Left Handed Bowling Tips

Bowling shoes

• Though it might sound silly or inconsequential, wearing appropriate bowling shoes for a lefty can have an effect on your technique. For example, most bowling shoes for rent have the same type of soles for each foot. According to helpwithbowling.com, lefties should have custom shoes in which: "The right shoe is used for the traction and the left shoe for sliding." This can help a left-handed bowler set up the proper stance and execution of the delivery of the bowling ball.

Aim

• No bowler should attempt to hit the head pin, or No. 1 pin, dead in the center as it's bound to leave surrounding pins still standing or create a difficult split. A left-handed bowler's pocket---the recommended striking point on the first roll---is between the No. 1 and No. 2 pins (the pocket is the spot between the No. 1 and No. 3 pins for a right-hander). If the ball knocks both these pins, they're more likely to bring down other pins with them. According to bowlinglessons.org, "Statistically, the bowling ball has to touch a total of four balls during its travel through for your throw to result in a strike."

Bowling Ball

• On all balls, the hole for the second finger is higher and more vertically aligned with the thumb than the hole for the third finger. A left-handed person using a right-handed ball is at a disadvantage because the hole placement for the second and third fingers are backward. Also, the lefty couldn't put the same spin and momentum on the ball as a right-handed player. According to alt.Lefthanders (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/lefty-faq/), a left-handed ball is "drilled so that the weight is slightly ahead of the thumb hole and to one side - left, for left-handers. This balancing weight provides extra momentum and spin to the ball."