I was wondering if anyone would share their practice routine. There is a good article on Ron Clifton's site about 10 minutes of practice. I was interested in other versions.

I've read most of Ron Clifton's articles and I myself have learned a lot from them. I've also printed some of the articles for future reference. Do you mean practice routine as in for a league or a practice session. For leagues and tournaments I always arrive an hour before it starts. That way I'm in no rush and I can sit down for 5 or 10 minutes to get my mind and body settled into the right frame of mind. Once at that point then I take all of my bowling balls an put them on the rack. Then I put on my shoes and then I have my stretch routine. I stretch every part of my body and it's an automatic thing for me. Then when the lane lights come on I get up there and practice. On the first shot I use an outside line shot to see how much oil is out there. If my ball hooks high then I know that it's dry on the outside. Then I use the swing shot or the deep inside line to determine how deep can I play the lane to where the ball doesn't come back. Then once I determine where my strkie shot will be then I practice the corner pins and that will really tell me how much oil there is on the lane. I try to find multiple lines to strike in case when it's time for real then if my strike shot has changed then I have other options that I can use that I found in practice and go from there. I even try another ball to take the guess work of if I have to use another ball.


As far as a regular practice session I make it a point to practice no longer than an hour, but practice frequently for that same length of time is key for me. I still use a stretch routine and then I'll warm up for a few shots. I do not practice for score. In fact I have the tv on the score monitor so that I can resist the temptation of practicing for score. My practice sessions I experiment with different things like with the different balls that I have. I experiment with different lines and different releases. I even work on my timing. But before I practice I determine what I need to work on. If I'm really struggling with my timing then I spend the whole session on that. If I want to experiment on something or a few things then I break the session into 1/2 hour segments and work on two different experiments separately. It works for me. But every bowler is different. Just wanted to give you an idea of what my practices are like. You might want to structure your practices like I do to see if it works for you. You haven't lost anything unless you try.

I think it would be interesting and informative to hear practice routines for both: prior to league as well as pure practice sessions.

I don't have too much of a routine really. I arrive 45 minutes early for my leagues. So I can just relax and get in the bowling mind set. No stretching or anything like that for me.

And practice sessions I just go and work on what I want to work on. Release, spares, speed etc. etc. No real routine for practicing.

I always arrive to the lanes early. I check all of my equipment. I check the setee and ball return, the approaches especially the sliding areas. I perform stretching exercises and mental toughning confirmation exercises.

At practice time on each lane, I generally roll my ball over ten at half speed down and in with a medium oil ball leverage drilled watching for the break point and observing my ball reaction.

Then I roll over 3-board, then 15-board, and finally over twenty board. Observing my ball reaction, pin reaction and using different wrist positions. I generall use my second shot to shoot at 7 and 10 pins wether they are up or not. I also pay attention to where others are taking their shots on the lanes.

I generally am able to find a strike line to the pocket, but if I do not get a chance I mentally choose a line based on my observances during practice and tweek my shot from there.

Practice session for league: After a few minutes of stretches and practice runs at the lanes without the ball, first shot is always at the 10 pin. the reason is that I am not warmed up yet. No matter how much stretching I do, my first shot feels funny. I use it for the 10 pin. the next shot I use to test the oil. I then fine tune my strike line. when I find a line I'm happy with and I'm at full speed, then I look for spares and I try to push some oil downlane.
Practice session for tourny: My first shot is second arrow. Second shot is third arrow. Third shot is fine tuning the strike line. If there is enough oil I try the first arrow. I then hit the corner spares.
General practice: I usually work on certain things for a certain amount of time. I need most work on single pin spares, and dry lanes. Since the lanes almost never have oil on them, the dry lane part is easy to work on. I work on consistently hitting my mark. Some days I only take out my spare ball and use that. Some days I play the arrow game. I play 1 game at the 1st arrow. 1 game at the 2nd arrow, 1 game at the 3rd arrow and 1 game at the 4th arrow.
Some days I pick off the 10 pin with the first shot and try to pick up the spare on the second shot. Sometimes I work on focus. Sometimes I work on a certain release.