Improve Your Swing: How Top Players Create a Swing Slot
In a nut shell, elite players have a great swing. Since you target with your eyes, you want the arm to continue from under your eye and remain on line under your head throughout the swing.
Specifically, you can envision the swing of top professionals as a Swing Slot. This is one of the most important factors that differentiates great bowlers from the rest of the field. You can see this concept illustrated below. As you can see, the Swing Slot is a tight line. With a tight swing, the Swing Slot, professionals and other elite bowlers keep the swing on-line promoting increased accuracy and fluidity.
How do they do it?
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It Starts In The Stance
Elite bowlers drop the ball side shoulder significantly, in the stance. For top professionals, this is 107 to 116 degrees of lean.
By leaning, the bowler is both setting the head over the ball as well as creating space for the ball to swing under your head. Since you target with your eye, an ideal swing will remain in the Swing Slot and swing under the eye, from start to finish.
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Step-Over Creates More Space
In tandem with the stance position, a step-over step helps Elite bowlers move their body out of the way of the swing.
This occurs in the second step of a 5-step or the first of a 4-step delivery.
The initial lean of the ball-side shoulder paired with the step-over creates adequate space to keep the swing under their head.
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Due to the stance position and step-over, the ball remains in the Swing Slot.
This allows the swing to remain under the eye for more accuracy.
For elite players, the upswing remains in the Swing Slot and swings above the head.
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Top players drop the shoulder (promoted by the stance position as well) as they are releasing the ball.
This allows the arm to remain in the Swing Slot into the release.
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Elite bowlers continue by following-through on the Swing Slot. |