Learn to See Your Bowling Ball Path

Being able to see your bowling ball path can really help you be a more consistent bowler.

Being able to really understand the path your ball takes is a great bowling technique to use. It can really help you bowl a consistent ball, and will give you the confidence you need to make those pressure bowling shots. Wouldn’t it be nice to throw a ball, and when it doesn’t strike, you can say, “My ball was a board over at the arrows.” Now you know what you need to adjust. We will give you a great technique to use to do just that.

Have you ever bowled a ball that you thought was going to be a great shot, yet it did not hit the pocket. The ball felt really good when you released it, you hit the mark you were aiming for, your balance was good, and the release was clean. Your natural reaction was probably to blame it on imperfections or dryness in the lane. However, you or the others you were bowling with were not having any lane issues.

So what went wrong? One needs to remember that there are many ways the bowling ball can hit the target. It can hit it straight on, right to left, or left to right. And there are countless differences in the angle the ball can hit as well. Because there are so many different way to hit a target, you need to focus in on multiple points on the lane to get a true idea of the path of your ball. You need at least two points, a starting point and an end point, and picking a third point somewhere in the middle is recommended. Choose points such as the foul line, the arrows, the dots, or the break point to use to help see what the ball is actually doing.

Choosing the foul line as your first point can be a good idea. How do you use the foul line as a judge for where the ball is at when you’re looking down the lane at the pins? The key is your sliding shoe. Every bowling lane consists of 39 boards. The number starts on the right for a right handed bowler, and on the left for a leftie. For the average bowler, the ball will be seven boards over from the inside part of this shoe. Smaller bowlers may be only six, and larger bowlers eight. Once you figure out how many boards over your ball is from your sliding shoe, you will always be able to judge where the ball initially left your hand.

Choosing the foul line as one of your points to see the path of your ball is a good idea.

The dots on a bowling lane are 7 and half feet from the foul line, and also seven and a half feet from the arrows. There are two sets of dots on the lane. One set is to the right, the other to the left. On the left side, the dots are on board numbers 3, 5, 8, 11, and 14. On the right side of the lane, the dots are on board numbers 26, 29, 32, 35, and 37. Paying attention to the dots, now you can see where your ball is when it’s halfway to the arrows.

There are seven arrows on a bowling lane that are fifteen feet past the foul line. These seven arrows start on board five, and repeat every fifth board up to board 35. Don’t be afraid to look in between the arrows for exact placement. If you’re ball is between the sixth and seventh arrow, that gives you a good general idea of where your ball is. But if you go one step further and say your ball is on the 32 board between the arrows, now you really have a good understanding of where your ball is. Now, using the dots and arrows, you can see the path your ball needs to take. If your shot starts out at board 18, and you want it to hit board 10 at the arrows, you know you need to split the difference. So hitting board 14 at the dots is what you need to be hitting.

The arrows on a bowling lane, numbered for a right handed bowler.

The fourth point a bowler can choose to really see the path of their ball is the breakpoint. This is the toughest point to use, but can really help your game if you can master this technique. The breakpoint is where the ball changes its direction and begins its curve or hook into the pocket. The problem is, this point is always changing. The lane oil spreads down further, and is drying up as well. Some lanes have markers in that area where you can use for reference. For the lanes that don’t, you are going to have to improvise. Understanding where you breakpoint is can be a science all to itself, but once you know where it is and how it changes, you will be at a big advantage over those who don’t.

Once you can see the path of your bowling ball, you will be able to tell what went wrong during a shot, and bowl more consistent.

Now that you know the different parts of the lane your ball needs to hit in order to deliver that perfect strike, you can watch your ball travel down the lane and you can see if the path the ball travels is the path you wanted it to. If you find yourself in a bowling slump, using this technique can show you where the ball is going wrong. Paying attention to multiple points on the lane should really pay off in the long run.

We have presented just the basics really of this technique. If you really want to hone your bowling skills and win tournaments, you need to look into Bowling For Dummies. This is the best secret going right now in bowling. This will show you all the advanced tricks and tips you need to bowl your absolute best. We have used it and were amazed at the results.

Enjoy being able to see your bowling ball path, and good luck!