Chris Via is one of our most reliable Team USA players and one of the absolute best examples of a sound two-handed game. If you're a two-handed player or a coach with two-handers for students, Chris has a great game to emulate.
First, let's look at his stance. If you didn't know he was a two-handed bowler (and if he didn't have that second hand on the ball), his stance alone looks a lot like that of a one-hander.
His first step goes quite a bit to the left, which helps him open up his body as he gets out of his very square stance. His next step is right in line with the first. When he does this, he's able to keep his approach extremely straight all the way to the line as well as keep his swing on line.
Now, look at his left shoulder, which he gets almost directly below his chin as he loads up. This is a key to a two-handed swing because the center of his chest is going to be the apex of the swing since he's swinging with both shoulders rather than one. From the side, we can see how getting his left shoulder low helps with the swing.
As he gets to the line, one of the most noticeable things is his lack of slide. His left heel hits first, then his toe comes down. As long as his knee is pointing straight ahead in line with the toe and he can repeat it, I don't see a liability here. If the knee starts turning in other directions, we may need to work on addressing it to prevent knee problems. Chris' knee, though, is right in line.
Just before he releases the ball, look his balanced position: ball inside the shoulder, exploding through the swing, and his arm comes straight up. This is where he and other elite bowlers (one-handers and two-handers) get a lot of their power.
Let's take a look from the side again. When Chris goes airborne as most two-handers do, we see Chris still has separation between his feet while he's in the air. He actually has a step in there.
One more look from the back shows how Chris opens his body with his first step and then is able to keep absolutely everything in line as he makes his approach.
When he follows through, Chris keeps his elbow in and his hand goes through the ball rather than around it. It doesn't matter whether you bowl with one hand or two, you can take a lot from his follow-through as you're not going to find many better.
Rod
comments