Bowling Ball Loft
Bowling ball loft tips will help you improve your game. Your ability to understand
bowling ball loft will help you regulate your release, control bowling ball speed, control ball direction, and maintain a consistent rev-rate, all of which will work in helping you improve your scores.
First, when your
bowling ball exits your hand at the “moment of release” between the back of your slide shoe and the laces of the shoe, allow your hand to continue moving toward your target down lane following the ball path. Ideally, the front part of your bowling arm (where blood is normally drawn in a laboratory) should be facing the pins at the “moment of release.”
By releasing the ball too soon, your ball will fall onto the approach floor behind the foul line and any chance at maintaining an effective roll on the ball is eliminated. Of course, dropping the ball too early onto the approach floor behind the foul line means that the ball first contacts the floor where no oil conditioner has been applied and will leave unnecessary "smudge marks" on the approach surface behind the foul line, a certain indicator that you are releasing your ball behind the foul line. Releasing the ball too soon and behind the foul line will cause the ball to bounce and skid an unpredictable length as opposed to getting the ball out onto the lane surface. In order to acquire the needed ball skid to conserve ball energy until your ball arrives at the break point, you must release the ball out onto the lane surface and not on the approach floor behind the foul line.
If you are releasing the ball too soon and it contacts the floor behind the foul line, hold onto the ball longer before releasing so the ball will land onto the lane surface beyond the foul line. Perhaps you might need slightly more gripping pressure with your bowling fingers than you presently use? Perhaps you need a wrist support device to prop up your wrist and prevent the wrist from tilting backward as you release the ball? Perhaps you might need to delay the release by thinking of not applying releasing action on the ball before the ball arrives at the tip of your sliding shoe (as opposed to back at the heel of your sliding
bowling shoe) and at the very end of the release zone. Perhaps you may need to make sure you do not bend from the waist suddenly and thrust your upper body towards the floor just prior to your release which can cause you to get far too steep of a release angle and bounce the ball onto the approach floor and not release it beyond the foul line.
A good practice tip is to place a
bowling towel on the approach floor with one end in front of the release point beyond the foul line where your ball first contacts the lane and the other end of the towel back toward the center of the approach. Make sure the towel does not interfere with your sliding shoe when you slide into the foul line and release the ball. Practice delivering the ball so the ball clears the towel and lands out onto the lane surface without moving the towel from its position at the foul line on the approach floor. If you can easily clear the towel 10 consecutive deliveries, then you will avoid the problem of dropping the ball too soon and you will control your loft distance. If the towel moves, replace the towel in the same position on the approach floor and try another delivery until you are able to
release the ball successfully and routinely with out disturbing the towel.
You can adjust the distance the towel is relative to the foul line and practice varying degrees of loft control. Some of the best players in the world vary loft control from just beyond the foul line, perhaps 6 inches to as much as 4 feet beyond the line, when they wish to control ball skid distances. To delay the ball roll and create a longer skid distance, the pros will loft the ball further than if they wish to get the ball into a quicker roll in heavy oil, for example, and release the ball much closer to the foul line.
More loft decreases the overall distance the ball has to travel on the lane surface before it impacts the pins. To increase loft, another tip is to make sure your bowling hand releases the ball slightly higher off of the floor and a little closer to knee level (but always below knee level) so the ball will travel in the air further than releasing the ball much lower to the lane surface.
Less loft will allow the ball to begin its rolling pattern much sooner and will increase the overall distance the ball travels and creates friction on the lane surface. To control less loft but still put an effective roll on the ball, flex your knees lower than normal so you walk lower to the floor and release the ball closer to your ankle elevation than toward your knee elevation. Also, key your release sooner than normal and closer to when your bowling hand passes the heel of your sliding bowling shoe.
Lofting the ball 2-4 feet beyond the foul line on wooden lanes which have been burned up from many, many games of bowling through the years will help prevent the ball hooking too early and unpredictably. If wooden lanes have poor front ends (not level or not smooth), then lofting the ball will eliminate some of the problems as the ball travels on the front end of the lane. Lofting the ball on synthetic lanes with an oil pattern not using a high volume of oil in the front end is also another reason you may wish to loft the ball. Controlling the amount of loft is something all bowlers seeking to improve their game should make the effort to learn.
Once you are able to control a consistent loft distance past the foul line and maintain a regulated ball speed, then you can work at changing loft distances by either releasing the ball later than normal for additional loft distance or releasing the ball sooner than normal for an earlier rolling pattern. In all cases, avoid releasing the ball so soon that it does not clear the foul line and land first onto the lane surface. Make sure you always maintain a consistent ball speed regardless of how much loft you use.
A good objective in releasing the ball onto the lane surface is to visualize a passenger airliner coming in for a smooth landing on the runway. If the plane arrives at too steep of an angle, then the plane will bounce several times before setting into a rolling contact with all wheels on the runway surface. No one wants to ride in a plane which arrives at too steep of an angle. Controlling your ball loft will help you regulate your ball skid length and get a consistent transition in the mid-lane and again at the break point.
Make sure you follow through on all deliveries and not quit on your follow through in an effort to get the ball to land on the lane surface at a desired angle of entry. Follow through and hold your form until the ball passes the target on all deliveries. With some practice, you will develop a good bowling release and control your loft distance beyond the foul line. we recommend you consult a local certified
bowling instructor to help you improve your loft techniques. We hope these tips help.
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