One thing that differentiates bowling from other sports is you don't have to be the fastest, strongest or most flexible to be successful. You can be who you are and find a way to develop a bowling game that works for you.
Still, like any sport, the more fit you are, the better you feel and the more balance you can maintain throughout your approach, the more success you're going to have.
Specifically, I want to talk about balance in the finish position. As a coach, I'll look at your ability to repeat the direction of your delivery, the position of your footwork (specifically, do your feet land in the same spot every time?) and whether or not you can maintain good balance at the foul line to support the momentum of throwing a shot.
Mastering these aspects of your game will help you develop consistency from shot to shot, but it's not as simple as just looking at your finish position. We also need to figure out how you got there, which is why it's important to analyze your stance and starting position.
Taking a close look at where you start and comparing it to where you finish helps us determine your level of consistency and repeatability and can help identify any areas that may need work.
As we further analyze the athlete, we want to collect data. How fast do you throw the ball? What's your rev rate? How accurate are you?
We can use computer-tracking systems like Specto to collect data of the ball going down the lane as well as video tools to assess every aspect of the physical game. The more data we collect, the better we can analyze what's happening with your game not only before the foul line, but even after you release the ball.
From a coaching perspective, we always want to help our students get better as fast as possible, but we have to recognize everyone is unique and people learn in different ways. Some people learn visually, some prefer hands-on experience and others need to hear the information and then go apply it. By understanding our students, we can coach more effectively to make them better faster.
Analyzing the athlete is one of the most important steps involved in coaching, both for the player and the coach. When we truly understand our athletes, we're able to more effectively coach so our students can do exactly what they want: get better faster.
Stephen
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