Setting Up to Bowl for Beginners

Hi there, Scott Pohl, certified instructor with USBC. Doing lessons, I certainly see a lot of things that are wrong in the setup or the starting position. This is very crucial, just like any sport, right? Golf, we wanna have a very good stance. Bowling is the same thing, how we set up.

In particular, we're gonna look at the ball position, getting that ball in the right spot. We're gonna show you dos and don'ts, how to be better at it. Another way is actually with the bowling hand, how we wanna hold that ball when we get started. From there, we're gonna look at the shoulders and how our body is aligned to deliver the ball correctly. And then we're gonna get into your feet.

All right, what's the right way to look when you're getting ready to throw? Last but not least is gonna be the knee bend. We're gonna show you ways of having maybe too much knee bend, too little knee bend. All these things, I guarantee, are gonna help you get a better starting position. All right, check out the video.

The first example here is where the ball's actually too high, in the middle of Zach's body, and it's actually too far away. This is all causing stress on his hand, and it's getting the swing out of line. The next shot here is ball position is kinda like a little bit of mid height. It's more on the side of his body or aligned with his shoulder, and also not too far away from his body. Keeps it nice and smooth, connected with his shot, and a good result.

The next area is the bowling hand. First example is where it's too cupped. You can see how there's a lot of tension when he's starting out with the ball. The result, not a very good shot. Doesn't get out of it very clean, leaves a two-ten.

The next example here, we throw a really good shot. Nice and relaxed with his hand, a good result. One example here, facing too far to the right. You can see in his setup, shoulders are facing right as well as his lower body, and guess what? He misses to the right.

He's gonna face a little bit more direct, throw a really good shot. The next one here, his feet are gonna be more connected. The right foot is a little bit behind the left, setting up for a right-handed bowler, and a really good shot happens. Now, an example of knee bend, he's actually over-crouched at the beginning and allows his swing to be off a little bit and tense, and leaves the two-ten split. Now just a little bit of a knee bend, kinda more of an athletic start.

Not straight up, not over-crouched. He throws the shot and a good result. All right, so a lot of ways that we showed you how to start out correctly. You know what? What I'd recommend is have someone take a video of you bowling, maybe even some still shots.

Take a look at what you're doing. Chances are you're not gonna feel the right way if something isn't happening right. My point is the video's gonna show you everything. You may need to fine-tune here and there, but you know what? All these aspects are important.

Get out on the lanes. Make sure you have a good starting position. Even higher level bowlers make sure they're doing this right.