What is the toughest bowling skill to learn? I think there a few skills but I will go over 4 skills that I think is the toughest to learn. Bowling is all about skill, having the right equipment and knowing what to do which is needed in bowling. As you bowl more, you start to realize that bowling is not easy and there are a lot of skills needed to be a good bowler. I think if you can master these 4 skills, I think you will be a damn good bowlers.
Shooting the 10 pin:
I think one of the hardest pins to pick up is the ten pin, it’s only one pin and the deck but a lot of people misses this pin when trying to get it. You can cut the throw short and the ball go on the left side of the ball missing it and sometimes throwing your ball too fast can go into the gutter and I know for me I know how to get the ten pin but I if don’t shoot at it in a long time, I tend to miss it when I need to pick it up. I used to use a plastic spare ball to pick up the ten pin and over time I could never get a motion to pick it up at a regular basis. So now I use my hook ball or whatever ball I am using to pick up the ten pin. I just flatten my hand and roll the ball off my pinky finger. I have been getting that ten pin more now when I made the change so you need to find a motion that will work for you and you can do the same motion every time.
Getting out of your comfort zone:
I see the number problem I see in bowlers is that they don’t want to leave their comfort zone or change the way they bowl. They don’t want to move when the oil has changed and it’s time to move. I be in 5 man bowling leagues where everyone is bowling the down and in or bowling straight, so now everyone is bowling on the same line, drying up the oil, but when it’s time to move from that spot, some people can’t. the reason they can’t is cause for 1 that don’t know how to play a different angles. You must learn how to bowl on different lines, different parts of the lanes and different hand positions. And the 2 reason is that they don’t even know it’s time to move from that spot. Even if you tell them to move, they won’t and that’s all they know. They never tried to move around the lane to learn something new.
Knowing the lanes and having the right equipment:
This will piggy back on number 2 but you must know the lane you are bowling on. Is there a hook spot? Are the lanes dry or are they drying up? Is the lane oily? These are questions you should be asking yourself every time you bowl. Once you bowl at times you will start to see what’s going on, also if you are bowling with other people, are they bowling on the same lane that you are bowling on? If so that will cause your line to dry up faster moving you to move from your spot. This will help you keep your mind in the game cause some people don’t know what’s going on. Sometimes I tell my teammates, hey that person is bowling on your line, you may to need move or increase your ball speed. Also having the right equipment will help as well. You should have a ball for dry lanes, light to medium oil lanes and something for heavy oil and a spare ball. so you are ready for whatever comes your way.
You must practice bowling skills that you are not good at:
I see people go to practice at the bowling alley but they don’t focus on what they are not good at. I have seen people who has been bowling for 6 years and have always been in a league and practice all the time, I see them bowl the same way every time and the miss the spares every time. Over time you should be trying different things to see what works and then building or working off that. You should be getting better all time, not stay at the same level. That’s because people don’t practice on the things they are not good in or they just practice on getting strikes, nothing wrong with that but of you can’t get the ten pin and you miss all the time, you need to work on that during practice. When I practice, I work on the ten pin, throwing the ball straight, throwing the ball with a big hook, shooting at splits that may come up and different hand positions and different ball speeds. By doing that, I have gain more tools that I can use during a game and be one step ahead or the other bowlers.