These past 3 months of league have been trying to say the least. I’ve been struggling to put games together, I’ve been struggling to find consistency with my release and I’ve been struggling to consistently shoot spares. Now, I know a good portion of the difficulties have come from the number of changes I made to my game in such a short amount of time. To name a few, in no particular order:

• I’ve increased the height of my backswing, bringing the ball past 120° sometimes (assuming 0° is arm at your side). Most of the PBA Power Players, bring their arm to at least 110°. Some go almost 180°.
• I’ve increased the number of revolutions I put on the ball. This is both a positive and a negative, at least at Fugate’s. The upside is, I can play deeper (further to the left) and be confident that my ball will make the turn back to the pocket. The downside is, if I get in to the friction zone too early, the ball takes off to the left, often with bad results.
• I’ve changed the timing of my footwork. A result of the higher backswing, this is definitely a bad thing. I have discovered recently that my timing is a little late. This means my feet get to the line before the ball does. The outcome of this is often twofold: Loss of leverage (less revolutions) and loss of accuracy, with a tendency to pull the ball to the left.
• I’ve open my shoulders and my hips through the approach. This is a product of the higher backswing and is actually partially responsible for the higher backswing. This just makes it easier to play deeper on the lanes and feed the ball to the right. Continue reading →