Shot Repetition and Accuracy – Part 1

One of the most requested lesson topics I get from bowlers is how to improve their shot repetition and accuracy. Many of the people making this request are what you would call average bowlers, but better shot repetition and accuracy are also highly demanded by PBA members. If you are trying to bowl for a living, any weakness in shot repetition and accuracy will cause the bank account to get drained pretty quickly.

Shot repetition and accuracy are the most critical elements in bowling. It doesn’t matter how good your release is, how good you are at lane play, or even how great your approach looks if you can’t throw the ball the same way twice, much less five or 10 times in a row. This series of articles should help many bowlers and coaches identify the causes of their shot repetition failures and improve the odds of success by making repairs.

Shot repetition and accuracy are tied together in a lot of ways. Some things affect accuracy that don’t necessarily affect shot repetition. For example, if you stand in the wrong spot to play the target line you wish to play, you may never hit it (accuracy), but you may do so consistently (shot repetition). That said, most of the things that make shot repetition problematic affect accuracy as well. Over the course of this series, I’ll try to cover all of these different elements.

Hopefully, this series can help some coaches identify problems for their students by pointing out some overlooked problem areas and suggested fixes. In addition, my goal is for bowlers to use this guide in combination with shooting videos of themselves to analyze where the problem areas are. If we can eliminate some of the obstacles, then shot repetition and accuracy will improve, and so will the scores.

Bowling is a chain of events

Bowling is like a chain with many links, and the old adage that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” certainly ...