Bowling Stroker Style

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 3/1/2013; Updated: 3/7/2023

If you have a modest average ball speed at about 15 - 16 miles per hour, you could be classified as one who uses a bowling “stroker” style. Bowling stroker players typically have between 225 and 275 revolutions per minute as the measured “rev-rate” on their bowling balls.


The bowling stroker style is a common and widely used type of release among competitive players throughout the world. This style is a good one to help you develop your game, if you are not already a powerful bowler using a high ball speed and a high level of rev-rate.


The stroker delivery technique is one which is very versatile on many types of conditions and from most angles on playing the lanes. This style is best suited when you can play a fairly straight angle down the lane to the pocket for those of you who do not hook the ball much.


This style is also referred to as an up-the-boards angle of delivery. A stroker bowler uses a relatively straight wrist position, with or without a wrist support device, or perhaps a slightly tilted-back wrist position.


Most stroker bowlers have a low axis tilt producing a forward rolling direction on their bowling ball.
This delivery style applies a mild finger rotating action from either behind the ball or from the side of the bowling ball. Perhaps only one inch of finger rotation will help you control the amount of low axis tilt the stroker delivery generally produces.


A stroker bowler usually has about a shoulder high back swing with a slow to medium range in ball speed. Many stroker type players use a gravity swing whereby the force of gravity allows the bowling ball to swing freely back and through with little tension in the arm and little control with the bowling hand.


The stroker generates about a 18 miles per hour (mph) launch velocity with an instantaneous velocity at impact with the pins of about 14-15 mph and with an overall, average velocity of 16 - 17 mph.


If you use a slightly slower average ball speed, you are also considered as using a stroker type style.
This delivery produces a small bowling ball hook-motion on the back end of the lane with a measurement of about 4 - 5 degrees angle of entry into the pocket.


The stroker release is a very common release among amateur players because it produces a controllable yet effective bowling ball motion used to follow the oil pattern on a given lane and thereby produces a high percentage of pocket hits and spare conversions.
If you are a stroker type player, you want to focus on ball speed control so you can make sensible lane adjustments and alignment decisions on given lane conditions. Controlling your ball speed is an important key in maintaining accuracy.