The tournament began promptly at 10:00 a.m. There were 4 classes. Class C consisted of 8 competitors covering 4 pits. This was a cancellation tourney with the match ending with the first competitor reaching 40 points, no shoe limit. I had decided to use the Snyder EZ Flips, held caulks down. I was anxious to try something that I had been working on for a day or so. More about that later. I was the 4th seed, based on ringer average within the Class.

It was my best tournament yet. I went 7-0, won my Class and received a first place class patch. I had hoped that I would finish this tournament with a 50% ringer average. I ended up with a 41% average for the tournament. I experienced many more bouncebacks than usual. My shoe was coming into the stake too directly, even though I was pitching from the right side. It was not until late in the tournament that I realized why. I had made a slight change in my Pre-Release setup that caused this problem. See below.

A Newly Found Secret

I consider this new change to be the most important of all. It is so simple, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it before.

As you can see from my previous parts, I have been experimenting with various stances on the approach. I had discovered that an open stance retards the ability to throw to the right of the stake, if the shoe is passed close by the right leg on the way back. If the shoe was going right you would end up hitting the back of your right leg on the forward swing.

When you are practicing, you can use any number of helpful aids. For instance, the line of flight string, the plumb, a string at the highpoint, etc. When you participate in competition there are no provisions for helping aids. You are limited to a few built-in aids at the court and, of course, your own personal built-in aids. At each court, there is a foul line at 27 feet, an approach, generally about 18 inches wide, and the distant stake. By rule, you are not allowed to place either foot off of the approach. If you’re pitching from 40 feet, you also have the stake to the right or left of the approach.

Previously, I used the foul line for my foot alignment and the distant stake for shoe alignment during my pre-swing rehearsal. I would try to drop the shoe and swing along the perceived line of flight to my backswing stop point, swing forward and release the shoe. If everything went correctly I would get a ringer, bounceback or bounceoff.

While experimenting with my foot placement and the open stance, I noted a link to the flight of the shoe as it passed by my right leg. If I kept the shoe close as it passed my leg, sometimes ticking my pant leg, the shoe would go directly at the stake. However, the open stance places me further from the distant stake. When my right foot is forward, my release point is 25-1/2 feet from the stake. With my right foot back, I added another 1-1/2 to 2 feet to the distance. So, I kept reverting back to the right foot forward position.

After I position my feet at the foul line, right foot forward, I take the grip on the shoe, drop my arm straight down, stand as erect as necesssary until the shoe rests on my right leg. I touch the shoe on my leg. I swing the shoe up to my aim point, just to the right of the stake, and try to pass the shoe as close to my right leg as possible as I swing back. This insures that I remain on the line of flight back and through. For some reason, my brain seems to know exactly where my right leg is. What I didn’t realize until late, was that as I bounced the shoe against my right leg, I was inadvertently rotating and straightening the shoe in my grip, producing a squarer flight. I need to make sure that I retain my grip after taken, and not permit the shoe to rotate in my grip.

E-mail me with any questions

Table of Contents

Continue to Part 16