When we talk about lightening the load, we're talking about the stance. How do you hold the ball in your stance? Is the weight of the ball balanced and easy to support? Or are you putting unnecessary strain on yourself?
The better you can distribute the ball's weight - whether it's as light as six pounds or as heavy as 16 pounds - in the stance, the better you can carry that balance throughout the approach.
There are a lot of ways to hold a ball. One hand goes in the ball, obviously, but you have a lot of options with the other. You can put it underneath the ball, on the side of the ball, all the way over to the other side of the ball or even on top of the ball.
Your particular style has a lot to do with how you hold the ball in the stance, but no matter what, you want to make sure you're making the ball feel as light as you can. When you can accomplish that, you're able to create a fluid pendulum motion through the swing, which will lead to more repeatability and better consistency.
Split the Weight in Half
Think of the ball as two halves, with a line drawn vertically down the middle as you're in your stance. How can you distribute the weight to make sure one half of the ball is supported by one hand and the other half is supported by the other?
Now, think of splitting the ball in half horizontally, as if the ball has an equator. When using your non-bowling hand to help support the weight, you don't necessarily need to put it directly underneath the ball, but you'll want both hands to be south of the equator.
Your non-bowling hand can be on the side, in front or wrapped around, but try to keep it under the equator to help balance out the weight.
One thing you want to stay away from is putting your hand on top of the ball as you're not helping to support the ball and may inadvertently be adding even more weight to your bowling hand. A better option would be to take your non-bowling hand off the ball completely.
Again, there are a lot of different ways to hold a bowling ball and your personal style will influence how you hold the ball. But when thinking about how to consistently create a nice, free pendulum swing, think about how you can lessen the weight of the ball in your stance. Lighten the load to see more consistent results on the lanes.
Lou
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