42 Comments on “3 Ways to Hook a Bowling Ball. How to Curve A Bowling Ball With Ease.”

  1. What muscles do you need to make stronger, with what exercises, to get your hand under the ball properly.
    After all, it’s about 7 to 8 pounds that you have to hold in your hand and with me, my hand goes over the ball every time.

    1. It’s is really less about muscles as it is about technique. Sure it is important to make sure you are throwing a ball weight that you can use without pain, and once you have that, hammer down the technique with the two drills coach Shady shows in the video and you will be on your way to getting your hand in a better spot at the point of release!

    2. @InsideBowling Technique in what way ? It seems like it’s straightforward wrist bending, otherwise the ball will break the wrist backwards on the downswing.

    3. @The Therion the ball should be almost weightless in a free swing because it’s falling due to gravity, not being pulled down to the release.

    4. @Will yes but the cupped wrist is in the way of where gravity wants to move the ball…that’s why it will bend the wrist backwards if you relax you wrist…

  2. Great advice. Thanks guys. Getting my hand in the right spot is something I have been struggling with and I don’t do foul line drills as often as I should because I’m not sure how many times to do it or how to keep my hand under/behind the ball. I realized after watching this video that I haven’t been bending my elbow enough in the follow through. I’m hoping to get better at releasing the ball properly and getting a few more revs on it. Thanks again, love what you guys do. 🙂

  3. Another tip I may try to incorporate, once I get to practice again.
    I nearly jumped of out my chair when I saw Mr. Machuga! I always admired his style and smoothness.
    Thanks, Coach Mike!

  4. “Bent elbow component” was discussed initially, but can you please expand on that? When to bend, how to unload it? Thanks

    1. @Frank Schmidt alright I don’t bowl like that anymore but the bent elbow for you is basically what give you revs witch is basically the lift of your shot the bend it the start of the lift and I’m guessing what you mean by unloading is the release by that you just follow your shot all the way up

  5. So many videos lately on hooking it seems……..this is a good one coach! I like the bent elbow and cupping my wrist on the backswing and then uncupping slightly at the release point. However, my wrist is not consistent enough. I try and point my index finger straight towards the ground. I still wanna be able to circle the lane if needed……..my first coach said to never bend your elbow. Go figure.

    1. Bending your elbow will tend to put more strain on the elbow. Of course, if you are using a lightweight ball such as 12-13 pounds, it might not become an issue. But if you go all the way up to a 16 pounder, you may be asking for trouble. Something to be aware of: tendonitis!

  6. This video completely ignores the most important element in hooking a bowling ball; namely, getting counter-clockwise rotation on the ball. This does not happen by simply getting the fingers under the ball, although this is an important part of the release.

    1. It’s pretty easy to adjust hand position and start doing what you want with the ball once you get this stuff down.

  7. This is something I specifically struggle with in my game, doesn’t really matter what I do with my hand positions in setup and during the swing, I end up on the outside of the ball and mostly over the equator. I’m a decent player, have the ability to change my roll and tilt with hand positions, but when I go through my downswing, instead of tucking inside, I just end up on the outside. I’m a lefty with about 350 revs, coach always tells me that’s enough for a lefty, but I feel lost when I have to move inside and struggle creating shape on longer stuff. Even just getting up the back of it would be welcome, but I can’t seem to get there on the lanes

    1. I come over the top so much I have a callous on my ring finger 1st knuckle 😞I’m getting better by focusing on when I push away my hand is on the inside of the ball and work at keeping there during the arm swing. Brad Miller has a good video of keeping your arm connected to your body which helps from coming over the top

    2. @David Soto I’ve largely fixed my issue. It was a leverage issue, had to get softer and lower to get my hand inside.

  8. i have all kind of trouble with thumb release and ball speed. have tried all kinds of releases 2hand no thumb with thumb etc. I am 60 years old any suggestions

  9. I’m a converted one handed to two handed bowler. I would say it’s going very well for only being my second week. Issue I’m having is I’m having a full roller with oil going right over my finger holes and thumb hole. I know. That needs plugged. Haven’t done anything USBC related yet. Do you curl the ball up into your forearm or do you just rest it in the palm of the hand?

  10. i use to be a no thumb bowler til i learned wheelchair players have to park at the foul line which made that not work anymore for me

  11. Funny enough I have a rare condition that causes my arm to not extend all the way so I always have a slight bend in my arm. I was built for this, literally ha

    1. Do u find yourself getting to many revs and less speed? I keep my elbow slightly bent and wrist cocked and always pull brooklyn no matter where i am

  12. As a two-hander I always hook the ball too much.

    Throwing one-handed, it hurts my wrist to throw with a good amount of hook.

    Not sure what to do… 🤨

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