Late Bowling Timing
Many bowlers who have been in the game for many, many years use a late timing swing cycle without knowing about the pro’s and the con’s of this swing sequence.
If you are an experienced bowler with late timing, understanding the concept of late timing may help you avoid inconsistencies in your game.
It is important for all skill levels of bowlers to develop good physical game fundamentals. Timing is an important key for all bowlers because it helps coordinate the steps with the arm swing.
Simply stated, timing is best described as the relationship between the footwork and arm swing. It is best to address this concept of late timing referencing a four step approach.
Using a four step approach as the model where a right handed bowler steps first with the right foot (opposite for left handed bowlers), then the beginning of the swing, known as the pushaway, for a late timing motion begins after the 1st step begins.
Bowlers with late timing typically begin walking before moving the
bowling ball into the swing arc.
This type of timing motion gets the ball into the swing as the 2nd step is completed, and causes the bowler to walk very slowly to avoid having to hurry the downswing and force the ball into the forward swing.
Late timing usually means the bowler has the ball arrive at the top of the backswing as the 3rd step is complete. Then the forward swing must hurry to get to the bottom of the arc so the release can occur before the final slide step is complete.
During this type of pushaway motion, the bowler will take the first step then pushes the ball into the swing. Often times the bowler will hold the ball motionless in front of the body while taking the first step making the timing sequence late.
In this case, these bowlers should be careful to not hurry their steps, to allow enough time for the swing to make a complete swing cycle. All the while maintaining balance and to allow the release to happen unhurried or unforced.
This type of pushaway motion is a very common with bowlers who resist an aggressive swing motion and prefer a slower, cautious type swing motion.
Late timing can be spotted when the bowler completes the 3rd step and the bowling ball is still moving up to the top of the backswing.
The key to success for the late timing sequence is to have the bowling ball moving into position to start the backswing as the bowler completes the 1st step and not wait until the 2nd step starts.
It is also important for late timing bowlers to not rush their steps so the swing can catch up with the steps and the bowler can arrive into the final sliding step with a bit of time to make an accurate delivery.
Since the approach is designed to be one continuous and organized movement it is important for late timing bowlers to not over-delay starting the pushaway motion relative to the 1st step, and to not stall the ball from swinging freely into the backswing motion
A late timing swings typically is a controlled arm motion using more tension than does an early timing, free falling, gravity swing technique.
