Are Common Swing and Delivery Faults Keeping You From Bowling High Scores?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jimmie_Newell]Jimmie Newell

The correctly executed bowling swing and delivery is a simple, smooth, in control, and accurate method of getting the bowling ball from you to your strike target. When done correctly, and on a trajectory that takes advantage of the current lane conditions, more strikes and hence higher scores will be the result.

Most bowling swing and delivery faults are created by the bowler, some are unconscious and others are purposeful.

The most egregious of the purposeful faults has to be trying to throw the bowling ball without using the thumbhole. Unless you have a physical handicap or injury that prevents you from using your thumb, there is no reason to attempt this delivery. You lose a lot of control, you have to work too hard to keep the ball and yourself balanced. It is almost impossible to cover most spares effectively, and the ball usually lacks power and energy at the point of impact with the pocket. One of the characteristics of this type of delivery is that the ball approaches the pocket at a huge angle. Contrary to popular opinion, the smaller the entry angle to the pocket, the more effective you will be at getting strikes. Younger, less accomplished bowlers who are showing off and think it looks cool attempt this style of delivery. Very few advanced bowlers ever use this technique, I can only think of one or two professional bowlers who used the no thumb delivery, and they were not superstars.

One of the most common swing faults is not keeping your arm close to your body during the swing. Some bowlers will swing their arm away from the body on the back swing, which results in the extra step of trying to make a smooth forward delivery at the target during the forward swing. Often this extra step will result in a shot that is pulled across your body resulting in a backup ball or just seriously off line to the target. Another result could be hitting your leg or ankle with the ball on the forward swing, making it almost impossible to keep the ball online to the target.

Another bad habit that some bowlers create is twisting or turning their hand to an open position in comparison to the target line; this creates the extra step of rotating your hand back to the correct release position to deliver the ball to the correct target line. When I first started bowling I developed this swing fault, one of the coaches from the bowling center I was at came up and said that any movement I make that causes me to have to make another movement to get back to the correct delivery position, is wasted energy and another opportunity to throw a poor shot.

Releasing the ball too far back of the foul line is another issue. Probably caused by a fear of going over the foul line, many bowlers will take shorter or fewer steps and end up 1 or even two feet behind the foul line. A ball delivered form this position wastes a lot of positive energy just getting back to the lane, and in rare cases could even cause the foul light to activate. To correct this problem; practice your footwork and slide so that you end up 3-4 inches behind the foul line, with your slide foot pointed straight at the pins, your shoulders square to your target, your bowling ball should be slightly lofted over the foul line and smoothly contact the lane surface a few inches up to a foot beyond the foul line.

This is by no means a complete list of bowling swing faults, but some of the more common ones. To become really aware that you may be making some of them, have a friend or certified bowling coach watch your delivery, or even have your swing video taped. Eliminating swing and delivery faults will help you bowl higher scores on a more consistent basis.

Jim Newell is the publisher of http://www.BowlingInfo101.com "Start Here...To Improve Your Game!"

Much more information and more relevant articles on our website at http://www.BowlingInfo101.com

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