Two-Handed Bowling: Set Up and Hand Positioning

Bowling Ball Height

The bowling ball should be located at hip level, centered under your chin in the stance.

If your ball position is too high in the stance, you will muscle the shot. This creates pulling of the bowling ball at the release, which leads to erratic targeting.

If the bowling ball is positioned too low in the stance you will see weaker bowling ball motion, meaning the ball hangs out down the lane and never finds its way back to the pocket properly.

Elbow

Your bowling hand’s elbow should be at 90° or less in the stance. It should be tight to your body in the stance and throughout the shot, including your arm swing and release. Keeping your elbow tight to your body creates a good ball roll with more revolutions.

When your elbow gets away from your body the hand goes over the top of the ball during the release, and the ball spins more than rolls. This will affect ball motion and pin carry.

Release Versatility

Now that we know the do’s and don’ts of the stance, let’s learn how altering your hand position affects the shape of your shot. One way is to position your hand between 15° and 30° in the stance and during the release. This will create an end-over-end roll on the lane allowing you to play straighter lines.

Another way to position your hand is as close to 90° as possible. This will create more side rotation allowing you to play more left-to-right motion on the lane in higher volumes of oil.

Check out “Two-Handed Bowling: Common Mistakes” and “Two-Handed Bowling: Situational Adjustments” for more expert instruction.