Know Your Bowling Skills

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 5/3/2014; Updated: 1/10/2023

If you are looking to make improvements to your game and to ultimately raise your average, then it is important to know your bowling skills and to understand the state of your game now.
If you are you finding yourself admiring your favorite pro bowler and thinking many of his or her skills are the same as your own, you may run into problems if you try and duplicate the game you see on TV without supervision of an experienced bowling instructor.
If you are you using your current bowling average as your basis to evaluate your talent, you may be overlooking potential keys which can definitely help you improve your skill set.
Is it important to be realistic and to know how good you are?
If you must describe yourself as a player, use key factors accomplished players possess and then compare yourself accordingly.
It is very important to be confident, however, it is more important to be specific and realistic when evaluating your skills.
Everyone wants to improve but those who do improve work hardest at making skills set progress. These bowlers put in dedicated practice needed to improve.
The path to improvement begins by first identifying areas of your mental and physical games in need of work.
Next, one must learn and become knowledgeable about lanes conditions and oil patterns which leads to making sensible adjustments during competitive sessions.
Understanding properties of your bowling balls and how they react in comparison to one another with the objective of matching well with given lane conditions is another key in making progress with your game.
It is plain to see that when you refer to your game, you bring multiple facets of bowling into the equation. Just improving your physical skills is only one part of what your whole game entails.
It is also important to be realistic with your goals. If your average is high and is in upper echelons with other league bowlers in your area, then you are successful. If you are averaging in the 140 to 150 range, then it is more realistic to target a 170 - 175 average than jumping immediately to a 200 average.
If you feel you must improve to be successful by your own standards, then go to work and do the things it takes to improve. Find an experienced coach, develop a practice plan, and get to work.
Although it is nice to hear other bowlers mention your name as a good player or having rolled a nice series, it is really only your own opinion of your accomplishments to date which matters.

Instead of concerning yourself how you stack up to the talent levels around you or trying to emulate pro bowlers you see on TV, do what you can to improve your own game using your existing skills and work to improve the areas of your game has gotten you to where you are now.
In the final analysis, your potential to improve your game is directly proportional to how hard you are willing to work and to dedicate yourself to improvement.