Coach’s Corner Tip

Keep Your Shoulder Down!

You have to admit, I can be biased in my opinions, and here’s one of them. I heard, for the hundredth time, a well-meaning parent tell their junior bowler to “keep their shoulder up”. Aarrghh!!! I firmly believe that your bowling shoulder must start down from 3-6 inches in your stance, and it will drop even more during the course of swinging the ball. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at some visual evidence!

First, let’s take a look at Tommy Jones. I drew two vertical lines – one for the center of his body and one straight down from the center of his head. Note that Tommy’s head is straight over his right foot, and his right shoulder is lower than his left shoulder!

Now (below) at the
release point, Tommy’s
shoulders are at a larger
angle to his armswing,
allowing for a clean,
powerful release.

Ok, so I picked a power player – how about a straighter player? Here’s Doug Kent in the stance –
note a similar alignment of his body, with his head over his right foot.

Although at the release Doug’s shoulder angle is not as extreme as Tommy’s, both player’s shoulders start down in the stance and get farther down towards the end of the swing.

Here we see three great players – Carolyn Dorin- Ballard, Jeff Carter, and Kelly Kulick. All have the right shoulder lower than the left shoulder at the beginning of the swing, with their head over their right foot.

Here is the release for each of these players. Their shoulder angle to the lane is now steeper, and each one of them has their head directly over the ball.

There is an increasing, overwhelming amount of evidence and practical experience that points to the fact that allowing your shoulder to start down in the stance and allow that angle to increase during the swing is a good thing – so let’s stop teaching our children to keep their shoulder up!