Men didn't die face down in the mud in Vietnam so I can get a gutterball.

December 7, 2005 8:46 AM

Donnie, I'm out of my element. Help me improve my bowling.

I bowl on a league one night a week. Generally I bowl between 70-90 per game. I have a hard time rolling the ball straight. It always seems to go off to the left at the very end of the lane. Also, I have the hands of a 10 year old and use an 8lb ball with the smallest holes in it. I've got no power when sending it at the pins. I bowl tonight, so if you can help me break 100, I'll be happy.

posted by pieoverdone to sports, hobbies, & recreation (25 comments total)

One thing that helped me a lot was to lighten my delivery; I'd been trying to heave the ball as hard as possible, and that hosed up my control pretty badly. When I tried to keep my arm a little looser on my delivery, that at least set the ball to going straight. Doing that moved me from your 70-90 range to 110-ish-per-game, which still isn't awesome, but is at least an improvement.

And it goes without saying that you should be drinking white russians as you bowl.
posted by COBRA! at 8:53 AM on December 7, 2005

I've always found the best advice is to get your body out of the way, so to speak, to ensure that your arm is going straight back and straight forward. If I concentrate on that, I find it goes straight with more power.
posted by deadfather at 8:54 AM on December 7, 2005

You know that crazy foot thing you see good bowlers do - where you end up standing on whichever foot is opposite your throwing arm, and your other leg is behind it, elevated, and pointing the other way? Yeah, that might look crazy, but it really matters.
posted by odinsdream at 9:01 AM on December 7, 2005

When you're lining up, aim at the arrows instead of the pins. This should help you anticipate where the ball will go.

Also, if you have no power, it sounds like you're walking up to the foul line, then throwing the ball. You may need to get your hands and feet working together. Watch others who look like they know how to bowl--they always take the same number of steps, and the ball always moves in tandem with their feet. In a four-step approach, you should start the ball in motion on your first step, have the ball in mid-backswing on the second step, be at the peak of the backswing in third step, then on the fourth step, bring the ball through and release as you slide.

This is tough to explain without being on the lanes to demonstrate. I hope this makes a slight bit of sense. Please stop back tomorrow and let us know how it goes tonight.
posted by slogger at 9:06 AM on December 7, 2005

OK, I'm not a whole lot better than you but I do generally expect to break 100 so I'll tell you what makes more difference to my game than anything else, which is keeping my eyes on the pins throughout the movement. If I start looking down at the lane, that's when I start throwing gutter balls. I don't play very much so until recently I was having to re-learn that lesson every game.
posted by teleskiving at 9:08 AM on December 7, 2005

Someone once taught me that instead of bowling underhand, to turn your hand to the left and bowl as if you were shaking hands with someone. It seems to be easier to power the ball that way than palm up.
posted by undertone at 9:14 AM on December 7, 2005

Spend a little money and get a bowling ball of your own. They'll sell them in the pro shop at the bowling alley and you can get it drilled to fit your fingers. Don't be afraid to ask for help; we bowlers love to give advice.

COBRA! has it right: do not try to throw the ball too hard. Walk at a constant speed and don't try to whip the ball around your body at the end, because you'll wind up missing left every time (assuming you're a righty). Let the velocity the ball gains on your backswing work for you. Finish with your shoulders parallel to the foul line.

Do not look at the pins. I know it's counter-intuitive, since they're what you're trying to hit, but they're 60 feet away and there's no way you can aim that accurately. Nobody can. Instead, pick a spot on the lane around the arrows and aim there. Concentrate on hitting the same spot every time you throw the ball.

Finally, if you really want to get good, check this out.
posted by schustafa at 9:16 AM on December 7, 2005

If you want to develop a good delivery (and if you want to bowl better, you do), this is a pretty good explanation.
posted by schustafa at 9:22 AM on December 7, 2005

Agree with "look at the arrows;" disagree with "look at the pins." I throw a straight ball (which is what you probably throw), and while I'm not a particularly good bowler, even when I haven't thrown a ball for months I'll usually break 150. For throwing a straight ball, I think it helps a great deal if you aim at the first set of arrows. My "spot" is directly between the first and second arrow left of center (since, even thought I bowl right-handed, I tend to rotate a bit clockwise during the release). Play a little til you find your spot (if you're hooking left at the end, try aiming right-of-center). I also agree with lightening your touch. I have an unusual approach (6 steps), and on the fourth step, I bend my knees and flatten my back so that by the time I'm sliding on my left foot (sixth step), the ball is on the ground just ahead of the foul line. It's a gentle motion that allows a lot of control.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:22 AM on December 7, 2005

One more thing: don't listen to us. At least, not all at once. The flipside to the whole "all bowlers love to give advice" thing is that everybody starts giving you advice, much of it conflicting.

If you try to fix more than one or two things in a night, you'll start hating bowling and never want to go back. Pick one or two things here and work on it until you're comfortable with it. Then pick another and go with that.

My vote for tonight would be to look at the arrows instead of the pins. You can see a huge improvement from changing that one small thing.
posted by schustafa at 9:32 AM on December 7, 2005

If your throwing left, look at where your standing when before you're approach. Move a little to the left. This assumes that you are aiming at the arrows and still bowling to the left.
posted by I Foody at 9:45 AM on December 7, 2005

I should add that my answer depends on you having a consistent approach. Your footwork does matter, but it's really a personal thing. You want to end up on the foot opposite your throwing arm. The number and size of your steps is going to be entirely up to you, though, so play around with it.

Also, you should end crouching more than you probably think you should.
posted by odinsdream at 9:51 AM on December 7, 2005

Because of the veer you described, I would assume the problem lies with a lack of power stemming from a fundamental flaw in your form (lack of strength only has to do with the weight of your ball).

Really? Look at the arrows? There is so much lane for your ball to cover (i.e. fall off of) if you look such a short distance ahead, especially if you don't throw with a lot of power so that the ball is subject to the flaws of the lane, inadvertent spin, etc.

The two things I will say to my girlfriend when we go bowling and she seems to be having trouble are, "don't throw the ball around you," just as others have said. You know, moving your leg is easier than moving the ball around your leg, as this will not only take power out of your throw (yes, this is important for pin action up until you begin sacrificing accuracy for power), but also creates this random release point whereupon the ball can go anywhere. And, "look at where the ball will end up," that is, the pins. Sorry to disagree, but at least I think it is worth one vote so that if looking at the arrows doesn't work for you, you feel like you can look at the end of the lane rather than assuming the flaw(s) of your game lie elsewhere.

Also, two things that are more fundamental and should just be done with consistency: measure your stride and start from where you can take the same amount of steps on your approach each time, and don't throw the ball until you get to the foul line. Closing frames (spares) is about accuracy and experience, but more importantly, strikes are about consistency. Same number of steps and same point of release will help you to be more consistent on your first throw of the frame.

Man, after giving all this advice and feeling like it is really only scraping the surface, I'm just hoping you don't feel like I did when I was trying to take up golf and getting "instructed" by my impatient dad and brother. Eek.
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 10:23 AM on December 7, 2005

I also throw an 8-lb ball and my average is a bit below yours (MeFi/MeCha meetup photo). Thanks for posting this!
posted by matildaben at 10:27 AM on December 7, 2005

Really? Look at the arrows? There is so much lane for your ball to cover (i.e. fall off of) if you look such a short distance ahead, especially if you don't throw with a lot of power so that the ball is subject to the flaws of the lane, inadvertent spin, etc.

You cannot control the ball after your release point. "Inadvertent spin" is generated by inconsistency in the release, and is in no way related to the length of the lane. As for the flaws of the lane, they should be so minor that they can be discounted. Without getting into the more complex issue of oil patterns, all lanes are supposed to be identical and are certified annually.

If you have a problem looking at the arrows, you should actually move your spot closer to the foul line than farther. Try looking at the dots if you can't consistently hit a spot at the arrows.

Also, two things that are more fundamental and should just be done with consistency: measure your stride and start from where you can take the same amount of steps on your approach each time, and don't throw the ball until you get to the foul line.

Excellent advice. Consistency really is the name of the game.
posted by schustafa at 10:46 AM on December 7, 2005

This helped me (a straight shooter): concentrate on your thumb. Your thumb (or rather your thumb-knuckle, once it's in the ball) should be pointed to where you want the ball to go, and it should stay straight on that plane through the delivery and follow-through.
posted by kmel at 10:46 AM on December 7, 2005

My advice for beginner bowlers is usually the same: try and find what works and repeat it. Most bad/beginning bowlers I know do this: bowl the ball, watch what it does, then on their very next shot take measures to correct what happened. Then, next time up, they take measure to correct what went wrong in their last throw. This cycle never stops.

I learned to bowl by hitting the alleys alone and just bowling one after the other after the other, trying to become somewhat like an automaton.

I would bowl my first ball, aiming for a strike (for me, just left of the center of the head pin). If I got a strike or a gutter, I'd go again. If any pins remained standing I did not try and knock them down, instead, I would try and still aim for the "strike target", even if that pin wasn't there anymore. Then, after my second shot--and the machine reset--and I'd be back to square one. Repeat.

Once I'd aced my basic throw, I moved on to mastering different shots for different pin combos, again, over and over and over.

This method of learning by repetition works for most things and is explained very well in the book Don't Shoot The Dog where the author explains that a golfer won't get good by going and playing 18 holes. A golfer gets good by practicing drive after drive after drive and putt after putt after putt. You can also see this in action (with pool) in the movie The Color of Money. Newman (an awesome pool player) doesn't improve by racking the balls and banging them around. He sets them all up in front of the pocket and hits them in one at a time, with each stroke sinking a ball and setting up his next shot.

So, in short: the best way to become a better bowler is to go and bowl alone and find what works for you without the pressure of a game or other people waiting to bowl.

I don't get to bowl that often anymore (about once or twice a year) but still get between 180-210 on average. In my youth, when I had time to go, I bowled very well and have bowled a perfect game of all strikes 3 times (2 x 10 pin, 1 x 5 pin).
posted by dobbs at 10:47 AM on December 7, 2005

I don't think you will ever get the pin action needed to consisitently deliver strikes with an 8lb ball, but the advice above should get you knocking down 7-9 pins on the first ball. Then, if you can be deadly accurate in picking up spares, you will improve your score tremendously.
posted by spicynuts at 10:47 AM on December 7, 2005

kmel: "This helped me (a straight shooter): concentrate on your thumb. Your thumb (or rather your thumb-knuckle, once it's in the ball) should be pointed to where you want the ball to go, and it should stay straight on that plane through the delivery and follow-through."


I'll second that. You don't need to put any spin on the ball, really. Better bowlers can do it to get a better angle of attack on the pins, but a straight shot is easier to master. Keep your thumb on top, and when you swing and release keep the thumb pointed at the pin you want to hit.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:58 AM on December 7, 2005

Best advice out of here summarized from my experiences:

- The thumb. You want it pointing straight forward! If it's not, your ball will curve. Work on a straight line approach first and forget about the "hook" that better bowlers do.

- The approach. Practice a 4 step approach, and do it the same every single time. Start at the dots (since you have such small hands, I'll assume you're a bit shorter and have a shorter stride -- so start at the front set of dots). If you're right handed, start with your right foot -- right, left, right, left/toss.

- The release. Again - be sure your thumb is pointing STRAIGT FORWARD. Also, when releasing the ball, stretch your legs out enough and bend down enough (but face straight!) that you are almost gliding the ball along the ground. You don't want to be "tossing" it, or "dropping" it... rather you want it running almost parallel to the ground when you release it.. you're rolling the ball, not throwing it.

- Compensation. Often out of fear of hitting your leg, you'll have the ball off to your right a bit (assuming you're right handed), and therefore since your arm is acting as a pendulum, by the time the ball is released, it's going off to the left (think diagonal line from behind you and to the right to in front of you and to the left...). Concentrate on avoiding this fear and keeping that arm straight!

- Power. Until you're a better bowler, screw power. Let gravity do most of the work. ALLOW your arm to swing back due to the weight of the ball, and allow it to swing back forward due to that weight. Don't even bother trying to push the ball very hard.


At the end of the day, the best advice I can give you beyond the above is that, like all sports/games, the real key is being comfortable. The biggest reason you can't rollerskate right away, or ride a bike, etc, is because of your fear of falling and your discomfort with something that is not familiar. At some point, for whatever reason when learning to ride a bike, you just kind of mentally "relax" and let things happen - and what the heck? All of a sudden you're balancing like champ.

Games like bowling are no different. Once you feel comfortable and relaxed, you'll do a lot better. Something that helps with that comfort level is mechanics and getting everything to be a very familiar, calculated motion - so all the above advice still does apply... but in the end, the key is really just feeling comfy and confident...

Good luck!!
posted by twiggy at 11:07 AM on December 7, 2005

I took a bowling class in college (hey I needed the credit!) and in half a semester raised my average score from a 90 to 140. "How?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you.

First, I was bowling every single day for weeks.

Second, I was used one simple basic technique: imagine swinging the ball from your arm like a pendulum. You want to be able to picture the plane--or the pie wedge shape that your arm creates. You want that shape to be as vertical or at least as consistent as possible. Start with the ball held a little to one side so that it startes as much in that plane as you can. Learn to release smoothly, and as you release you will turn your hand from palm forward into a follow through that will end with you ready to go into a fine handshake. This puts just a wee bit of spin on the ball to make it curve away from your bowling arm.

Once you have done this, you will discover that you will can hit the same mark with astounding consistency. You will use that consistency to figure out where to release the ball so that you get a good strike approach. For me, I know exactly where I want to stand, where I want to release and where that ball needs to go to get a strike.

Am I a great bowler? No. Am I a consistent bowler? Heck yes.
posted by plinth at 11:14 AM on December 7, 2005

What pushed me up from a 70-point game to a 90-110 game with an 8-9 lb ball is isolation. I used to go bowling 2 games a week (non-competitively), so for the first couple week I concentrated on ARM MOVEMENT ONLY (which means I walked up to the lane, and practiced just my last step - standing with the ball in position, then taking one step forward with my non-dominant foot, swinging the ball back, and concentrating only on what my hand was doing with the ball). This helps with aim, and also builds arm strength, but reduces the output/input power ratio.

After I could consistently bowl strikes (if I was lucky), spares, or at least knock down 8 pins, I started working on my approach. I watched a good bowler and followed what they did. I didn't worry at all about what my hand was doing, just concentrated on starting my swing at the right time and ending up with the right body position. This generally led to more gutterballs, but more powerful and straight deliveries.

Then I'd try to integrate the two. That would generally fail, so I'd go back to square one and work on my final delivery again. Back and forth until my body somehow "got it" - now I generally bowl a 115 or so (not good, but about the best I'll be able to do with a small ball - using a light ball generally leads to spares and splits, not strikes). After you bowl for awhile, your arm strength should keep increasing, so don't be afraid of moving up to a larger ball, even if it makes your arm a little sore.

As for finger holes, I always got to the lane a little early, which gave me time to test every ball in my size to find the one with the most comfortable grip.
posted by muddgirl at 11:15 AM on December 7, 2005

What plinth said about the arm movement is critical. Try to think about the path the ball is taking as you pull back and then let go. You want to minimize the left-right movement of the ball, and concentrate on making it all forward-backward movement.

You can see this all the time if you watched inexperienced bowlers - when they bring their arm back they will also have a bit of "twist" that causes the ball to move inwards, as if you were trying to itch your back. Don't do this! The path should be completely straigth - pull back straight and release straight. Practise this with your arm while looking in a mirror.

You will also benefit greatly from learning a proper 4 or 5 step approach. The power that you put into the ball does not come from having a strong arm, it comes entirely from the approach. If you're just walking up to the line and plopping the ball down you're never going to have the amount of power or consistency you need.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:21 PM on December 7, 2005

The "let gravity do the work" and "slow down" advice is probably the best for your short-term improvement. Also, you should throw a heavier ball unless you have an injury that prevents it. To do this, (in addition to letting gravity do the work) you should make sure the ball's holes and your hands are free of lane conditioner ("oil") -- if you are using a house ball there will be a ton on it. Bring a towel to wipe the holes and your hands/fingers. Also, buy/borrow a rosin bag to give you a more secure hold on the ball. It's amazing how often a perceived lack of strength is really just a problem with the grip.

A heavier ball, hitting the pocket, will increase the odds of striking. You'll need to do that to get over your current scoring range until your accuracy is to the point where you can pick up spares reliably.
posted by BrandonAbell at 4:33 PM on December 7, 2005

So, it's probably too late for you to read this, but if you want IMMEDIATE, instant improvements from being a shitty bowler, I was recently taught this trick by someone who was a 200+ bowler in a college league.

1. Don't do any fancy steps, or leg kicks, or spin, or shaking hands... that takes loads of practice to get right. Instead, stand a little to the left of the middle arrow, and just make your arm a pendulum that goes back and swings forward smooth and straight. Don't worry about leg kicks or long strides- just concentrate on the smooth pendulum with your hand and shoulder over the middle arrow.
2. Most important, and this was the real "trick": concentrate on flicking your two middle fingers that are in the holes, just as they release the ball.

And that was it.

I honestly don't know how or why that works, .... but I was a typically crappy 70-80 type bowler when we'd go on a lark every few months. He taught me this trick just before we started a game, and I immediately bowled a 120+ that game, and am consistently in that range or above even though I bowl maybe once every few months.

I don't do any fancy stepwork, just stand in the middle, take a couple of steps, let my arm swing forward with modest power, and flick those fingers. The ball goes straight, smooth, every time, and I get a few strikes and a few spares. I'll never be a great bowler this way, but I never embarass myself either...

Oh, and seconding BrandonAbell's notion that using a heavier ball, especially with the finger flick I described, works wonders. You send a slow, smooth, straight, heavy ball down the middle, and you'll get more strikes and spares. A light ball needs to be hurled to do much damage, which requires more power, which requires good technique, etc...
posted by hincandenza at 5:20 PM on December 7, 2005