Improving Your Stability at the Foul Line

Better balance for better performance

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Improving Your Stability at the Foul Line

BTM Issue:

One of the most frequent questions we receive at Bowling This Month is, “How do I create more stability at the foul line?” As a bowler, you may experience inconsistencies at the foul line with falling off at unexpected times, or you may be someone who rarely posts a shot. We want to help you improve.

Watch bowlers such as PBA stars Francois Lavoie, Kris Prather, or Dom Barrett. They make shot after shot with consistent posting at the foul line. This repeatability at the foul line is one of the reasons they are consistently successful. The goal of this article is to share several frequent instability cause and effect sequences so you can begin to better address your instability issues, leading to an improvement in your bowling consistency.

Starting point: choose your mindset

All too often, some bowlers simply do not commit to making their best shot. Rather, due to the softening of bowling conditions and the increased margin of error on house patterns, it is no longer as valuable to post shots as it once was.

Imagine your consistency if you could post every single shot. Envision the improved success you would have when you need to make a shot to win a match, win a pot, or make a cut. If you choose your mindset and commit to posting every single shot, your training will improve and your competition performance will be better.

As a coach, one of the most important expectations I have for each bowler is a mindset of absolute commitment at the foul line on every shot. In training, bowlers must hold their finish position until the ball goes through the pins and off of the pin deck. The rationale for this level of foul line commitment is simple. First and foremost, this expectation is a catalyst for building the ...

Joe Slowinski

About Joe Slowinski

Joe Slowinski, a USBC Gold Coach, is a freelance bowling coach who works with bowlers around the globe. He is currently on assignment with the Philippines. Slowinski is the former Director of Bowling at Lincoln Memorial University, where he served as Program Administrator and Head USBC Collegiate Men’s and NCAA Women’s Coach. The Portland, Maine native has served as the Administrative and Men's Head Coach at Webber International University and served for four years as a Master Teaching Professional at the Kegel Training Center. Slowinski is also the former Director of Coaching and Coach Certification for the National Sports Council of Malaysia. He has coached international teams at the World Championships, Pan American Games, South American Games, and European Championships, helping Belgium win a Gold medal at the 2022 EBF Championship of Champions and coaching Brazil to Gold medals at the 2015 Pam American Games and the 2014 South American Games. He was the 2018 NTCA DII/III Coach of the Year and the 2010 NCBCA Men’s College Coach of the Year.