“If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are.  For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained.  Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing.”  ~Saint Augustine

Week in and week out I help readers out with their bowling game. I provide tips and articles for you to improve your game. These are minor changes in your bowling game to help you become a more effective efficient bowler. So with change, come a learning period, a transformation, and finally retention. So why do I see so many people who have either gotten a few tips, or a full blown lesson, to help improve there game go back and do all the things that they were doing before? The only answer I have for that is bowlers are afraid of change. More...

This week’s article will discuss the three phases of bowling ball motion from the bowlers release until the bowling ball enters the pins. The United States Bowling Congress and the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association have both adopted this analysis of bowling ball motion on both the Technical and Educational level. The three phases of Bowling Ball Motion are classified as Skid, Hook, and Roll. Below I will define what each phase means and where you will see each of these phases on the bowling lane surface. More...

Bowling has been around for hundred’s, some even say thousand’s of years. There were articles of Egyptian carvings found with a sport very similar to bowling. Times have changed and there is so much new technology in the great sport of bowling. Think back to the days were there were pin boys. These were people who would sit behind the bowling lanes and set pins up. My uncle was one. From there we can consider the evolution of automatic machines. From the days of actually keeping score by hand, to now with all the computers that do it for you, heck they even have some computers that have coaching assistants to show you how you should stand and move to make the spare. The sport of bowling has evolved so much. Bowling balls have evolved too.  Have they evolved so much that the bowler can’t tell the difference? In this week’s article I will talk about some of the bowling equipment in the game and help you identify some of the differences in the cores of a bowling ball.  More...

This weeks tip will be a about the balance of your body at the release point. Balance is a major factor in creating power and accuracy.  Ask yourself this question, do I fall off towards my release side? If you answered the question with a yes then your balance is off. Have you ever heard of posting your shot? This simply means that you hold your finish position until your bowling ball reaches the pins. Can you do that? This week’s tip will give you some insight as to how to control your body from the starting position until your release and finish position.

Let me recap this week’s article about balance. There are two components with balance, free arm swing and leg strength. Creating a triangle with your legs will increase your balance and combining that with a free arm swing will allow you to increase your power. Combine these two and watch out!!! You have now become a monster on the lanes!!! Until next week, if you have any comments or questions, I would like to hear them. I have been answering emails as fast as I can and I have been getting a lot lately. Remember about Bowling IQ. If you ever need any training they are there to accommodate your needs.

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com  

Each week I write about how to do this or you need to practice that. So I am stunned when I provide all this information and the tools to help each and every one of you bowlers a chance to get better. Why do so many people decide to veer from the teachings?  Is it a lack of commitment or does that individual bowler say they want to improve but what they are really thinking is I want to do that but I really don’t care?  This week I would like to challenge my bowlers out there to take a look into themselves and see if they really mean what they say or they don’t believe in it. 

I deal with customers from the entire spectrum of bowlers. Some just do it for a reason to get out of the house for a few hours.  Some people do it because it’s just something they have done since they were kids.  Some bowlers are the seasoned veterans and really take this sport to heart.  So which one are you? This article is more geared to the seasoned bowlers. 

I have traveled this great country of ours for bowling. I have bowled in different cities and states and have seen a lot. One thing I still see out there is the passion of bowlers to bowl well. I also see the stereo type minded people who see bowling not as a sport but as a recreational activity. You know the beer drinking out of shape mentality. That is fine for some people, but I tend to see things in a different view. The sport of bowling is exactly that, a sport. Bowlers have to have endurance when competing as well as the flexibility and muscle memory to repeat shots and stay competitive. The same could be said for a bowlers mind. Bowlers need to constantly learn and educate themselves on the sport. What type of oil pattern is being used?  What type of bowling ball surface will work on the given lane condition?  What type of bowling ball layout will give me the best chance to score?  What ball speed should I use?  What hand position will work the best for this condition?  What type of lane surface is this?  There are so many questions and variables that are involved with bowling at the highest level.  Back to my original opening, if you have the opportunity to learn this at your fingertips then why do you not take advantage of it?  If you have a coach that is willing to share and pass on this knowledge to you then why not take it? 

I have been involved in the bowling industry since I was 15 years old. As soon as I was able to work at a bowling center I did. You name it and I have done it in the bowling industry. But the one thing that has always been my passion is education. I love to take a bowler and pass on the knowledge I have collected from my years and watch the bowler grow into a competitive player. So this basically comes down to the title of this week’s article, commitment. A large amount of bowlers want to learn but I see this all the time, they are not committed to doing it. They will take the knowledge that they have learned, try it that time, and then push it off to the side. I can tell you, if you want to get better and you have been given the knowledge from someone to apply it to your game, then you have to be committed to using it. Getting better in a sport takes commitment. Just as with everything else in life, you have got to be committed to it. I can go on and on for hours about this but I won’t. I am going to wrap this up with a couple key things about having the commitment. First, take the knowledge you have been given and work with it. I don’t mean once or twice. You need to understand it, embrace it, and believe in it! Secondly, you need to apply it. If you have the drive to learn, you have the drive in you to get better. Last thing is to find time. I know everyone works and has families and other things to do, but if you want to be serious about something and you are passionate about it, you will find the time to do it!

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com  

Welcome to 2010 and most of you are about half way through your league season. Some of you might be bowling well this season, and some may not be. Most of you might be getting ready to start your Local City or State tournaments. So are you prepared for the tournament season? Do you think you have the right bowling balls to compete at the higher level for the tournaments? This week I would like to talk about some drilling layouts and bowling ball surfaces that you may want to have in your bag this tournament season. I will explain the different drilling techniques and surface preparations so you can better understand your equipment and have the right tools to excel on the conditions you might face.

Bowling tournaments can be a very fun time. It could also be a time where you struggle to bowl well. Having the right drilling layouts and ball surfaces will help you achieve greater success on the lanes. I am not saying that you will bowl better with the advice I give you here, remember equipment is a big factor to scoring, but it ultimately comes down to the bowler themselves. I can give you the advice, but you, the bowler, have to be able to execute your shot.

The first step I want to talk about is your bowling ball surface. You can not go into any tournament setting and have the same surfaces on every bowling ball you own and expect to have the right tools. It’s kind of like going to the golf course with a bag full of 9 irons. It’s much more difficult to make par 5’s with just 9 irons. So the first thing you should do is actually look at your equipment and have at least one bowling ball sanded to 500 grit or 1000 grit finish. These are for when you encounter a heavier oil condition. The duller the surface, the more friction you will have on those heavier oil patterns. Then next bowling ball should have anywhere from a 2000 to 4000 grit finish. These will be a little less aggressive then your lower grits, helping your bowling ball travel further on the lane surface before it begins to hook. These surfaces will be most effective on the medium oil conditions. Last, you should have at least one polished bowling ball in your bag. Having a bowling ball that is polished will have even less friction in the oil and front part of the lane surface.

Now how do you know which one of these to use? I will give you a very simple tip. Watch what your ball is doing. If your bowling ball is traveling to far down the lane then guess what, the bowling ball is telling you that for this pattern you don’t have the right ball . Go to my brother the duller surface ball. Sometimes I hear voices in my head haha. So if your bowling ball tells you to use another then now at least having these couple tips about surface will help you make the better decision.

Now on to the next part, about drilling layouts, you will need to have a couple different layouts in your bowling bag as well. The first one I would like to talk about is a drilling that will help you when you encounter heavier patterns. You should have a bowling ball in you bag that has a drilling layout where your locator pin (that’s the colored dot on the bowling ball) is placed even with or below your finger gripping holes. Having locator pins lower will help the bowling ball start to rev up faster on the lane thereby creating less length and a smoother back end reaction. If you have trouble understanding that part, let’s think of the lane conditions. If you have a heavier or longer oil pattern, the lane oil will make the bowling ball travel further down the lane. So just keeping it simple, if you use a bowling ball that is drilled to go long and you are bowling on heavier oil, which will make the ball go longer, what are your chances of having that bowling ball hit the pocket on a consistent basis? Not a good chance. You may be able to hit it a couple times, but if you miss a little bit from your target then you will not be happy. So my suggestion is to use pin down bowling ball when encountering heavier patterns.

When you encounter less oil then you would want to use drilling layouts that have the pins higher above your finger gripping holes. Having locator pins higher will create longer bowling ball motion down the lane. These will work best when you start to see your bowling ball hook to soon. Now I could get into a deeper conversation about Mass Bias or PSA placements, along with locator pin distances from you positive axis point, but that will be a very lengthy article. I will save that for another time.

So let’s recap this weeks article, You need bowling balls in your bag with different sanded or polished surfaces, and locator pins below or above your finger gripping holes to be able to attack different lane patterns. Having these tools in your bag and properly drilled will help you achieve greater success on the lane conditions of today’s sport. Remember, you have to observe and define what your bowling ball is doing on the lanes and be able to take that knowledge and turn it into something great. Until next week, have fun, bowl well, execute shots and let’s say it again: Have fun.

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com

GLC’s “Out of 5 Stars” Rating…

Appeal: 4.25 Length: 3.75 Back End: 4.25

All balls were equipped with Turbo Insert products including the #1 selling interchangeable thumb insert, Switch Grip. For details on their premium line of insert products and accessories, visit www.turbogrips.com

On the lanes…

GLC’s “Out of 5 Stars” Rating…

Appeal: 4.00 Length: 4.50 Back End: 4.00

All balls were equipped with Turbo Insert products including the #1 selling interchangeable thumb insert, Switch Grip. For details on their premium line of insert products and accessories, visit www.turbogrips.com

Last week I wrote about old school myths and some new teaching tips on how your body position should be during your approach and delivery. This week I want to talk about the old school teachings that say “Don’t drop your shoulder”. 

Let’s first start by asking the question, “What do they mean by not dropping your shoulder?”  Back in “the day” before they had reactive cover stocks, bowlers played the lanes on a more parallel path to the pocket. This required you to play the lanes closer to the gutter which created less left to right ball motion. With less left to right ball motion, you have to keep your body more parallel and your hips and shoulders stay closed. That same rule applies today when playing the lanes in that fashion. What they meant back then about not dropping your shoulder was simply, if you lowered your shoulder you would open your body thereby not creating the correct ball path. 

That being said, in today’s bowling era with all the aggressive bowling balls on the market, you need your ball path to be more left to right. (Right to left for the left hand bowlers) So what about shoulder drop?  Let’s think about your body position, which we talked about last week. If you are playing the lanes and you are generating a left to right ball path and your right shoulder isn’t lowered, (for a RH bowler) then how do you generate the correct ball path?  You would have to physically strain your body to do this.  

So now let’s look at your starting position and your shoulders.  How you can avoid “dropping your shoulder?”  If you start your stance and you have your right shoulder set lower then your left shoulder, this puts your body in the correct starting position for that left to right ball path.  Now ask yourself this question, “If my shoulder is already lowered, how can I drop my shoulder?”  Look at all the PBA players for a second, look at how their body stance is before they make their initial approach, what is the most common thing you see? Their bowling arm shoulder is lower then there non-bowling shoulder.  

Let’s recap, when you are trying to create a more left to right ball path, your hips and upper body are more in line with your ball path (that was from last week’s tip) and thereby lowering your shoulder will generate your body to be in the correct position. So dropping your shoulder isn’t a bad thing, it’s just “old school” thinking. And don’t get me wrong, the “old school” thinking still applies for a certain purpose in today’s bowling environment. But it does not mean that that is the only way to do it. So remember, lower that bowling arm shoulder in your starting delivery, and keep it there until you have finished your release.  

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com

Last week I wrote about a proper fit for you and your bowling ball. I outlined the different types of spans and what you should look for to see if your bowling ball is fit properly. Do you remember that tip? If not, you may want to go back and read last weeks tip then come back to this one. If you have read it, then I thank you for taking a few more minutes to visit us again. Last week I mentioned how to determine if your span is too long or to short. I also touched on how to see if you have the proper pitches.  I also closed with the statement about squeezing your bowling ball. Let me make this clear, “Don’t Squeeze!!!”

First we will start with a simple question:  “Do you have to squeeze your bowling ball to hold on to it?”  If the answer is yes, then you have a fitting issue.  Back in the old days, bowlers had their holes drilled a little larger than necessary in case they experienced some finger or thumb swelling.  I would like to touch on why your fingers or thumb might swell and why you have to have a death grip on your bowling ball.

Swelling can be caused by a few things. Let’s first start with your diet. The most common cause of swelling is the retaining of fluids. If you’re the bowler that likes to have a couple adult beverages while you bowl, then it’s only a matter of time before your hand is going to swell. It is not just a matter of what or how much you drink. What you eat can also cause swelling. Food that contains high levels of salt can have a double hit. Eating high salt foods will not only leave you thirsty, resulting in drinking more, it will also cause you to retain more of what you do drink. Possibly the most common cause of swelling is repetitive use. When you are working out lifting heavy weights in repetition your muscles will swell with blood in the short term and grow in the long term. The same thing is going to happen when you bowl frame after frame with a 15 pound ball that you are squeezing with your finger muscles to hold on to.

So how can you avoid squeezing your bowling ball?

First look at your hand and the way it fits in your bowling ball. If you have to use a lot of grip pressure to hold onto the bowling ball, then your gripping holes are too big. That’s the easiest way to tell. What if you feel that they fit fine, but you still find you are squeezing the bowling ball because you think it will fly backwards in your swing? Well, the holes might be right, but your pitches might not be correct! What do I mean by pitches? Every hole in the bowling ball has either forward or reverse pitch in it. For example, if you take your hand, palm facing down and you bend your finger and thumb inward toward the center of your palm (like making a fist), then you are creating forward pitch.  Fingers going to the palm are considered forward pitch. Thumb going towards your palm is considered forward pitch. Fingers and thumb going away from the center of your palm is considered reverse pitch. If your bowling ball has excessive reverse pitch then your hand will be more open. Having a hand that is more open will result in the need to apply more grip pressure to hold onto an object. If you feel that the size of your gripping holes is correct, but you are still having issues squeezing the ball, then take it to your local pro shop and have them check your pitches. You may find out that you have incorrect pitches for your hand.

One last thing that I teach my students is this simple saying:  Hold the bowling ball like it was a bird. You’re not trying to hurt it, just hold it. That’s about the amount of grip pressure you would like to have on your bowling ball.

Until next week, don’t kill the bird, I mean the bowling ball.