Coach’s Corner

Bowling tips for “Learn to bowl” bowlers

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Tip 1

  • There are 4 aiming methods in 5 pin bowling. The one that produces the best results is spot bowling. This uses a fixed target 15 feet from the foul line. To properly understand spot bowling you need to better understand the rifle technique. When you have found your staring position  on the approach this is the rear sight. The dot at the foul line where the ball is released is the front sight and the arrow which the ball rolls over is the target.

  • It is suggested that the target remains the same and that only the right sight and front sight is adjusted.

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Targeting for Advanced Bowlers

Bowlers who are throwing the ball with a hook need to worry about more than just the front part of the lane. Targeting for these bowlers used to be called ‘area’ bowling, but now it could be called ‘window’ bowling. Every lane condition has a ‘window’ that you want to get to down-lane in order to hit the pocket consistently. Depending on the condition, this window is usually a few boards wide, and a couple feet long on the lane, anywhere between 35’ and 45’ down the lane. You can still look at arrows, but the goal is to base your targeting on getting the ball to pass over the arrow and through the window. Finding that window is the goal of every bowler that wants to strike.

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Targeting for Intermediate Bowlers

Bowlers who have already developed a solid base of fundamentals are most likely looking at either the dots or the arrows. These are by far the two most effective areas to target. If you look at the foul line, it is likely causing some problems with your delivery of the bowling ball, and should be changed.

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Targeting for Beginners

On a bowling lane, there are lots of things to ‘look at’. There are dots at the foul line, a different set of dots 8’ past the foul line, a set of arrows 15’ away, and sometimes a set of 4 dark boards well down the lane. There are also the pins. Most beginners tend to look at the pins because they’re the most obvious visual cue. They’re also the thing you’re trying to knock down so it makes sense. Unfortunately, an object that is 60’ from you is not the easiest to hit.

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