Always be ready to bowl when it is your turn. If you’re not, it disturbs the rhythm and pacing of the game for everyone including those leagues which follow you. It is usually true that the longer in between shots, the more inconsistent you become. A good rule to follow is that when the pins are ready, so are you!

Hold your position at the line until the ball leaves the pin deck. This does not mean that you should look like the Statue of Liberty but that all of your body is still after you have delivered the ball EXCEPT your bowling arm. It is swinging back and forth and will eventually stop without your help. Several good things happen when you do this:

You don’t miss any of your great shots because you get to stay at the foul line and watch them.
It builds the discipline of keeping your balance at the line and thus helping you make your shots repeatable.
If you’re falling off your shots, you won’t be completing them to the best of your ability because you get too concerned about not falling down and therefore cut your shot off short. Balance at the line is critical to a well-executed and consistent delivery.
Pins tend to fall more when they feel your icy stare.

You will often find a new strike line throwing your 2 pin or your 3 pin shot. Don’t ignore your ball reaction in this part of the lane. It could be a real strike mine!

It is more important that you practice frequently than that you practice for long periods of time. Thirty minutes a day will get you closer to your long-term goals faster than 2½ hours on Sunday. Take breaks while you practice, at least a minute every ten. Get a drink or sit down and plan your next few minutes. Just step away and get a different perspective.

Practice tasks in segments. Mindless, undirected practice is unproductive. Never keep score in practice. If you’re keeping score, winning matters. If winning matters, you’re not practicing. Have specific goals you want to accomplish in your practice sessions. Five minutes on the feel of a good push off, five minutes on follow through and you don’t think about your push off in the follow through time slot. Your foundation must be built on the bricks of individual components – strong and linked together with repetition and muscle memory. We don’t want a foundation built on sand that will crumble under the slightest pressure.

Throwing a ball that is too light for you is just as hurtful to your game as throwing a ball that is too heavy. A ball which is too light will allow you to do things you shouldn’t. A ball which is too heavy will prevent you from doing things you should. I don’t think that ‘10% of your body weight’ thing is valid. I believe that ball weight is determined by athleticism. If I have a 150 lb person who is 5 feet tall and a 150 lb person who is 6 feet tall, I have two very different individuals when it comes to athleticism and strength. 10% might work for one but not the other and no, they don’t make 18 lb balls! For kids, some believe that the majority of the population can bowl their age – a seven-pound ball if they are seven years old or an 11-pound ball if they’re 11 years old. Remember there will always be the exception…

Try to make your approach as smooth and fluid as possible – no roboty moves or herky-jerky looks. Don’t walk like you are stepping over rose bushes! You also, however, cannot sacrifice form for results. There are no style points in bowling. It’s just easier to do it more consistently if you keep it simple. The more moving parts you have, the more complicated the fix when something goes wrong.

Don’t start your approach like you’re burning rubber from a stoplight. That first step should be smooth and easy and therefore simple to repeat. It is the most important step you take. Make sure it’s right and the rest of the approach can just flow.

It is usually best to line up in your starting stance with your sliding foot. It’s the one that finishes at the foul line and therefore the important one in terms of body alignment. Make it a part of your pre-shot routine that when you step up on the approach to take your starting stance, you slide your sliding foot onto your starting board. If you have stepped in anything wet or have something on the bottom of your shoe, you want to know that now, not up at the foul line. If you don’t get in this habit and do step in something, you might find yourself recovering consciousness out by the arrows! Don’t take the chance of sticking at the foul line and hurting yourself (which you can do whether you fall or not).

Your trailing leg is important as well. If you kick it with some vigor behind you, it can tend to open up your hips and causes you to face away from your objective. If it goes too far in the direction you moved it and you don’t bend your sliding knee enough, you’ll be forced to stand up at the foul line to avoid injuring your sliding knee, as it is not a rotating joint. It only bends, not rotates. Your trailing knee can be further laterally if your sliding knee is more bent. Otherwise, you could have that ‘pretzel’ look at the foul line!

Keep your trailing foot on the ground. A good finish position would have your trailing knee behind your sliding knee and separated by 6″-8″ at about a 45º angle to your body. This will provide you with a very stable and balanced position. If your trailing knee is closer to your sliding knee than that, it’s difficult to keep your balance. Think of a tripod. With the legs together, it topples. Spread them apart a bit and your tripod becomes very stable. Spread them too far apart…