Improve Your Bowling With A Practice Plan

By: bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 2/7/16; Updated: 1/29/2024

If you are averaging about 160 and are working to improve your game, avoid trying to do more than your game skills allow.

Learn to utilize your resources and bowl intelligently given your current skills and experience in the game.

Organize your practice. Bowl with a plan. Use your practice time wisely to learn which adjustments with your game are your most reliable.

As example, if you are bowling in league and cannot get lined up on one of the lanes, then you must make a decision how to adjust to hit the pocket as consistently as possible.

Unless you practice each of your physical game and your adjustment techniques, then you will continue to struggle hitting the pocket. Your scores will suffer.

It is in practice that you build your game. In competition, you must trust your game.

We know that not every adjustment is a physical game technique. Some adjustments are alignment changes or equipment changes.

To understand how to use your given technique to your best advantage, you may wish to consult an experienced bowling instructor and develop a solid and reliable practice plan.

Without a practice plan, you may continue trying to “tweak” your game and make the same adjustments repeatedly and continue getting the same a poor result.

Being stubborn and telling yourself you can throw the ball better and then keep making the same mistake over and over is not a smart strategy, albeit one which many bowlers demonstrate.



If you are not getting a reliable ball reaction, as example, and you know you are making good shots, change bowling balls. You simply will not nor can not “out-bowl” a bad ball reaction.

If you are not getting your ball to react right and are missing the pocket continually, then do something else and avoid stubbornness by trying the same thing again.

If you do nothing other than change bowling balls, you will at least “press the adjustment re-set button” and give yourself a chance to make new, fine-tuning adjustments to hit the pocket again.

Avoid working on too many things at one time, however. Your practice plan can help you move through a series of practice sessions by working on various keys to your game in logical order. By doing so, you will work on what needs to be addressed in competition.

Practice with a purpose. Consult with a coach. Develop a practice plan and then trust in your skills and use them wisely when it really counts.