to the point at which it touches the alley surface should be a low one, and that the ball should leave the fingers in such a manner that without any effort expended the ball lands on the polished surface of the lane past the foul line. Let the momentum of the easily swinging ball carry it out over the line.

Worrying over immaterial details.

Too many bowlers have their minds occupied with unimportant things that make no real difference in their game, and these serve only to prevent them from concentrating on the really important fundamentals. As an example, quite often bowlers come to me and say that after they have inserted their thumb and fingers in the ball, they are at a loss to know where to place their forefinger and little finger. Actually, this makes little or no difference at all.

I tell them to pick up their ball from the rack and then put it back again, several times in fairly rapid succession. When they have done this four or five times and are becoming accustomed to holding it, I ask them to observe the manner in which they are holding the ball. The chances are that the grip they are using then is their natural grip and is the one they should continue to use.

Another question that is often asked is, "What do I do with my left arm?" I had occasion to go into that subject years ago. I was watching a league of male keglers and happened to observe what each man was doing with his left arm during the approach and delivery. I saw practically every person using his arm differently and concluded that it was entirely a matter for each individual-that each used it as a natural balance, even though the methods of use differed widely.

Intrigued with this discovery, I dropped in a few minutes later where my wife was bowling.

As I came in, she was regarding with satisfaction her three straight strikes which she had scored to open her game. As she arose for her fourth frame, I whispered, "What do you do with your left arm when you bowl?"

Puzzled, she considered it for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders helplessly. But I could see her pondering as she stood out there ready to roll her next ball. Then she started forward, her left arm held out rigidly and unnaturally from her side, and delivered a jerky ball that wound up in the right-hand gutter. I don't mind telling you that I was out of that seat and heading for home before she could get back from the foul line!

I cite these examples just to show some instances of how inconsequential and unimportant details can clutter up your mind and keep you from concentrating on the really important things. The position of the index and little fingers on the ball and the "what to do with the left arm" are things that one settles naturally for himself.

REMEDY. Don't try to make the game any harder than it is by looking for things that don't matter anyway. Put all your concentration on things like footwork, backswing, facing directly forward with your shoulders parallel to the foul line, etc.

Playing wrong angles for strikes.

If you roll a straight ball, you have a better percentage of success when you play your ball from the proper angle-in this case, the right-hand corner of the approach. Your chances of carrying the 5-pin are increased if you hit the desired 1-3 pocket. On the other hand, if you play it from the improper angle, say, from the center of the alley, your chances of leaving the 5-pin are increased because of the deflection of the ball after striking the 1-pin.

Conversely, playing a hook ball from the right-hand corner of the alley decreases your chances for strikes, because in many cases it comes into the pins too strongly from an outside angle and tends to leave standing either the 4-pin or the 4-9 setup. One should move more toward the center for a hook delivery.

Starting a curve ball too far to left of center results in "closing the angle" on the 1-3 pocket and thus increases the chances for the 10-pin to remain standing. That pin is left standing often enough (as I can attest), and there is no point in magnifying this disadvantage.

REMEDY. As a general rule, roll a straight ball from the righthand corner, a hook ball from a three-quarter angle, and a curve from a point near the center.

Bear in mind that changing alley conditions will force you to vary the point of delivery. In other words, suppose that you roll a hook ball and you find that your ball is not coming up to the 1-3 pocket but instead is hitting the 3-pin practically dead center. If you are satisfied that you have been throwing your normal ball, your way of correcting this is to move farther over toward the right-hand side and deliver your ball more directly toward the 1-3 pocket.

On the other hand, if your hook ball has been "crossing over," or hitting the 1-2 pocket or left-hand side, you should reverse the above procedure. This time your move is farther toward the left of the alley and you direct your ball a bit farther to the right than before. The same thing, with variations, is true of the straight ball and the curve ball.

Playing wrong angles for spares.

While this has been covered in our chapter on spare bowling, we might mention again that our idea in shooting spares is to hit each one dead center. Playing spares from the wrong angle increases the chances of missing them.

REMEDY. There are three basic spare angles-the 7-pin, the 5-pin, and the 10-pin angle, with slight adjustments for individual spares. These angles are shown in the accompanying diagram. On it you will see the orthodox manner of correctly playing these basic angles, and you can make your own adjustments depending upon your type of ball and the setup of the spare.

Frequently I have been asked if one should aim directly at the pin or pins he is trying to hit, no matter what type of ball he throws.

The answer to that is "No." The straight-ball shooter should aim directly at the pin. The hook-ball artist sights at the right side of the pin, and the curve exponent directs his ball to the right of the pin, just how much depends upon the size of the curve. The backup bowler, on the other hand, directs his ball toward the left side of the pin, since his ball, curving to the right, will compensate for the difference. The spot bowlers will aim for a target in line with these general rules.

Improper follow-through.

Several bad forms of follow-through are common. First, there is no follow-through at all, where the arm halts at the left leg or thereabouts during the delivery. Then there is the type in which the arm goes out and away from the body, or across the body. And there is also the too-high follow-through, which causes the bowler to throw the ball instead of rolling it with the result that he has no chance to correct his delivery.

REMEDY. The correct follow-through is the easiest way to bowl well. After you have come up to the foul line in a smooth, unhurried approach, bend as you deliver, allow the ball to leave your hand through its own momentum, let your fingers come out of the ball naturally, and continue the arc of your arm swing until your hand has passed in front of your face and in line with the pin or pins you are trying to hit.

Footwork too fast.

Taking your steps too fast results in your "running away from your right arm." This immediately causes poor timing and poor balance, and it builds up a poor finish, because the faster you go, the faster you must stop. This sudden stop usually brings about fouls, jerky and inaccurate deliveries, and a complete lack of consistency.

Each delivery is different from the preceding one.

REMEDY. Your first step determines whether you have rhythm and timing throughout your approach and delivery, so start off slowly and deliberately, taking a short stride on your first step and making your pushaway motion a studied, careful procedure instead of a hurried, jerky attempt to get the approach over with as quickly as possible. Make sure that you walk toward your target.

Steps too long.

When this occurs, your body sways from side to side with each exaggerated step, your timing is thrown off, you are tense and off balance, and, as a consequence, you are awkward at the foul line. Chances are, too, that you will finish over the foul line.

REMEDY. Begin slowly, with the aforementioned short step, and then increase the length of the paces gradually. Make sure that at all times your shoulders are squared to the target and that you walk in a direct line to your objective.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...