J
jeremydenhartog
In bowling, establishing a well balanced pre-shot routing is very important. If you lack a good pre-shot routine, chances are your game lacks consistency which in bowling is of course the name of the game.
Stance
An ideal stance is an erect position with the knees only slightly bent and your body weight evenly distributed on your feet. Your toes, shoulders and body should be aligned with your target area and your back should not be arched. An erect position is necessary to achieve a true pendulum arm swing as you progress in your shot. In order to execute a pendulum arm swing, a bowler must be able to relax their muscles and not use them to ‘control’ the swing – in other words, let gravity do the work for you.
Ball Position
Most bowlers have their own variation on where they hold their bowling ball prior to throwing it. Why you may ask? Most likely because most bowlers have not had proper instruction and have just used whatever works for them (I’m guilty of this myself). However, if you’re serious about wanting to take your game to the next level, you’re probably going to want to perfect the ‘textbook ball position’. The following is for you right handed bowlers. If you are left handed, simply flip flop everything. Textbook ball position finds the elbows resting close to the bowler’s hips and the ball nested in the bowler’s right palm and supported by their left hand. The ball is held about waist high and slightly right of the center of the body. However, if you have larger hips, then you may need to hold the ball further to the right to eliminate the need for a circled backswing – which of course would throw off the pendulum arm swing and make your game inconsistent.
Starting Position
There are 3 sets of dots on the approach. The first set is 2 inches from the foul line. The next 2 sets are 12 feet back from the foul line and another 15 feet from the foul line. These dots are used as a guide for a starting position. The 12 foot dots are typically for four-step bowlers while the 15 foot dots are typically for five-step bowlers. So how do you know which starting position you should use? The only way is to use a trial and error approach. Sometime when you’re at a bowling center, ‘simulate’ your bowling approach but do so in the opposite direction by starting near the foul line and with your back to the pins and walk your way back to where you typically start. Remember to stretch and extend you’re last step to simulate your slide. Now turn around and do the same thing again but this time walk towards the pins instead of away. Repeat this process until you determine if a 4 step or a 5 step approach better suites you. Ideally you want to stop a couple of inches from the foul line.
For more free bowling tips and articles checkout my site (link is in my signature)
Stance
An ideal stance is an erect position with the knees only slightly bent and your body weight evenly distributed on your feet. Your toes, shoulders and body should be aligned with your target area and your back should not be arched. An erect position is necessary to achieve a true pendulum arm swing as you progress in your shot. In order to execute a pendulum arm swing, a bowler must be able to relax their muscles and not use them to ‘control’ the swing – in other words, let gravity do the work for you.
Ball Position
Most bowlers have their own variation on where they hold their bowling ball prior to throwing it. Why you may ask? Most likely because most bowlers have not had proper instruction and have just used whatever works for them (I’m guilty of this myself). However, if you’re serious about wanting to take your game to the next level, you’re probably going to want to perfect the ‘textbook ball position’. The following is for you right handed bowlers. If you are left handed, simply flip flop everything. Textbook ball position finds the elbows resting close to the bowler’s hips and the ball nested in the bowler’s right palm and supported by their left hand. The ball is held about waist high and slightly right of the center of the body. However, if you have larger hips, then you may need to hold the ball further to the right to eliminate the need for a circled backswing – which of course would throw off the pendulum arm swing and make your game inconsistent.
Starting Position
There are 3 sets of dots on the approach. The first set is 2 inches from the foul line. The next 2 sets are 12 feet back from the foul line and another 15 feet from the foul line. These dots are used as a guide for a starting position. The 12 foot dots are typically for four-step bowlers while the 15 foot dots are typically for five-step bowlers. So how do you know which starting position you should use? The only way is to use a trial and error approach. Sometime when you’re at a bowling center, ‘simulate’ your bowling approach but do so in the opposite direction by starting near the foul line and with your back to the pins and walk your way back to where you typically start. Remember to stretch and extend you’re last step to simulate your slide. Now turn around and do the same thing again but this time walk towards the pins instead of away. Repeat this process until you determine if a 4 step or a 5 step approach better suites you. Ideally you want to stop a couple of inches from the foul line.
For more free bowling tips and articles checkout my site (link is in my signature)
