My names is Jason.  This is my first full year bowling in league play.  I carry a 177 average in 2 different houses, and I want to get better fast.  What can I do to speed up the process?  When should a new bowler be introduced to tournaments?

Hey Jason,     I see that you are posting from the St Louis area.  You are fortunate to be in one of the USA's hotbeds for bowling and I am sure that there are no end of qualified and certified USBC coaches in your area.  Check some of them out and go to one with a good reputation and listen to what he or she tells you.  There is no quicker way to improve your game than by going to a coach who can give you a plan to improve your game.  Good luck and good bowling.

I agree with canthit10pin ask your center about a good coach and then take what they give you and practice practice and then practice some more, also try to bowl on as many different conditions as possible. That way you will be able to get a feel for the adjustments that you will need to make.

As far as tourney's go enter as many as you can, with a 177 ave I would stick to the handicap ones so that way you should be on an even palying field per say. But most of all have fun with it because in the end it is still a game and one that you should enjoy

mr magoo 

latmepla, getting some coaching advice is a must if you want to speed things up.  Don't try to do it with an arsenal, learn the basics of good spare bowling, balance, rotation first then go out and get that arsenal if you want to get into money tournaments.  Being from an area with lots of bowling centers check around to find the best deals for open play, renting by the hour is best so you can repeat shots on things like ten pins, push the reset button when practicing different lines for the strike delivery.  If you want to bowl lots of games look for pricing at times when noone else wants to bowl and you can to get the best prices.

Don Gates

Thanks Everyone for the advise please keep it coming! I have contacted this one guy that is  a usual at the an alley that I go to, and he did say that he was a coach.  He gave me a book to read that explained the basics of bowling and I reall studied it, but after I finished the book we started a winter session and nowI am on my own again.  Is that normal with bowling coaches?  Also about getting an arsenal.  I have been bowling with a Black widow pearl.  That is my baby my #1 bowl.  What would be a good compliment to my new arsenal?  I was looking at the new Twisted fury that is coming out, it is supposed to have a lot more hook potential than my widow?  what would you suggest.

 A good coach will work with you.   They will watch you bowl, make suggestions to improve your game based on what they see.  They will also, as a rule, charge for their time.  Not sure what the rates are in your area, but you might want to do a little comparison shopping.  The best coach may not necessarily be the most expensive one.

I would also suggest that you not solicit advice from us on the forums as to what ball we think you should be using.  We haven't seen you bowl.   We do not know your style of play. Also, we do not know what type of shot patterns you are facing in your leagues.  What you would end up getting for suggestions, for the most part, would be the ball that we think works best for us.  This is where a good coach and pro-shop operator can help you.  The coach knows your game and the pro-shop operator should know the balls.  Together, they could help you make the best informed decision as to the type of ball that would  suit your game and what drilling pattern you should use on that ball.  Hope this helps.

Hi Jason,

First of all, one of the most neglected things done by new bowlers is their spare shooting, specifically the corner pins (7 and 10 pins).  I did the same thing and in my "younger days" (19-20) that cost me averaging between 215-220 as I missed 50% of the 10 pins I left.  So if you want something easy, ensure you have a polyester spare ball and work on those.

Here is my opinion on what kind of ball setup you should have:

- 2 balls with a low RG (radius of gyration)/aggressive ball layout (Pin and CG).  Your Black Widow Pearl is one.  The normal Black Widow would be a great compliment to this ball.  If you keep the Black Widow dull and the Black Widow Pearl polished, you will have a good 1-2 combo

- 2 balls with a medium RG/medium ball layout (Pin and CG).  This is where a lot of "mid-priced" balls fall.  I would look for a RG between 2.55 and 2.60.  You can see this in the specifications for a bowling ball on any of their websites.  One example of a medium ball layout is when the pin is above and between your finger holes and your CG is "kicked out" to the side.  Same thing, one polished, one dull.

- 1 ball with a high RG/weak ball layout (Pin and CG).  This is where balls like the Tropical Storm and Tornado (Storm and Ebonite respectively) fall.  The only time you'll really use this ball is when the lanes get toasted in either the backend or frontend, where if you tried to throw any of your other equipment it would hook way too much. 

- And the spare ball I talked about above.

But first things first:  Definitely get a lesson (I would recommend starting with a Bronze coach and working up to Silver as your average improves).  And most of all:  HAVE FUN!  Because when you stop having fun is when you should stop bowling.