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How To Get A High Bowling Score

If you are a beginner bowler joining a league or a relative newcomer to the game who bowls socially only on occasion and wishes to learn how to improve, then trying to learn how to get a high bowling score involves the following keys to guide you in the process:

  1. Bowling Instructions

  2. Learning Initial Alignment & Strike Adjustments

  3. Developing A Spare Shooting System


If you are interested in how to get a high bowling score, then the process begins with taking a lesson from a certified bowling instructor or from a local bowling professional who is experienced in working to help new bowlers learn the game. It is surprising how much effort is put forth by bowlers to avoid taking bowling lessons.


Even though there are countless articles written in magazines about bowling instructional content, countless instructional articles posted here at our site in our BowlVersity section, bowlers will, for some reason, shy away from taking lessons. Anyone interested in learning proper physical game fundamentals of the game are urged to seek professional coaching to hasten the time in getting higher bowling scores.

Coaching will help you develop the fundamentals in learning a proper stance, how to grip the bowling ball, where to align yourself on the approach, how many steps to take, how to maintain good balance walking to the foul line, how to begin the arm swing and how to continue swinging the bowling ball properly, and finally how to release the ball, follow through, and hold your form at the line. All of these keys in learning to make an effective bowling approach are addressed by your coach when taking a bowling lesson.

In essence, your coach will help you develop your own style of bowling and teach you how to become repetitive in good shot making. If you want higher scores, take some lessons and get fit for your own bowling ball! In fact, buy bowling shoes while you are at it.

It is very difficult as a self-taught bowler to excel, not impossible, but very difficult. Bowling instructions can be very affordable, often times much less expense than the price of a new bowling ball. bowlingball.com urges you to begin your bowling experience by learning important keys to the physical game, to strike alignment, and to spare adjustments.

Targeting the pocket on your strike ball delivery depends on the lane conditions, proper positioning on the approach, and selecting the right target for sighting purposes. In most centers, the lane maintenance allows for the largest blend of oil to be located on or near the second arrow or the tenth board from the outside two edges of the lane. Therefore, most bowlers rolling a small hook ball delivery will stand on or near the center dot on the approach, the 20 board, and target the 2nd arrow from the edge of the lane (right side for right handed bowlers). Bowlers using a strong hook ball may stand further from center to allow for the strong hook and wider angle to the target while bowlers who have little or no hook might stand the opposite direction and use a more direct line through the 2nd arrow to hit the pocket.

As the lanes breakdown (as the lane oil wears from repeated deliveries passing through the oil on the lane surface) and the ball begins to hook more than at the beginning of your session, make an adjustment toward the largest concentration of oil which is normally toward the center of the lane to restore ball skid.

Moving your feet and your target on the lane in the same direction is usually the best course of action. Moving your feet two boards on the approach and your target on the lane where you sight one board is a commonly used "parallel adjustment." Moving in multiples of 2:1 the same direction will help you achieve the desired angle to the target with the skid needed so the ball arrives at the pocket consistently when you make an accurate delivery. Ratio adjustments, 1:1 or 3:1 ratios in addition to the standard 2:1 adjustment, may also be used depending on how oily or dry are the lane conditions. Consult your coach to pinpoint the adjustments needed at your local bowling center.

A favorite phrase of one well-known bowling coach of the past two decades is "don't forget to make deposits in your spare bank!" There are numerous spare systems which can help you organize a system of aligning to any spare you might leave. These systems are taught by successful coaches throughout the world. Many times, the simplest system works best. The fastest way of improving your bowling score is to become a good spare shooter. Commit to learning to be the best spare shooter possible.

It is easy to get fooled into using techniques we watch used on television by the greatest bowlers in the world. In some cases, pros will roll the ball very hard to decrease hook at corner pin spares or to try and convert splits. Using very fast speed to make spares requires a lot of practice, timing, and strength. This type of system may not be the best course of action for you.

Instead, try using a system whereby you may roll the same speed as with your strike ball delivery so your muscles in your arm and legs are conditioned to repeating consistent deliveries. Use your strike ball for easy spares when the lane oil guides your ball easily to the given key pin in your spare combination. Use a spare ball, usually a plastic coverstock, which minimizes surface friction and overall hook when rolling at the corner pin spares, particularly the ten pin for right handed bowlers and the seven pin for left handed bowlers.

Finally, work on the key fundamentals of your game you learn from your coach to improve your bowling average. Improving your ability to release your bowling ball consistently to the pocket will enable you to get more strikes, leave fewer splits or difficult spare pin-formations, and will guide you in making decisions when to change bowling balls.

Check your set-up position, shoulder and hip alignment, work on good footwork, both tempo and direction, practice your arm-swing using a matching tempo as with your feet, keep your head and shoulders still while walking to the foul line, release your ball with your hand following the ball toward your target and continue your follow-through motion. Hold your form at the line until your ball passes your down lane target.


It is no secret the more you practice using an organized system for spare shooting, for strike alignment and adjustments, and on your physical game will help raise your bowling scores. Practice is the key!!

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