Take Some Hand Out Of Your Bowling Release

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 3/6/2013; Updated 5/18/2023

If you have heard the term, “take some hand out of your shot”, you should understand that term refers to using less wrist and less finger rotation at the moment you deliver your bowling ball.

When the lane conditioner used on the front end of the lane is breaking down and the lane is becoming fairly dry, that is when you should consider using less hand to prevent your ball from over reacting and hooking sooner than you intend.

Simply tilt your wrist position back slightly from a cupped position to a flat wrist position or from a flat wrist position to a back-tilt position. This will cause your bowling thumb to exit your bowling ball more closely to when your fingers exit the ball, so your release is less powerful.

To maintain consistent ball skid length, using less wrist and less finger rotation will help you control your ball reaction.

Staying behind the ball while using less hand in your bowling ball will help you achieve ball control when the lane conditions become tricky. This is one time when less release power becomes more of an advantage in controlling ball motion.

Your bowling fingers should rotate slightly, perhaps only one inch of rotation maximum, from being directly positioned behind your bowling ball. This rotation by your bowling fingers happens after your thumb exits the ball and does so without your entire arm or your bowling elbow rotating.

The net effect is you will sense a feeling of the ball flowing smoothly off of your hand with no lively releasing hand activity.


Once the ball leaves your hand, swing your arm to a full and complete follow-through motion without decelerating your forward swing.

The forward swing continuing motion after the release, known as the follow-through, should also maintain a target path orientation. Hold your form until the bowling ball passes your sighting target.

Take some hand out of your bowling shot when the lanes breakdown. The object is to hit the pocket, not just to see your ball travel with maximum hook and end up missing the pocket. Bowl smart and when those lanes breakdown, take some hand out of your ball.