HELP !!! it wont hook (new bowling ball)

thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
ok guys.. it's me agin.. i just bought a new bowling ball ( storm eraser banshee) anyhow.. it is sapose to be a good ball for me but i can get her to hook at all.. ( well maybe 5'') and i know it's my release that is wrong.. let me tell u the situation.. i learn to bowl useing 2 fingers.. and i had to like power swing/hook it.. i bowl a 170+- average.. but ever since i bought this new ball and try to bowl with 3 fingers.. ( i dint use my thumb before) i cant get her to hook.. it's like im strait bowling.. this sucks. i ceant even break 100.... can some 1 plzz break down the release part down for me?? ( or even a good video clip)....i already have the form and posture thing down.. but this release is soo wrong.. sometimes the thing flies in the air.. but most of the time it go strait like..
help!!!!!!!! :help: :help: :help:
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
It's going to take some practice and getting used to. My nephew is a 2 finger bowler and tried going to 3 .... needless to say, he's back to 2 fingers. Did you have the ball professionally drilled? The ball is usually drilled differently for hooks. I'd try experimenting with different approaches on the lane and try releasing with you're thumb at the 10:00 position.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
As for video example, the PBA is on ESPN on Sunday's at 12:00. You can learn a lot by recording it and watching it over and over again, but really just watching the approach.
Hopefully it is a fingertip ball. If not, it is difficult to throw a hook without spinning the ball. It may be difficult to throw a hood without spinning the ball anyway though. The key is to make sure your thumb comes out of the ball first (this is why it's so easy to hook it with no thumb). You can do a practice drill by just taking the ball and setting it right next to you in your living room and rolling it in it's spot with some crank. Most can do that relatively easily. That at least gives you the feel for what you need to do at release point when actually bowling.
When you bowl with no thumb, you probably have to "cup" the ball and maybe even bend your elbow to stop from dropping it. Cupping the ball can help generate crank with thumb in too (elbow bend can too, but I highly recommend against doing that). If you start with the ball cupped, try to keep it so through your backswing (it should straighten out a little and that's fine). Also, to prevent from spinning the ball or releasing with your hand on top of the ball (results in quite a horrible shot usually) you want to try to keep your hand directly behind the ball. You may have a tendancy to end up with your hand to the right of the ball. That will work, but you will sacrifice some accuracy. Staying behind the ball is one of the most important things to become a good bowler (although some bowlers are good with a release from the side).
 
jacksdad

jacksdad

Member
Originally Posted by ThaNgBom
ok guys.. it's me agin.. i just bought a new bowling ball ( storm eraser banshee) anyhow.. it is sapose to be a good ball for me but i can get her to hook at all.. ( well maybe 5'') and i know it's my release that is wrong.. let me tell u the situation.. i learn to bowl useing 2 fingers.. and i had to like power swing/hook it.. i bowl a 170+- average.. but ever since i bought this new ball and try to bowl with 3 fingers.. ( i dint use my thumb before) i cant get her to hook.. it's like im strait bowling.. this sucks. i ceant even break 100.... can some 1 plzz break down the release part down for me?? ( or even a good video clip)....i already have the form and posture thing down.. but this release is soo wrong.. sometimes the thing flies in the air.. but most of the time it go strait like..
help!!!!!!!! :help: :help: :help:

Going from a no thumb grip to a regular finger tip grip will decrease your hook tremendously. When you throw the ball without your thumb in it you basically palm the bowling ball which forces your wrist to stay in the strong position until you release the ball. Which creates a large amount of revolutions. Typically call a "crank". When you put your thumb in your wrist will automatically straighten out.
Concentrate on keeping your wrist cupped all the way through your swing (keeping your arm straight) until the point of release, at which time lift through the ball with your fingers. Your thumb should exit the ball before your fingers. This is important, because you will loft the ball too high if it doesn't.
If all else fails play the straight shot. It's not as exciting as the big hook, but it is actually better to bowl with less hook and it carries better.
give it a try,
Bob
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
I agree that a straight shot is more conducive to high scoring these days. Let the ball do the work for you. But you will at least need good roll to get a little hook anyway. Perfectly straight is pretty much worthless. If you can throw it straight enough to hit around 2nd arrow with little arc and be effective your bowling life will be pretty easy. Crankers have to account for many more variables. One can argue that a cranker has more room for error. But the form of the average cranker is more error prone in the first place so it's kind of relative.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
Whatever you do, if you really want to be a good bowler, keep using your thumb. Just practice a lot to get used to it. While it's fairly easy to get an average in the mid to upper 100's with no thumb, most people really have a hard time improving much over that.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
So what is everyone's bowling experience here? I've been bowling most of my life (about 20 years). It was my favorite thing to do in junior leagues. At one time I would bowl about 2 tournaments a month along with 2-3 leagues and about 25-50 games of practice each week. Now I'm down to just one mixed league and a tournament every once in a while. The decrease in games thrown hurts my score a little now.
 
jacksdad

jacksdad

Member
Originally Posted by hagfish
So what is everyone's bowling experience here? I've been bowling most of my life (about 20 years). It was my favorite thing to do in junior leagues. At one time I would bowl about 2 tournaments a month along with 2-3 leagues and about 25-50 games of practice each week. Now I'm down to just one mixed league and a tournament every once in a while. The decrease in games thrown hurts my score a little now.

Sounds very similar to me. I got into my first league when I was 8, been bowling ever since. 32 years
and still no 300, 299, but no 300
And nothing aggrevates me more than a 160 avg bowler shooting 300

Anyhow, I digress! Now I just bowl every Friday and every other Saturday with my wife. My average has been at or within a pin or two of 203 for years. Last year was the first year in a long time that it was down because I broke my hand. All the years have taken there toll on the arm and I am thinking of switching to lefty next year. It will depend on how much practice I can squeeze in during the summer.
Bob
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
You guys are outta my league ..... although I might take you on for your first game as a lefty.
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
Originally Posted by clownfish4
What In The World Dose This Have Anything To Do With Fish!?!?!?!?!?
It's the Aquarium Forum ..... off topic discussions are welcome here, that's what it's for.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
Last year was the first year in a long time that it was down because I broke my hand. All the years have taken there toll on the arm and I am thinking of switching to lefty next year. It will depend on how much practice I can squeeze in during the summer.
My dad switched to lefty maybe 4-5 years ago after cutting off part of his pinky. I think within 2-3 years he got up to about a 150 average (in his prime he was averaging high 2-teens in the urethane days). Now he really didn't practice a whole lot, maybe 5-10 times altogether. If you can actually find time to practice (who can?) then it might not be too hard to pick it up I think. The shot is easier on that side at least.
 
funkyman

funkyman

Member
I had a much better hook when I started using a wrist support aid. It doesn't let your wrist collapse down and really gives you a lot more lift. Mine's called a Cobra. I don't know if they even make them anymore though. It's been about 3 years already since I've league bowled.
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
umm ok guys.. thx for the info but i know all that stuff and most of the flaws that i am doing.. i bowl a 14 lbs ball..( it's like friggin perdy light.. i useually bowl a 15.. and i fling that like nothing.. anyhow.. i can strait bowl this new ball perdy good.. but i dont like it.. cuz it's more of a luck/spare pick up thing.. i want the more solid bet to scoring.. 'X' is what i want.. anyhow.. i know that your thumb is sapose to come out 1st then u pull up like ( as in a salute or hair comb motion) and follow through... the thing i dont understand is when,how and where do i 'flip' my wrist to get this thing to hook.. as is.. when i try.. to really give it some revs.. my thumb stay in and the thing gets air born.. ( i only do this when i think i got it right...) anyhow.. i useually like really really lightly roll the ball down the lane.. and it's still fly down there to the pins.. im just lost as how the release is sapose to be and when to do it.. im not new to bolwing in general ( 3 years).. but i am new to this tip bowling.. ohh yeah.. it's drilled tiped.. with a late hook.. ( this is cuzz the way i use to bowl.. when i used 2 fingers.. i revv it soo much that it looks like it will do a 'u' turn.. so i figured if i get a late hook ball it wil be good..) anyhow..
let me break down my swing form. motion..
i start out 1 arrow to the left of the middle arrow.. ( i do this with this new ball but when i was 2 fingers.. i had to stand in the gutter and aim at the far right arrow cuzz of my mean hook) anyhow.. i hold the ball in my hand with my are at a 90 deg. angle.. then i extend my arm strait foward..then as do my last step foward with my left leg.. this kinda leave my arm and legs behind me.. ( it's only to waist lvl.. i can easily bring it up higher but i dont cuzz i cant controle the hook ) anyhow.. when the ball decends and make it's way faward.. as it reaches about 10''-12'' in front of me i twist my wrist like till my hand is to the right of the ball . ( i lock my wrist and it dont move much if at all.. so my hand is kinda bent foward .. and ass io twist my wrist.. my hand stays behind the ball most of the time.. ) anyhow.. then i hear a PLOP and the ball is down the lane.. going realativly strait with a slight hook.. ( it hooks maybe only 7''........) soo.. what am i doing wrong.. i know it's not the ball cuzz i see the pins fly and get plowed when the ball hits.. ( not like when i was useing the lanes plastic ball dowling 2 fingers and averaging 170 or so..)
ohh and another thing i notice that is going on is that my thumb gets stuck in the bal like.. ( the thumb hoel is loose.. i can spin my thumb in the hole in a circle when it's dry) but as soon as it gets a little wet w/ sweat.. it gets stuck.. peple told me to get a thumb plug thingie.. will it help?? or what should i do??
 
jacksdad

jacksdad

Member
Thangbom:
that was a lot of info and I kinda of got lost in the middle, but the one thing you said was that you are twistng your wrist. You shouldn't "twist" your wrist, instead concentrate on lifting up and around with your fingers. This will give your ball a forward AND side roll that should help it hook. The reason your thumb get stuck could be the "pitch" or angle that your thumb hole is drilled, have the guy you bought the ball from check it.
I would suggest that you go see a pro in your area. (Not the person that sold you the ball), but a teaching pro. Most of them will have video and a computer system so you can actually see your swing. Be prepared to be suprised, I know I was. But it helps a lot.
Good luck,
Bob
 
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