Holding Your Bowling Form Throughout Your Slide

By: bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 9/28/16; Updated: 1/19/2022

Here is a technique applicable to bowlers of any skill level. Holding your bowling form throughout your slide helps you secure balance when releasing your bowling ball leading to accuracy.

Holding your form at the foul line is set-up by the step before your slide. Your previous step before sliding must allow for a good athletic upper body posture and for sufficient knee flex so you can slide smoothly and in balance.

We all understand that good balance and good form leads to accuracy.

Maintaining good balance and stability when releasing your ball begins with using your bowling balance leg effectively.

As you slide away from your next to last step, allow your slide to lengthen by transferring your weight forward onto your sliding leg without losing your upper body spine angle as you slide and release your ball.

Once you have transferred your weight onto your sliding leg and begin the slide, your balance leg must move out of the way smoothly to the opposite side of your body so your forward arm swing is clear to pass without your balance leg or hip restricting your delivery.

The bowling shoe on your balance leg should remain in contact with the approach floor while sweeping away from the arm swing path. This movement with your balance leg serves as a counterbalance technique as the weight of the bowling ball swinging moves swiftly on the opposite side of your body.

If you wish to keep your hips and shoulder aligned to the target during your release, then the toe of your bowling shoe on your balance leg should remain pointing to the pins.

This technique will lock in your hips squarely aligned to your target and set-up an arm swing path also aligned to your sight target.

If your balance leg lifts suddenly off of the floor while sweeping away to the side of your body, you likely do not have enough knee flex and you may well have lunged your upper body out in front of your knees by trying to force your delivery.

In doing so, you run the risk of losing upper body balance.

It is evident that to make an accurate delivery you must hold your form as you slide and release your ball.

In fact, hold your form a split second until your bowling ball travels about 15 feet to the area of the targeting arrows.

As in any sport, good balance leads to good results and this is certainly the case in bowling. Balance is established from the onset in your stance position on the approach. By standing with your knees slightly flexed and your spine angle set forward about 10 degree of tilt, you will begin your walk to the foul line with a well balanced posture. Every movement in your approach leads to arriving at the foul line sliding and holding your form as you release your bowling ball.

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