Get More Out of Your Bowling Practice

We live in a world filled with busy schedules and not enough time to get everything done. Yet, we all want to improve our bowling ability, right? So, how do you solve this conflict between getting better and limited practice time?

Commit Time to Practice

You must commit to make time to practice. Just as you would with any commitment, you must work the time into your schedule to get to the center and practice. For some people, they can make time over the lunch hour (you just have to sacrifice that relaxing meal for a good practice session). For others, stopping in
right after work or early on a weekend day is the best (or perhaps only) time that practice is possible.

In all of the above cases, you generally only have a limited amount of time, perhaps 40 minutes, in which to get in a “good” practice session. That seems like such a short amount of time, but bowling is sport which will reward you more for limited, quality practice over significant poor practice. Let me explain how to get the
most out of this limited stretch of time.

Anatomy of a Practice

In general this is what a practice should look like:

Warmup Time (5-10 minutes of dynamic stretching)
Physical Practice Drill (15 minutes)
Break (3-5 minutes)
Physical Change Practice (15 minutes)
Break (3-5 minutes)
Skills Work (Tactical Items Like Spare Shooting or Lane Play – 15 minutes)
Break (3-5 minutes)
Integration Practice (15-20 minutes)
Cool Down with Static Stretching (5-10 minutes)

Practice With a Purpose

Warm up first! Do a few minutes of dynamic stretching to get your blood flowing and to get your muscles warmed up. After that, get your shoes on and get right to the task at hand. Eliminate any conversations that will eat into this precious time and get ready to make shots. Take 3-4 shots to get loose, then go right into the first thing you want to work on. If the first thing is a foul line or one-step drill, you can go right to the drill. This implies that you have PLANNED YOUR PRACTICE to specifically focus on improving a specific area of your game. If you are working with a coach, you should get a verbal or written practice plan. Use the plan to work on ONE THING AT A TIME, focus on that one thing for 15 minutes, then stop for a 3-5 minutes. After that break, move to the next item and work on that for 15 minutes.

Finish With Integration Practice

Finally, use your last 5-10 minutes to “cool down” and integrate what you have been working on into your game. Let these two new things that you have practiced start to be part of your game. Take shots where you want to make these two items work, but don’t be obsessed with perfection. Take your entire swing with
less thought and attention to each of these items than you did when you were working on them. Since you just spent 15 minutes working on each of these items, you will be very likely to carry a lot of what you worked on into this last part of your practice without really thinking about it.

Finally, Cool Down

Finish with a few minutes of static stretching so that you don’t get stiff after practice.

Practice Length

Generally, good practices are 6-10 games, or 60-90 minutes in length, and are taken at a pace that will allow you to focus and incorporate 1-2 items that you are focused on improving. This practice technique can be very, very effective in improving your game. I’ve used this technique for many years, getting the majority of my practices done over my lunch hour, with very good results. I would supplement these practices with weekend practices as time permitted, and the combination was very effective.

Make the Most of Your Time

Another trick is to combine spare shooting practice with working on your physical game. Quite often it is actually easier to improve your physical game while shooting at spares, because most people quit putting too much effort (trying too hard) into their physical swing when shooting at a spare. Taking that more relaxed swing that is less intent on striking often translates well back into your strike ball. Try combining spare shooting a practice on a change to your physical swing next time you practice – you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Remember, all of this only helps your game if you take the time to practice. So, what are you waiting for???