Does My Bowling Posture Affect My Swing?

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 8/30/2015; Updated: 4/25/2022

If you ask does my bowling posture affect my swing, the answer is “YES”!?

We frequently hear about being in a good athletic posture when bowling, golfing, or playing other sports.

In bowling, your spine angle and upper body tilt is what we directly refer to as posture.

As a general recommendation, most coaches suggest assuming a forward body tilt of perhaps 10 -15 degrees forward tilt so a vertical line from the knee caps to the front edges of your shoulders can be formed when a slight amount of knee flex is used to stabilize your walk and balance as you bowl.

Since every bowler has a different body build, then some bowlers might be better off with slightly more tilt in the upper body creating more of a bent over type spine angle while other bowlers might need less spine angle tilt and walk more upright.

Generally, the more you bend forward from the waist as you bowl, the more freedom your swing has to attain a higher backswing peak.

The more upright your spine angle tilt is, the less freedom your shoulder has and the lower swing height your backswing will likely achieve.

With a low backswing, it becomes more of a challenge to gain good ball speed unless your feet move briskly to the foul line.

With a higher swing height, the longer arc allows for a longer and fuller forward swing making it easier to gain good ball speed than does a low backswing height.

Challenge yourself to develop a happy medium in that you have sufficient spine angle tilt to create a swing height to generate good ball speed without having to run too quickly to the foul line and lose your balance.



Poor balance leads to poor accuracy in shotmaking.

Everything stems from a good athletic posture where you can freely and loosely swing your bowling ball back and through with little force or effort and impart a decisive releasing action coupled with a full follow-through motion repeatedly.

If you have doubts as to your body posture when you bowl, consult an experienced bowling instructor soon and get your game in top shape.