Follow Through Toward The Bowling Pocket

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 11/4/2013; Updated: 11/16/2023

If you are a new bowler or someone trying to improve your game, one simple tip when releasing your bowling ball is to follow through toward the pocket.


The tips of your bowling gripping fingers should follow through in the direction of the pocket to help you achieve directional control and improve your accuracy.


Your follow through should finish with the elbow of your bowling arm reaching your bowling shoulder height at the minimum.

Using a complete follow through motion with your bowling fingers following through in the direction of the pocket, your intermediate sighting target will be easy to hit with your bowling ball.


Accuracy in bowling is developed from from building a good arm swing. Good swings use consistent swing tempo and maintain a directional swinging orientation to the sighting target.


The legendary Earl Anthony, the first bowler in history to reach forty professional PBA Tour titles, was often quoted giving this key release tip to his pro-am partners: “let your hand follow your ball toward your target.”
Thinking of the tips of your bowling fingers guiding your bowling ball toward the pocket while keeping your eyes fixed sharply on your sighting target, is the real thrust of Earl’s wonderful bowling tip.



 Next time you take the lanes, try swinging your bowling fingers in an upward follow-through motion with the tips of your fingers moving to the pocket.
Use this swing method on strike and spare deliveries.


When shooting at a spare, adjust your alignment to the given spare pin-combination.

Select your sighting target on the lane, and think about swinging your bowling fingers toward the key pin in the spare cluster (or to the single pin depending on the given spare).


Developing accuracy and raising your average begins with good swing fundamentals.

Learn to follow through toward the pocket, or toward the key pin when shooting at a spare and your accuracy will improve.