Most bowling coaches lump amateur bowlers into one of three large categories: the beginner, moderate, and advanced bowler.  Some may use different names for each category but these are the main three levels.

Each level is defined first by the number of times you go bowling.

The beginner (or novice) is typified by the term “occasional”.  They usually bowl with their friends (Cosmic Bowling) or at social functions like a church or a school sponsored bowling night.

The moderate bowler will usually belong to at least one weekly bowling league at their local bowling center and can be found practicing occasionally during non league play.  They usually still frequent their social bowling opportunities and enjoy being called “the pro” by their beginner friends.

The advanced bowler will belong to several weekly leagues, usually at least one of them being sanctioned by a recognized national bowling organization.  They will bowl in local tournaments and may travel to bowling centers outside their regional area to compete in single or league play.

Inside each of these basic levels there exist a continuum of variations on ball speed, track, equipment, approach, etc.  A beginner bowler may have an average near that of a moderate skilled player while an advanced bowler may still posess many of the stylistic components of a more moderate counterpart.

Throwing a straight ball is a useful and necessary component for beginner, moderate, and advanced bowler while a seven step approach will benefit an advanced bowler much more than a beginner.  All this is said to drive home the point that a bowler with a 150 average can exist in each of the three basic categories above.  Scores aren’t as good an indicator of what kind of bowler you are as is your frequency of bowling.

Once you can nail down what kind of bowler you are you can intelligently make better decisions on what steps are necessary to improve your game.  Purchasing a $170.00 bowling ball won’t make much difference in your score if you only bowl 36 games a year (3 games once a month).  In fact, that $170.00 ball will probably REDUCE your score since it is designed to NOT roll straight.

Next time I will begin at the beginning with the beginner bowler.  We’ll talk about the fundamentals, what steps you can take to improve your scores right away and what steps are necessary to lay the groundwork to improve your scores later on as you progress from beginner to moderate bowler.