Senior Bowlers Need Pep In Their Bowling Steps

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 1/1/2014; Updated: 1/9/2023

Many senior bowlers have learned to bowl with slow footwork as to not rush the foul line. Because of this, a late timing sequence is surprisingly noticeable among senior bowlers which causes a slow swing speed as well.
Slow footwork can help you maintain good balance and a precise walking path, but can also work against you in keeping up your bowling ball speed.
If you are a senior bowler and need to pick up a bit of ball speed, not a lot more speed rather just a bit more speed than you presently use, then free up your arm swing and pick up the pace of your steps.
Keep your feet moving at a relatively “peppy pace” and get your bowling ball started into your backswing freely and swiftly.
It is important to avoid hesitating after each step. Maintain a continuity of pace with your steps.
An old coach often told me to “walk lightly on the approach as though you were stepping on eggshells and you did not wish to break them.”
This visualization demonstrated a method to avoid rushing my steps to the foul line. The problem here is that walking slowly to the foul line did not help me pick up increased ball speed when I needed to do so on dry lanes.
Some of the old ideas we learned years ago are still useful today and some need modernizing.
To gain a bit of ball speed, simply walk quickly enough as to not lose balance and to not sacrifice the path you need to walk based on your alignment on the approach.
If you have a slow pace of steps, you can pick up the tempo with each step without running to the line. You can easily increase your pace of steps so you gain a longer slide step and correspondingly build a little more ball speed.

Many senior bowlers overdo the slow approach concept and by doing so, control their arm swing and use far too much muscle tension which, slows their swing pace.
Instead, if you need more speed put some “pep in your step.” Speed up the pace of your footwork a notch or two in tempo and allow your swing to do the same.
With a lively pace of steps, you can generate a bit more ball speed and control your bowling ball skid distance, making it easier to align to the pocket consistently.
A side benefit to slightly more ball speed is that you also generate greater force when your ball impacts the pins.