Technique
the paper to the lane where you will be playing at the arrows. (Painters tape comes up very easily without leaving any tape residue.) The mark on the paper is your
target. Roll 10 shots, attempting to roll
your ball directly over the 1-inch wide mark each time. The paper will record where the ball went over it on each of the 10 shots. The ball will give you a nice two- to three-inch track on the paper, which will allow you to calculate the range from left to right of how close your ball came to hitting that mark. Measure the track, going from
the edge of the farthest left track to the edge of the farthest right track. The total width of the measure- ment will tell you how accurately you repeated your 10 shots. If the total width is four inches,
you are within four boards of your target arrow. The narrower the total width, the more accurate you are targeting.
TRACKING YOUR TRACKING
BOWLING BOARD AVG. 220+ 200+ 180+ 160+
VARIANCE 2 boards 3 boards 4 boards
4.5 boards To give some measurables to this
test, the elite level bowler’s target mark is less than 1.5 inches wide. A 220-plus average bowler stays within two board widths. A 200-plus is three boards. A 180 bowler has a range of four boards, left to right, and a 160- plus bowler is 4.5 inches. You can do this as often as you’d
like. Start with 10 shots, then change out the paper and throw another 10 shots. It is a good way to practice your accuracy hitting the target, keeping the range from left to right as narrow as possible. Your results allow you to see how your accuracy
How does this assessment help? If you are a 220-plus average bowler but your range is 3.5 inches, clearly improvement on hitting your target will add pins to your average.
BOWLING TECHNIQUES TO MAKE YOU A BETTER BOWLER
GET IT DOWN ON PAPER: Click the video above as Bryan O’Keefe demonstrates an easy-to-do tracking system that will help assess your accuracy.
measures relative to your bowling average. How does this assessment help?
If you are a 220-plus average bowler but your range is 3.5 inches, clearly improvement on hitting your target will add pins to your average. It also tells you that you are stronger in other areas of your game, like speed control and release, and those areas are compensating for your lack of accuracy. By the same token, if you have a
180-plus average but your target- ing is within three boards, it shows that your targeting is above average
11 USBOWLER JULY 2012
and other areas of your game are in need of improvement. Your ability to hit your target is performing at a higher standard than your average indicates. In future issues we’ll show you a
few more at-home assessment pro- grams, including measuring chang- es in ball speed and changes in your release. All are easy to do and allow you to track your strengths and weaknesses. — Bryan O’Keefe is Assistant Coach and Facility Manager at the International Training and Re- search Center in Arlington, Texas.
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