Bowling: Steps to Success

I loved it I love bowling. I love getting turkeys every time I bowl. I've not missed an turkeys since I read this book it's my lucky charm and I carry it in my bowling bag.

Robert Strickland's book is a great book for the individual wanting to understand the mechanics and technique needed for building a solid bowling swing. There are step-by-step drills provided, along with success tests for each drill. Having bowled with a poor technique for years, this book helped me to see how much I was doing incorrectly, and why my scoring was so inconsistent. I have applied many of the principles Strickland outlines to my own bowling technique, such as using a four-step delivery, as well as the timing of each arm motion with the feet in the swing, and have found greater success and consistency in hitting my mark on the lane. While variances will inevitably occur with each bowler (for example, I need to start with my knees bent more deeply, as I tend to lift my shoulders and drop the ball at the line, whereas Strickland recommends a more upright "snooty" posture at the outset of the swing), it is a good book to "review the basics" and check your own technique against.

Bob Strickland uses all his experience to write an excellent book covering all aspects of tenpin bowling. Bowling is an extremely difficult sport to master, but Strickland takes the difficult areas (and the easier parts) and makes them easier to understand. In no other book have I seen so much detail given to areas such as the delivery, the release, the psychology, and the all-out approach to the game. However, if there was one diasdvantage to this book, it would have to be the immense amount of training drills that it contains. They may be useful for some, but many involve the use of other knowledgable bowlers, or a long bowling session, or the need to bowl in a league. I actually think that some of them should be omitted from the book, and a bit more information about the technicalities of the game included. However, I would recommend this book to anyone looking more seriously into bowling. I would then recommend looking at "From Gutterballs to Strikes", by Mike Durbin, just to add a little bit more zip to your game.

I liked this book especially for its very detailed and clear exposition of "targeting." Other books I have read were rather vague, sometimes confusing the setup position with the target line, never mentioning the approach line, and contradicting themselves in different parts of the book. This book gives an exact, step-by-step method of strike and spare targeting that I have found extremely helpful. Also, the method of coordinating the ball swing with the footwork was very helpful. This book helped me a lot!

I wish I would have had this book when I was learning to Bowl. Mr Strickland has given the reader an easy and disciplined approach to learning a very difficult sport. He has taken each skill and given the reader a method to learn that skill and to evaluate their progress against specific checklists. I am a certified instructor and reccomend this book to all of my students. Thank you Mr Strickland...