The only way to get better at bowling is to practice. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t techniques you can pick up along the way to help you improve your scores. From the way you move to the way you hold your ball, there are tips that can help you tweak your habits and play a consistent game. We share some of those strategies and techniques in this blog.
Practice Your Approach
The approach and the swing are some of the key factors in having a good bowl. This involves finding the perfect position to place yourself in and having a solid bowling swing for releasing your ball. The arrows on the floor of the lane are good reference points and can help you figure out where to position and aim. For example, if you usually bowl pretty straight, you should aim for the center arrow.
Once this is established, you should practice your approach a few times from how you move your feet and step to how your bowl moves while you advance forward. Most people take the four-step or five-step approach when playing. When you release your ball, the thumb should be released just before your fingers. Geometry plays a big role in bowling and considering the angle of motion while you play will help improve your game.
Choose Your Bowling Holds
The grip and hold of the bowling ball also impacts how the ball will travel down the lane. You can have a relaxed hold, a firm hold, or a strong hold. Each of these techniques will change how the ball moves.
A relaxed hold on the ball will give it a straight path down to the pins. You shouldn’t expect too much hook or revolutions when you use a relaxed grip. A firm hold will allow your ball to have more spin and create more hook after it is released. Finally, a strong hold is the most recommended by professionals. This will allow your ball to spin more as it moves and has the most hook.
Spin Techniques
There are three techniques you can employ to help you put a spin on your ball while you are bowling. These are hook bowling, straight bowling, and backup bowling and they vary in difficulty. The basics of putting a spin on your ball is by having your middle finger and ring finger in the two holes on top and not placing your thumb in the bottom hole. When you release you will want to hold the ball on your wrist and release your top fingers in a way so that they graze the side of the ball.
The different techniques for spinning your bowl describe how it will move once it hits the lane. Hook bowling will see the ball curve from left to right or right to left depending on which hand you play with. Backup bowling is similar to hook bowling and will cause the ball to move from one side to the other. However, the wrist motion here is more unnatural which is why it is usually discouraged. Finally, a straight bowling technique has the bowling ball rolling straight down the lane. This is better for scoring spares since there is not much movement involved.
If you are looking for the perfect bowling alley, come check out the fun we offer at Stars & Strikes. We welcome bowlers of all levels. Get in touch with the location nearest you.
