DICK WEBER St. Louis, Missouri

1960 PBA doubles champion 1960 Bowler of the Year, 1959 Eastern Open (Newsday) Champion.
“Use the proper weight ball for your own special physical characteristics. Be sure that a competent instructor, one who knows you and has seen you bowl, fits you for your bowling ball.

“LEE JOUGLARD Detroit, Michigan

All time ABC singles record holder.”Women in general have much better rhythm and coordination than men and should make better bowlers. But they fail to move the ball with their first step, and therefore their timing and coordination are upset.

ED LUBANSKI Oak Park, Michigan

1958-59 Bowler of the Year, 1959 World’s Individual Match Game Champion.
“First think of what you want to do with the ball. If you think first, it will give you that feeling that you are going to accomplish something and you will.”

SYLVIA WENE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1955 and 1960 BPAA National Individual Match Game Champion, 1955 Woman Bowler of the Year.”Practice, practice, practice! Even with excellent instruction and great natural ability, a bowler still will not succeed unless he or she practices constantly.”

PHYLLIS NOTARO Brant.

New York BPAA 1961 National Individual Match Game Champion.”Adopt the four-step approach and be certain that you move the ball on your very first step. Always concentrate on timing and coordination.

BILLY WELU St. Louis, Missouri

1959 BPAA National Individual Match Game Champion, 1954 ABC Doubles Champion.
“Keep your footwork natural and rhythmical, maintaining an even walking pace to the foul line. Be sure your arm swing is a pendulum type, a straight line from your hand to the shoulder. Coordinate the footwork with the arm swing for perfect timing.”

PAT McBRIDE Grand Rapids, Michigan

1959 WIBC All Events Champion.”In practice sessions don’t worry about the amount of pins knocked down. Concentrate on timing and delivery and a smooth, rhythmical approach. “

JANET HARMAN Los Angeles, California

1961 WIBC Queens Champion.”Learn to relax and let your arm swing freely from the shoulder, with the weight of the ball carrying the swing in a natural, straight pendulum motion. The left hand should be disengaged quickly so the weight of the ball creates a smooth, flowing swing.”

EVELYN TEAL Miami, Florida

1961 WIBC All Events Champion.”Beginner or old timer, always keep your shoulders and body facing the direction you want the ball to travel. You cannot, with any amount of accuracy, throw the ball in one direction while facing another.”

DON CARTER St. Louis, Missouri

1961 ABC Masters Champion; 1952, 1954, 1958 National Individual Match Game Champion; 1957, 1958, 1960 World’s Individual Match Game Champion.
“Be sure your approach to the foul line is a slow easy one. Use the pendulum arm swing and keep that arm close to your body to insure coordination and control.”

Scoring is a simple matter. It is simply a case of mastering a few basic symbols and using ordinary addition to arrive at the total score.

Here are some basic rules to follow:

1) A game consists of ten frames. Each box on your score-
sheet represents one frame.
2)The maximum number of balls rolled in each frame
is two.
3)If you get a “strike” all ten pins with your first ball score 10 in that box, plus the number of pins you knock down with your next two balls. Thus, the maximum score in each frame is 30 representing three strikes in a row.
4)If you get a “spare” knock down all ten pins on two rolls score 10 in that box, plus the number of pins you knock down with your next ball. Thus, the maximum you could get would be 20 in that frame (for a strike following the spare).Should you knock down five pins, you would get a score of 15 in thatbox.
5)If you fail to knock down all ten pins with two balls,you simply record the number of pins you toppled.
6)The score is maintained progressively from frame to frame, as in the chart below.

guitartutoronline play acousticguitar

Once you have mastered bowling’s fundamentals, you will find that there are many subtleties of the approach and delivery that still may be something of a mystery to you. Be heartened by the fact that even the most advanced bowling stars have scoring problems.Some of the most common of these are listed below:

1) ALLEY SENSE Bowlers too often “fight” the lane. The ball either hooks too much or it won’t hook at all, so try to adjust to lane conditions.If you feel you are releasing the ball properly and the ball still won’t hook, there are a number of adjustments you can make: a) move slightly to the right of your normal stance position; b) attempt to slow up the speed of your ball, thereby giving it more traction; and c) try changing your target to a point inside the second rangefinder.

You may move it in as far as the third rangefinder (from the right). Experience will show you the proper adjustment to make.If the ball is hooking too mucjh try one of the following: a) move your starting stance slightly to the left using your same target, b) try picking a spot further down the lane to use as your target, or c) increase the speed of your ball.

2) TEN-PIN LEAVES When the ten pin remains on what seems to be a good pocket hit, the fault generally lies with the bowler. Experts in the sport feel the reason for it is that the ball doesn’t have enough rolling action when it strikes the 1 3 pocket, or the ball may be traveling at too great a speed when it hits the pins. If you are bothered by ten-pin leaves, try giving the ball more roll, less spin, and less speed.

3) POCKET SPLITS Many bowlers are bothered by troublesome splits that occur on what should be 1 3 pocket hits. If this happens to you, it is an indication that the ball is “quitting” failing to finish in the proper rolling fashion. Usually this is caused by the thumb coming out of the ball too late. As a result, the ball is given inadequate finger lift. To overcome this failure, shift the position of your thumb in the ball bring it up to at least nine o’clock.

4) SPEED Speed really isn’t an all-important factor in getting your scores. Control and accuracy are much more important.If you are rolling a ball that is too fast, I suggest you shorten the approach by two or three feet in order to cut down your backswing. Junie McMahon, Hall of Fame star, had almost no backswing at all, and he became one of the East’s all-time stars.If you want to generate more speed, simply increase the height of your backswing. Or, a change to a lighter ball will work, too.

5) SPARE SHOOTING Many of the more advanced bowlers stand to the left of the approach area when attempting to convert pins remaining on the left side of the lane. This is done to diminish the possibility of “chopping,” and I don’t recommend it to newcomers. The left side of the lane can be troublesome unless you have a precise understanding of just how the ball is going to react.

6) DRIFTING Drifting simply means failure to approach the foul line in a straight line. The remedies for this malady are simple. If you are drifting to the right of the approach, I suggest you keep your first step more to the left than is normally proper. If you are drifting toward the left, step off a bit to the right on your first step.

7) INDEX FINGER Index finger should be placed on the ball. But don’t be overly troubled by this. Just let your finger relax over the contour of the ball in a natural way.

BALL ROLLING OVER THUMB HOLE A ball that rolls over the thumb hole sometimes causes loss of direction and thereby inaccuracy. Usually, a ball rolls in this way because the bowler turns or breaks his wrist at the time of his release. Or, again, it may be simply a case of the thumb hole not fitting properly.

My purpose in the preceding chapters has been to teach you to bowl properly. As I visit different bowling centers throughout the country, I’m afraid I see incorrect and faulty styles as often as I do proper ones.In this chapter I’ve tried to point out some of the most common faults. If any of these styles look like yours then my advice is to change. Your scores and your average are sure to benefit.

1) TOO HIGH A BACKSWING I’m always surprised at how often I see this occur, especially among women bowlers. Don’t let the backswing ever get be-~ yond shoulder height. Don’t force it to the level pictured here it’s sure to result in faulty timing.

2) DROPPING THE BALL Get the ball over the foul line; reach out with it. There are two reasons for this problem: either your timing is off, or it is simply a case of your ball not fitting you properly.

3) POOR FOLLOW-THROUGH Many bowlers I’ve seen seem to do everything well, until they release the ball. Then they go into a poorly executed follow-through. Here’s one example not keeping down; pulling up at the finish. You can overcome this by keeping your head down and your eyes on the target.

4) BAD FINISH Here’s a problem on the follow-through; in fact, it’s no follow-through at all. Be sure to continue the arm on its natural upward motion after the ball has left your hand. Many pro stars continue the motion until their hand reaches the height of their head. Try it. It could be a great help to you.

5) INCORRECT PICKUP Be careful about how you pick up the ball. Don’t reach out for it with your right hand as shown here. If you do this continually, you’ll find your hand tiring and eventually your control will be affected. Instead, pick up the ball with both hands as you lift it. That way, your hands won’t be struck and injured by balls coming into the rack.

6) WRONG STANCE A common fault in the stance position is failure to place the feet parallel to the boards (perpendicular to the foul line) before the delivery begins. It is simple to do, requiring only a moment to check.

7) WRIST BREAK Keep your wrist straight and firm; don’t let it bend to the side as shown in this picture. If you don’t keep a straight wrist, you’re certain to lose control of the ball and thereby all accuracy. Keeping a firm wrist is a matter of concentration, nothing more.

TOPPING THE BALL Here’s another common fault among women bowlers overturning the ball, causing a reverse hook or back-up ball. This can be prevented by releasing the ball in the shake-hands position I’ve discussed. Keep your hand and wrist in the nine o’clock position and you’ll find yourself rolling a perfect, sharp-breaking hook ball.

9) STEPS TOO LONG Even some of the most experienced bowlers are guilty of this error taking steps in the approach that are much too long. Remember your steps are to be the length of your normal walking steps never any longer than that.

10) WRONG PUSHAWAY On the pushaway remember to get the ball out, down, and to the right. Some bowlers go up with the ball. This is a wasted motion and accomplishes nothing. It affects your timing, and can hurt your delivery.

11) BAD FOLLOW-THROUGH Here’s another common follow-through problem. Many bowlers cross their arm in front of them after they release the ball. When they do this, the ball may cross-over, miss the 1 3 pocket, and either hit the head pin full or cross into the 1 2 pocket. Bring your arm straight up; reach out for the pins.

12) LOFTING THE BALL Try to release the ball over the foul line, but at a point only three or four inches beyond the line. Never loft the ball or release it far out on the lane. Lofting will spoil your accuracy.

1-3-6[left]and1-3-6-10 [right]{Picket Fence)Use your normal strike position, and come into the 1-3 pocket.

5-9 A good strike ball will make this easy.

You will note the charts on the previous pages do not list some of the more difficult spares like the 7 10 split or the 4 6 7 10, the “big apple” as it is nicknamed. These are just about impossible to make and I don’t recommend you even try.

In the 7 10 split, try for just one pin; in the “big apple,” try for two. Often one or two pins can mean the difference in winning or losing a game or even a match.

Position yourself to the extreme right-hand side of the approach.

Clause readies for the 10-pin.

This is the proper foot position for making the 10-pin.

3-6-10 Hit the 3 6 pocket full.

6-10 The ball should hit both pins.

3-10 (Baby Split)Fit the ball in between.

3-5-6-9 Hit full in the 3 6 pocket, or just aim for the 9-pin.

5-7 A real hard one; the 5-pin must slide over to get the 7.

6-7 Only the experts make this.

5-6 Another “fit-in” shot

3-9 Watch the 9-pin, the sleeper; shoot “through” the 3-pin to get it.

Today’s average bowler is more of a strike shooter than a spare shooter. He takes careful aim; he concentrates on the strike shot; but on spares he tends to get a little lax. This is a costly mistake. Spares are of prime importance, and should be granted as much, or more, concentration than the normal strike delivery.Without the spare credits on your score, the strike balls aren’t nearly as important as they might be. I tell my pupils to make their spares the strikes will take care of themselves.

When attempting to convert spare leaves, always keep these two cardinal rules in mind:1)Position yourself on the approach diametrically opposite your pin leave. Give yourself as much lane to shootover as possible. If your pin leave is on the left side of the pindeck say the 7-pin position yourself to the right of the approach.2)Always face your work. By this I mean, turn your feet and your shoulders, your whole body, directly facing the pins you are aiming at.

This will insure that your pendulum swing in spare shooting is the same as it is when you are angling for strikes.Let’s look at some individual spare shots and see just how they are best converted.

How do you direct the ball into the 1-3 pocket? Well, to answer that question, let me explain the spot-bowling system of targeting the system I heartily advocate to all bowlers. Spot bowling is simply directing the ball so that it rolls over “spot” or directional guides on the lane in front of you and then moves into the pins. The theory behind the success of spot

The rangefinders are indispensable aids in spot bowling.

bowling is that it is a lot easier to hit a target that is ten or fifteen feet in front of you than one at the other end of the lane, about sixty feet away.

These directional guides or rangefinders, as they are sometimes called, will be found built into the lanes of every modern bowling center. The term”rangefinders” refers to the seven small triangular indicators, spaced about six inches apart, and found inserted in the lane about fifteen feet from the foul line. They are the guides we use in spot bowling.

My spot is normally the second target guide from the right.

Keep your eyes on the target or spot until after your follow-through has been executed.

Generally speaking, in the spot-bowling system, the perfect strike ball is directed over the second rangefinder from the righthand side. It starts hooking at a point about two-thirds to three-quarters of the way down the lane. You should practice rolling the ball over the second rangefinder, and if your delivery is the same each time, you can’t miss rolling up a string of strikes.I recommend the spot-bowling method for both strike and spare shooting. Of course, on your spare shots you’ll adjust your spot each time, depending upon where the spare leave is located.

Many professional bowlers use a modified system of spot bowling, called directional line bowling. In this system the bowler uses a combination of sighting spots consisting of directional guides on the lane, plus the pin setup. Some bowlers prefer casting an eye on the pins just before their delivery

The ball should start breaking towards the pins at a point two-thirds of the way down the lane. It strikes the 1 3 pocket.

begins, especially on spare shots. It is called line bowling because, in his mind’s eye, the bowler draws a “line” from the pins to the foul line a line that includes the points over which he plans to roll the ball.Pin bowling is the system used by most beginners.

In pin bowling, the bowler aims and shoots for the pins directly without regard to spots or marks, or any type of directional guides. Using this style is a bit of a handicap for the average bowler and I would rather see him practice and use the spot system. It has been proven best by far.