A Simple, Purposeful Practice

Effective training that doesn't reinvent the wheel

A Simple, Purposeful Practice

We are in the thick of league and tournament season. While this isn’t the time to be making drastic changes to your game, effective training strategies can go a long way to improving your results in peak competition periods. With this in mind, I want to share a few tips with regards to my favorite on-lane drills, my overall practice mindset, and some of my favorite spare practice games. As boring and as redundant as practice sessions can feel sometimes, there are a variety of ways we can make them more interesting while also improving our bowling games.

Before I get into the content, I highly suggest always having a target for where you want to go with your game. Regardless of what your target or intention is, when it is meaningful to you, you will commit to the action necessary to improve your game and prioritize the time it will take. Answering a few questions can help guide you:

  • Do you want to improve your league average?
  • Do you want to compete in higher-level tournaments?
  • Do you want to bowl in professional events?
  • Do you want to be the best in your circle of friends?

When it comes to in-season practice, I like to focus on drills to maintain my technique and skills, mindset training, and spare shooting games to challenge me in a more competitive way.

The value of on-lane drills

Simple, basic drills are just as important in bowling as they are in every other sport. It is always beneficial and necessary to go back to the basics to ensure that your bowling game is as simple, as effective, and as solid as it possibly can be. If we spend all our time bowling in ...



Valerie Bercier

About Valerie Bercier

Valerie is originally from Brampton, Ontario, Canada and attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 2008 through 2012. She then attended the University of Rhode Island to finish up school and become a Registered Dietitian. Valerie is now a health coach and co-owner of Berberry Health & Wellness, LLC, as well as a PWBA Tour player. She took home the 2019 PWBA Rookie of the Year honors. Valerie is also a 10-time member of Team Canada.