How long does it take you to warm up or feel loose during your bowling practice sessions? If you’ve ever bowled in a tournament that has very limited practice time, you know that five minutes is usually not enough. Those first few shots are spent just trying to get your body going, and you may be missing out on actually getting lined up before practice ends.
What if you could get more quality shots in during even the shortest of practice sessions? It is possible to get your body more prepared to throw those first few practice shots, but it takes some discipline and planning to get yourself to the bowling center earlier than you normally would so you can have time for a quality warm-up routine. By taking 10 to 15 minutes to do a thorough warm-up, you can increase your heart rate and blood flow, raise your body temperature, and mobilize your joints to prepare them for bowling and to prevent muscle strains.
By getting warmed up before your first ball, you’re more likely going to be able to get more good shots off your hand to get a better read of what the lane pattern is giving you. You’ll also have a better chance of starting to open up the pattern during practice, because you’ll be more accurate right away. This could be a game changer for you and your team during that first game, giving you less errant shots for splits and more shots around the pocket, resulting in more makeable spares.
This article will provide you with an outline of the major warm-up exercises you can easily do in the bowling center prior to bowling, along with some video demonstrations. Let’s get started!
Static stretching versus dynamic warm-up
I do see plenty of people trying to loosen up before they bowl, but they are unfortunately most often doing the wrong kind of stretching.
There are two different types of stretching: static and dynamic. Examples of static stretching are pulling your arm across your chest and holding for 30 seconds or a minute at a time, or taking your bowling ball up over your head to stretch the triceps. The danger with this type of ...
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