Coach, I’ve Got a Question! – June 2024

In this recurring feature, I answer questions from Bowling This Month readers. If you have questions, please leave them in the comment section below so I can address them in a future installment of Coach, I’ve Got a Question!

I’ve been struggling with my accuracy lately. Do you have any drills or tips for this that I can use in practice?

For the purpose of simplicity, I’m going to address this in terms of simple accuracy drills and assessments. Because a bowler’s accuracy and consistency at the release are the end result of the entire approach, it makes sense that these issues could be linked to flaws in a bowler’s swing, timing, body position, or footwork. That being said, even those with some flaws in their game can be quite accurate, so I’m going to specifically address things you can do to practice your accuracy and get immediate feedback.

Using bowler’s tape

White bowler’s tape is probably my favorite targeting tool. Without the benefit of better technology, a bit of tape on the lane can provide you with immediate feedback. Of course, it does require permission from the bowling center to go out and put tape on the lanes, but in my experience, centers have been willing to allow me to do it as long as I remove the tape when I’m finished. If you cultivate a good relationship with the employees at the center where you bowl, this is usually pretty straightforward.

The beauty is that these little pieces of tape can be very flexible for different targeting setups.

Targeting at the arrows

Bowlers in the beginner to intermediate range will generally want to start here. It’s a good way to gauge how consistent your approach is while giving you an easy-to-identify target on the lanes.

You’ll need two pieces of tape. Start by sticking one piece of tape on top of the other. From a targeting point of view, this changes nothing, but it does provide better ...