How to Train for Ten Pin Bowling
Ten-pin bowling is a game that has withstood the test of time, from the ancient pharaohs of Egypt all the way to your local bowing alley. While it is a simple game, the game of bowling can be mastered only after much practice and by using a variety of training techniques to perfect your throw. While the training will not necessarily help improve your fitness, it will help a player with muscle control and avoid any injuries you may get by hoisting a heavy ball down the 60-foot lane.
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Instructions
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Power
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Focus on your upper body during weight lifting exercises. While you utilize your legs to put power behind your ball, your upper body is where most of the power behind the ball is coming from. Your shoulder and biceps are the most important areas to develop. As such, utilizing such training regimens as medicine ball toss, push-ups and bench press can help your bowling throw.
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Strengthen your hand and wrist. This is the bowling ball's base during the throws and the area of your body that creates the most torque and spin to the bowling ball. You can utilize small hand presses or simply practice throwing heavier bowling balls at your local alley.
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Work on your legs. While legs muscles are less important than arm muscles when it comes to bowling, a good base will keep your delivery more stable. As such, working on a small amount of leg press or simply performing light jogging with keep your bottom half aligned with your top half.
Flexibility
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Spend a decent amount of time each day stretching your legs. While bowling is known more as a power sport, being flexible is key to generating the most power behind your throw as well as avoiding injury. As such, stretch your legs before and after any exercises you may perform.
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Stretch your arms. Seeing as your arms are where the most power on the ball is generated from, stretch out your arms before and after participating in any bowling match. A simple stretch is trying to touch your right arm to your right shoulder, first going around your neck. Repeat the stretch with your left arm. Also, sit down on the ground with your legs straight and try to touch your arms to your feet. This will improve your back and shoulder flexibility.
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Stretch your torso and back. They are both also an important parts of bowling. One example of this kind of stretch is sitting down on the ground and placing one leg over the other, so that your right foot is to the outside of your left knee. This means your right leg will be bent. Now turn your body as far as you can to your right to stretch out your back. Repeat this process the other way.
Aim
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Focus on one pin at a time. Instead of trying to throw strikes every time you are at the bowling alley, spend an entire game trying to focus on one single pin every time. This will help when you need to collect spares in the real game.
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Try to perfect your spin. This is where the most power from the ball is generated, leaving to more strikes. To do this, focus less on the actual pins in front of you and more on the arrow markers in front of the alley. See how far you can spin the ball from where it starts at the arrow marker to where it eventually winds up at the pins. Continue practicing this to perfect your ability to spin the ball and to judge where the ball will land up depending on where you throw it.
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Practice your footwork. Nothing is more important than getting to the line while at the end of your stride. If your footwork is thrown off, so is your ball. Practice throwing balls in an alley without regard to the actual pins, paying more attention to just where your feet wind up and where you should start your stride. Spend an entire match not worrying about your score and more just making sure your stride is intact.
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Tips & Warnings
It is important to stretch properly before performing any exercises.
References
- Photo Credit au bowling image by iMAGINE from Fotolia.com
