SUCCESS BEGINS IN THE STANCE • SNEAK PEEKS OF 4 NEW CENTERS APRIL 2012 • $3.95 • www.bowlersjournal.com Open and Shut Case Pete Weber is the Undisputed King of the U.S. Open U.S. OPEN/ALL STAR TITLES PETE WEBER 5 DICK WEBER 4 Posted with permission from Bowlers Journal International. DON CARTER 4 DrinkReno PinkTargets Breast Cancer 0412_BJI_COVER5.indd C1 4/6/12 8:25:25 AM Clinic Pro Tips And Ball Reviews THE PRO APPROACH BY BILL SPIGNER { [email protected] } Why the Stance Is Important IS THERE A COMMON THREAD in the styles of the best players in work on and be conscious of: • The pre-shot routine. the game? Why are some players better than others? • The stance. • The movement of the ball Thus far, I’ve analyzed from the stance — which is the styles of 16 top pros for very dependent on the stance. BJI, and while some of the I see too many bowlers approaches and deliveries are who pay very little attention similar, no two are exactly to these important funda- the same — nor would you mentals. If you’ve ever taken expect them to be, considering a golf lesson, you know the bowlers are people, not robots. fi rst things the pro will tackle I have always believed in are the set-up and the take- solid fundamentals, with away, because they have a minor exceptions based on the tremendous bearing on the natural game that the bowler series of things that happen has developed. Had Don in the swing and fi nish. Carter, Earl Anthony, Mark In bowling, there are things Roth, Pete Weber, Walter Ray we can control: our set-up Williams or Osku Palermaa to the shot, the movement been taught strict fundamen- of the ball from the set-up tals from the start of their and the fi nish. In between, bowling days, they never we need to “let it go,” yet would have developed their still maintain a connec- own bowling “personality.” Yet tion to the feel of the ball. each has very good funda- As simple as it may mentals relative to his style, seem, the stance is com- even though they all look very plicated. So what does a different on the approach. good stance look like? Once a solid base has been The feet should be square to formed, then the refi ning the target and close together, process can begin. Keep in and the hips and shoulders mind that this is situational; if should follow the align- you have a bowler who is going ment of the feet. You should to bowl just occasionally, or a place a little more weight on beginner, then you must teach the foot opposite of the one the right fundamentals from you start on. The feet can be the start. The difference with slightly staggered, with the Pete Weber has a very good set-up, standing tall with these top pros is that they were everything facing straight ahead. He holds the ball bowling-side foot back. relentless in their practice chest-high with his right hand under it. This places Your knees should have a and desire to get better. his left hand and arm higher, which sets the shoulder slight fl ex — just enough so That said, there are things angle. they’re not locked straight, and that every bowler should not so much that it tightens www.bowlersjournal.com Posted with permission from Bowlers Journal International. April 2012 | Bowlers Journal International 55 Clinic Pro Tips And Ball Reviews Wes Malott has a very relaxed set-up, with his feet straight ahead, the ball about waist-high, both hands Osku Palermaa eschews the traditional set-up. Note supporting it, his wrist fl at, and his arms hanging how his left arm is out from the body and more in relaxed from the shoulders, which are set at a good front of it. His left hand is in front and a little to the angle. While starting the ball in the center of the body outside of the ball, and his bowling hand is way “in- is not recommended, Malott makes it work thanks to side” the ball. his ball movement, swing and walk. the thigh and glute muscles. The upper portion and bottom of the ball. (Basi- ing your target line. The height of the body should have a slight forward tilt. cally, the weight of the ball would be ball in the stance can be anywhere As for the bowling ball, it should be distributed across both hands, with the from below the waist to chest high. in line with the bowling shoulder, and pinky fi ngers pointing at each other.) The basic rule of thumb for ball height the bowling-side elbow should rest The bowling-side shoulder should is: The faster your tempo, the lower you close to the side. The non-bowling hand be lower than the non-bowling side’s, hold the ball, and the slower your tempo, should be on the side portion, back and the shoulders should be fac- the higher you hold it. There are always 56 Bowlers Journal International | April 2012 Posted with permission from Bowlers Journal International. www.bowlersjournal.com Clinic Pro Tips And Ball Reviews exceptions, like Mika Koivuniemi, who If you have a smart phone, down- Knowing what you look like will help holds the ball low but has a slow tempo; load a camera app — most developed you better understand and connect with his pushaway takes care of that. so far have been for golf, and they what’s really happening in your approach. Hand positions among the top pros work just fi ne for bowling — and have are quite varied. There are many “right” a friend take shots of your delivery. For archived “Pro Approach” positions. But you should strive to rotate You then can look at them instantly. features, visit billspigner.com. the hand open to the point where the weight of the ball is going to the outside of the hand. You can have the hand open provided that you don’t engage the muscles in the forearm, which can tighten the muscles all the way up to the neck. If you follow the guideline of the op- posite hand placement on the ball, you will be able to suffi ciently open the hand by rotating the opposite hand toward the top of the ball, with the non-bowling elbow higher than the bowling elbow and more out in front of the chest. This will help keep you from tightening up the bowling-side arm, and get your bowling hand more under the ball at the start. Bowl- ers like Ryan Shafer, Sean Rash, Amleto Monacelli and Osku Palermaa do this. Just as important as the set-up is your pre-shot routine. Watch the pros on TV, and you’ll see that the bowlers’ setups are very consistent. Each bowler has his own little quirks, but in general, each will take the same amount of time to set up on each shot. Before they step onto the approach, they’ll be thinking about where they are going to stand, where their target or target line is going to be, the type of speed they want to generate and the release they want to execute. Only then do they step up onto the approach, align their feet and body to their target line, and place the ball in its starting position. With most of the top players, you won’t see any variances in their set-up from shot to shot, other than hand posi- tion changes. Norm Duke would be the exception to the rule. He’ll transform his entire set-up depending on the part of the lane he’s going to play and the action he wants to apply to the ball. He’s defi nitely the most complex bowler on the planet. The lessons learned from all of these pros is there is great value in estab- lishing your own routine. Use a video camera to record your set-up — from the front, side and back — to see what you look like and if you are doing the things you think you are doing. www.bowlersjournal.com Posted with permission from Bowlers Journal International. April 2012 | Bowlers Journal International 57.