“If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are.  For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained.  Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing.”  ~Saint Augustine

Week in and week out I help readers out with their bowling game. I provide tips and articles for you to improve your game. These are minor changes in your bowling game to help you become a more effective efficient bowler. So with change, come a learning period, a transformation, and finally retention. So why do I see so many people who have either gotten a few tips, or a full blown lesson, to help improve there game go back and do all the things that they were doing before? The only answer I have for that is bowlers are afraid of change. More...

I have posted a few times on the site about the USBC Nationals and some of the experiences that I have encountered along the way. This week I wanted to talk about this year’s USBC Nationals and what I have been doing to prepare for the tournament. More...

This week’s article will discuss the three phases of bowling ball motion from the bowlers release until the bowling ball enters the pins. The United States Bowling Congress and the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association have both adopted this analysis of bowling ball motion on both the Technical and Educational level. The three phases of Bowling Ball Motion are classified as Skid, Hook, and Roll. Below I will define what each phase means and where you will see each of these phases on the bowling lane surface. More...

Bowling has been around for hundred’s, some even say thousand’s of years. There were articles of Egyptian carvings found with a sport very similar to bowling. Times have changed and there is so much new technology in the great sport of bowling. Think back to the days were there were pin boys. These were people who would sit behind the bowling lanes and set pins up. My uncle was one. From there we can consider the evolution of automatic machines. From the days of actually keeping score by hand, to now with all the computers that do it for you, heck they even have some computers that have coaching assistants to show you how you should stand and move to make the spare. The sport of bowling has evolved so much. Bowling balls have evolved too.  Have they evolved so much that the bowler can’t tell the difference? In this week’s article I will talk about some of the bowling equipment in the game and help you identify some of the differences in the cores of a bowling ball.  More...

This weeks tip will be a about the balance of your body at the release point. Balance is a major factor in creating power and accuracy.  Ask yourself this question, do I fall off towards my release side? If you answered the question with a yes then your balance is off. Have you ever heard of posting your shot? This simply means that you hold your finish position until your bowling ball reaches the pins. Can you do that? This week’s tip will give you some insight as to how to control your body from the starting position until your release and finish position.

Let me recap this week’s article about balance. There are two components with balance, free arm swing and leg strength. Creating a triangle with your legs will increase your balance and combining that with a free arm swing will allow you to increase your power. Combine these two and watch out!!! You have now become a monster on the lanes!!! Until next week, if you have any comments or questions, I would like to hear them. I have been answering emails as fast as I can and I have been getting a lot lately. Remember about Bowling IQ. If you ever need any training they are there to accommodate your needs.

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com  

Last week I wrote about old school myths and some new teaching tips on how your body position should be during your approach and delivery. This week I want to talk about the old school teachings that say “Don’t drop your shoulder”. 

Let’s first start by asking the question, “What do they mean by not dropping your shoulder?”  Back in “the day” before they had reactive cover stocks, bowlers played the lanes on a more parallel path to the pocket. This required you to play the lanes closer to the gutter which created less left to right ball motion. With less left to right ball motion, you have to keep your body more parallel and your hips and shoulders stay closed. That same rule applies today when playing the lanes in that fashion. What they meant back then about not dropping your shoulder was simply, if you lowered your shoulder you would open your body thereby not creating the correct ball path. 

That being said, in today’s bowling era with all the aggressive bowling balls on the market, you need your ball path to be more left to right. (Right to left for the left hand bowlers) So what about shoulder drop?  Let’s think about your body position, which we talked about last week. If you are playing the lanes and you are generating a left to right ball path and your right shoulder isn’t lowered, (for a RH bowler) then how do you generate the correct ball path?  You would have to physically strain your body to do this.  

So now let’s look at your starting position and your shoulders.  How you can avoid “dropping your shoulder?”  If you start your stance and you have your right shoulder set lower then your left shoulder, this puts your body in the correct starting position for that left to right ball path.  Now ask yourself this question, “If my shoulder is already lowered, how can I drop my shoulder?”  Look at all the PBA players for a second, look at how their body stance is before they make their initial approach, what is the most common thing you see? Their bowling arm shoulder is lower then there non-bowling shoulder.  

Let’s recap, when you are trying to create a more left to right ball path, your hips and upper body are more in line with your ball path (that was from last week’s tip) and thereby lowering your shoulder will generate your body to be in the correct position. So dropping your shoulder isn’t a bad thing, it’s just “old school” thinking. And don’t get me wrong, the “old school” thinking still applies for a certain purpose in today’s bowling environment. But it does not mean that that is the only way to do it. So remember, lower that bowling arm shoulder in your starting delivery, and keep it there until you have finished your release.  

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com

Bowling is a sport that requires great physical and mental conditioning.   This week’s tip of the week will focus on targeting. This will hopefully help improve your game and your scores.

I often hear bowlers of all skill levels ask, “Where should I be aiming?”  I have heard all kinds of answers.  Some people say look at the dots by the foul line, some say look at the arrows, some say look at the breakpoint, while others say look at the pins.  The truth is every one of these is an important factor in targeting.  In fact, you can use all of these to line up your intended ball path on the lanes.  People have had success using each of these methods. In this article I will focus on targeting your shot at the arrows.

I was taught when I first started that you aim at the arrows.  That made sense to me, since the pins that I am trying to knock down are 60 feet away and the arrows are only 15 feet away.  I thought, what’s easier for me to hit? Something that’s 60 feet or 15 feet away? 

Let’s first start with the naming of the arrows on the lanes and where they line up in relation to the pins. The “center” arrow or some might call it the fourth arrow, lines up directly with the head pin. The arrows are separated by the width of five boards or five inches apart.  The arrow to the right of the middle arrow is the third arrow.  This arrow lines up with the three pin. The next arrow to the right of that would be called the second arrow and the one closest to the right side gutter is called the first arrow.  You can repeat this process in the opposite direction from the middle arrow for a left handed bowler.

Today’s lane conditions host a lot of oil in the center part of the lane; typically the oil tapers off as you get closer to the gutter. This allows your bowling ball to read the lighter oil more, thus creating more hook from that part of the lane. So if you would like your bowling ball to hook more you roll the ball closer to the outside part of the lane or closer to the first and second arrow.  Now how do you know which arrow to aim at?  This is all based on your ability to see your ball reaction and adjust to what you see.  If your bowling ball is hooking too much or going high on the head pin, you may want to move your target closer to the third arrow and let your bowling ball travel more towards the outside part of the lane.  If your bowling ball is not hooking enough you may want to start your bowling ball closer to the outside part of the lane.

When you are trying to find your target on the lane, simply watch what your ball is doing. Watch it and then do it. If you are a right handed bowler and your bowling ball is traveling to the left too much, simply move your feet and target to the left. By doing this, your ball will roll through the higher volumes of oil, which will create more skid, thus letting your bowling ball to stay to the right side of the head pin. You simply do this in the reverse for a left handed bowler.

As bowlers improve in average they will find that they need to be aware of where their breakpoint is located.  I bet you want to know what I mean by breakpoint.  Well I guess you will have to come back next week and find out, when I write the next tip of the week.  Breakpoint and what that means to today’s bowlers.

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com