Below are our twelve steps to better bowling. A lot of our members have covered all this and I suggest that you all do the steps, once you understand the information your bowling scores will improve significantly. In the past we have carried them out during 12 summer weeks, in the coming season we will cover them on the training and development weeks. We can of course cover any of the information at any time we can get together on the lanes, this could be during normal weekly coaching sessions or at some other time.
| Step 1 | Ball selection, safety, lane etiquette, foul line, dress, shoes, equipment, kneel down drill. A scored game. Bowlers may choose to use an approach or they can bowl from the foul line using the balance line drill. |
| Step 2 | Balance line drill, one step drill, two step drill, stance position, four step approach. A scored game. All bowlers using a full approach. |
| Step 3 | Pushaway drill, practise swing drill, start timing, step progression, balance arm. A scored game. All bowlers using a full well timed approach. |
| Step 4 | Lane targets, eyes on target, boards and markings on lane and approach, feet at stance on boards.A scored game. All bowlers using a full well timed approach with a lane target. |
| Step 5 | Check pushaway, 1st step, straight swing, backswing, approach and balance. First ball scoring, strike making, standard adjustment 2 1 3. A scored game. All bowlers using a full well timed approach with a lane target and a calculated stance position. |
| Step 6 | Check knee bend, follow through, eyes on target, accuracy at target. Spare shooting, pin deck spare zones. Practise in bowl using various lines and adjusting to get pocket hits.A scored game. All bowlers using a full well timed approach with a lane target and a calculated stance position with adjustments to strike pocket. |
| Step 7 | Recap on previous weeks, counting boards on approach, 3 6 9 spare making system. Practise in bowl hitting various spare zones. A scored game. All bowlers using a full well timed approach with a lane target and a calculated stance position with adjustments to strike pocket. Adding a spare shooting system should mean less open frames. |
| Step 8 | 3 6 9 spare making (left side spares for right handers, right side spares for left handers). Release, follow through, hand position, fingers, thumb. Spare making concentrating on left side of lane, the 5 4 3 change of angle of attack system, ball axis marking and reading PAP. General practise on lanes.A scored game. All bowlers using a full well timed approach with a lane target and a calculated stance position with adjustments to strike pocket. Adding a spare shooting system should mean less open frames. |
| Step 9 | 3 6 9 spare making (right side spares for right handers, left side spares for left handers). 3,4,5 and 6 step approach, swing timing (pro zone). Spare making concentrating on right side of lane, the 2 4 6 spare making system, pre shot routine, shot/line visualisation, seeing angles, mental game and introducing finger rotation to your release. General practise on lanes. A scored game. |
| Step 10 | Personal number system, how to calculate number and how to use system. Recap and question session. A league series rotating between lanes at doubles or trios pace. |
| Step 11 | 5 4 3 change of angle of attack system, pre shot routine, shot/line visualisation, seeing angles. Recap and question session. Large team play practise a game at 5’s pace, also a ‘Baker system’ game. |
| Step 12 | Mental game and attitude, planning, team play, 2 4 6 spare making system. Recap and question session. Tournament play practise possibly a round robin singles tournament. |
I will put in more links perhaps writing a page on each of the steps. The best way to learn though is to let me take you through them.
Cheers
Kev