What's your practice routine?

[SouthpawTRK]

So, I've been bowling for almost two months and been having a blast doing so:)

One thing (among many) that eludes me is a solid practice routine. I'd like to make the most of my time practicing so to better my technique and increase my average.

I was curious to know what is your practice routine? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated (the more descriptive the better).

Thanks in advance:)

[Greenday]

Get up and throw a strike ball. Was it a strike? Good, throw another one. Did I leave pins? Oh well, reset the pins, throw another strike ball. Repeat for five or six games.

My main problem is stringing together strikes. So I practice my strike ball. It's a lot of trying to repeat the same motion over and over. Once I can get it a bunch of times in a row, I know I've gotten whatever new technique I'm working on down.

[Cochese]

I usually try to focus on one specific thing for a whole game, then work on something else next game. So first game I will concentrate on releasing low and close to me ankle. Maybe next game focus on footwork, next game work on wrist position. I might end up working on just one thing the whole session.

One thing I have been working on a lot is trying to take a break between frames. Maybe throw two frames, then relax for a minute. I have found that slow league play really throws off my timing versus practice when I can just get up and throw at my own pace. Much easier for me to string strikes together just throwing one after another compared to throwing one, waiting a few minutes and throwing again.

[J Anderson]

My practice routine varies. Sometimes I'm trying to get ready for the next sport pattern and will try playing the part of the lane where I will need to be for that pattern. Other times I will be focused on one or two aspects of my game that seem to need attention. If I'm feeling particularly goofy, I'll put my name in a second time and bowl right-handed vs left-handed.

The following are things that are almost always in my routine, followed by things that may or may not be used:

Low ball; One game of shooting at the 10 pin on the first ball and the 7 pin on the second. A perfect score for this would be 20. My favorite way to play this is to shoot the 10 righty and the 7 lefty. A variation is to just shoot a corner pin on the first ball and try to convert the spare on the second. Perfection would be to wind up with 110.

Move across the rack; Shoot the 10 on the first ball in the first frame, try for the spare, shoot the 6 pin on the first ball in the second frame and so on. Any time you don't hit the pin targeted on the first ball, shoot at it again the next frame.

Alternating balls; Throw each ball that you've brought to the alley in a repeating order, for example I might throw Hy Road, White Dot, Virtual Gravity Nano, Black Widow.

Alternating targets: Using one particular ball, start using the first arrow as target, adjust until you get at least 2 strikes in a row, change target to second arrow, adjust until you get at least 2 strikes in a row, Move on to third arrow and so on. Variation; move target one board at a time.

[Tampabaybob]

Wow John, that's quite a routine. Just got back from practicing myself for tonite. Shot ok... 213, 227, 203. Bowling alone is fast and furious and I always have to remind myself to sit down once a game to slow things down.

But to answer Southpaws original question, practice on accuracy. Today I threw several that I was off of my target and there's nothing that pisses me off more than missing that damn spot. You see, a big percentage of your average depends on hitting your spot/arrow, or whatever target you're aiming for. I've taught this game as a certified instructor for almost 40 years and I've ALWAYS taught accuracy, accuracy, and accuracy. I don't care if you throw the ball between your legs, if you're accurate you'll shoot good games. So my answer to you is can you hit a gnats butt at 16 feet? If you can't, then that's the first thing to work on. Everything else, like swing, speed, footwork, rotation, can be worked on a little at a time, but give me accuracy and you'll improve much faster.

Greenday.....I know you like to throw strikes, but have you ever calculated your spare percentage ? When I was younger, I too, used to reset every rack and just throw first balls. When I started shooting the PBA regional tournaments, it became VERY apparent how important those spares are. Miss one and you may miss a cut. That's $$$$ in your pocket. If your spare percentage is lower than 95 or 96%, I'd rethink you're practice routine. Just my thoughts.

Bob

[e-tank]

i practice on spares which has help raise my average tremendously. I just got into 3 finger hook bowling so ive been practicing my approach, back swing and follow through. Usually at best i can string together a turkey in league but id rather focus on more basic things right now instead of strikes.

[Tampabaybob]

i practice on spares which has help raise my average tremendously. I just got into 3 finger hook bowling so ive been practicing my approach, back swing and follow through. Usually at best i can string together a turkey in league but id rather focus on more basic things right now instead of strikes.

Just remember one thing.....Strikes are for show and Spares are for MONEY !

Bob

[scottymoney]

Not shooting spares is a huge mistake. I gained 20 pins easily when I got my spare system down and was able to be more accurate on them. I know now that when I am having a bad striking day I can at least pick up my spares and have a respectable game.

When practicing take full advantage of every shot you have. Like Bob said, make sure you are hitting your mark.

My practices consist of just playing games. I just go in thinking I am there to post my best possible score and do my best. I normally take one of my practice games and try to play the lanes different than I normally do. I normally play 2nd arrow, but I try to play 3rd arrow or 1st arrow just so I can bewtter myself in case it ever comes up where my normal lines is just not working.

Most spares are the same as throwing your strike ball just from a different position, so just go in and make sure you are hitting that mark and making the most of each ball.

[J Anderson]

Wow John, that's quite a routine.

Bob

Some form of low ball is the only thing that's always included. Most of the time I either don't have the time or the money to throw more than 4 practice games.

[ArtVandelay]

Accuracy. I just want to feel like im placing the ball where i want it. Ive bowled games where i cant avoid a strike, and ive bowled games were i leave the 10 pin 5 times. But ive bowled strikeless games and still hit 180.

Ive found that if my accuracy is there, everything falls into place.

In league practice, i always throw my first ball at the 10 pin, and my second ball is my strike ball. It maximizes my practice time, and helps me warm up.

[ArtVandelay]

Low ball; One game of shooting at the 10 pin on the first ball and the 7 pin on the second. A perfect score for this would be 20. My favorite way to play this is to shoot the 10 righty and the 7 lefty.

I used to bowl left handed for the 10 pin. I used to be a drummer and my left hand is fairly coordinated. Once i got the footwork down, i became pretty good at getting the 10 pin lefty. But then i joined a sanctioned league and was told that was illegal. I had no idea. It seems like an odd rule.

[billf]

I have a huge advantage over most: my practice games are free. The rest depends on my mood and/or what I need to work on.
To learn to play the far outside line, I used my plastic ball and threw it straight up three. If I missed, no damage was done to a good ball. Now I will play there with any ball.
I also play at least one full game of just corner pins as John described above. My best score is a 34. To figure out my best line for the ten pin I once shot just the ten pin for three hours.
Another thing I do regularly is start with one ball and work from the right to the left hitting different targets. For variation I will go from far right to far left. Going from one style to the other is the most troubling for me, this helps.

Bob is absolutely correct, accuracy is the most important aspect of the game and spares win money.

[Greenday]

It's funny, I haven't shot spare pins in weeks for practice. This week, in league, I made every single spare shot that wasn't a split (Though I did make all three baby splits).

[Tampabaybob]

It's funny, I haven't shot spare pins in weeks for practice. This week, in league, I made every single spare shot that wasn't a split (Though I did make all three baby splits).


That's great. The majority of bowlers has trouble with at least one or more spare shots and that's the idea of getting people used to shooting spares. When I teach, I emphasize the accuracy on spares will roll over to accuracy on the first ball eventually leading to throwing more strike. And yes I know there many variables involved there, but the premise is to get someones accuracy down and that in turn should raise their average. As their average goes up, so does other aspects such as wanting to bowl more, new equipment, buying coaching lessons, and maybe getting friends and family members involved in the sport.

You see the intent here is to get this sport back to where it was originally headed many years ago in popularity. We always need to be promoting. As one highly involved industry official told me a while back in a conversation we had, was if the trend of losing bowlers continues, in 20 years (give or take a few) the sport will all but disappear. I know that's hard to believe, but those are numbers they have crunched based on participation over the last 20 - 30 years. I won't be around that long but I sure hope the sport will.

Bob

[SouthpawTRK]

Thank you one and all for all of your comments, insight and bowling routine/tips! I definitely need to work on accuracy and hitting my mark; I have too much fluctuation in hitting/missing my mark. I would also say that I need to work on spares; so important to make them; yet another one of my pitfalls. I'm going to work that into my routine as well; I'd like to eliminate unnecessary open frames.

Hope that everyone has a great weekend and have a safe and happy New Year!!!

[RoccoRock]

What I've done a few times is throw the first ball, try for the strike. If I leave pins, it doesn't matter what pins I leave, I try to shoot as if the 10 pin was standing. If I can hit the 10, then I can hit anything. I do that for the first practice game, second game I shoot whatever spare are left. If I have a long practice, I work on different lines. I will play the outside, deep inside, not worrying about results, just hitting targets.

[Flyer41]

Since my dad was a big preacher on making hand adjustments instead of switching balls when lines went away, I would work on finding how many ways I could strike with a ball at the same speed. I'd start going up 5 and using soft hand to getting inside 25 and projecting out to 10 with the same ball. Of course there would be a limit to what each ball could do, but that also helped me learn what all my equipment was capable of. Since I would leave many spares during this, I would use the time to get my spare system in line also.

[Hammer]

I have been bowling on this league for 26 years but I still practice fundamentals. The first game I will practice my approach and doing a free swing without muscling the ball. The second game I concentrate on my hand with the ball. I want to make sure in my swing that my hand stays cupped and behind the ball from the backswing all the way through the release. I do this because sometimes I have a tendency to start turning my hand too early on the forward swing. The third game I work on hitting
my mark. Fourth game will be spare shooting. Fifth game I just let it all go and just bowl a game. Don't forget that in practice don't worry about your score. You'll have time to do that when you are bowling when it counts. So no matter how long you bowl you always have to practice. The pros do it and they really know how to bowl. They do this as a living so they have no choice if they want to make money.

[Zothen]

On Saturday mornings I bowl with a teammate from my sport league and an ex pro bowler(Bill Stempke)and they have me work on my footing,timing & armswing as well as being consistant in hitting my mark and spare pick ups.

Zothen

[GeoLes]

Set aside a few games for practice. You will NOT bowl for strikes or scores. The object is to note specific aspects of your deliery and to retrain muscle memory accordingly. You may roll the last game for score, but allow for errors due to new adjuatments. Here is some of what I do. Of course it is adjusted depending on the weakness I am working on.

1. Light stretch to loosen muscles.
2. Stand at foul line, swing ball at side from swing slot focusing on release over the foul lline with good release for a couple of frames (hooked, flat, and wrapped release) Note the ball may gutter without hittnig any pins. That's fine, we are intersted in revs and/or end over end roll depending on release practices.

3. backup one step, pushoff and let the ball swing, sliding forward into finish position for a couple of frames (check finish position for low, forward hips square to target) Focus on solid finish position, strong and balanced.

4. roll a coupe of frames to find strike zone with various releases just to get a feel for the ball reaction on the lanes

5. Roll flat balls at 10-pin first frame , Roll at 4-7 pin second half of frame. Work for a perfect score of 2.

8. Play strike zone from 2nd mark, working inward one mark at a time to 4th mark focusing on accuracy. You don't care about pin leaves. Just find the 1/3 pocket rolling through a variety of marks. This is an exercise in finding the pocket from various marks.

8. Finish practice drill section by rolling down first mark for accuracy. change release and note effect. Look to hit 6-10 on flat release and 1/3 with neutral release.

9. Roll a few frames with no particular focus for integration purposes. Don''t sweat it. Just roll the ball to see how it feels.

Note what happens and make note of areas that need work for next practice. Get this stuff right and the pinfall will come over time. When you get it it will be solid because you have a foundation.

[GeoLes]

Some form of low ball is the only thing that's always included. Most of the time I either don't have the time or the money to throw more than 4 practice games.

I have limited time and money, so I practice one game sessions at lanes near my job during lunch. I bowl league there so I can pay only $1.75 for a quick focused sessong 2-3 times a week. The wife and I bowl 3 games each on the weekend as well..