Everyday I run into bowlers that want more hook in the backend. It’s always the same statement “I want a bowling ball that will go long and snap on the back end”.  I will got a lot of flack from saying this but I’m going to say it anyway; It’s not just the ball that will make that happen, it’s you!

No one ever wants to hear that the problems that they have in the sport of bowling are due to their technique. They want the equipment to do the work for them.  It’s never the bowler themselves, it’s the ball!!! Am I right so far?

Bowlers that create that snapping motion on a bowling ball, have greater axis rotation. I can hear some of you now saying, what’s axis rotation? This tip of the week is going to cover what axis rotation is and why you need it to improve your score.

Axis rotation, commonly known as side roll is the horizontal measure of the angle of the ball's revolutions.  Confused?   Let’s make it simple. Picture the Earth.  It rotates around the axis of the north and South Pole. So take the earth and lay it on its side. This is much like a bowling ball. Your axis is a parallel line to the lane. The rotation of your bowling ball is going from right to left (if you’re a right handed bowler) from this axis. This is your axis rotation. Now measuring your degree can not be done by the naked eye. But I will give you a few examples of bowlers that have lower axis rotation and higher axis rotation. Let’s go with Walter Ray Williams and Pete Weber. Both bowlers are great but they have different types of releases. Walter is more up the back of the bowling ball which results in a lower axis rotation degree. Pete Weber goes more around the bowling ball, thus creating a higher degree of axis rotation. Does that help?

Bowling balls will change direction more abruptly in the back part of the lane with higher degrees of axis rotation. Lower axis rotation numbers will not change direction as fast, or snap more.

Don’t get me wrong, there are bowling balls that are designed not to snap as much as some others. But the simple fact remains, the bowler will ultimately decide how that bowling ball will snap in the back end. If you stay behind the ball more when you release it then you have a lower degree of rotation and therefore not as much snap in the back end. If your release is more around the side of the bowling ball then you will create a higher degree of rotation thereby creating more snap. Got it now?

If you want to have more back end in the bowling ball increase the rotation of your hand around the side of the bowling ball. If you are looking for less back end reaction then you need to stay more behind the bowling ball.

Visit your local bowling coach for some tips and lessons on how to create axis rotation. Or you can come to one of our Michigan Summer clinics this year. I will have more on that to come in the upcoming weeks.

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com