Bowling Adjustments

Once you notice that your bowling ball is not hitting the pocket and getting the strikes that you want, it's time for some adjustment. I separate the adjustments into 6 categories: Tempo, Angle, Speed, Loft, Ball and Release. In this section of the Bowling Coach, I'll go into details about each adjustment and how they can help you improve your bowling game.

Types of Adjustments for Bowling

Tempo - The word "tempo", in general, means the speed that something is to be played. In bowling, "tempo" means the speed of your footsteps during your approach. For oily lanes, you want to slow your footsteps down a little bit. For dryer lanes, you want to increase the speed of your footsteps. Keep in mind that even though you are varying the speed of your footsteps during the approach, your arm motion must still be in sync with your footsteps (ie., the faster your footstep, the faster your arm motion.)

Angle - Angle refers to your body angle, or more specifically, your shoulder angle. When the bowling lanes are dry and you adjust to the left, you want to open up your shoulders. When the lanes are oily, you want to close your shoulders. Normally, your shoulders are parallel to the foul line. Opening your shoulders means your left shoulder points closer to the 10-pin during your finish position. Closing your shoulder means your right shoulder points to the 7-pin during your finish position. This adjustment is very important when trying to increase or decrease the amount of hook in your throw.

Speed - This adjustment is self-explanatory. You can vary the speed of your throw according to the bowling lane conditions. When the lanes are dryer, you want to throw it faster to get it down the lane before it gets a chance to hook too much. When the lanes are oily, slowing down the ball speed can help give the ball some time to hook.


Loft - Lofting is a very important adjustment to make. Your throw can be categorized into 3 types of lofts: No loft, Medium loft, or Maximum loft. On medium lanes, you would normally have  medium loft. However, on oily lanes, you want to have no loft at all. You want to basically roll the ball down the lane. On dry lanes, you want to loft the ball so that the ball gets a chance to go down the lane before hooking into the pocket. That way, there will be less surface area for the bowling ball to make contact on.


Ball - Professional bowlers may have up to 6 or 8 different bowling balls in their arsenal. This enables them to use different balls for different lane conditions. Use a more polished ball on dryer lanes to prevent the ball from hooking too much. On oily lanes, use a ball that is a little more rough. Using particle and reactive balls can be a great way to conquer oily lanes as they tend to "dig in" more to the lanes. Having a plastic ball handy is always good for picking up spares.

Release - Everyone has a standard release that they use when they bowl on medium lanes. However, when bowling lane conditions change, the release may also need to be adjusted. For oily lanes, you want to have a stronger release with more hand action. For dryer lanes, you want to keep your hand a little firmer to keep the ball from hooking too much. When picking up spares, use a spare release (keep your hand firm and thumb pointing up at the ceiling all the way throughout the release).