Bowling with Leverage
by David A. Leverage
David A. Leverage is a Former exempt PBA Player, Silver level certified coach,
an ASU Bowling Alumni member, A 6 time PBA titleist, has (40) 300 games
and owns 2 Phoenix area Pro Shops.
GET A G R I P PEOPLE!!!!!!
If you’ve been bowling for a while like I have, then certainly you have changed a lot since you started bowling. Whether you started as a child, a teenager, an adult, or as a retiree your body has most certainly changed in one way or another. As we age our bodies change. Things grow, they shrink, we gain weight we lose weight etc and as our bodies change whether it be for the better or for the worst our bowling grip changes as well.
Years ago ball drillers would stretch out bowler’s hands way too much causing pain, discomfort and injury. However today it seems a more relaxed approach and grip is desirable. As I stated earlier though our bodies change a great deal over the years and yet many people do not adjust their grip of a bowling ball to keep up with the times. Sometimes it can be as simple as simply getting a new set of fingertip grips. So often bowlers come into the pro shop with fingertips that are extremely dry, brittle or even deformed to where they are no longer round or oval but have instead morphed into some other unearthly shape. You would be surprised what a difference a new set of grips will make that old reliable ball feel like new again.
When it comes to the thumb there is usually a wide variation in thumb size depending on how often a person bowls as the thumb can grow and shrink as it swells. Not to mention people who have lost a great deal of weight. It seems that when we lose 5-10 pounds we lose it where we don’t want to, in our fingers and our earlobes! Hey it would be a lot nicer if we could drop a few in our stomach or buttocks! In any case this is how the world works.
Finally as we grow older our grip on the bowling ball and our overall hand strength lessens over time. Because of this it may be time to change your finger and/or thumb pitches to allow you to hold onto the bowling ball more easily. And if that thumb hole is too big or too small it can certainly have an adverse effect on your grip and the balls performance. So get that buttocks into the pro shop and GET A GRIP PEOPLE!!!
DAVID LEVERAGE’S PRO BOWLING TIPS
I have a small instructional flyer at ALL OF THE AMF Bowling Centers here in the valley for any and all league bowlers to grab a copy. Inside is the Leverage 3x5 spare system as well as a bunch of other little tips on how to improve your game.
These are free courtesy of myself and AMF Bowling!
7 AND 10 PIN PRACTICE
I would say of the 200 plus students I work with, about 80% of them have trouble with the 7 pin and the 10 pin! So what do we do to fix that or eliminate that problem? Practice shooting them until its just another spare conversion. My recommendation is this… When you are practicing, take your fist shot and try to ake out just the 10 pin. On your second ball shoot whatever remains in the rack. This will ensure you are shooting and practicing very hard on your corner pins and it will also cut your practice costs in half since you will be getting 2 shots per fram. Whereas when you throw a strike you are only getting one ball per frame. Trust me this works. You will be amazed how much better you will get when you put in some effort on your corner pins!
Thank you to all of the people who have been emailing in real questions and ideas for upcoming articles. We always appreciate any and all input as we are always aspiring to help and educate bowlers so they can knock down more pins. As always you may email me at: daveleverage@yahoo.com.
"TEXT the Coach" As a new feature if you are having a problem and need a quick answer to that problem, send me a text message during your next practice session, league session, or tournament and I will do my best to reply in a timely manner. Text to 6025505788.