Bowlers who want to become professional fast bowlers have three main tools that they use to gain an edge over their competition. These are speed bowls, drop balls and reverse swings.
Speed bowling is throwing the ball as hard and as quickly as you can while keeping it within the legal limit. The faster you throw the ball, the higher the pitch!
Drop bowling is throwing the ball lower than normal and using different types of drops or shapes to get the same effect. A drop bowler will add bounce to his/her throws by adding more air at the top before flinging the ball.
Reverse swing bowling is not only changing your grip, but also how tall you stand when you shoot the ball. Not only does this affect the height of the ball, but also the angle!
These are just some examples of what a pro fast bowler uses to achieve greater accuracy and power. There are many other tricks pros use such as moving their feet, altering their stance, and shaking the hand prior to shooting so they get a feel for how the ball feels.
This article will talk about one of these tools – dropping the elbow. Many people drop their elbow too much which causes them to lose momentum and strength as they pull back with each throw.
Keep a positive mind set
While speed is a key factor in bowling, having a negative attitude will not help you become a better bowler. When you are constantly thinking about how bad you are, this can make you feel even worse than you already do!
If you want to improve your game, then you must have a goal. A goal that you really strive for every time you practice or play a match. Your goal can be improving your average, reducing swing, etc.
But what if I tell you that there’s a way to achieve your goals without actually trying? That would be lying right?
Well, sometimes people say things like “I’m going to (do something) because it’s my goal.” Or they talk about how they’ll try their best “sincerely.”
By saying it sincerely but not putting into action, what does that teach you? It teaches you that you don’t need to prepare yourself before taking actions towards your goals.
This also teaches you that you don’t need to put in any effort beyond just talking about it. Because if you didn’t truly mean it, why should anyone else believe you when you go ahead and do whatever you said you were going to do?
So instead of telling yourself that you need to work hard, work smart.
Practice makes perfect
Being able to throw the ball harder is only half of the battle when it comes to bowling, but unfortunately not many people emphasize on this heavily. While hard throwing is very important, so is being able to slow down your arm.
Most professional bowlers have ways of training their arms to get heavier and more sluggish over time, which aids in accuracy. The best way to do this is practice, practice, practice!
Practice should be for both strong and weak points of your game. For example, if you struggle putting enough spin on the ball, then practicing with less spin is a good idea.
This will also help train your muscles to use less energy while spinning the ball, just like moving away from the source of energy can make your muscles weaker.
Slow down and focus
Being able to throw the ball very hard is only part of being a fast bowler. The other important factor is being able to bowl at a steady pace.
If you are too quick or too slow, that will be your downfall as a player. Becoming more consistent in bowling speed can help make yourself feel better about your game and maybe even improve it.
There are several things you can do to become more efficient at bowling at a constant rate.
Learn to read the bowling ball
The way you look at the bowling ball can make a big difference in how well you play bowling. When you are bowling, there is a lot of action going on!
There’s the wrist, the elbow, the shoulder, the hand, and then the eye as the bowler looks through the ball. All these parts work together to create great bowls or bad balls.
When you learn the basics of bowling, reading the ball is one of your first tasks. How you hold the ball determines what kind of shot you will get.
You want to be able to feel the weight of the ball in each finger so that you know it isn’t too heavy for its size. A heavier ball becomes harder to control because you have less leeway with muscles used for balance.
A lighter ball requires fewer muscles to achieve the same result, making it easier to master. Both types of bowlers exist, and being able to tell which type of player you would like to be means developing your skills.
Know your lane
As mentioned before, one of the biggest things that can slow down a beginner is not knowing their own bowling ball. If you are looking to improve your game, this is something you must address!
As such, it’s important to know how many balls you should have in each bowling line or “lane.” There is no universal number that everyone uses, but most pros have at least three balls per lane.
That means if you want to be a solid bowler, you will need to invest in at least six balls per lane. Six balls per lane equals a total of eighteen balls for a ten-game match!
This article will help you determine which lanes make up your personal best.
Always keep your equipment clean
When it comes down to it, bowling is really just about throwing balls as hard as you can while keeping up with some rules. Luckily, most of these rules are simple so there is not too much going into them.
The first rule we will talk about is how to hold your ball. There are two main styles that people use when rolling a ball. Some roll their fingers along the seam of the ball, while others stick their thumbs out and under the ball.
Which one is better depends on what kind of shot you want to have. If you would like to get a straight line for your ball, then using a thumbed-down style is more suitable. For something with more curl, having finger rolls is needed.
Practice your swing
A lot of people focus too much energy practicing their swings, but not every player needs to know how to do this before they can call themselves experts. This is totally fine if you are already able to make decent throws and hit balls hard, but for most of us, that’s not the case!
Most professional throwers have perfect throwing mechanics that feel natural and easy to them. They may even find some tricks or special exercises that help them get into position more quickly as well.
For example, there’s a way to practice pitching with a tennis ball where you bounce it off a wall and then toss it forward like you would in a real game. This helps work on getting the arm moving fast while also working on keeping the motion smooth and seamless.
There are many ways to practice your throwing technique, so don’t worry about picking just one! Some athletes learn better by doing mostly basic moves and figuring out what works for them, whereas others need more complex routines to pick up new skills.
Focus on your form
A lot of people try to throw the ball as hard as they can, but this is not the right way to improve your bowling!
To be successful you have to understand how the body works so that you can manipulate it properly. Your wrist, elbow, shoulder, and balance are all key parts of the game.
Your grip, foot position, and arm speed will determine how fast you bowl and what kind of bowling you want to do. The faster you spin the ball, the harder you can strike the pins and get more g’s, which is why being able to hit the green is important.
Once you have mastered the basics, then you can start trying different things like roller balls or two handed throws. There are many ways to learn how to roll the ball and mix and match them to see what works for you.
