You
are not playing to your best level of ability: one of those
nights, you know you can do better but nothing seems to work, and
you've tried "everything". Someone tells you your
"timing is off" - what do they mean? | Physical |
You
are not playing to your best level of ability: one of those
nights, you know you can do better but nothing seems to work, and
you've tried "everything". Someone tells you your
"timing is off" - what do they mean?
ASK THEM! As someone else once observed, your centre may only have one or two qualified coaches but every league has at least twenty!
People talk about "timing" all the time, some people will try to change your timing - ask them to explain why they want to do this. Just as you can fight with your style mentally, if your timing is not right you will not be able to deliver the ball well and may do physical damage to your body.
When I talk about Timing what I refer to is the position of the ball (swing) in relation to your position (step) in the approach. Since we have people who use three, four, five, six steps or even none (for wheelchair bowlers) I make measurements at "named positions", see the following diagram...
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Use of computerised video enables us to make accurate measurements which become part of the athlete's Performance Profile. This is, of course, for a hook bowler with a goal of creating leverage in the Finish, the point of release.
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Balance Line | To create the Leverage needed to impart energy ("revs") onto the ball in the Finishing position the athlete must maintain good balance throughout the approach. Bad timing will leave the bowler off balance and make it difficult for them to create leverage in the finish. By dropping a line (white) from the centre of gravity (CG: biomechanically, a point around the belly button) to the ground we are able to see if the bowler is balanced over the leading foot. In the finish the CG must be behind the leading foot. |
| Angle of Back | Fred Borden, in his classic "Knowledge is the Key" book, also studied video and recommended a constant 15-degree angle of the back from the Stance to the Finish. We draw a line (yellow) along the bowlers spine to measure this angle (from the vertical). As we see in the above diagram this bowler is breaking the rules, he's also won more tournaments than any other European bowler in recent years! This is a power stroker style. Like a cranker there is a "pivot" (increased lean) after the pro-zone (2nd in a four-step approach). This angle does, though, remain constant. |
| Angle of Swing | We also want to look at the swing, at several key points of the approach, as described below... |
| Push-Away | The swing starts with the push-away. When the weight transfers to the leading foot I measure the angle between the upper-arm and the fore-arm (green lines). A straight line (180-degrees) usually means good timing. A common problem for novice bowlers is holding on the ball too long: the angle here will be much less than 180 degrees. |
| Pro-Zone | Don Johnson (on his Better Bowling series of videos) also studied video and referred to the pro-zone where most professional bowlers had the ball on the 2nd step (3rd for five step approach). Measuring the angle between the swing (green) and the balance line (white) leads to a number which we can use to see whether the bowler is in time, early or late. |
| Pivot Step | This is the penultimate step, the point where the bowler must be in perfect balance to make a strong push off into the Finish. We check for two things here: balance over the leading foot and the angle of the backswing, looking for around a ninety-degree angle between arm (green) and spine (yellow). Late timing (which starts in the Push Away) usually shows up with a reduced backswing. As Don Johnson says, if you don't start well you can't finish well. |
| Slide | To create leverage the balance line must be behind the sliding foot. We get an indication of the leverage which can be created by measuring the angle between the arm and the vertical when the bowler pushes off into the slide. A roller will have "perfect" timing (small) angle while the more powerful bowlers will have more angle, right up to the "plant-and-pull" type crankers - if the ball is already at the ankle they can't "pull" to generate that power in the release. |
