Practice with a purpose

[The German Shepherd]

I tisn't often that posts are made about effective methods of practice and bowling discipline. Are you willing and/or able t go to your local bowling house and practice? "Back in the day" I used to go to the local lanes and "shadow bowl." That meant bowling without the benefit of pins. You could throw ball after ball and pay a reduced price. This may sound like a strange idea because you do not get to see the results - like, how the pins carry, how the ball deflects or continues through the pin deck and so on. It was still a good way to practice for your corner pins, grooving your arm swing, improving your timing and even your "'spot bowling."

The other day went to the lanes just to throw at 10 pins and try different hand positions. Of course, my game scores were much lower than normal, but one guy on a nearby lane told me he would have a hard time practicing ike that, "because [he] needed to see high scores on the monitor. In other words, his ego would not allow him to intentionally not throw strike balls on his first ball in every frame!

What are you favorite ways to practice? Do you have any special tips on practice to share with everyone here???

Jay

[Fuzzifus]

When I practice, I rarely if ever score. The scorer is left off. I simply throw shots to see what a move does to ball reaction and so on. Usually, I will throw roughly 2 games of spares, where I simply target commonly left spares. (Generally, I devote about 10 shots to the 10-pin.) Practicing in this manner gives me a better understanding of my equipment and confidence should I leave a corner pin or anything else for that matter. It also helps that the house where I practice gives a rate of $5 for 2 hours of bowling.....unlimited games in that 2 hours.

Side note.....no matter if I am bowling a league or tournament, the first practice ball I throw everytime, is plastic at the ten-pin. This is always followed by what i think I need to throw for a stike ball. Should I miss the 10-pin on the first try, the first ball of my next practice frame also goes for the ten pin.

[scottymoney]

This is a good thread to start. I never get to practice on conditions I would bowl during league. So it is always tough to purposely practice scoring well. During practice I normally spend a couple games just trying different tweaks and changes in my approach to see what it does to my shot. I do this mainly to get used to knowing things I can change on the fly to get a different reaction. Practicing this way allows me to also practice picking up spares as normally I will leave a bunch with the adjustments I make.

I will practice 1 or 2 games of serious bowling for a game where I treat every shot as if it is a tournament/league situation. Being burnt up dry lanes, I tend to not be able play the lines I want to. I will start experimenting with playing more left now that my ball is sanded down and get a bit more reaction.

I know I tend to stop focusing on things during practice and rush a lot. Hoping I can soon get used to relaxing and just working on one or 2 things during a practice.

[Greenday]

The place I practice at doesn't use as heavy oil as my league's. My league has a 37' pattern with relatively heavy oil. Playing from the outside works the best. Where I practice, I asked them what they do and was told they have a 35' pattern that's buffed out to 38'. I normally throw the 15 board and get a breakpoint around the 5-6 board. Completely different conditions. Oil also burns up fast where I practice.

I generally just throw strike balls when I go practice. I nearly never miss my single pin spares and rarely miss any easy multi-pin spare. If I could just start stringing my strikes together, I'd be at the point where I could consistently bowl 600 series.

[Zothen]

My practices usually consist of footing,timing & armswing,hitting my mark consistantly and picking up spares. I also play mock games and see how high a game I can get.

Zothen

[e-tank]

Since im still relatively new to bowling i practice hitting my mark for strike balls then working on my spares. I also try out many different styles. Ive only done serious practice for about 3 weeks now but it has helped a ton with my accuracy and consistency. As well as getting to know how my balls react.

[10-in-the-pit]

I usually start off the first 3-4 shots finding my strike line. Depending on what I need to work on, I will either just pick off 7's and 10's each frame or I might go for a corner spare shot first, then practice my strike ball second. I try to make sure I roll two balls every frame to get the most for my money. I tend to bowl faster when I practice, so by the 3rd game of bowling 2 balls each frame, I'm already pretty tired. I can't turn off the scoreboard so everyone always sees my scores.

[aussiedave]

I tisn't often that posts are made about effective methods of practice and bowling discipline. Are you willing and/or able t go to your local bowling house and practice? "Back in the day" I used to go to the local lanes and "shadow bowl." That meant bowling without the benefit of pins. You could throw ball after ball and pay a reduced price. This may sound like a strange idea because you do not get to see the results - like, how the pins carry, how the ball deflects or continues through the pin deck and so on. It was still a good way to practice for your corner pins, grooving your arm swing, improving your timing and even your "'spot bowling."

The other day went to the lanes just to throw at 10 pins and try different hand positions. Of course, my game scores were much lower than normal, but one guy on a nearby lane told me he would have a hard time practicing ike that, "because [he] needed to see high scores on the monitor. In other words, his ego would not allow him to intentionally not throw strike balls on his first ball in every frame!

What are you favorite ways to practice? Do you have any special tips on practice to share with everyone here???

Jay

Practice should be a session where you try things you normally wouldn't in league because in league you don't want to sacrifice any pins that you might ordinarily get doing what you know scores most for you. It's a time to try out those radical things you may have learned from friends and wouldn't use in league.
Practice is when you get to work on your weaknesses and should be done in private so you don't have to worry about onlookers. Some of us don't care but if peers turn up and they don't know what you're doing, it can influence what you throw.
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[ecub]

Before the league starts, I normally like to warm up with a game. Depending on who's behind the counter, I either pay $1 for a game or they just turn on the lights, but not the scorer. I normally use this to actually loosen up my arm. I'm getting old. Then when league practice starts, I use the time to see how the oil is. I usually vary from aim for 10 pin with 1st ball, then pic up the spare with the 2nd ball. Or 7 pin with the 1st ball, then pick up the spare with the 2nd. Or just go for a strike. I sometimes play around with different lines, to see which works best.

[BoomGoesTheDynomite]

I wish I had time to practice! The best practice I get now is if I bowl a sport shot league or tournament. I actually find that the best practice for me because it creates pressure and the shot forces you to be accurate rather than just attempting to hit the same mark.