An Eight Week Plan to Help Anyone Improve

Despite the clickbait-style title, this article really is designed to help anyone improve their bowling, regardless of ability level. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced player, skill development is as much about structure as it is about the skills themselves. Before we dive into the plan, I first want to make a few things clear.

This article doesn’t deal with correcting specific, major deficiencies. That should be handled with direct feedback from a coach, preferably in person. The point of the plan below is to improve shot repetition despite having some inefficiency in your game.

The plan below is based on the concept of periodization as if you were preparing for a specific event, or the start of the bowling season. That said, it can be used any time and turned into a cyclical approach. Simply start back at the beginning after finishing the eight-week cycle.

I’ve broken each week into two 45-minute sessions, in 15-minute increments. The assumption is for two training sessions per week, but you could do a single 90-minute session once per week if that fits your schedule better. If so, I’d recommend a 10 to 15 minute break between “sessions,” just to keep your energy up. This suggestion is particularly important for the more drill-focused training.

The sessions don’t include a warm-up, but I do recommend a dynamic warm-up prior to any training session. Each week also includes a recommended off-lane session to focus on a mental aspect of the game, or simply to reinforce the training through reflection or visualization.

With those details out of the way, let’s get started.

Week 1: Consolidation #1

If ever there was a practice session to be named “Keep It Simple,” it’s this one.

Week 1 of this program consists of working with the skills you have, bowling to your strengths. For beginners, this looks like trying to repeat shots over your target. For more advanced players, it’s simply playing your favorite, most ...