Release Your Bowling Ball Into The Lane Properly
Updated 9/25/2020If you are a 170 or less average bowler looking to improve your game, work on releasing your bowling ball into the lane surface at a gradual angle of descent. Not only is dropping the ball behind the foul line detrimental to effective roll on the ball, using excessive loft can cause poor
bowling ball skid length control.
If you over-loft your ball well beyond the foul line, you are likely releasing the ball at an upward angle relative to the floor. This type of over-loft causes your ball to bounce and is difficult to control the precise amount of ball skid. Over lofting your ball at an upward angle can be ineffective, just as is dropping the ball behind the foul line. Both techniques cause poor ball skid length and speed control.
There are a few things you can work on to ensure getting the proper angle of bowling ball descent into the lane surface.
Synchronize releasing your bowling ball with good bowling posture. Maintain good knee flex so your legs do not suddenly raise upward while in the act of releasing your ball.
Make certain your upper body position remains in an athletic posture as you enter your final two steps of your approach and is stable so you are not bending from the waist excessively or is pulling back and away from the foul line during the critical release of your ball.
Thrusting your upper body towards the floor and using too much upper body bending at the waist can cause you to deliver the ball behind the foul line at a very steep angle of descent. There is no lane conditioner applied behind the foul line so you will suffer from a loss of your ball skid control.
Hanging on to the
bowling ball too long has an opposite effect where your ball goes airborne and upward before dropping onto the lane surface and bouncing. This type of release causes your ball to bounce inconsistently and creates uncertain distances of ball skid control.
Visualize your ball entering the lane surface at a gradual angle of descent in much the same way a passenger aircraft would enter an airport runway to make a gentle and safe landing.
If you can use this visualization and release your bowling ball onto the surface of the lane similarly, then you will attain an optimum angle of descent and will control your ball skid and speed.
Once you stabilize your body while walking and entering the foul line on your final two steps, you can focus on your delivery technique.
Think about exiting your bowling thumb from the ball on your forward swing at the back of the heel of your sliding bowling shoe.
Because your thumb exits the ball before your bowling gripping fingers, the fingers can rotate the ball at, or slightly before, the ball arrives at the tip of your sliding bowling shoe.
With an effective release, your ball will tend to achieve this desired angle of descent onto the lane. This is because you are delivering the ball “on time” relative to your sliding
bowling shoe and your posture is stable to avoid any sudden upper body movement that could disrupt your release.
It is difficult to vary loft and control ball speed and skid length, as the top players of the world are skilled in doing. It is recommended that you try to regulate your release to get a consistent loft distance over the foul line with a gradual angle of descent so you can also control your bowling ball speed and skid length.
With some practice, you will develop a good delivery technique.
