Description
This article was written by Ron Clifton for Bowling This Month Magazine and may not be copied or reproduced without written consent from Bowling This Month. The Six Basic Fundamentals Part 2 Eliminate the Kung Fu Death Grip In part one of this series I shared with you my six basic fundamentals of bowling and how they are all interconnected to produce one complete bowling machine. It has been pretty much a staple in every sport that participants must have the fundamentals mastered before they can go on to become great players. It is also common to hear a great player of any sport emerging from a slump say “I had to go back and work on my fundamentals to get my game back ”. In this series of articles I would like to visit each of the fundamentals and explain what your performance expectations should be from each one and how they interact with each other to produce one big bowling machine. The six basic fundamentals are: 1. Ball fit and weight 2. Armswing 3. Footwork 4. Timing 5. Release 6. Finishing position. Fundamental #1: Ball fit and weight As I mentioned in part one, many bowlers will be surprised that I would consider ball fit and weight as one of the fundamentals. I can guarantee you that an ill-fitting ball or one that is too heavy or too light will kill your game before you even get started. If you have doubts, I suggest you try one of the 16 pound house balls in your center and make a few quality shots. If you have a smallish hand you may even be able to try a house ball that is two or three pounds lighter than your current ball; a ball that is too light will affect your game as well. The house ball is an extreme example, but a less-than-perfect fit of your personal ball will affect you as well; it ’s just a matter of degree. One of the first things I do as a coach after observing a few warm-up shots is check out a student ’s ball for fit and weight. Sometimes I can spot an ill-fitting ball right away, just by watching the bowler ’s swing. If the ball does not fit well or if it needs a few pieces of tape in the thumbhole, the hand will have to squeeze the ball tighter, which puts tension in nearly every muscle in the arm, so the armswing can not flow properly. A hand that is having to grip the ball to keep from dropping it will have a hard time letting go and performing a good release at just the right time …every time. Most bowlers have a hard time identifying the fact that they squeeze the ball too tightly because it is human nature to do so. The inexact science of ball fit I really wish I could just lay out the scientific specs of perfect ball fit so each BTM reader could check their balls, bring them into compliance, and be done with the subject. Unfortunately, that is never going to happen because ball fit is the epitome of an inexact science. The “standards ” for a proper fitting ball has changed over the years and it seems that every expert has their own opinion on what is just right for any given hand. I could send a bowler to five different drilling gurus to have their hand professionally fitted and I can guarantee you that no two balls out of the five would measure up the same.