Expert: - 10/27/2008

Question
I've bowling for about 5 years now and sometimes my bowlingballs tend to roll out. Now, I average about 173 and I've had some high scores. I went practicing with my dad yesterday and we had a huge revelation about a flaw in my game. I don't have any knee bend in my form whatsoever! Once we figured that out we tried having my bending in practice. I was having a difficult time, my timing was way off and I was getting frustrated. Towards the end, my dad told me to start crouching a little bit at the end to my form. It helped and I through a lot better as a matter of fact my shots looked a lot better and the ball was finishing much stronger. Anyway, my question is do you have any tips to help me learn to bend my knees more? Thanks.

Answer
Danielle,
When you set-up, take an "athletic" pose (slight bend at the waist, and supporting your upper body, bend your knees by "sitting down").

Your body's center of gravity needs to be low in your core (waist, hips and butt). If you just bend the knees, your upper body will rock forward or bend at the waist too much, as soon as you move (You will lose leverage and start to bounce). Maintaining the knee bend, during your approach, helps absorb erroneous energy and helps you be more fluid.

You will find the knee bend, and leverage from it, is easier to create at the point of delivery, when you create it at set-up, and it is maintained throughout your approach.

Thanks for your question.