Your Eyes Are Your Best Bowling Ally

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 7/4/2013; Updated: 4/18/2023

If you are new to the game or if you are trying to make improvements to your game, using your eyes to form a connection with your game and with the lanes can be extremely effective and lead you to positive results.
Keep your eyes wide open and pay attention while you bowl. So many subtle things occur while you are bowling that can tip you off when it is time to make adjustments.
Watch your spot on the lane carefully when you take your stance and zoom in deeper on the mark while walking up to deliver your bowling ball.
Your eyes send signals to your brain. Feeding information into your brain, in turn, signals your body how to react physically when bowling.
By watching your spot carefully, you can learn quickly if you made an accurate delivery or if you missed your mark. Your eyes will tip you off if you made an errant delivery or if the lane condition changed enough to adversely affect your ball reaction.
By watching your bowling ball roll the entire distance of the lane you can closely watch your bowling ball motion and plan adjustments accordingly as the lane conditions change during your competitive sessions.
By watching your bowling ball enter the pocket, you can watch the pin action carefully and watch your ball leave the pin deck. If you miss the pocket solidly, you can easily determine which type of adjustment you must make next time you roll for a strike on the same lane.

By watching your ball travel down the lane, you can watch the rotational motion of the ball and determine if you changed the degree of axis tilt due to an errant release. You can see if your ball skids further than needed or if the ball hooked sooner than you planned and ended up missing the pocket entirely, both of which give you little or no chance to strike.
The details are the keys to success in bowling. Watching your sighting target intently will help you help you improve your control and accuracy. Watching the ball travel down the lane will signal if you need an adjustment to change skid length on your next delivery.
By watching precisely where your ball enters the pins will tip you off if you are getting a good angle of entry into the pocket, if indeed you do hit the pocket.
Watching other bowlers on your pair of lanes in competition can be useful. Watch and observe how they are playing the lanes. If your are encountering difficulties hitting the pocket consistently based on your delivery style, perhaps you will pick up an indicator as to how to adjust by watching teammates or other bowlers nearby.
Don’t be one of those bowlers who delivers the ball and then just hopes with blind faith that good results will happen. Success in bowling comes from proper planning and good physical game execution when making shots. Your eyes are your best bowling ally so use them to pay attention to your game.