Bowlers can be meaningfully grouped into a few categories, and one of the major ones is fairly obvious to any onlooker: the style with which they throw the ball. One bowling style is the aptly-named straight ball, where the release is straight and the ball travels in a straight line down the lane and towards the […]
Rev Rate vs. Rotation in Bowling: What’s the Difference?
When you’re analyzing or troubleshooting your bowling shot, there are a few different numbers you’ll hear getting thrown around. There’s the shot’s revolutions, which means how much the ball revolves on its journey towards the pins. But then there’s also the rotations that your ball makes as it heads down the lane. These may sound […]
How to Throw a Faster Shot in Bowling
A bowler recently asked me how he could throw faster. He’d always been relatively slow with his shot, but he’d noticed that lately his average speed was about 1-2 mph slower than he remembered. There are several things you can do to increase ball speed. But first, it’s important to ask whether throwing faster is […]
5 Tips to Convert More Spares
In bowling, strikes are the shots that often get the most attention. And this makes some sense: they are the most impressive to watch, they give us the most pins added to our score, and they usually give us the most happiness after we get one. But if you’re looking to quickly make a big […]
Lining Up a Bowling Shot Correctly: Keys to Look For
When you’re bowling, you of course want to be accurate so your ball goes where you want it to and results in a strike. And if you leave pins on your first ball, then your spare shots must be precise as well. But how do you know that you’re lining up a bowling shot properly? […]
What Is the Optimal Ball Speed in Bowling?
When you step up to the approach, you naturally hope to send your ball smoothly down the lane and into the pocket. But how hard should you throw it in order to achieve this goal? A shot that travels fast and hooks strongly across the lane often looks the most impressive, so it can be […]
Can You Bowl a Hook With a Conventional Grip? Curve With A House Ball?
Hooking the bowling ball is something that the majority of us strive to do on the lanes. But what if you bowl with a conventional grip instead of a fingertip grip? Can you still generate a good spin on your ball? And for that matter, what about newer bowlers who don’t have a brand-new ball […]
How to Get Rid of a Backup Ball in Bowling
In bowling, one style of shot is the backup ball, which hooks in the opposite direction of a normal shot. (So a right-handed bowler’s shot would hook from left to right). Instead of the counter-clockwise wrist motion of a conventional hook, the backup bowler rotates the wrist in a clockwise direction. Some bowlers do this […]
Bowling Form Differences: The Delivery Styles You Need to Know
If you go to a bowling alley and observe the bowlers on three adjacent lanes, it’s probable that you’ll see all three of them throwing the ball differently. Some of us throw a relatively straight ball, others use a modest hook into the pocket while still others unleash a wildly spinning ball that hooks a great way […]
What is the House Oil Pattern and How Do Lane Conditions Affect My Ball?
If you consider yourself a recreational bowler, it is likely that you focus mostly on the ball, pins, and hopefully the dots and arrows. And this makes sense: these are very important pieces of the puzzle when you want to succeed at bowling. But concentrating solely on these elements leaves out one area of crucial importance: […]