Lengthen Your Stride For Additional Bowling Power
By: bowlingball.com, 11/10/15
If you are an advanced player who happens to use a very short series of steps, then lengthen your stride for additional bowling power.
If you are a natural short step player, you likely are very accurate as a shotmaker but you may be lacking in revs or overall power.
By extending each step perhaps only two inches in length and picking up a bit more speed in each successive step with your slide step being the longest, you will begin to use the big muscles in your legs more effectively and gain power when delivering your bowling ball.
Using your legs to help you generate power is a constant theme in most all sports from track and field to pitching baseballs.
So long as you retain good body balance, lengthening your steps will help you use the floor to root your power source as you transfer weight onto your sliding leg and get into position to release your ball.
It is all about creating body torque and using your leg muscles to help you generate ball speed and leverage.
One thing to remember, however, is to never sacrifice your accuracy for the pure sake of power unless you are willing to completely overhaul your game and have a top flight coach standing by to help you change your swing and walking path as well as your release technique.
It is best to add power in smallish doses by increasing your steps and knee flex only slightly until you gain a longer stride and use your legs to help you generate added power.
If you use a five step approach, as example, are 5’ 10” tall, and are presently standing in front of the first set of guide dots embedded in the approach floor twelve feet behind the foul line, you are definitely a candidate to lengthen your stride in order to generate additional power in your game.
Practice moving back on the approach at least 12” and increase each step about 2 or 3 inches in length. Increase the amount of knee flex slightly you ordinarily use as well.
Once you get used to taking longer steps and using your legs for balance and leverage, you can experiment moving back a little more until you feel you have reached your limit for effectiveness.
Moving back on the approach and then sliding well short of the line achieves no useful purpose.
Make certain you continue to slide at or near the foul line but stretch out those steps gradually until you reach a balance point where you can deliver your ball at a competitive speed and with an aggressive follow through motion without losing balance or sight of your target.
It helps to keep your head as motionless as you can while walking to the line.
Balance and leverage are the keys to power. Use your legs and your mind to improve your game skills.
