Two handed bowling

[Bowlinglov]

I have been trying two handed bowling as a beginner and I found it easy to learn and interesting for beginners. What you guys have to say about it? Ever tried two handed bowling ?

[J Anderson]

I have been trying two handed bowling as a beginner and I found it easy to learn and interesting for beginners. What you guys have to say about it? Ever tried two handed bowling ?

I have not tried it. I’m afraid of the stress it puts on the lower back.

Most bowlers my age have a negative opinion of the 2 handed style. They feel that it is somehow cheating.

My observations as a a bowler who competes in both social leagues and more serious leagues including sport leagues, a youth bowling coach, and viewer of PBA events on TV:
It’s much easier for a new bowler to learn to hook/curve the ball throwing 2 handed.
It’s much harder for a young 2 hander to become a good spare shooter.
2 handers seem to struggle more when learning to bowl on a sport shot.
The PBA has not yet been over run by 2 handers.

[SRB57]

I have been trying two handed bowling as a beginner and I found it easy to learn and interesting for beginners. What you guys have to say about it? Ever tried two handed bowling ?

I have not tried to bowl 2 handed and at 64 it would be tough to change. Over 50 years ago we did that with the kids house balls who would on known it would become this popular.

My observations in league are as long as they got miss room 2 handers can do well but when they are off they bowl really bad and also miss a lot of easy spares plus they leave there share of weird spares. I am envious of there power but not of there spare shooting. I have also noticed they very rarely hit the same spot twice where is I am sometimes called a robot at times hitting the same spot on the lane. If I were starting out new again I would go 2 handed and just work to accurate. Steve

[RobLV1]

I would highly recommend that any beginning bowler today learn to bowl two-handed. Two-handed bowlers can do so much more in terms of power AND in the ability to open up the lane. As much as it pains me to say it, the game has changed and anyone who starts out learning one handed is doomed in terms of competitive bowling.

[Ryster]

I have not tried it. I’m afraid of the stress it puts on the lower back.

Most bowlers my age have a negative opinion of the 2 handed style. They feel that it is somehow cheating.

My observations as a a bowler who competes in both social leagues and more serious leagues including sport leagues, a youth bowling coach, and viewer of PBA events on TV:
It’s much easier for a new bowler to learn to hook/curve the ball throwing 2 handed.
It’s much harder for a young 2 hander to become a good spare shooter.
2 handers seem to struggle more when learning to bowl on a sport shot.
The PBA has not yet been over run by 2 handers.

The leading money winner currently on the PBA, Kyle Troup, is a 2 hander.

Jason Belmonte, who is often considered the number one bowler in the world, is a 2 hander.

Anthony Simonsen, who some consider to be on the cusp of greatness and the natural successor to Belmonte, is 2 handed.

There is also Jesper Svenson, Osku Palermaa, Shawn Maldonado, Chris Via, Packy Hanrahan, and others.

Overrunning? No. Prominent and dominant, yes.

[boatman37]

Seems I see alot of league level 2 handers struggle bad with 10 pins. Also seem to struggle badly later in the night when the lanes are burned up. Obviously this can be overcome cause the pros are great at it but at the amateur level I see this all the time. With that being said, I miss my share of 7 pins too...lol

[RobLV1]

Seems I see alot of league level 2 handers struggle bad with 10 pins. Also seem to struggle badly later in the night when the lanes are burned up. Obviously this can be overcome cause the pros are great at it but at the amateur level I see this all the time. With that being said, I miss my share of 7 pins too...lol

Let's face it... a lot of league bowlers struggle with 10 pins... whether they are two handers or one handers! lol

[boomer]

I have been trying two handed bowling as a beginner and I found it easy to learn and interesting for beginners. What you guys have to say about it? Ever tried two handed bowling ?

I've tried it when I didn't have my own equipment - it takes far more grace and coordination than I possess! LOL

I've noticed quite a few on my league who try it and do not do well - and seem to do worse at it than "chuckers" do with a "normal" technique, all the while expecting that it's a magic technique that guarantees them strikes.

From my observation - it takes a LOT of physical coordination to do well. It takes a lot more physical coordination to excel at. Once you get the hang of it, it seems to be fairly easy to get a big hook - which makes it even more important to remember your oil patterns and to keep the ball IN the oil, and to balance your ball with your style.

Those that really excel at it have learned how to modify their delivery so they can take some rotation off the ball when needed. Of course, this rings true with one-handed bowlers too (sigh . . . lol) but even more with two-handed since a big hook seems to be the big thing . . .

Anyway - just my observations. As long as the ball goes down the lane and hits pins - and you have control of it - do it!

[boomer]

Let's face it... a lot of league bowlers struggle with 10 pins... whether they are two handers or one handers! lol

That's true - but the two-handers I've seen come in with a really high entry angle, typically, and seem to be unable to adjust around it or to change their delivery to get a bit straighter.

There is something about coming it SOOO steep that it seems to leave more 10-pins, and then without a low-hooking ball, they have even more challenge at picking it up.

We just bowled a group of newish bowlers who were all either no-thumb or two-handed. They got a bunch of strikes but left a TON of 10-pins and stone-9's and rarely picked them up. I don't think I've ever seen so many stone-9's . . .

[RobLV1]

You're absolutely correct about novice two-handers not being able to adjust to carry the corners, however it's not because they throw two-handed, it because they have not yet become good bowlers!