In this sport we tend to look over the most important factor in our game, Footwork. The way our feet work can be the biggest asset, or the biggest liability in the game of bowling. I will hit on both sides of why our feet can assist us along with how our feet can demolish us.

New bowlers tend to over look the simplicity of standing and sliding in the same spot. We need to make sure that we start in the same spot on each shot. This can be done by lining up with either the inside or outside of your foot. Some bowlers even put a piece of tape on the middle of the shoe and line up that way as well. Why is this important? If you start in a different spot on the approach each time, but walk 5 boards left on each shot, guess what, you just slid in a different spot each time. Now since you slid in a different spot each time, you were hitting different spots on the lane. Your lay down point was different. You could have hit the same spot at the arrows, but since the lay down point was different, your break point will be different. We must start in the same spot in order to make adjustments during each game we bowl.

Once we figured out how to line up to start each shot, now what? Promptly after that, we must start walking towards the foul line. This is the tricky part of our footwork. Making sure we walk the same throughout each shot. Some bowlers will call it drifting and others will say walking. What I mean by this is, during my shot for example, I will walk 6 boards left from where I start. If I do this consistently ever shot, this will be considered walking left and not drifting. Drifting will result in a divergent. Meaning, one shot I may only drift 4 left instead of 6, or possibly drift 8 left instead of 6. The point is, drifting will result in sliding on different boards each time even though you are starting in the same spot. How do you learn to control walking to the same spot on each shot? You have to pretend that you are on a balance beam the entire shot. With that being said, if you walk 6 left on each shot, your balance beam will be slightly angled towards that board. The balance beam is all about feel, which is one of the hardest things to grasp in bowling. The best thing I can say to coach your self during this, is to make sure you are posting each shot in order to look down to see where you ended up. You may also put a couple pieces of tape on the lane(while practicing on your own), one piece will be where you start and the other piece will be placed on where you end up.

Do not let people convince you that walking left or right is a bad thing. We all end up going one direction whether we like it or not. It is something we just naturally do to clear the bowling balls path throughout our swing. Yes some bowlers will start and slide on the same board throughout their shot, but that is normally not the case. It depends on the bowlers swing plane that will result on how you walk. Walking left or right is fine as long as you do it the same way each shot. No bowler is the same, but one thing we can make sure is, we walk identically on each shot. Enjoy the game of bowling and always, Practice Practice Practice!