The Beginners Guide to Understanding Bowling – Explained by Me!

Many of you who follow me probably know by now that I am a bowler. Yes, the archaic sport of rolling a ball towards ten innocent pins is my bread and butter. I’ve been in the sport for a little over ten years, bowling competitively and for fun. Before you ask, no, I have never rolled a perfect game. My high career game is a 264. I crack like an egg under pressure and always make a mistake when it gets crucial.

The virus has crippled my need to bowl, even though bowling alleys are starting to open up. It is for that reason bowling has been on my mind a lot lately. What are my Rambles for? Writing what is on my mind. So, sit back and enjoy my Ramble about bowling and allow me to unlock some of the secrets of the sport – more specifically the ball and how we make it do what it does.

[image error]

Now, what brings all of this together? The lane itself. A lot of people don’t know that a bowling lane is covered in oil. (The blue area in the picture.) It could be a lot of oil, and little oil, or even no oil. (Believe me when I tell you, that sucks the most for a competitive bowler.) What does oil do? Well, it reduces friction and allows the ball to slide along the lane until it reaches the dry back-end of the lane. As you can see in the picture, the ball follows the red and yellow lines and as it exits the oil (blue) it begins to hit the dry part of the lane and then the weight block takes over and just like the balloon, it forces the ball to turn in the direction it was spinning and into the “pocket” which is the idea shot between the 1 and 3 pins for right-handed bowlers and the 1 and pin for left-handed bowlers.

I hope this has helped you to understand the sport I love so much. I have been in it for a long time and I adore every aspect of it. If you ever want to talk about the sport, I’d love to do so! Good luck, and good bowling!