Bowling is a sport, so be a sport.



Try to keep uppermost in your mind that bowling is a game, not

a life-and-death matter. And because it is a game, you should play

it as such. Take your tough breaks with a smile and your defeats

like a gentleman. You will find that you are more popular with your fellow bowlers, and in addition you will bowl better. Displays of temper - kicking racks, balls, or posts, and similar behavior stamp the offender as a poor sport, while adding nothing to his stature as a bowler. Let the score sheet do your talking for you.

Always stay behind the foul line.

This goes for practice just as much as for league or tournament

play. Bowlers who pay little or no attention to the line in practice

or in sociable games often suffer a rude and embarrassing awakening when they participate in a league or tournament and suddenly discover that they have fouled.

Frequently, fouling spoils an individual's entire evening, not only for score but also for his enjoyment of the proceedings. Be sure to allow enough distance for the number of steps, beginning with short steps. Do this faithfully in practice and you will not risk the bugaboo of fouling when the chips are down.

Concentrate on every shot, not merely on your first or strike ball.

One should probably concentrate even more on the spare ball, for, as some have said, "Anybody can make a strike, but it takes a good man to make a spare." While that is not strictly true, playing spares correctly is one of the basic components of a sound bowling game.

Do not lose your temper if your first ball produces a tap or a railroad, but buckle down and shoot your second ball with careful determination. On an impossible split or railroad, aim for one pin. You will be surprised how often one or two pins prove to be the winning margin in close games.

Learn to relax while bowling.

You cannot do your best when you are tense and overeager,

because your approach becomes zigzaggy and your motions jerky.

A smooth, easy delivery, the kind you can relax into, is what you should aim for.

Perfection in fundamentals means higher scores.

The success of one very famous collegiate football team may be traced, in part, to the idea of its coaches that a team well versed in fundamentals can beat the biggest or trickiest of foes. Consequently, when this school's first football practice is called each season, every man, regardless of his ability in high school or in previous college years, is given a thorough and painstaking grounding in such fundamentals as blocking and tackling.

Bowling is exactly the same. The more perfect your grasp of fundamentals, the more consistently high scores you will roll, for you are then repeating, time after time after time, the same exact steps, the same swing of the ball in rhythm with the hands, body and feet, the same backswing and the same release. You will be as close to a machine as it is possible to get.