In the gigantic world of Bowling, you find that the game keeps evolving and moving forward towards new heights, new potentials, but what always remains the same is how there are no two bowlers in the world who deliver their ball the same way and that’s completely justifiable.
Bowling is a sport where you have to get a grip and feel of your own about how you’re going to make this work and how you’re going to play your shot to get that sweet strike, so everyone goes for their signature shot, i.e their own bowling style.
Just like art, how different painters across time had their own way of expressing colors onto a canvas, we can easily find bowling players having their own way on how to roll a ball down the lane.
How many different types of bowling styles are there?
Bowlers typically have their own style and there’s no definition for it. Even though there are a few defined bowling styles, many people don’t conform to them.
Each individual bowler typically possesses their own style and technique, as mentioned previously, comprising of precise designs, calculations, and movement the bowler deems fit to roll down the perfect ball. These styles can range from a multitude of different methodologies and origins, so we shall look into these types of bowling styles for you.
Conventional Forms of Bowling
In the game of 10-pin Bowling, conventional bowling styles are those which are the most commonly used by bowlers around the world. All of the styles that fall under the conventional form may feel different, but they have one thing in common, and that is how to land a strike with your ball.
Stroking
- This is a style of Bowling where when a bowler is delivering their bowling ball; they do it in a smooth fashion. They usually have rev rates of about three hundred revolutions per minute. Strokers usually keep their shoulders square to the foul line, and their backswing typically doesn’t go abundant on top of parallel to the bottom.
Tweening
- This is a style of Bowling that falls somewhere between the likes of stroking and cranking. Their rev rates fall somewhere around 300 to 370 revolutions per minute, requiring a modified delivery method with a higher backswing than a regular stroker and a less intense wrist maneuver than a cranker.
Power Stroking
- A modification upon the style of tweening where the bowler requires to have an even higher backswing and open their shoulders as much as possible to generate a strong hook and deliver the ball with a more incredible speed than normal, giving a smooth yet very powerful ball delivery at the end towards the pins.
Cranking
- Sometimes also referred to as a “Power Player,” these are bowlers that strive to deliver their bowling ball by generating a greater magnitude of revolutions with intense wrist actions or a cupped wrist getting them revs of up to 370 revolutions per minute or more. These bowlers regularly cup the wrist; however, they open the wrist at the highest point of the swing. Crankers may likewise muscle the ball with a bowed elbow in light of the fact that their wrist isn’t sufficiently able to be cupped at the delivery.
Spinning
Spinners utilize a style of delivery referred to differently as turning, helicopter, or UFO. Despite what it’s known as a spinner delivers a ball to such an extent that it is pivoting around the vertical hub in a counter-clockwise movement (right-hander and saw from a higher place) as it drops down the path of the lane.
The goal in turning is to rely more upon pin diversion (pins hitting different pins) than carrying the pins (the ball thumping down the pins.) For a right-gave bowler, the ball continues down the path, ordinarily utilizing a left-to-right line, and strikes the correct side of the 1-pin. Now, the ball will continue to drop down the first line of pins toward the path inverse its twist – the 1-3-6-10 pins. This kind of a hit is alluded to as “riding the rail” among spinners.
Two-Handed Bowling
A two-handed styled approach is a bowling strategy whereupon the tossing hand is in the bowling ball, and the contrary hand is additionally positioned ready during the shot. This is an evolutionary style related to the one-handed no-thumb method, where a bowler would produce comparative unrests yet couldn’t be as compelling in light of the fact that their contrary hand doesn’t uphold the ball through the methodology.
The two-handed approach ought not to be mixed up with the two-handed delivery. Only preceding the arrival of the ball, a bowler utilizing a two-gave approach eliminates their supporting hand, adequately conveying the ball with just one hand. They are viewed as a one-gave bowler by overseeing bodies and should adhere to suitable standards with respect to exchanging prevailing hands during rivalry. A genuine two-gave conveyance includes utilizing two hands at the same time to offer power to the ball and is incredibly uncommon in grown-up rivalry; it is for the most part seen with little youngsters first learning the game.
No Thumb Delivery
A no-thumb conveyance includes embeddings just two fingers into the bowling ball, leaving the thumb outwardly of the ball, with an end goal to make more unrests and more noteworthy snare. Because of comparative ball roll and insurgencies to the cranker style, it is at times thought about a variety of wrenching.
As the bowler doesn’t utilize the contrary hand to help the ball (as in the two-gave approach), the wrist is regularly seriously measured, and additionally, the ball is adjusted on the lower arm and conveyed utilizing a twisted elbow all through the shot. Another variety of this conveyance is to palm the ball, driving the thumb to the side of the ball while compelling the elbow to bolt to keep the arm straight and create a backswing.
How do I find my bowling style?
Finding your bowling style all comes down to two things, trial and error. An aspiring bowler can get many recommendations from others on which bowling style trumps the other and which can give you the highest rate of strikes but what many do not realize is that not all humans are built the same way. These microscopic changes result in either making or breaking a specific style for a bowler.
How do you determine your style of bowling? it comes down to your size, strength, and comfort zone. Your style is going to be dictated by the number of steps you take and how you hold your bowling ball. If possible, have a bowling attendant or the pro shop attendant watch you bowl. If that’s not possible then you should try to record yourself and compare it to bowlers online or in the alley.
Try out each style, get a grasp and feel with each one of them and know which one you want to adopt, which one clicks towards you fully to make you the best bowler you could possibly be. And once that happens, all that’s left is for you to practice and perfect your game with your very own style.
Can you have more than one bowling style?
Yes, a bowler can opt for practicing more than one bowling style as he or she sees fit, as each bowling style can give them a certain advantage over others while playing specific shots. If they want more accuracy or more power, all of that can be determined by choosing the perfect style catering to their shot.
Doing this can make you the jack of all trades in the world of Bowling, and yes, some styles may still feel unnatural to you when not using your pocket pick delivery methods, but it can prove quite beneficial in the end when you successfully hit that 7-10 split.
What if I don’t fit in with the different bowling styles?
Necessity is the mother of all inventions. If you find yourself not liking any of the bowling styles you go through in the end, then there’s nothing stopping you from creating your very own delivery, that one bowling style that specifically revolves around you and gives you that perfect satisfying roll at the end of each walk towards the ramp.
The key to winning in bowling is practice at the end of the day, and with that, you can conquer your games with any style you choose to adopt.
