Two-Handed Bowling Fundamentals: Optimize Approach Timing

If you often feel uncomfortable with your approach and frustrated with accuracy, the problem lies in the timing. I came to this conclusion, after a long time of struggling with the release and accuracy. So, in this video, I will explain and help you enhance your timing.

The timing of 2 handed bowlers is basically the same as 1 handed. However, if you look at the best 2 handed bowlers in the world, they have a similar timing model.

Traditionally, you have early timing, late timing, and neutral timing.

• Early timing is when your sliding foot stops; the ball is a little passing your ankle.
• Late timing is when your sliding foot stops; the ball is behind your ankle.
• Neutral timing is when your sliding foot stops; the ball is right at your ankle.

The timing that most pro-2-handed bowlers use is late timing. They rarely use neutral timing and nearly never early timing.

Let’s look at the slow-motion timing of Jason Belmonte, Anthony Simonsen, Kyle Troup, Chris Via, and Osku Parlemma.

When the sliding foot stops, the ball is usually behind their ankles. This is when they start to accelerate the release.

Do you know why this timing model works for 2 handed bowlers?

The reason lies in the shorter arm swing of 2 handed bowlers. When the arm swing is shorter, the ball tends to reach the foul line earlier than 1 handed swing. If the ball comes to the foul line before your sliding foot stops, you will lose balance when releasing the ball and damage your accuracy. That’s why you need to make the timing later to compensate for the short arm swing. That’s all.

So how to make your timing later?

Let’s follow this guide.

The key is in your second step with the 5-step approach and 1st step with the 4-step approach.

Traditionally, when bowling 1 handed, we often remember that when the right foot begins to step forward, your right hand will start pushing the ball away.

To achieve late timing with 2 handed bowling, your right hand only begins to push the ball away just before the heel of the right foot touches the ground.

Some pro bowlers only push the ball away when the heel of the right foot already touches the ground, like Kyle Troup.

I recommend you try both cases and take the one you like best.

I was once a 1 handed bowler using early timing. When I switch to 2 handed bowling, I used the early timing as an old habit. The result was not quite as expected. I always have to rush to the foul line before the ball, hence losing my balance. My accuracy is not better than my balance, indeed. When I apply the late timing, the problem is resolved.

I also have to say that the feeling of switching from early timing to late timing is not comfortable at the beginning. It’s somehow weirdo because my body has adapted to the old timing for a very long time. It takes a while to change. But the result is amazing.

I combine the late timing with the drift step technique in the last video to create my own style. If you like it, you can refer to the drift step technique in the video at the upper right corner of the screen.

Another thing to remember is you need to walk with your heel, not your toe, to optimize the footwork timing. In other words, we should be aware that the footstep should begin with the heel and then the toe.

Previously, I usually focused on the toe with my footwork and tended to lean forward too much and too soon during my approach. This is never a good thing for my timing and accuracy.

Rather than that, I found a way to reverse it. This is my trick.

Normally, most right-handed bowlers stand with their left feet higher than their right ones like this.

Now I reverse the order. I put my right foot higher than the left one.

My first drift step would be backward to the left side.

The first drift step is led by the left heel. So you should feel and think about the left heel when moving your feet.

At the end of the first step, most of the body weight is on the heel of the left foot. So my right foot is now free to move at the second step.

The second step with the right foot will follow the same direction as the first step; meaning it will also be backward. The second step is led by the right heel.

Suppose I want to have a medium launch angle. The right heel will end at the middle of the left foot. And the maximum launch angle will be with the right heel ending just before the left toe. This is the whole process. Left foot steps backward to the left. The right heel follows in a backward manner. Before the right heel touches the ground, my right arm begins to tuck inside.

After that, the weight of the ball will pull the body forward into the third step. When this process is done, steps 3, 4, and 5 will happen naturally without much consciousness.

I also recognize that when applying this trick to my footwork. My first 2 steps become smaller. Both feet are nearly close to each other after the first 2 steps. This is an advantage for me because my first 2 steps used to be longer than usual.

When your first 2 steps are longer, your body’s kinetic energy is stretched even. You won’t be able to have an impulsive feeling when releasing the ball in the last 2 steps. The impulsive feeling is the crucial source of energy for ball speed and rev. It’s like the gun is about to propel the bullet out of its barrel.

You can see my first 2 steps are now shorter than before. These first 2 short steps help me have better room to transfer the most kinetic energy from my whole body to the ball and propel it into the lane. The more kinetic energy from the body is accumulated and transferred to the ball, the more speed and rev rate the ball has when projected to the lane.

There’s another scientific evidence to back this up. It is when you want to move quickly toward a direction, you have to move your feet in the opposite direction to have the body weight transfer to the intended direction.

It’s similar to when I move backward in the first 2 steps, and begin to accelerate forward in the third step. I learned this from a sports trainer in Japan. You can see his video here.

Because my first 2 steps become shorter, I must move my stance nearer to the foul line to fit the timing. The magical thing is my ball speed is not hurt at all. That’s amazing! My feeling of timing is way better than ever. And my accuracy is considerably improved!

Hey, you can try this tip. Who knows if it works for you too!

Now, it’s time you hit the lanes and try my tips. If it helps improve your game, don’t forget to subscribe and give me some comments; also, like or share this video with your friends if they want to improve. See you in the next article. Until then, enjoy bowling!