how much practice is apprpriate? How much is too much?

[Amyers]

I really prefer not to practice more than 6 games in a set. After that my knee starts to act up and I'm thinking about my knee and not my shot as much although I do have to say I'm getting better about that I threw 9 games yesterday with no pain.

[Konvict1982]

I currently bowl as a regular in 2 leagues Sunday/Monday. Practice depends on how I perform in league. If I am comfortable with my game and everything feels good I practice on Wednesday and Saturday after youth league. If I am having a tough time in league I will practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday 3-6 game sets. I always keep Fridays open because I am one of the main subs for Friday nights and now that they are in position rounds I am the only sub with enough games to actually bowl during these next 2 weeks.

Also I am lucky because my local bowling alley gives Registered Youth Volunteers that help on Saturday mornings 21 free games a week same as the youth bowlers. I got registered last month since my son bowls in youth league and now I help out and get free bowling practice also.

[coreyds012778]

I use to practice 20 to 40 games a week, found it hurt me when it came to league play. now only do between 8 to 10 a week. work on timing alot.

[MICHAEL]

3 years ago I use to practice with Jason on Fridays when AMF had FREE bowling form noon to 3pm. It was fun and a blast,,, my average back then was not as high as it is now, I am bowing 200 and above on 2 leagues now with the expectption of the wood lanes, but I hope to get it up to 200 now that I am a god!

My main problems have been NOT KEEPING my elbow next to my body, keeping my eye on THE MARK, and not trying to work the ball up the side, instead of just projecting it down the lane. ( Plain and SIMPLE)

I have been having some GREAT scores since working out,,,, JUST THOSE 3 fundaments!

Went to NKC AMF today league, and threw a, 248 first game cold, then 175, 194 , and final game of 267. 221 average for 4 games. NOTHING to
brag about I was having carry problems on the 10 pin like you have never seen before games 2 and 3!!!! GRRRRR Many many pocket hits,,, friends started actually laughing!
I pulled every ball in my bag out, finally the Hyper-Cell with its HUGE Block gave me a very solid game, with carry 267!

Practice can be a good thing I am sure, but for me, I am bowing better now then in years past where I actually did practice.

Fixing my 3 bad habits mentioned above has help me a BUNCH! I feel like I am moving to a higher level now, time will tell

YOU CAN practice a Bunch, but if you don't correct your errors then really you haven't accomplished much! Many times you don't know your doing something wrong, and had a guy that coach's Pat, give me the advice Free! And ,, by the GODS it has changed my LIFE in regards to bowling!!

I would have to say that coaching can be the missing element in your game if ,, IF you just can't seem to get out of a Bowling Rut!!!


I have been bowling better this year then any of my 4 years of bowing so far! Hope to see all my leagues, including the wood over 200 this year for the first time.

[Aslan]

YOU CAN practice a Bunch, but if you don't correct your errors then really you haven't accomplished much! Many times you don't know your doing something wrong, and had a guy that coach's Pat, give me the advice Free! And ,, by the GODS it has changed my LIFE in regards to bowling!!

I would have to say that coaching can be the missing element in your game if ,, IF you just can't seem to get out of a Bowling Rut!!!

You can ignore the first 1000 words...ABOVE is what matters.

I don't do drills or focus JUST on spare shots...but I DO make changes, some uncomfortable, to my game to try and get to that next level. I DO get coaching and input and study stuff online and read articles. Not to confuse myself...and I have to filter out a LOT. But simple repetitive practice is only going to help you in the beginning...getting a spare system down...maybe rolling the ball and releasing consistently. Once you kinda got the basics down...you need someone to take an honest, 3rd party look at what you're doing and the things you need to fix. And the higher the level of coach or pro that can do that...the better.

I'm not saying you shouldn't ask a pal or even one of these fine online gentlemen...or even internet Gods per se...but a silver or gold level coach...a PBA pro...or a actual bowling instructor...is almost always going to trump a bronze level coach. And a bronze level coach is going to almost always trump "Billy Bob" on lane 32 or the Pro Shop guy or your friend that once threw a 194 game.

You gotta step outside that comfort zone from time to time though if ya want to really advance. It's why when you look at averages in your local USBC Yearbook...you see the same bowlers with virtually identical averages every single season. I just looked at a list of potential competitors I might have to face in a tournament in January or February. Out of 21 bowlers, only 2 (me and one other guy) actually had a significant increase in average over last year. And only 1 had a significant decrease. That means 18 of 21 are just treading water.

[ralphs007]

If bowling weren't so expensive, I would practice a whole lot more, I am going to start working part time at my local alley. 3 free games every time I work!

I hear you about being expensive. luckily, I have a bowling center that offers $.50 games starting at 10 am. , Monday through Friday. If you bowl ten games with a friend (must spend at least $10.00) , they give you a coupon for 1/2 off. That comes out to $.25 a game! I feel like I'm living back in the 1950's when I bowl here.
My other bowling center charges 3.50 a game. They have weekend specials where you can rent a lane for, 2 1/2 hours for $33.00. I use a ten off coupon so paying $23.00 for 2 1/2 isn't too bad.
I also play over 100 rounds of Golf a year, now that can cost some serious change !

[RobLV1]

Practice as much as you can without getting over-tired. Try to pick one thing to work on when you practice, and vary it from time to time. Despite the fact that most people tell you not to worry about score when you practice, SOMETIMES, you should. When you are practicing with someone else, agree to compete occasionally. Practicing dealing with the pressure of having to double in the tenth to win the game IS valid practice, just not all the time.

[Aslan]

During a lesson I don't keep score. Too much instruction going on…no time for all that.

But when I practice I almost always keep score. Since I use an app to track many aspects of my game…entering the data into the device actually provides me some useable feedback. I don't necessarily 'care' how well I score or don't score…but it's the data behind the score that interests me.

[RobLV1]

But when I practice I almost always keep score. Since I use an app to track many aspects of my game…entering the data into the device actually provides me some useable feedback. I don't necessarily 'care' how well I score or don't score…but it's the data behind the score that interests me.

That's fine, as long as you are not working on making a large change to any physical aspect of your game. There are times when your coach first makes a change in your physical game that you will find your score taking a small step back before taking a giant step forward. During those times, keeping score and keeping stats can cause enough stress to hamper the important progress.

[vdubtx]

When I practice, scores do not matter. I go to practice to work on my approach, work on my balance at the line, targeting, spare pick ups, and ball reaction. Doing that, I use one ball per game and go through my bag for the balls I have brought for that session. I typically bring 6 total, 5 reactive and 1 spare ball. I usually get 6 games and sometimes if I want to work extra on 10 pins or other leaves, I will do 8. I typically go 3 Sundays a month depending what is on the honey do list.