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Chapter 7, Section D
The Basic Fundamentals of Bowling
THE WALK TO THE FOUL LINE
The walk to the foul line involves a slight modification to the normal walk. The bowler should walk on the balls of their feet as much as possible as this will keep the weight of the body over the feet and defeat the normal procedure of the heels hitting the ground before the rest of the foot. Learning to walk correctly is not difficult, but could feel awkward to some individuals as weight distribution and balance have a different feeling. Learning to keep the weight over the feet will eliminate the danger of the student hitting their ankle as the ball is delivered. With the modification, the only thing required is a normal walking pace at a slightly faster than normal cadence.
To learn the walk, the student should be told that it is executed by starting with small steps and at a slow pace, and increasing the length of the step as well as the speed of the steps as the delivery is executed. The FIRST STEP of a walk should be approximately a HALF-STEP, taken with the foot on the same side as the bowling arm. the SECOND STEP is approximately a 3/4 length step, naturally with the opposite foot. The THIRD STEP IS a normal length step, and the FOURTH AND FINAL STEP IS a normal length step that ends IN A SHORT SLIDE OF 4 to 6 INCHES.
The exercise to learn the walk should be started with the student approximately 12 feet from the foul line, with the feet in the opposite position as used for the one step approach. This should place (for right handers) the left foot slightly ahead of the right (2 to 3 inches) and the feet slightly apart for balance.
For group instruction, the students should hold hands during the execution. The instructor should call the sequence of steps by right or left, ending with the slide. The initial speed should be rather slow, as some persons have difficulty starting off with the correct foot. An aid to teaching the walk is to have the student pick up the heel of the foot that is to move first and put all the weight on the remaining foot. This sometimes solves the incorrect foot problem. During the initial exercises the instructor should caution students about bobbing up and down, and sliding with the foot in front of the body. The weight should always be above the feet. After three or four times going through the walk, the speed of the walk should be increased to approximately that amount required for the walk and execution of the swing and delivery.
At this time, the students who require the use of the rail should be taught to slide their hand on the rail and not attempt to grip the rail either before or during the walk. The student can either run the fingers on the top of the rail, the outside of the rail or the back of the hand on the inside (toward student) of the rail. Any method is acceptable, as long as the student does not use the rail for support and balance.
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