I'm not a coach, but some of my league-mates have asked how I get power and revs with my thumb in the ball. I've been telling them exactly what you've said in this video. "Get your hand under the ball at the 'drive-point' and let the ball fall off your hand... thumb first, then a little flip with your fingers at release." By using the momentum of your backswing, it can be easier to position your hand under the ball right before you begin your forward push of the ball. It takes some practice to re-teach your arm/wrist to make that motion, but it is a lot easier on the shoulder, and you're not forcing the motion trying to do it later in the swing.

For anyone reading this who is interested, look up an old video of Jimmy Keeth. He used to get seemingly as far under the equator as Jesper, but with his thumb in the ball. No one used the term “rev rate” back then, but he was probably at or near the 600 range. Incredible ball roll.

Thanks I have a weak release and working on it guys on my team give me needles. But some weeks I beat them. Still working on my game at 68. Keep videos coming. Very great stuff!!!

Thanks JR. Great stuff here. Something I've been working on in my own game too.

This is Exactly what I've been doing! Pointing out the left shoulder position could be the issue. Can't wait to try again. Thanks so much for the slow motion videos.

Thanks for the tip JR! I've just got back into bowling after taking off 15 yrs after having my son. He graduated high school this year and this past yr was my first full season back, after subbing a year. I ended up with a 186 ave, but have this same prob with revs, can't seem to get the necessary rotation and didn't know how to improve, until NOW. After getting my pitch fixed on my thumb a coupla weeks ago by the great Eugene McCune (who noticed my dropping the ball at a Pro-Am in Hammond, IN), I was still inconsistent with my release. I'm going straight to the bowling alley this evening to work on this tip. Love your vids! Thanks so much for your hard work!

I just went and bowled on the 34 fott open lanes house shot. Used my Columbia Scouts. Reactive with a pancake weight block. Focused on this power release, which I always like to do. Stand left. Pitch it to the right. And, watch the ball scream back to the back and the pins dance!

So to recap, having the fingers further under the ball allows the bowler to create greater revolutions on the ball resulting in a stronger, more driving ball roll and the extra revolutions and roll allows a bowler the option of playing an inside out ball path when needed. Having the fingers higher on the ball produces less revolutions on the ball and forces a player to have a more direct and traditional "down and in" approach to the game. Being able to have both releases to me seems valuable to creating a fully versatile player. One thing I see that is common is the men are often pigeonholed into moving left, even lofting the gutter cap, when the lane breaks down rather than getting higher on the ball and greatly reducing their rev rate so they can stay right like the women. And the opposite is true of the women who can't move left due to their higher finger positions.

Excellent video thanks great examples

Your slow motion software tool is the best ever! Thanks

Women generally have smaller hands though as well. A gentleman’s hand naturally will cover more circumference of the ball before even having a strong wrist. I’m wondering if that is just one part of it as well, among others of course.

Great info!

Ohhh that’s actually me at 12:40 😄

Aclaración at most. Thank you very much. Raymond

This is a great video. I hope the ladies take it to heart.

Okay I watched, now what do I do to get my hand below the equator? Where is the next video showing me how to work at it?

Wish you would have added Jillian Martin, Verity Crowley, and Daria Pajak to the women’s releases.

Great stuff

Great video, I've noticed the difference in the women but the slow motion really shows what's going on.

Please do a video explaining how to get our hand in that position. So many videos of people saying just get your hand under the ball, simple. But for some of us years of bad habits prevent us from being able to do so. Thank you!

Cool video talk tech bowling Jr Raymond

Elbow in and hand under the ball really helped my roll. So you can either be up the back and straighter or crank it and get around the ball.

I’m just getting back into bowling after a 20 year absence. How can I transition from lifting with my fingers to using a yo-yo release? Any pointers or maybe a video based on this would be great. You’re channels is awesome.

Interesting vid, but it raises some important questions: 1. Why not ask some of the PWBA pros why they don't "stay behind the ball" as much as the men, and why they throw their bowling shoulder forward and their non-bowling shoulder back? 2. While you may be correct, JR, that they were taught that way, if so many PWBA are all bowling roughly the same way, maybe there's something to it? 3. So, with few exceptions, PWBA pros have lower rev rates and are not under the ball, yet are highly successful on their Tour, and vice versa for the PBA pros on their Tour. Could it be that this is more a function of the different patterns on each Tour and the different center topography in the houses chosen by the different Tours? One could argue that these are possible reasons why the ladies don't need to rev it up and stay under the ball, while the men do..... 4. You mentioned, JR, that you were coaching your female students to bowl more like PBA men, staying under the ball and through it at release, and less like the PWBA ladies, who are almost on top of the ball. I'm curious...as a Coach, did any of these female students ask you why you were recommending changing their release if the PWBA pros are so successful with it? And even if they didn't ask this question, how would you respond to it? Thank you, Joe Hoenig

Technique. A way of carrying out a particular task, especially the execution or performance of an artistic work. It's in the setup.

teach it, good analysis

6:55 That's Dasha Kovalova, not Daria. Daria has more revs than a lot of men!

Dear JR. I've been blessed and learned a lot from your videos and posts.I feel your pain in things like when your truck was broken into.Im a youth coach here in South Carolina.I would so love it if You could produce a video called old school and new school releases.Showcase successful Like Walter Ray Norm Duke Liz Johnson etc. verses Belmo Simonson Chri via Ect

I was hoping to see Daria Pajak's release in this vid. Could you take a look at hers?

Nice video :)

There is a female bowler that was asked to start the swing with left shoulder/arm extended and set her right bowling arm as a loose swing pendulum. She at the start intentionally extends out left arm. By doing this, the shoulders align with each other thruout the swing until release point. Last name was Creamer I believe. The right shoulder is staying back and hand position at release stays behind ball ball more.

Do you have a video on what the proper left shoulder position is or should be? I feel like i can't possibly get under/behind the ball and I am wondering if the opposite side of my body is a limiting reason

I believe the tbrowing the shoulder is to get speed by using you core to twist instead of arm speed.

Look at some of the powerful younger women, like Jillian Martin.

I was hoping that you would talk more about how a bowler with a high hand position can improve their delivery to lower their hand position without using a brace. I’m 68 now and just started bowling again, and I am trying to adjust my grip, swing and delivery, to get better revs and power with my 14lb ball. Not sure if I have the wrist strength to keep my hand under the ball? P.S. I have made progress and improved my average from 155, to 187, with my goal aiming for a 200 average by the time the next winter league season starts.

Great video but need to shout out to Daria Pajak and Verity Crawley who both keep their fingers below the equator and can keep their hands to the inside. They have releases equal to some of the men on tour.

I know your video is about their release but i'd like to know what is with the free lever swinging follow through? It looks like in the PWBA their arms swing three times or more after the release. I'm sure it's been coached but what is your explanation for it? My follow through is one time and the arm stays up not free swinging. Very interested. Thanks for your videos!

Some of the ladies uses a heavy bowling balls that can not able to handle the ball underneath the equator. They need to use a lighter ones to add rotations & power.

So I have a question based on an observation. Would torso tilt at release affect the release based on above or below the equator? Also is it possible that pulling the non release shoulder is pulling the hand higher as well? I have dabbled with the tilt before and it seems the more vertical I keep my upper body the more I get lift and revs. When i get a little bit more forward lean I definitely have tendencies to be weak wristed and lack the lift.

I recognize Ashwaubenon Lanes! Green Bay, WI represent!

I'd be interested to see a video of Jillian Martin's release. She seems to have a high rev rate and I wonder if she is "above" the equator with her fingers or below it.

I' ve complained about that for years....women in the 70's were much more under the ball because of all balls basically being equal! All balls were weak compared to today! Liz Johnson grew up old school and has succeeded with tremendous results....even winning a PBA tournament! Watch the releases of women bowlers in the 70's , 80's. Very good hand control! The balls become too powerful today and you can get lazy with the shot and still be good (score wise). If you still throw the ball bad but not as bad as others and are successful you don't change.

Back in day, Michelle Feldman was under the ball!

I watched an old pwba event. And then watched some more. Like late 80s early 90s. The women threw the ball more like the men then. They didn’t have that repeating follow through either.

I agree but you should of found some examples of women releasing the ball with their fingers under the equator Daria and Michelle Feldman come to mind.

So keeping your balance shoulder behind you at time of release helps you keep your fingers behind thr ball?

Should have used Daria pajak as an example of how it's done. One of the best releases in bowling, imo.

Yes, it might be a momentary hand position, but the core strength to get there and hold it is the actual bottleneck. And, as you alluded to, it requires a sea change in lane play.

How do you feel about finger placement? Looks like all the men have the pinky bent under

Oh! My chicken is done 😂

I do feel it probably has a bit more to do with strength than you are giving credit for. I developed tendon issue in my wrist a few years back and I can't keep my wrist cupped long enough to keep my hand back behind there. Maybe there is some technique that would make it esier for me. You could give me a stack of books and I would have trouble holding that stack of books up with my hand only because my tendons in my wrist would feel like it's on fire and going to snap. When this started to happen, I naturally started trying to create rev's by rotating my shoulders around (making my hand come around the ball). I did this by not even knowing it. This is why I think it is indeed a strength issue and probably why some of woman have that shoulder turn. I'm sure that shoulder turn is helping. Maybe along with some technique we could make this easier and require a bit less strength, and I would love to figure that out. I will be watching future videos! I actually sent you couple videos a while back because I just can't get out of this habit now that I have some strength back. I will be watching, hopefully you can prove me wrong. Too bad we aren't located a bit closer because I think I would be a good test case for this lol.

Personally, my goal is to throw it like either Bill O'Neill or Kelly Kulick. Or even Tommy Jones since him and I have very similar physiques (I'm a little fatter tho haha). I know it's possible, I just gotta undo a whole bunch of bad habits that I've developed. I did some coaching with JR last year I think, I might get another session in cuz damn, I've hit my limits the way my current game is.

Would a open release such as Pete Weber or Jillian Martins improve their hand position?

Ej tackett is a good example of high rev rates and he’s not the biggest guy. I’m new to bowling my rev rates are pretty low but I’m improving

Waterford lanes, is that Waterford Michigan? If so, I can attend your clinics.

I have basically the same opinion. There are very small male bowlers that get more on the ball than the ladies and how much of that is strength? Look at how small guys like Chris Warren, Norm Duke, and Pete Weber are...5'5-5'6, 125-135 pounds

I 100% agree. I think many women just don't understand how to get their hands under the ball and don't even try.

Can you post the class on staying under the ball. The virtual class you mentioned

I 100% agree with you. However, women have more angulation of the elbow. You can easily see this if you have a man stand with arm at side elbow facing out vs a woman doing the same. This makes it harder to stay behind the ball. It's also harder to stay under the ball when you have a -4" span. There's also the issue of clearing the hips that men generally do not have. Plus the strength issue. These are not just excuses, but rather physical differences that have to be made up some how in a woman's game. What women do so well is gain leverage by having great finish position and deep knee bend, Great video, thank you

Usbc can just train all female bowlers with 90 degrees axis rotation and with entry level/urethane bowling balls. As for cupped wrist release, just put them last. Such arrangement should be good enough.

What make bowler were you referring to as having"best in the business"? I didn't get the name.

There was a woman bowler in the early 2000's, who had reasonable success, who had good hand position and rev rate. A blond right hander. It was a real contrast to see her compared to the rest of the women pros.

Had no idea the chicks spun it so much. Generally they are way more technically sound than most of the dudes. I'd like to see JR react to how Liz Johnson throws it, seeing as she gets less than 200 RPM haha

It should have right shoulder back left shoulder forward...

JR, could you explain what Rev dominant is ? I too top the ball but supposedly have good rev number ?? Thnx

Why didn't you show the opposite shoulder position for the men?

Could you please help us (left-handed) bowlers by making more educational videos for left-hand people 🙏.

This is the problem I have I am on top of the ball been trying to fix it. Any tips?

Looking at the women bowlers and listening to your comments on the shoulder placements, I think I understand why women were taught this way. If my memory is correct, there was a dress code for back in the day, and women were required to wear skirts.

I meant accuracy

I feel like the women generally have less finger strength, thus, not allowing them to come through from below the equator. They then learn to manufacture some power from above. If they've bowled long enough they may develop more finger strength but they already are comfortable doing it their way.

And the tucked baby finger???

Few women get as much power as Stephanie Zavala. Let's see her.

Banana peaches

You keep pointing out the left arm being back as a bad thing, but never show anyone in any other position. Where should it be? Both arms forward of the body cannot be right! I would fall on my nose. Could you show the correct free arm position? Thank you!

Where’s Mike Fagan?

Did Earl Anthony release the ball like this?

If your going to criticize these bowlers posture and release don’t show them making a strikes

Check out the releases of these two girls. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r89nptplmpnSp3U.html

I Pray the Lord Jesus strengthen you and your family.I love your son in some of your videos

Everyone know that problem. But they just don’t hv enough strength or technic to get the finger under. Tats the real problem.

Ladies have assets dudes don't have that they have to get their arms around during the release. Right shoulder forward creates space for the follow thru of the arm without bouncing off the bobbers. Lol

Dasha Kovalova, not 'Daria' anything.

Should've had Daria Pajak in there

Just my 2 cents. I have heard this from several pro shop owners and semi pro and pro bowlers as well as softball coaches and doctors. There is a reason they say " you throw like a girl". The female anatomy is different. They cannot throw a ball like a male because of this.

yeah Belomo he even uses 2 hands too. there is no women that could throw powerful as a man Belmo with both hands. lets see how fast you can clime a rope with just one hand heheheheheHA!

Noticed a lot of male players tucking their pinky finger what's the benefits

Putting your hand under the equator of the ball requires to bend your elbow. Unless your name is Sean Rash, It’s virtually impossible to put your hand under the ball without bending the elbow. Next thing is, if you bend your elbow you will always lose some ball speed. I think that is quite obvious to anybody. Next thing is, if you want to put a decent amount of revs on the ball you will have to bend your elbow, this will lead you to loss of ball speed and to gain the extra speed IT WILL REQUIRE to develop a proper timing. Women, generally have very late timing. I think, they just start bowling like that, maybe it is a question of balance, i don’t know. What I do know is that 80% of the ladies on PWBA have late timing and almost no one on the PBA tour have that issue. So maybe for the girls its not difficult to learn to bend their elbow and put the hand behing the ball. The issue is that with their type of timing they will end up throwing the ball at 10 miles per hour. Ladies that bend their elbow usually do have a proper timing (Michelle Feldman or Daria) Great content JR!

You must understand that the women do not have the hand and wrist strength to be able to get under the ball at release,,,some of them do, most don’t and I’m sure you realize that so it’s not a product of their environment it’s a strength factor

I've noticed over the years that MOST women that bowl professionally or on a collegiate level are fat, where as MOST men that bowl professionally or on a collegiate level are thin. Wonder why that is?

Your review is skewed in favor of men. Show top pro women that release the ball by the science. Comparing a two handed bowlers release to one handed bowler is not apples to apples. Also compare pro women that are successful with releases that defy the science. And remember women are no longer girls.

Amend to women being thought WRONG. I don't even watch any women pro-bowling on TV because its like watching small kids that don't have any idea of what they are doing. the best place to watch all the bad ways to bowl is to watch women's pro-bowling! PB3 teaches you to stop moving at time of release & that's really a HUGE almost ALL pro-bowling women do: the swing there arm at all times even after release until the ball is all the way back. I tried it a few times just to see how bad it does throw me/you off balance so women have 2 things throwing that throw them off balance = #1 this is what a bowling does to all bowlers it throws you off balance then #2 waving & swinging there arms all around until the ball is done rolling. the funniest thing I've seen is a women made it to the PBA period then when she did make it to the PBA she was the ONLY person as she was the ONLY women who was there out of 100's of other men Pro-bowlers even then she could NOT see she was the only person that was moving at all times & of course she never made it any farther. the men stomped her, she had no chance to go any farther in the PBA. the men do sometimes move there arm but its after it did not matter. after the ball is released & the follow though is done you should stop all movement as PB3 tells everyone.

Nothing like a man mansplaining how women are not throwing the ball correctly. If you notice the men, they don’t have hips. Pretty flat sided. Do you have hips you have to come around? How about boobs on your chest that come with their own weight? Comparing men’s throws vs women’s is just plain ignorant.

Trying to wrap my head around this. I feel like this video was useless and pointless. These women have successfully made it to the PWBA without needing to throw it like the men do. So JR basically what your saying in this video is the women are doing it all wrong?! 🤔 And their technique is wrong because they aren't behind the ball and fingers aren't below the equator like the "men"? Are they not successful or accomplished because they aren't using the "proper" technique or the same technique as the men? These women must be doing something right to be on your and where they're at today. This video is disappointing, disrespectful and degrading to women bowlers. We don't need to have the same release technique as the men to be a phenomenal bowler and to make it on the PWBA tour. Shame on you to sit there and criticize what they're doing wrong. When clearly they must being doing something right to have made it on the PWBA tour in the first place. And didn't do it bowling like a "man". Not that it matters because I'm just ONE of your many followers and subscribers, you've lost my respect.

Another coaching copy cat move is having the women swing their arm back and forth back and forth after the release. What an annoying waste that is. If it really did help then the men would line up to do it. Stop it already.

Jazreel Tan very stylish bowler. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/acWcnZaV2qrFoYk.html