When you’re taking a shot in bowling, a key part of a good release is your follow through. Even if you have a great armswing up to the point of release, if you stop short or decelerate as you release the ball, you will often miss your target or rotate your hand too quickly, both of which will lead to a poor, inaccurate shot.
The follow through may be a familiar concept for you if you play other sports, like baseball or golf. In those sports it’s important to complete your delivery or swing, stay balanced and keep your momentum going towards your target.
It’s very much the same in bowling.
The follow through continues that you have done in the bowling release, which hopefully is keeping your arm straight and shoulder square to your target. After letting go of the ball, you should maintain your shoulder position and let your armswing continue naturally.
If all goes right, your follow through should go to about shoulder height and face your target.
A proper follow through is important for keeping a good ball speed and direction. If you slow down your arm after releasing the ball or don’t allow your arm to naturally continue, your arm will typically move away from your target and the result will be a wayward shot.
Another thing that might be helpful to keep in mind visualizing a handshake. After your follow through, especially if you bowl with a hook, your motion should look like you are shaking hands with someone else.
To perfect your follow through, it can be a good exercise to take a few shots and then take note of where exactly your hand ends up each time. If it’s consistent, pointed towards your target and about shoulder height, you should be in good shape.
As you’re making your shot, always just think of a pendulum moving back and then forward. After release, be sure that the pendulum continues forward; you don’t want to cut it off short.
The follow through is something that is ignored by many bowlers. After all, isn’t the ball already gone when the time comes? What difference does it really make? But as we’ve hopefully demonstrated here, it is very important to complete your motion and follow through. It helps with direction, balance, speed and weight, and is often the mark of a more experienced bowler. So do yourself a favor and take care to ensure you are following through properly!
Hope you found this tip helpful. Do you have any further questions or bowling follow through suggestions? If so just leave us a comment below.
This is some great information, and I appreciate your point that good follow through is important for bowling. I’ve started to go bowling more frequently with one of my friends, and while we’re improving, I’d like to try and get even better. I haven’t been focusing on my follow through at all, but I’ll definitely try to let my arm continue through the swing in a natural way to make my throw better. Thanks for the great post!
Thank you for a very readable helpful article. I’m having far too much trouble trying to remember to follow through.