Feeling proper Grip Pressure and a pure pendulum swing:

By Louis Marquez
Head Coach for Turbo Tech
At Turbo 2 n 1 Grips

 

  In my many travels around the world coaching and working with students at different levels in the sport of bowling and at our training facility I see many unique ways of creating a so called pendulum swing. For some proper ball reaction is developed with a pure pendulum motion created at the very start of the swing and for others they struggle with grip issues, erratic swing direction and inconsistent releases at the release point.

 Our tip today details what different players with different style at the very top of their game share as a whole when it comes to the pendulum swing.

 First let's look at the grip. A proper fingertip grip is one that allows your hand to support the weight of the ball with the finger pads along with the base of the thumb. If the thumb hole is to large then squeezing with the thumb tip will occur causing blistering, knuckling and excessive skin damage and swelling. To small of a thumb hole will now cause excessive swelling due to loss of blood flow around the thumb and causing the hand to create friction calluses to protect the high abrasive action for this improper feel. Now worn finger grips or finger holes that are to large will cause the grip pressure to be excessive. Cuts on the crease of the finger and or burning or discoloring of the finger at the tip where all of the nerves ending are can be evident.

 But let's assume we have found the right grip for our flexibility with the help of our Pro shop technician. Now let's take a look at the start in our stance.

 With today's top Pros many of them are trying to create a feel in the stance which allows them to feel an even distribution of the ball weight. What I mean by this is to take the total weight supported by your hand and redistribute it with the help of the non bowling hand. Many a time I have seen video of students that would say that they are sharing the weight evenly with both hands, yet have the gripping hand under the ball and the opposite hand on top. Unless they have the ability to palm the ball then I would say "not possible."

 The proper feel that is required is,  one were equal distribution in weight with each hand placed under the "equator of the ball or the Horizontal center of the ball. For example if the weight is 14lbs then 7 pounds in feel in either hand is the target. (See picture #1 for illustration)

   Now on to start of the pendulum swing. At the start of the swing for your particular timing sequence the push away direction should be in a direction where gravity is used to help create a free movement. What I mean by this is that the ball movement should be moved out and downward or a movement of unfolding of the arms. This type of technique will create the proper shape in the pendulum as to not have sharp edges or a mechanical feel. You are trying to create an Arc with the swing and the swing should be rounded not curled upwards and downwards.

   The use of the non bowling hand is as important to this swing as the gripping hand. With the non gripping hand placed under the ball to help distribute the weight it should also tell us how far out to project the ball in the push away to create the start of the arc motion.

  Let's take a look at our hand and arms for a moment and simulate holding a ball with even weight in each hand in front of your shoulder. Now project the ball straight out horizontally as if it were on a kitchen table, notice that the distance of the NON BOWLING hand and arm are further out and straighter than the bowling arm. Also notice that the bowling arm is also slightly bent and NOT FULLY EXTENDED. This motion of softness is what we are trying to maintain. (See picture #2 for illustration)

    At this point the arm with the ball in hand will start to fall and only be fully extended when it is in its downward motion into the swing. The bowling arm should never be locked while it is going out horizontally as this would create excessive force of muscle tension and increased grip pressure.

   This method in the start is common amongst the very best in our sport that have free swings. They tend to use the non bowing arm as a limiter to help them project the start and also use this as a trigger to tell the arm to drop the ball into the swing allowing the weight to transfer with the help of gravity and allow the ball to swing freely. Keep the thought of a rounded downward arc shape. This is what we are trying to achieve as if the ball was now to fall off the kitchen table or the thought of presenting a gift to a anouther person. (See picture #3 for illustration)

  I have seen many players try to pick up the ball and place it into a higher position than what was started at the back of the approach. This technique time and time again has raised some concerns for me because of the fact that it takes more muscle tension to bring an object of any heavy weight up to a higher elevation. Think of a box with 15 pound inside and the force generated to put it on a shelf higher than yourself. Squeezing of the hands and muscle tension from the arms is created to perform this task, not very good fundamentals for a free swing.

 As the ball now drops into the swing the grip pressure because of the light ball weight at the start will be very low and limited. This is a good thing because the feel should be as if we are trying to hold onto a small pet animal as a bird or cat. If the tension were to severe then instant muscle tension would soon follow causing you to commit to this pressure as we can not at any time during the swing relax the grip. This action would soon cause difficulties in coming out of a proper fitted ball with the correct pitches and hole sizes.

 As the swing now starts its downward movement no abrupt change in the swing should occur. Don't pull back on the arm or control the rate at which it falls as this would increase grip pressure and muscle tension and also don't pull down on the arm as it starts its downward momentum from the top of the back swing. Let your body angle, ball weight and ball starting height dictate the speed along with your foot speed moving to the front of the approach at the foul line. I tell bowlers all the time to "let the ball control you and for you to not control it".

 On to the release or the moment of truth. It is this part which confuses many as there are many different ways to release a ball to create a rotational spin and orbital tilt on the lane.       

  The importance of keeping the hand stable at release is the goal as there are many ways to do this. Your goal is to create a technique where at the release the thumb loosen it's grip of the ball as it passes the heel of the shoe and OPENS the hand but transfer the weight of the ball to the fingers pads at about the distance from the front of the shoe to about 6"-8" in front of the shoe on the lane. This motion will allow the pad and palm of the hand to roll the ball forward and create a "Flat spot" in the arc of the swing causeing the ball to reach it's maximum rev potential for your style and allow the ball to gently roll into the lane as if a plane were landing into a runway at the airport.

   Well I hope this tip brings to light some new ideas about the free arm swing as created by some of the best players in our sport.

Good Luck.

Louis Marquez

USBC Gold

Turbo Tech

lmarquez@turbogrips.com

www.turbogrips.com