Bowling Fundamentals

Articles In This Section:

· Bowling Fundamentals

· THE FIT OF THE Bowling BALL

· Examples of Bowling Ball Fit

· BOWLING SHOES AND BAG

· A HINT ON Bowling SAFETY

· Bowling STARTING POSITION

· HOLDING THE Bowling BALL

· THE bowling FOLLOW-THROUGH

· bowling CONTROL AND CONSISTENCY

· Anyone Can Bowl

· Bowling Practice Makes Perfect

· Bowling Starting Position

· First Bowling Step

· Bowling Pushaway

· Bowling Backswing

· The Finish

There is no such thing as a "perfect bowler." By this, I mean that there is no one bowler who does every one of the fundamentals exactly right every time. Some stars have a very high backswing, some take a zigzag approach to the foul line, and still others use no slide. Yet they succeed, because they have learned to overcome the otherwise bad effects of such procedures and to integrate the "fault" into their game so smoothly that it remains only a style that sets them apart from other bowlers.

Many persons have asked me about the easy way to become a star bowler. I can't help but smile when that question is put to me. When I think back over all the time I spent (and am still spending) in practice, I know, along with every other star, that there is no "easy way" to bowling stardom.

With a little practice, almost any bowler, man or woman, can roll a fairly good game. That's what makes the sport so enjoyable. Even the dubs on occasion get a thrill out of a 200-plus score—a thrill that is intensified because the big game usually comes as a surprise.

But consistently high scores are not the result of hope or accident. They are rolled because the bowler has attained a high degree of tenpin skill—skill based on a thorough knowledge and application of the fundamentals of bowling form. Unless the bowler has mastered the fundamentals, he will never achieve top rank as a pinman.

Mastery of the fundamentals requires knowing what they are, a desire to make them a natural part of your bowling form, and a willingness to practice until your approach to the foul line is a wellco-ordinated glide, and your delivery of the ball is a grooved swing with a smooth follow-through. Let's examine the fundamentals one by one.