How To Properly Hold Your Bowling Ball
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Originally Posted: 6/11/2012; Updated: 7/15/2023Learning
how to properly hold your bowling ball is key in making consistent deliveries, especially important for beginner bowlers. Gaining knowledge in
how to properly hold your bowling ball affects a chain reaction of events leading to the important delivery phase of your arm-swing cycle.
Here are a few tips on holding your ball:
1. Picking your
bowling ball off of the ball return unit should be done carefully. Placing both hands on the ball away from where adjacent bowling balls can accidentally roll and squash your fingers is a safe procedure to avoid injury.
2. Hold the ball in the opposite hand you will use to bowl by cradling the ball in your arm supporting the weight of the ball.
3. Holding the ball begins with the manner by which a bowler inserts his or her fingers and thumb into the bowling ball. When taking your stance position on the approach, place your fingers and thumb into the ball.
4. Carefully place your bowling fingers, normally the middle two fingers of your bowling hand, before your thumb into the holes drilled into the bowling ball. Make sure your fingers and thumb are inserted as far as the holes permit. Care should be taken to fit your bowling fingers and thumb into the holes of the ball in the same manner each time you are getting ready to bowl.
5. Your bowling fingers should be inserted down to the second knuckle joint for a conventionally drilled bowling ball so the weight of the ball can be supported by the pads of your fingers leading to the second knuckle joint. For a
fingertip grip, your fingers should be inserted down to the first knuckle joint and the weight of the ball will be supported by the pads of your fingers from the tip of your fingers to the first joint.
6. The thumb must be inserted into the thumb hole of the ball down to the second knuckle joint as to allow the ball surface to rest on the palm of your hand and with the full extension of your thumb. If a ball is drilled with a custom fit to your hand, there should be little or no separation of the palm of your hand from the surface of the bowling ball, regardless of a conventional drilling or a fingertip drilling, and your thumb will be completely extended straight into the hole with no bend in the middle knuckle of the thumb. A professionally measured bowling ball will have the gripping holes precisely shaped to fit your fingers and thumb.
7. Use slightly more gripping pressure on the finger pads of your hand than on your thumb pad and maintain consistent gripping pressure throughout your entire swing cycle. As new bowlers develop into accomplished players and learn to release the ball effectively, the thumb must be released a split second before the fingers so the fingers may impart the rotational action which causes the bowling ball to travel down the lane with an effective rolling and hooking motion.
8. Avoid over-gripping the ball too tightly, particularly with the thumb, which will noticeably slow the releasing action of your thumb during the delivery. It helps to learn to grip the ball consistently and with moderate gripping pressure so you may develop your skill as a player quickly.
9. bowlingball.com recommends that every beginner purchase their very own new ball and have it professionally fitted to the specifications of your hand. Improperly fitted bowling balls can potentially cause injury to your bowling hand and can adversely affect a good delivery. The bowling balls found for public use at your local bowling center, known as "House Balls", are not drilled for anyone specifically but rather drilled randomly with the holes sized according to the weight of the ball instead of to your hand. Get the most enjoyment from your time on the lanes by owning your own bowling ball, bag, and bowling shoes.
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