Andrew Anderson has a very strong fundamental game that has helped him earn a spot on Team USA as well as win the 2018 PBA Player of the Year Award. There are a few things he does that are fairly unique and he can get away with them because he's so tall and skinny. Because of that, Andrew is a good example of someone to emulate if you have a similar body type.
Regardless of body type, though, Andrew does a lot of good things and most bowlers can take something away from Andrew's game and apply it to their own game.
The first thing we see as Andrew is in his stance is how much lower his right shoulder is than his left. This is something I think more bowlers should put into their stances. People used to be taught not to drop the shoulder, but that doesn't work with today's game. In order to get the ball closer to your ankle and get the ball to hook, you have to drop the shoulder.
Andrew holds the ball directly under his chin and his footwork goes directly in line, one foot in front of the other. The ball moves straight forward as he approaches, and you can see it's inside the shoulder, which will help him create power.
As he drops the ball into his swing, it's still inside his shoulder and very close to his leg, maintaining the strong position as he gets closer to the foul line.
Looking at the top of the swing, he's still in an excellent position. Although it looks like his arm is getting behind him a little, that's not what we need to care about-it's the location of the ball, which is right in line with his entire swing.
His non-bowling arm is out in front of him a bit, so let's look at him from the side to see his arms and his tilt form a perfect T, which is exactly what we want to see at this point on the approach.
Andrew starts to drop the ball into the swing, and that's exactly what he does: drops it into his swing. He brings the ball in on his downswing, which is where he creates his launch angle.
At the release, we can clearly see his hand inside the ball, which is inside his shoulder and close to his ankle, forming the power V we want to see. Also, look at his left hand, which is facing palm-up, locking his left shoulder into place.
A style like Andrew's allows for a lot of versatility on the lane. He can play any angle and also use different releases. His left arm helps stabilize his upper body and prevent rotation, and these are the types of fundamentals you want to look for if you're trying to increase versatility in your game.
Rod
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