Less Hand On Tough Bowling Lane Conditions

By: bowlingball.com

Publish Date: 10/25/15

Although some super-power players may not agree, use less hand on tough bowling lane conditions.

If you are getting a poor ball reaction when bowling on challenging lane conditions such as USBC Sport League Patterns or Kegel Patterns, use less hand to control your skid distance and prevent too early of a ball reaction.

On most house patterns where it is easy to follow the oil inside as the pattern breaks down, you can use power and try to hook the ball decisively and still maintain a reliable ball reaction.

However, when the pattern presents challenges as some competitive patterns do, you will want to use less hand to control skid distance and to regulate ball speed so the effect is that you improve your chances of getting your bowling ball to react properly in the mid-lane and again down the lane at the breakpoint.

Using less hand means modifying your release technique slightly to increase ball skid and soften the torque applied to your shot.

One technique is to tilt your wrist back from your normal position when holding the ball and retain that wrist tilt through the release zone.

Another technique to increase skid distance is to reduce the ball rotation with your bowling fingers to virtually a half inch of rotation which also reduces axis tilt and causes your ball to rotate in a more end-over-end motion.

A third technique to reduce the power and torque applied to your release is to allow the ball to flow off of your bowling thumb and fingers at the same time and avoid grabbing the ball by snapping your fingers toward the palm of your hand as the ball exits your hand.

Your body has many levers to create torque and power - the shoulders, hips, elbows, wrists, fingers, knees, and ankles.




By buffering the use of any one or more levers, you reduce torque applied to your release and can increase your chances of controlling your ball skid distance on challenging lane conditions.

The easiest and simplest levers to reduce power in your game is your wrist and fingers and how you use them to release your ball.

These simple ideas to help you gain a reliable ball reaction when the lane conditions are tough can easily be implemented during competition if you spend just a little time practicing before these events.