How to Boost Your Bowling Average

Anyone can tell you that the key to boosting your bowling average is practicing your bowling motion over and over again to get the perfect stroke. However, for people who have either exhausted that route or do not have the time to spend hours in a bowling alley, there are other ways to increase your overall efficiency as a bowler and improve your average score.

Instructions

    • 1

      Evaluate your equipment. Your bowling average will not be as high as it can be until you have your own bowling bowl and are bowling with the heaviest ball you can use without difficulty.

    • 2

      Practice throwing a hook shot. If you currently use a straight-on bowling shot, your bowling ball is aimed for just the pins in the middle and not the ones on the side; therefore, leaving you more susceptible to bowling a split. A hook shot that comes across the lane is more likely to hit more pins, which will improve your bowling average.

    • 3

      Learn how to utilize the oil patterns of your bowling lane. Novice bowlers are unaware of the fact that the oil placed on bowling lanes are designed in different ways, and those differences amount to what are called "shots." The standard shot at your local bowling alley is called a "house shot," which typically uses an oil pattern that has heavier amounts of oil down the center of the lane, thus creating a "hold" that influences your ball toward the middle of the lane. Knowing this, you can adjust your shot by familiarizing yourself with the house shot at your local bowling alley and taking advantage of the hold the lane has on your ball.

    • 4

      Locate a PBA Practice Center at pba.com and practice bowling on a PBA oil pattern lane. PBA oil patterns create difficult shots that are not designed to assist you as much as the standard house shot. By practicing on these less forgiving oil patterns, you will become accustomed to getting less assistance from the oil pattern, which will in turn help improve your accuracy and score.

    • 5

      Increase your bowling speed. When you increase the speed of your bowling ball, you increase the force with which your bowling ball hits the pins. By heightening your backswing, you will increase the speed at which your bowling ball leaves your hand and travels down the lane.