The first thing a beginner should know is how to throw a bowling ball. The way you throw the ball determines the amount of hook and friction you might have. Throwing the bowling ball in a proper way is not too easy for the beginners, especially; hold on there! It’s not a rocket science too! We are here to help you with how to throw a bowling ball.
Bowling is not just a time passing fun game nowadays, but it is a popular sport all over the world. There are few techniques besides the right equipment; you can throw a ball in the right way. So, let’s jump into the topic.
Before you try any of the bowling techniques, make sure you have the right ball to bowl. That means a ball with a comfortable weight and preferable cover stock. After having the right ball, you have to collect the right equipment for bowling. It includes bowling shoes and gloves. If you are just about to begin, you can ask your friend or a bowling alley to rent the ball and shoes because no one buys a bowling ball every day. And that’s why you need to be very cautious about choosing the right ball for you. After you have got an idea about the ball and shoes, now you can buy it for yourself.
Choosing the Right Ball
The first thing you should remember when choosing the ball is the weight of the ball. It is not something fixed. Maybe your friend is comfortable with 16 pounds and your son is 12. So it depends on the bowler’s comfort and strengths. If you find a 15-pound ball comfortable enough, then go for this weight level. If the ball is too heavy or too light in weight, then you might be struggling with your natural performance. Balance is always vital. Proper ball weight can bring the best performance out of you.
Here is an interesting method for you to pick up the right-weight ball for yourself. It is, every 10 pounds of your body weight, you can take 1 pound. For example, if you are 140- pounds, then you should choose a ball which is around 14-15 pounds. Proper weight of balls is necessary because it helps you to be balanced all the time.
Now, choose the cover stock. There are mainly three types of cover stocks and plastic cover stocks are the cheapest one. Urethane and Reactive resin cover stocks are more expensive. We recommend plastic cover stock if you are a beginner. Usually professional and expert bowlers use Reactive resin and Urethane cover stocks. If the ball is already drilled, then check the finger holes whether it fits your hands or not. If the holes are inappropriate to your fingers then it can destroy your performance.
Picking Up the Right Shoes
You may ask why it is necessary to have a pair of specialized bowling shoes. It sounds quite logical, but the problem is, your random shoes will tend to have overrun there. Because the bowling alley offers you a solid grip on the ground. The smooth floor out there is to help you throwing the ball. If you allow yourself to have a typical sneaker it may ruin your throw; moreover, it can cause an unwanted injury.
Gloves are not as vital as the shoes are. But gloves can give you an ideal grip and more confidence. If you are not comfortable with gloves at the beginning, you can avoid it.
Few Things to Follow for Basic Moves
Once you have chosen the right bowling ball and equipment, now you are ready to learn how to roll a bowling ball. We will start learning from basic moves.
How to Hold a Bowling Ball
Holding a bowling ball mostly depends on the type of grip. If you start with a ball with a conventional grip, you will find the finger holes closer to your thumb. Traditionally people prefer middle and ring fingers while some prefer forefinger and middle finger. Simply try to insert your mentioned fingers and see how comfortable you feel. If you go deeper into the holes, you will face more difficulty while releasing the ball.
It should not go more than the second knuckle. For ensuring the proper balance, you should try to hold the ball with both of your hands. It will provide you ideal support and balance.
After you have got some balance and confidence, you should try bowling one-handed now. It will make you feel the proper bowling taste. You will certainly examine the ball’s weight correctly when you throw it underhanded.
It has the ability of a hook potential along with ease of control. Urethane is popular for its durability and the power of creating friction between the ball and the lane surface. It is a good choice for the first time bowling ball shoppers.
Polyurethane bowling ball offers more hooks in comparison with plastic balls.
How to Step Forward Before Releasing the Ball?
Experts suggest us to take four steps before releasing the ball. You must take these four steps before the foul line. Here is an interesting technique; you should never keep your last step and your releasing arm the same. It won’t allow you to have enough room and comfort. Do exactly the opposite thing. Synergetic steps can boost the momentum and power dramatically.
How to Release the Bowling Ball?
Once you have learned how to hold and throw the ball underhanded; now you should try to release the ball in a proper way. When you throw the ball your arm goes forward, and then you should try to keep your thumb in its hole. At which pin you are targeting determines the thumb releasing point.
That means you have to release your thumb at the very end of your swing because your thumb point will eventually determine the ball direction. And, you don’t afford to uncurl your fingers while you swing the ball. Otherwise, it will go the gutter directly. If you approach this process, it will create enough momentum and go forward. The first few attempts won’t be satisfactory, but don’t give up. Find an empty or less-crowded bowling alley and start practicing.
How to curve a bowling ball?
After you have learned some basic moves now, it’s time for some next-level things. Curving is one of the most prominent things in a bowling game. It means to hook the ball intentionally. This is not rocket science but not easy too. You need a huge dedication for bowling games and a lot of practice. We will see the whole process of hooking into some steps.
This type of ball has low hook potential at the breaking point. It offers low flare potential and low intermediate differential. It features two piece bowling balls. This ball is more preferable for drier lanes or for low speed throwing since it offers smoother arc motion. It is beneficial for those who struggle to hit the pin which they target and don’t have the full control on their hooks.
Step No 1
The most important thing about curving is to ensure that the ball has been drilled in a proper manner. The depth of the holes is right. And you can throw the ball comfortably. If the ball is too heavy or too light for you then you might have little curve or no curve at all.
Step No 2
Hooking mostly depends on your wrist work. When you swing the ball to the lane, make sure that your arm is straight, and you don’t try anything special initially. Once you have done this, try to rotate the wrist and, as you are shaking hand with someone while you release the ball. If you are confident enough doing this at the beginning; don’t worry, you can practice it with a tennis ball initially. It will reduce the risk and get you familiar with the motion.
Step No 3
The last step of throwing the ball is to get out your thumb in proper time. It all about how your thumb gets out and your fingers rotate the ball. If you fail to remove your thumb in time other attempts will go in vain. At the very last point of swing the ball you have to remove your thumb that will create extra pressure to your other fingers. Thus it will create an artificial momentum. If you are a righty then flick the ball anti-clockwise and if a lefty then vice versa.
Step No 4
For getting a proper curve, your arm should continue to swing after throwing the ball. It should look like you are giving a handshake. A proper curve occurs with a combination of rotation, lifting and a proper follow through.
Some Additional Tips
Once you have learned how to curve a bowling ball then it is a remarkable asset to surprise your beginner friend. Here we have some effective additional tips for you.
If you are about to play in a heavy oil lane you still able to create some hook. You must have a bowling ball for heavy oil and some techniques to follow. The material of your ball will be going to hit some dry spots and some friction on the lane and it is going to make it start rotating or moving. You have to try to get your fingers more under when you throw. So it is more about what you are directing your hand at the release of the ball. Strike bowling is always interesting.
What we would like to recommend you is, if you just try to keep your palm towards the ceiling. In order to do that you have to go to cut your wrist and keep it from the ball up and rotate your palm staying up. Because if you go down and get your palm’s towards the crown, it can give you a really bad spin. And, that may result in no pins down.
Here is another interesting thing we want to share with you. You can take your thumb out. You go up there and just put your fingers in the ball. Lay your palm on the ball simply and take your thumb out. And, finally, throw the ball. You can really create a lot of curve that way because if you go deeper how really curves are created, it’s actually how fast your thumbs get out and your fingers rotate the ball. So if your thumb is not even in the ball, so it becomes easier to spin. We don’t recommend it for everybody but if you are trying to go out and have some fun and want to learn how to curve the ball, that’s one of the ways to do it absolutely easier.
What Not to Do
we are going to tell some mistakes what most people do when they try to curve the ball. They walk up the lane looking down the lane or looking at the pins and they just try to throw it down at the middle of the lane. Most of the beginners do this. They try to throw it from hand forward. It makes the ball going just middle of the lane and few pins down. It is actually the hook or curve by which you can knock more pins down.
Conclusion:
There is no visible option other than throwing the ball properly to knock down more pins. If you don’t know how to roll the ball then it might be impossible to go with the bowling game flow. We have suggested some effective tips in this article. We hope this article helped you, helped you a lot and you go have a little bit more fun and improved game from today maybe.
Throwing a ball in a proper manner is remarkably important to achieve a good score in bowling games. We have tried to bring some effective tips in this article.
