Don't Drop Your Bowling Ball, Loft It
bowlingball.com,
Originally Posted: 12/1/2013; Updated: 5/10/2021If you always drop your bowling ball behind the foul line, you must learn to loft it out onto the lane.
Many of you have been taught to not squeeze your bowling ball, rather to use a light gripping pressure in the fingers and thumb holes. Perhaps you are overdoing it a bit much and losing the ball behind the line.
If you have slow bowling ball speed and drop the ball behind the line, maybe it is time to hang onto the ball longer and with increased gripping pressure and propel your ball over the foul line.
This should not surprise you but you are not alone in doing this. However, you can change to improve your shot making ability.
If you become aware that delivering your ball behind the foul line hurts your ball reaction and prevents you from maximizing your accuracy, perhaps you might try a tip or two to solve the problem.
A remedy is to grip your
bowling ball with plenty of gripping pressure. Almost to feel as though you are squeezing the ball and then release the ball from your thumb followed by your bowling fingers slightly later than at your present release point.
By hanging onto the ball a little longer than you do now, it will help you get the ball over the line.
There are a few tips which you may need to follow to prevent losing your ball behind the line:
1. Increase your gripping pressure.
2. Delay the release until your bowling thumb reaches the toe of your sliding
bowling shoe.
3. Accelerate your forward swing to a full and complete follow-through position.
4. Use enough knee flex in your sliding step to propel your ball over the line with a gradual angle of descent onto the lane.
5. Deliver your ball so it contacts the lane at least 12 inches beyond the foul line.
Some benefits of getting your ball over the line consistently are getting slightly increased ball speed, controlling your finger rotation and degree of axis tilt, controlling your ball skid length, and getting a good back end ball reaction.
Dropping your ball behind the line stifles your rev-rate. Your ball will hook unpredictably in the mid-lane and again on the back end.
Instead, your mindset should be to swing your ball aggressively and to increase your ball speed without losing balance or accuracy.
Use a firm enough grip on the ball so you can control the moment you release the ball to get it over the foul line the same distance every time.
Bowling is a sport and in any sport’s competition, there must be an element of attack in your mental and physical game. In this case, attacking your swing and getting the ball out onto the lane is a priority if you wish to improve your game.
