Beginner Bowling: Conventional Grip

Bowling is fun! Beginners have the luxury of starting with a clean slate and the conventional grip is the perfect place to start. In this free video, Scott Pohl, owner of On Track Pro Shop, explains how to identify which bowling ball is best for you and how it should feel in your hand at your first league night.

Span

On a bowling ball, the distance between the thumb and finger holes is your span. For a conventional grip, your fingers should be approximately a 1/4 inch below the second knuckle on your fingers.

There shouldn’t be a lot of pressure on your bowling hand while you are holding it and throwing it. If you experience too much pressure, your span is too long and your fingers are too tight in the holes.

This results in squeezing the bowling ball. Squeezing in bowling results in errant shots. Keeping your hand relaxed and letting the bowling ball roll off of it with as little grip pressure as possible is the goal.

Hook

The thumb and fingers come out at the same time with a conventional grip bowling ball. The bowling ball rolls end-over-end and has less rotation. This allows the player to learn technique and targeting without the bowling ball over reacting when it hits the friction down the lane.

For more great beginner bowling instruction check out “How to Bowl: Getting Started” and “How to Throw a Hook in Bowling.”