How to Hook a Polyester Bowling Ball

Rolling a bowling ball with a hook spin is important if you wish to take your game beyond the beginner level. However, hooking a ball takes technique and skill, and hooking a polyester (or plastic) ball is more difficult. The polyester ball is the ball most alleys use as "house" balls. They are made for durability, meaning the polyester ball has a hard surface and produces less friction, which allows the ball to skid more and maintain a straight flight.

Instructions

  1. Throwing a Hook

    • 1

      Choose the correct ball for your hand and weight. Hooking will be nearly impossible if you don't fit the ball correctly. Look for one that allows your middle and ring fingers to slide in and out of the holes in the ball with ease, but not sloppily. This is the same for the thumb hole. You should also choose a ball that is roughly 10 percent of your body weight.

    • 2

      Roll some practice balls to determine the condition of the lanes. If the lane surface is extremely dry, there is a better chance of being able to hook a polyester ball because a dry lane promotes friction. This means you'll need to put less spin on your roll. If the surface is oily, there is less friction between the ball and the lane, making the polyester ball much more difficult to hook. It will require much greater spin on your throw.

    • 3

      Time the release of the ball. Because the polyester ball is inherently hard to hook, the timing technique is particularly key. When you begin to drop the ball out of the backswing, your palm should be underneath the ball, facing toward the ceiling. As the ball nears your ankle, rotate it so as you release it your hand ends up on the side of the ball, as if you spinning a football in an underhand pass. This motion needs to be particularly pronounced to produce the hook.

    • 4

      Follow through to the finish. When you throw the ball, your hand must move outward toward the lane, not upward. The hand ultimately should finish near your ear, as if you were answering the phone. The follow through is particularly crucial with a polyester ball because proper technique is nearly everything when it comes to producing a hook.

    • 5

      Watch your ball until the end of the roll. This will give you immediate feedback on whether the ball is hooking at the right time and enough. It should move in a relatively straight line until just a few feet before the pins and then hook inward. If it's not hooking at all, you'll need to try releasing the ball with more spin. If it is over-hooking, or hooking too early, reduce the spin technique.