Ball Release Techniques and Delivery Styles
Ball Release
There are typically two different ways to roll a ball down the lane.
- Straight
- Beginners commonly just bowl the ball straight down the lane, hoping to hit the 1 and 2 pocket or the 1 and 3 pocket. When bowling straight like this, people often hold the ball with their hand in a "W" shaped form. What you need to do is actually bowl with the fingers pointing vertically rather than horizontally.
- Hook/Curve
- The hook or curve ball is commonly used by more advanced players. As the bowler releases the ball, the ball starts out straight and then "hooks" because of the rotation the bowler puts on the ball during release. When curving, most people use two fingers and a thumb.
Delivery Styles
There are three different types of styles used when releasing the ball onto the lane. The three styles are the stroker, cranker and tweener styles.
- Stroker
- People who use the stroker style usually keep their feet square to the foul line. Stroking lessens the ball's spin rate and therefore decreases its hook/curve potential and hitting power. Strokers use finesse and accuracy.
- Cranker
- Crankers try to create as much spin as possible by using a cupped wrist. Bowlers that use the cranking method often cup their wrist, but open the wrist at the top of the swing. Crankers often use late timing, meaning the foot reaches the foul line before the ball does; this is called "plant and pull", hardly using any slide on their last step and pulling the ball upwards for leverage. Crankers rely on speed and power.
- Tweener
- Tweeners are bowlers that release the ball in a way that falls somewhere in between stroking and cranking. Tweeners often release the ball with a higher backswing than is normally used by a stroker or a less powerful wrist position than a cranker. Tweeners also deliver the ball so that it might land in the pocket of the pins, not the head pin, this action makes it impossible to get a strike as the ball might hit the head pin, but it would miss the 5 pin behind the 1 pin, making it a one pin spare.
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