How Do You Practice?

[swingset]

I have a game I play to warm up that's fun and helpful. It's called "lowest score". Shoot at your corner pins (7 & 10), trying to hit them without taking any additional pins. Gutters count as a pin, so if you whiff you don't keep scoring low.

It's fun to see how "bad" you can shoot while increasing your accuracy on much-needed spare technique.

Then I bowl for pocket & make myself use every dot as a starting point. I don't quit doing this till I can strike clean from every dot.

Once that's done, I aim for every spare single pin position and don't quit till I hit them all.

If I have time left, I roll 3 games.

This keeps it fun, challenging, and works on ALL my skills while giving me a tangible and comparible metric I can use to evaluate each practice session.

It's also fun with another person as they're all "games".

[J Anderson]

I have a game I play to warm up that's fun and helpful. It's called "lowest score". Shoot at your corner pins (7 & 10), trying to hit them without taking any additional pins. Gutters count as a pin, so if you whiff you don't keep scoring low.

It's also fun with another person as they're all "games".

The version of "Low Score" described by David Ozio in Bowl Like a Pro suggests scoring a first ball gutterball as a strike and a second ball gutterball as a spare. Personally I like to count gutters as 5 since almost any ball that stays on the lane and would miss the corner pin completely is going to take out at least 4 pins. I say almost because my friend Max can take out the 6 and 9 pins while leaving the rest untouched. Like you say the important part is to assign a value to the gutter to keep from rewarding a bad shot.

[tccstudent]

I have a game I play to warm up that's fun and helpful. It's called "lowest score". Shoot at your corner pins (7 & 10), trying to hit them without taking any additional pins. Gutters count as a pin, so if you whiff you don't keep scoring low.

It's fun to see how "bad" you can shoot while increasing your accuracy on much-needed spare technique.

Then I bowl for pocket & make myself use every dot as a starting point. I don't quit doing this till I can strike clean from every dot.

Once that's done, I aim for every spare single pin position and don't quit till I hit them all.

If I have time left, I roll 3 games.

This keeps it fun, challenging, and works on ALL my skills while giving me a tangible and comparible metric I can use to evaluate each practice session.

It's also fun with another person as they're all "games".

Yeah we used to play low ball when the AMF had the free 2 hr practice and a gutter would always count as a strike.
As far as the other game we call that "Around the world" We start on the first dot and cant move to the second till you strike and brooklyns dont count. The first one to go all the way and back again wins

[RobLV1]

The most important thing to do when you practice is to make sure that you have a specific goal: one thing that you intend to practice. It may be spare shooting, and playing low ball is certainly a great way to practice that. It may also be one aspect of your physical game; something that is a critical key for you: footwork, free armswing, release, etc. Practice can also be a great way to learn to adjust more quickly and effectively. If you are a right hander, try bowling a few games with the goal of always keeping the ball to the right of the headpin; you'd be amazed what avoiding splits can do for your average. This particular exercise will help you to anticipate adjustments before leaving something ugly rather than after. You can also practice doing something that you know that you should do, but often don't: check the rack before every frame, watch the ball as it goes through the pins, identify the cause of every corner pin you leave - was it a weak ten or a ringing ten. You can also practice playing different lines: play five board on one lane and 20 board on the other. Along the same line, use one ball on one lane and a different ball on the other, or switch between two or three balls in progressive frames. There are all kinds of things that you can practice. Just make sure that you pick something and don't just go out and throw the ball without a specific goal in mind.

[ALazySavage]

For me this greatly depends on what I'm trying to accomplish with the practice; mainly if I am in a maintenance mode or trying to correct an issue.

When trying to correct a specific issue, for example my second step being too long, I want to get into a rhythm with my practice to try and develop some muscle memory of the correct motion. Planning before the practice is key, especially if you are able to find a drill that will attack the specific problem.

As for a maintenance mode practice the last thing I want to do is get into a great rhythm, I try to mimic more of what I will encounter in a league; delays between frames, random leaves, line and ball adjustments, etc. To do this I have a deck of cards that I use for strike lines and spare shots, the system is listed below:

For Spares I have the 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 (to represent the pins exposed in a fresh rack) set aside in three suits (hearts, clubs, a diamonds): Hearts represents the center of the pin, Clubs the right side, and Diamonds the left side. I draw a card on my first shot and that is what I shoot at - i.e. the 7 of clubs would mean I would throw a line that would be intended for the right side of the 7 pin.

Then for my second shot, assuming the first ball (spare shot) didn't strike, I have cards representing various strike lines; For example the Ace of Clubs says on it Stand 8 throw between the gutter and 1st arrow, Queen of Spades is stand 25 and throw 12 between the 2nd and 3rd arrow. There isn't an exact method to how the remaining cards represent each line; I just have random shots written on each card.

For me this helps prevent just showing up and throwing the ball.

[TotallyDefiant]

For me this greatly depends on what I'm trying to accomplish with the practice; mainly if I am in a maintenance mode or trying to correct an issue.

When trying to correct a specific issue, for example my second step being too long, I want to get into a rhythm with my practice to try and develop some muscle memory of the correct motion. Planning before the practice is key, especially if you are able to find a drill that will attack the specific problem.

As for a maintenance mode practice the last thing I want to do is get into a great rhythm, I try to mimic more of what I will encounter in a league; delays between frames, random leaves, line and ball adjustments, etc. To do this I have a deck of cards that I use for strike lines and spare shots, the system is listed below:

For Spares I have the 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 (to represent the pins exposed in a fresh rack) set aside in three suits (hearts, clubs, a diamonds): Hearts represents the center of the pin, Clubs the right side, and Diamonds the left side. I draw a card on my first shot and that is what I shoot at - i.e. the 7 of clubs would mean I would throw a line that would be intended for the right side of the 7 pin.

Then for my second shot, assuming the first ball (spare shot) didn't strike, I have cards representing various strike lines; For example the Ace of Clubs says on it Stand 8 throw between the gutter and 1st arrow, Queen of Spades is stand 25 and throw 12 between the 2nd and 3rd arrow. There isn't an exact method to how the remaining cards represent each line; I just have random shots written on each card.

For me this helps prevent just showing up and throwing the ball.

I like this method. May have to give it a try.

[Bunny]

Thanks all! Great ideas!!

[JohnnyG]

Practice your strength, not your weakness! Practice doing it right, not replicate what you have done incorrectly in the past! Practice in regularly spaced intervals or days of the week as to train the memory of the muscles in your body to repeat automatically.

[RobLV1]

I rarely practice by myself. Most of my bowling is done in the company of other bowlers. Usually I bowl 6 to eight games when I practice. I will focus on one specific aspect of my game for the first few games, and then bowl the last three games competitively to incorporate what I've worked on during the "practice" games.

[rv driver]

Practice your strength, not your weakness! Practice doing it right, not replicate what you have done incorrectly in the past! Practice in regularly spaced intervals or days of the week as to train the memory of the muscles in your body to repeat automatically.

Practice doesn't make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.