Bowling Etiquette and Tips

Bowling Etiquette and Tips: Most new bowlers have a strong desire to remain respectful and do things right when they’re at the lanes, but sometimes, it can be really hard to intuit how you should or shouldn’t act without having someone else tell you directly.

5 Bowling Etiquette Tips

Hopefully, This shortlist of courteous bowling etiquette tips will keep you from making an accidental and embarrassing faux pas.

#1 Don’t Distract the Other Bowlers

As fun as it can be to get pumped up, bowling is not typically a sport that lends itself to lots of loud shouting and cheering. In fact, lots of extraneous noise is likely to annoy or distract the bowler more than it would encourage them. Keep your voice down and save the raucous celebrating for the after-party.

#2 Yield to the Bowler on Your Right

This rule was developed for the same reason lots of loud noise isn’t encouraged concentration. As a courtesy to those around you, you should always yield the floor to the bowler on your right. By taking turns instead of bowling simultaneously, you’ll both be more focused on your lane instead of what’s happening in the next lane out of the corner of your eye. This is also a great rule in case of the embarrassing (but ultimately forgivable) act of accidentally bowling your ball into an adjacent lane.

#3 Keep Your Banter PG

Unless you’re lucky (and rich) enough to have a private bowling alley in your home, chances are you’ll be bowling on lanes that are openly available to the public. This means that you’ll often be sharing this space with other bowling enthusiasts and that can include parents with small children. Granted, no one is going to spontaneously combust if you utter a four-letter word in a moment of frustration, but it is courteous to try to respect that some people don’t want to hear it.

#4 Always Wear Bowling Shoes

Failure to wear bowling shoes on the lanes can cause some expensive repairs for bowling alley owners. Not only will “civilian” shoes scuff up the approach, but they’ll also track in debris and dirt which can pose a potential tripping hazard.

#5 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

There’s always “that guy” at the lanes who wants to make sure that everyone follows every bowling rule (no matter how obscure), and they can prove to be incredibly judgmental towards inexperienced bowlers. Don’t let them get to you. Just like no one expects you to be a professional bowler your first try, no one expects you to learn the dos and don’ts of bowling etiquette on your first trip. Keep learning and you’ll be a courteous bowler in no time!

Great Bowling Tips For Beginners

If you are a new bowler and have given the game a couple of tries, then you’ve probably realized that it’s not as easy as it makes look. Becoming an efficient, consistent, and accurate bowler takes time, practice, determination, understanding of the game, skill, and the right equipment. You will also need to decide how serious a bowler you want to be. If you only want to bowl once in a while, for special occasions or because a group of friends is getting together, then you probably won’t take it as seriously as someone who is looking to join a league and play in tournaments. But if you are among the latter, who want to do better, then here are some bowling etiquette tips for beginners.

1- Get your own bowling ball

First, go ahead and practice a few times with different house balls that are provided by the alley for free. You’ll see as you practice with the different balls, that they are not all made the same and you will likely have a hard time finding one to fit your hand and finger spread. Also, house balls are used by many different people who all bowl a different way, so the ball will not roll the same as if only you used it.

One of the first bowling tips I can offer for beginners is to get your custom ball. House balls just won’t cut it if you want to be consistent and improve your bowling game. By getting your custom ball means that you’ll have a ball that is a perfect fit for your hand and is the right weight for your style of bowling. There are great deals available online for custom bowling balls. So it is worth doing some research and comparison on to determine which bowling ball is best for you.

2- Get your own bowling shoes

Another great tip for beginning bowlers is to make sure you purchase your bowling shoes. Not only will they fit you better, but they will also help you bowl better. Your shoes will be worn-in the way you walk and slide, instead of worn by many different sets of feet that all walk and slide differently. Another advantage of having your bowling shoes is that it is cheaper in the long run as well. You won’t have to pay for shoes every time you go to practice your bowling. And when you get down to it, do you want to continually wear shoes that others have worn?

3- Practice, Practice, Practice!

As the saying goes, ‘practice makes perfect.’ Well, maybe it won’t make your game always perfect, but you won’t be able to improve your game without practicing. Make sure you set aside plenty of time to practice on all aspects of the game; from approach, release, picking up spares, the speed you throw the ball, and getting those explosive strikes.

4- Get a bowling coach

As a beginner, you may or may not want to get a bowling coach as they do cost money. However, the sooner you start with a bowling coach, the more you will be able to avoid picking up bad habits from not understanding the game or how to throw the ball to pick up certain spares. Getting a bowling coach will teach you all about the game as well as show you the best ways for you to improve and keep improving on your game and technique.

5 Tips to Avoid Gutter Balls

When you’re a beginner bowler before you worry about strikes, 7-10 splits, or any other fancy technique, you’ve got to worry about getting the ball down the lane without it rolling in the gutter! While some newbies are simply blessed with the gift of good aim, some of us struggle with this most essential basis of the game. So, if you’re having trouble keeping your ball on the straight and narrow, keep reading to see what you can do to help reduce the occurrence of it landing in the gutter.

#1 Know Your Stride

As you cross the approach to release the ball, you should aim for making your last step approximately six inches from the foul line. Depending on how wide your stride is, you may be able to line this up if you start from the guide dots 12 feet away from the line. If you’re having trouble hitting the six-inch mark, an experiment from another distance either closer to the foul line or further away, depending on whether or not you’re overshooting or undershooting your mark.

#2 Walk a Straight Line

When you make your way across the approach, you mustn’t accidentally veer over the left or right. To keep from doing this, always have your eye on the center dot at the foul line. The foot that performs your final step should be pointing towards this center dot, so make sure to get this alignment right before you begin the approach.

#3 Watch Your Bowling Shoulder

The most important key to having a ball that bowls straight is to be mindful of the positioning of your bowling arm. No matter what position the ball is in during your approach, it should always remain parallel to and in line with your bowling shoulder. It’s especially important to remember this as you release it because any amount of variation left to right can put your ball straight on a course for the gutter.

#4 Watch Your Hips and Torso Too

While making your approach, it’s also important to keep your hips and torso as close to parallel with the foul line as possible. The awkward positioning of these two body parts will make it harder for your ball to be released at the perfect alignment.

#5 Don’t Rush the Process

It’s important that as you cross the approach, you give yourself the time you need to focus on maintaining good form. The last two steps before the foul line are the most critical to bowling well, so especially don’t let them get rushed.

Conclusion

Practicing your bowling techniques is always important, which will help improve your bowling game and average. It is always important to make sure you continue to practice spare shots, different approaches, and release, But with all that practice, injuries can be more prevalent. So to make sure you keep in top form, there are some Bowling Etiquette tips and exercises you can do to help improve yourself for the sport and your health in general.