As we’ve been saying in several of our articles, no two bowlers throw the ball exactly the same way, and many aspects of the stance and delivery depend on your specific shot.
This article will go over the three different basic techniques for bowling shots so you’ll know what to expect.
Straight Bowling Technique
The straight ball is the most basic of the bowling shots, and as it name suggests, the ball travels down a relatively straight path to the pins. (Some players’ shots will naturally tail a tiny bit and still be considered a straight ball.)
Virtually all bowlers start out with straight bowling, and you can certainly become quite adept with it. With a straight shot, you still want to avoid hitting the pins straight on, as this leads to splits, and instead aim for the pocket, the space between the 1 and 3 pins (for righties) or the 1 and 2 pins (for lefties).
The problem with straight bowling is that the lack of movement on the bowling ball gives it a less than ideal angle into the pocket, which leads to less pin action. Over the long run, this will mean that you get fewer strikes.
On the other hand, a straight ball is the ideal style for picking up spares, especially those with only one pin.
Hook Bowling Technique
Because of the limitations of the straight ball, most serious bowlers use the hook ball bowling style. It is often said that if your goal is to consistently average over 180 per game, you will need to learn how to bowl a hook.
With a hook shot, the ball starts out in a straight line, but once it has made it part-way down the lane, it curves inside into the pocket. For a right-handed bowler, the ball starts out to the right side of the lane before hooking to the left into the 1-3 pocket. For lefties, it starts out on the left before hooking to the right into the 1-2 pocket.
This shot is considered more advanced because the hooking motion gives it the perfect angle into the pocket for maximum pin action, which means more strikes.
Despite these advantages, the hook ball is much more difficult to master and can be a frustrating learning process for some bowlers. And certain balls, namely reactive resin ones, are better suited for hook in more environments.
Backup Bowling Technique
The third and final technique for bowling is the backup ball, occasionally called a reverse hook. With this form, the ball hooks into the pocket, but in the opposite direction of a conventional hook shot.
For a right hander, this would mean hooking from left to right, and you would use the 1-2 pocket.
This form is not typically recommended, as the movement of the hand and wrist is less natural and it does not do anything special that a conventional hook does not. Some bowlers, however, feel much more natural with a backup ball.
We recommend that you do not decide to switch to the backup ball from another style, but if you find yourself shooting this way naturally, you may want to continue to pursue it if your results are better than a conventional hook.