I was bowling about 110 per game. Then I started bowling almost every day for exercise and to feel like I fit into a league. With about 25 sets of three games bowled per month for ten months, the average moved up to 170. (BTW a fast pitched set of three games burns just under 200 calories, making room for more cake at dessert.)
TIP 1: Practice.
That's pretty obvious but that's what made the difference. Some people have a naturally good aim but even someone like me can catch up with practice. (If you join a league and do extra practice bowling that isn't a pre-bowl, you can probably get discounts. Bowl BC has a card that gives any league player 3 for the price of 2 games.)
Tip 2: Everything you do to deliver the ball that doesn't give the ball direction and motion is style, not bowling. You can stand at the foul line, move your hand back, then let it fall forward while letting go of the ball and do quite well. Most of your points come from the last fraction of a second before you release the ball. Remembering this can help. Improve the last quarter second of every shot. Only when you are touching the ball are you aiming it. ADDED: Follow through. This is great advice but doesn't mean a thing after your fingers stop touching the ball. The rest is ballet. That last fraction of a second is where you have the most influence. That last fraction of a second is also where a lot of people give their wrist an unhelpful little flick. That's also why I like a longer windup. It gives me a tiny extra moment to adjust the aim, like shooting a long-bore rifle instead of a pistol.
TIP 3: Use the marks on the lane to aim
People kept telling me this but I didn't believe them. Instead, I'd aim for the pins. My score jumped the day I finally used marks. Aiming for the nearby mark is easier to correct than aiming at the far away pin, since you likely look down briefly while throwing and then have to quickly re-focus to release the ball.
TIP 4: Watch how others in your league make the approach, and make your own choice.
It seems all the hot shot bowlers have a similar style but that's not true of regular league players with scores in the 100-200 range. Some run up three steps, some stand at the foul line. Some fire the ball like a bullet, others let it idle down the lane. Some have a whisper ball and some let it land with a clunk. I've even seen good scores consistently coming from shooting the ball from between their legs. There seems to be an ideal form for top bowlers, but there are so many other things the average bowler can do to improve, don't fret form.
TIP 5: A faster ball quite often takes out extra pins.
Older skilled bowlers usually have to take it easy but it's still true that a faster ball adds a few points. Every few dozen games when I'm trying for the last 2 pin, my hard ball drops in the gutter and jumps back out to take out the pin. A slightly off-centre knock on the headpin can take out two to five pins depending on the impact energy. After a fast ball, one flying pin may miss the outside 2 pin but still get it after bouncing off the side wall. The slow roller often leaves one or two pins behind, despite a tight aim. Every other game, I have a shot that takes out pins on one side and also the number 2 pin on the far side. Sometimes, I don't even see that other 2 pin fall down. Apparently a hard hit pin from the first side can hit the string of the other 2 pin. The string moves just enough to trigger a point. (Points aren't recorded by the pin-to-floor contact but by the motion of the string over a drum). Now read Tip 6 for the easiest way to get a faster ball.
TIP 6: Try a longer back-swing to allow more aiming time.
I see good bowlers with a short swing but for me, it works better to have a longer back swing. I even let my arm rotate a bit to free the backswing to reach pretty much up to shoulder height. The reason for this is I find there's a tiny faction of a second before releasing the ball when I can fine-tune the aim. I don't know about you, but I like a chance to patch my mistakes and that fractional second of awareness that comes from a longer forward motion, gives me that chance. A longer backswing, gave me a chance to aim twice, once for the big picture and once for finer control. A side benefit of the longer backswing is that the ball picks up forward momentum, without extra effort on your part, while dropping from shoulder height. That ball, being a little faster, may take out more pins. ADDED: It takes little energy to swing the ball further behind you but it picks up quite a bit extra speed dropping forward without you using muscle. In every game, there's a couple frames where a soft ball swung forward with a little more momentum would have taken out one or two more pins.
TIP 7 Lose the Curve Ball
Apparently a curve ball is the key to top scoring in ten pin bowling. From what I've seen, that's not true for five pin. It's untrue, even though I know some strong bowlers who throw a curve and do very well. A strike with a curve ball is the result of correctly calculating two motions instead of one motion. Why make it so complicated? Incidentally, a fast ball with a spin doesn't have enough time to curve much and goes pretty straight. A slow ball with spin will change direction in the first half of the alley and then settle down to go straight.
Tip 8: Keep a calm place in your mind
I know this is important but haven't mastered it. Having a quiet picture of the pins down there, a picture that doesn't get jostled as you move forward and move the ball into the backswing, seems to help. Treating the backswing as an incidental while I focus on the pleasure of releasing a tight well-tracked ball, seems to help. Holding the picture just of those lovely black marks on the alley in mind and treating all other physical activity up to the release as background chatter, seems to help. The common feature is "a calm place in your mind". Someone did MRI scans of pro and amateur golfers making a shot. The amateur brain lit up everywhere with concentration. The pro just lit up in a few spots.
Tip 9: Animal spirits
Animal spirits, energy, a feeling of health and eagerness seems to help a lot. How I handle the rest of my life and my weight and exercise and relationships, helps me bowl. A run of dispiriting shots tends to make the next shot poorer.
Tip 10: Luck
I've asked some bowlers how much of their score is luck. One says 20%. A second thinks more. When I look at a spreadsheet I kept for six months, I see games ranging from 118 to 264. Roll with the punches and enjoy the occasional great game. For peace of mind, I look for tight shots. If all the balls are close to where I meant, I'm pretty happy even if the score is disappointing. When you get two or three head pins, you may feel bad, but I feel good. The points are low but the skill is high. By the way, you'll probably be a little luckier on your second game! I kept track of hundreds of 3-game sets for a while and the middle game averaged about 5 points higher. It seemed like the first game was partly warmup and by the third game I was tiring.
Tip 11: Change targets as you get better.
When I started, my goal was to keep the balls out of the gutter. That was it! A bowling coach told me that after you start getting the head pin more often, practice aiming for the 3 pins or aiming for the 2 pins, even before the head pin! Learn the "crooked" shots the same way you were learning "straight down the middle".
TIP 3: Use the marks on the lane to aim
People kept telling me this but I didn't believe them. Instead, I'd aim for the pins. My score jumped the day I finally used marks. Aiming for the nearby mark is easier to correct than aiming at the far away pin, since you likely look down briefly while throwing and then have to quickly re-focus to release the ball.
TIP 4: Watch how others in your league make the approach, and make your own choice.
It seems all the hot shot bowlers have a similar style but that's not true of regular league players with scores in the 100-200 range. Some run up three steps, some stand at the foul line. Some fire the ball like a bullet, others let it idle down the lane. Some have a whisper ball and some let it land with a clunk. I've even seen good scores consistently coming from shooting the ball from between their legs. There seems to be an ideal form for top bowlers, but there are so many other things the average bowler can do to improve, don't fret form.TIP 5: A faster ball quite often takes out extra pins.
Older skilled bowlers usually have to take it easy but it's still true that a faster ball adds a few points. Every few dozen games when I'm trying for the last 2 pin, my hard ball drops in the gutter and jumps back out to take out the pin. A slightly off-centre knock on the headpin can take out two to five pins depending on the impact energy. After a fast ball, one flying pin may miss the outside 2 pin but still get it after bouncing off the side wall. The slow roller often leaves one or two pins behind, despite a tight aim. Every other game, I have a shot that takes out pins on one side and also the number 2 pin on the far side. Sometimes, I don't even see that other 2 pin fall down. Apparently a hard hit pin from the first side can hit the string of the other 2 pin. The string moves just enough to trigger a point. (Points aren't recorded by the pin-to-floor contact but by the motion of the string over a drum). Now read Tip 6 for the easiest way to get a faster ball.
TIP 6: Try a longer back-swing to allow more aiming time.
I see good bowlers with a short swing but for me, it works better to have a longer back swing. I even let my arm rotate a bit to free the backswing to reach pretty much up to shoulder height. The reason for this is I find there's a tiny faction of a second before releasing the ball when I can fine-tune the aim. I don't know about you, but I like a chance to patch my mistakes and that fractional second of awareness that comes from a longer forward motion, gives me that chance. A longer backswing, gave me a chance to aim twice, once for the big picture and once for finer control. A side benefit of the longer backswing is that the ball picks up forward momentum, without extra effort on your part, while dropping from shoulder height. That ball, being a little faster, may take out more pins. ADDED: It takes little energy to swing the ball further behind you but it picks up quite a bit extra speed dropping forward without you using muscle. In every game, there's a couple frames where a soft ball swung forward with a little more momentum would have taken out one or two more pins.
TIP 7 Lose the Curve BallApparently a curve ball is the key to top scoring in ten pin bowling. From what I've seen, that's not true for five pin. It's untrue, even though I know some strong bowlers who throw a curve and do very well. A strike with a curve ball is the result of correctly calculating two motions instead of one motion. Why make it so complicated? Incidentally, a fast ball with a spin doesn't have enough time to curve much and goes pretty straight. A slow ball with spin will change direction in the first half of the alley and then settle down to go straight.
Tip 8: Keep a calm place in your mind
I know this is important but haven't mastered it. Having a quiet picture of the pins down there, a picture that doesn't get jostled as you move forward and move the ball into the backswing, seems to help. Treating the backswing as an incidental while I focus on the pleasure of releasing a tight well-tracked ball, seems to help. Holding the picture just of those lovely black marks on the alley in mind and treating all other physical activity up to the release as background chatter, seems to help. The common feature is "a calm place in your mind". Someone did MRI scans of pro and amateur golfers making a shot. The amateur brain lit up everywhere with concentration. The pro just lit up in a few spots.
Tip 9: Animal spirits
Animal spirits, energy, a feeling of health and eagerness seems to help a lot. How I handle the rest of my life and my weight and exercise and relationships, helps me bowl. A run of dispiriting shots tends to make the next shot poorer.
Tip 10: Luck
I've asked some bowlers how much of their score is luck. One says 20%. A second thinks more. When I look at a spreadsheet I kept for six months, I see games ranging from 118 to 264. Roll with the punches and enjoy the occasional great game. For peace of mind, I look for tight shots. If all the balls are close to where I meant, I'm pretty happy even if the score is disappointing. When you get two or three head pins, you may feel bad, but I feel good. The points are low but the skill is high. By the way, you'll probably be a little luckier on your second game! I kept track of hundreds of 3-game sets for a while and the middle game averaged about 5 points higher. It seemed like the first game was partly warmup and by the third game I was tiring.
Tip 11: Change targets as you get better.
When I started, my goal was to keep the balls out of the gutter. That was it! A bowling coach told me that after you start getting the head pin more often, practice aiming for the 3 pins or aiming for the 2 pins, even before the head pin! Learn the "crooked" shots the same way you were learning "straight down the middle".
Tip 12: Grip You hear people saying "It slipped". It's often true. This is a big deal because it's the last fraction of a second that decides how the ball aims. The balls are heavy and large for a hand to grip but if you look closely, you'll see they are not all the same size. If you give your hand a wipe with a damp cloth or rub on some anti-slip paste that the alley probably sells, you'll improve the grip. If you have a choice, pick balls with a polished look. The natural moisture in your skin will grip them better.
Tip 13: Don't feel bad ignoring advice from pro bowlers. They are probably right but there's no place in your brain to file the information. You have to lay down tracks with lots of throws and approaches to make your own map. Then their advice begins to make sense.
Tip 14: Have some fun and make friends.
The same coach reminded me of this. It really doesn't matter. You're getting exercise (100 to 200 calories burnt in a set of three games depending on your energy). You're making friends.
Tip 14: Have some fun and make friends.
The same coach reminded me of this. It really doesn't matter. You're getting exercise (100 to 200 calories burnt in a set of three games depending on your energy). You're making friends.
Tip 15: For seniors with a slow ball: A lot of older bowlers make do with a very slow delivery because they have lost some of their youthful strength. Swing the ball up behind you a little further, and then it will fall forward with more force when you release it. Gravity does the job for you. This is the same action as Tip 6 but for a different reason. I think you'll take out several more pins every game.
Tip 16: "One Weird Tip" as they say.
I've been finding I do best when I don't look at the pins or even the mark on the lane half way down. After confirming the pins are in place, I let my face drop and my eyes focus on the centre-line board of the alley at my feet while raising the ball behind me. As I bring the ball down and forward, I move my gaze smoothly forward along that one floor board so that I'm looking at both the floorboard and the tips of my fingers as they release the ball. Why does this help me? Maybe because it avoids sudden changes of eye focus and ties the AIM to the MOMENT OF RELEASE.
I've been finding I do best when I don't look at the pins or even the mark on the lane half way down. After confirming the pins are in place, I let my face drop and my eyes focus on the centre-line board of the alley at my feet while raising the ball behind me. As I bring the ball down and forward, I move my gaze smoothly forward along that one floor board so that I'm looking at both the floorboard and the tips of my fingers as they release the ball. Why does this help me? Maybe because it avoids sudden changes of eye focus and ties the AIM to the MOMENT OF RELEASE.
Footnotes: Some other little things: Don't wear a tight shirt sleeve that can't move freely. Empty your pocket on the side you shoot from so you don't bump your wallet while delivering the ball. Remember to show courtesies to the bowler to your right. Remember there are some lighter balls available, if you ask. If you really need it, there is a ball made with a thumb hole. (If your wrist is weak, that's helpful, but the flat spot at the finger hole will often cause your ball to wander left or right). Let your bowling neighbours give you tips. (They may not be right or you may not be ready to listen to them, but you'll probably learn something)
Tip 17, The Confession:
There's so much I don't know. Some of the best bowlers slide and have pads on their shoes and slippery powders to add. Some of the best bowlers polish their balls regularly during play. A lot of the good bowlers pay attention to how well dressed (oiled) the lanes are and observe no-spin balls that none-the-less pull left or right on certain lanes, depending on how recently the lane was dressed. They will also switch between balls of different hardness to change how well the ball grips the lane.
The future, ten pin version has a machine that shows perfect strikes every time: It is unbeatable! 👌🤣
Last updated: July 10 2022
thanks
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