Should You Get Bowling Lessons? Ways to Up Your Game

Bowling lessons are worth it for people who want to improve their bowling skills. They can help someone learn proper form and how to adjust to lane and ball changes during games. Most bowlers will see an improvement in their scoring average with regular lessons. Lessons can also correct mistakes you may not realize you’ve been making.

Bowling is a fun family activity, but many people participate in bowling leagues with the goal to improve their scores. Whether you like bowling for fun or want to join a league, you should consider bowling lessons. If you make the most of the lessons, you can start improving your skills in no time.

When Bowling Lessons Are Worth It

Bowling lessons are worth it for a lot of people. Whether you’re new to bowling or have years of experience, you can always improve. Getting bowling lessons can be what you need to take your skills to the next level.

Here are a few situations where bowling lessons are worth it.

League Play

Taking bowling lessons can be a great investment if you’re in a bowling league or want to join one. You can learn new skills and techniques that you may not discover on your own. Bowling lessons can also help you learn how to prevent injuries related to bowling.

Current league players can immediately use their new skills from bowling lessons. Aspiring players can use the skills they learn to try out for a local bowling league or team. And any bowler can use their lessons to learn skills to move to a professional league.

Bowling teams and leagues are a great way to meet people, and you can learn from more experienced players. However, you may have a hard time joining the best team if you don’t know how to bowl very well.

Desire to Improve

Any serious bowler should always want to get better at the sport. It doesn’t matter if you have no experience or decades of experience because you can always learn something new. While you can learn new things from your teammates and other bowling friends, a coach can provide a different perspective.

A bowling coach works with bowlers for a living, know what to look for, and how to help someone. You can work with a coach to evaluate your current playing style, and your coach can tell you what you’re doing right and what you can change.

Whether you want to join a bowling league or not, a bowling coach can give you tips and tricks to improve your game. That way, you can improve your average bowling score, and you can get even better. If you decide to join a league later, you can use your new skills to help you during try-outs.

Learn Specifics

The more you go bowling, the more you can learn the basics. You can figure out what size bowling balls you like, and you may get lucky with your form a few times. But if you want to make those things more consistent, you need bowling lessons.

During a bowling lesson, you can learn specifics for how to choose and hold a bowling ball. You can learn how to step up to the lane and move as you through the ball. A bowling coach can also teach you where to shoot to hit certain bowling balls to make a spare or a strike.

Trial and error can be a good way to learn some things, but it can take a long time. If you want to speed up your learning process, you need bowling lessons. You don’t have to have a ton of lessons, but some training can be enough to get you on the right track.

Efficient Practice

If you want to improve your bowling, you also need to know how to practice bowling (Bowl.com) Participating in bowling games can help you improve, but you can practice certain aspects outside of the bowling alley.

In bowling lessons, you can learn how to practice bowling both at the alley and at home. Your coach can teach you how to organize your practice and reinforce your form and other techniques. The next time you have a bowling game, you can use the skills you practiced between tournaments to help you.

You may not always have time to practice with a full bowling game. Being able to practice at home or for a short period can help you get in enough practice even with a busy schedule. Read more in 9 Awesome Drills to Practice Bowling at Home.

Selecting Equipment

While practicing can help you improve your bowling, you can’t underestimate the help of the right bowling equipment. The right bowling ball can make a big difference in a bowling tournament.

Many serious bowlers use 15- or 16-pound bowling balls and a lot of them have custom bowling balls. Custom bowling balls have holes that are specific for your fingers. That can make the bowling ball feel much more controllable than if you used a bowling ball from the alley.

However, your coach can help you test bowling balls with different weights to find one that’s comfortable for you. Then, you can get a custom bowling ball that you use. That way, you can always practice with the right bowling ball with holes drilled for your hands, no matter what bowling alley or lane you use.

Motivation

Sometimes, all you need to improve at bowling is some motivation and accountability. A coach can teach you some common techniques to improve your game, but they can also motivate you to take those skills and learn from them.

If you know you have a bowling lesson that day, you can use that as motivation to practice. You’ll want to impress your bowling coach at each lesson, so you won’t want to slack off. Even if your coach doesn’t explicitly motivate you, an impending lesson can be motivating.

You can also ask your coach to serve as your accountability partner. They can ask you how often you practice bowling, and that can keep you on track to hit your goals. While teammates can motivate you, a coach can do that while also teaching you important bowling tricks.

Do You Need Bowling Lessons?

While bowling lessons are often worth it, they aren’t for everyone. They can be expensive and time-consuming, so you should make sure you need them before taking lessons. If you aren’t sure about taking bowling lessons, consider if any of the following situations apply to you.

Play for Fun

If you never plan on joining a bowling league or team, you may not want bowling lessons. Many people go bowling for fun, so it doesn’t matter how well they score. Playing for fun is a great way to bond with people and spend your free time.

You don’t have to worry about getting the best score, so you can focus more on the social aspect of bowling. Bowling for fun can be very affordable, but lessons can make it less so. While one lesson may be worth it for a casual player, ongoing lessons can be a lot.

Unless you’re competitive and visit your local bowling alley each week, you may find lessons aren’t worth it. You can still learn some basic things online and from your experience bowling. But you don’t need the training that you would need if you joined a local bowling league.

Bowling Occasionally

If you hardly go to a bowling alley, you may not want to get bowling lessons. While some recreational players can benefit from lessons, they’re the people always at the alley. But if you don’t live near a bowling alley or it’s not your favorite activity, it may not be worth it to get lessons.

Between the time it takes to get ready and go to your closest bowling alley, you may prefer to use that time for something else. Bowling lessons can also be expensive, so the cost may be too much if you hardly go bowling for fun.

You can still bowl for fun when you visit a bowling alley, and learn some tips online. But you probably don’t need individual attention if you hardly go bowling. Instead, consider bowling with friends who may be able to offer you some tips while you bowl.

No Intent to Practice

Even if you go bowling each week, you may not want bowling lessons if you don’t intend to practice between lessons or games. While you can get bowling lessons even if you don’t practice outside of them, they may not be worth it.

Your bowling coach may expect you to practice your form or throw to reinforce what you learn in a lesson. But if you don’t have the time or desire to practice that, lessons can be a waste of time. You may need to spend the next lesson reinforcing those concepts, which can slow down your learning speed.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing because people learn at different rates. However, if you want to get the most out of the cost and time of lessons, you should work on your skills in your free time. Otherwise, you may find bowling lessons aren’t worth it for you.

Cost of Lessons

You should also consider your local costs when deciding if bowling lessons are worth it. If all the local bowling coaches charge $100 or more per hour, that can be a lot for a casual player. It may even be too much for league players who don’t have plans of going pro.

Do some research and see how much local bowling coaches charge. If you live in a high-cost city, you may find that people charge a lot for their time. After all, they need to pay for their living expenses, and that adds up.

Now, you can look for more affordable coaches, but they may not be near you. So you may have to travel to visit them, or they may charge a premium to commute to a bowling alley near you. Consider how many bowling lessons you want and if it’s worth the potentially high cost.

House Equipment

Some bowling alleys have excellent bowling balls and shoes, so you may have no reason to buy your own. Selecting the right equipment can be a big part of bowling lessons, and you may need to get your own ball depending on what your coach requires.

However, if you don’t want to spend that money on your own bowling ball or shoes, you may not want lessons. Lessons work best when when using the same equipment each time, so using an alley’s bowling balls may not provide that consistency.

While you can still get some value out of lessons, it won’t be the same. So if you don’t bowl enough to justify the cost of a bowling ball, you may not want to get lessons. You can get a single lesson as a checkup, but ongoing lessons could be a little much.

How to Choose a Bowling Coach

Now that you know when bowling lessons are or aren’t worth it, you can decide if they’re worth it for you. If you decide to move forward with bowling lessons, you should choose a bowling coach. Consider these factors to help decide on the right bowling coach for you.

Your Location

Of course, the biggest limiting factor with bowling lessons is your location. While you can have bowling lessons over the internet, you’ll get better lessons in person. Your coach can show you how to hold the bowling ball and move while throwing it.

Consider how close you live to a bowling alley and where your local coaches teach. You don’t have to have lessons at the closest bowling alley, but you may not want to drive farther than necessary.

Your location can also determine some other factors to help you choose a coach. But it’s pretty important because you may not want to drive super far for a somewhat short bowling lesson.

Your Budget

Next, look at how much you can spend on bowling lessons. If you just want one lesson, you can justify spending more money. But if it will be a recurring cost, you should consider how much you can afford.

If you want weekly lessons, see how much you can spend each week. And if no coaches offer affordable rates, consider how much lessons would cost every other week or every month. You may need to make some compromises on a small budget, but it’s still worth considering.

Another option to lower the cost would be to do a semi-private lesson. You can ask a teammate or another bowler to join you in lessons to lower the cost.

Your Schedule

Next, you should consider when you want to have bowling lessons. Consider when you work or have school and when you have free time. Some bowling coaches may have full schedules, so you may not have much of a choice in terms of lesson times.

If you have a specific time when you want lessons, let any potential coaches know that. They can tell you if that time is available, or you can look for another coach.

You may also want to consider the hours of local bowling alleys. If they aren’t open on a certain day, you may not be able to have your lessons then. But if you need to learn at that time, you may have to have lessons at a different bowling alley.

Your Skill Level

You should also think about your current bowling skill level and your goals. Some coaches may prefer to work with experienced bowlers, while others are open to taking on beginner students. If you’re very new to bowling, you won’t want to learn from someone who only coaches professionals.

On the other hand, if you want to go pro, you should avoid coaches who specialize in teaching beginners. You should also make sure any coach you work with can help you achieve your goals. That way, you can ensure you will reach those goals with the help of lessons.

While your skill level may not be the most important factor, it still matters. If you want to improve, you need a coach who can help you at your current level.

Your Personality

Lastly, you should consider your personality and learning style. Some teachers and coaches may break down their students then build them up. However, other coaches may take a nicer approach to teaching.

Consider how you learn best and what type of coach you want. That way, you can ask potential coaches how they teach, and you can decide if you would work well together. If you wouldn’t work well, you can move on to a new coach.

Personality may seem like a small thing, but it can make a big difference. You won’t learn much if you dread going to bowling lessons. It doesn’t matter if a coach is the best of the best if they aren’t the best fit for you.

Conclusion

Bowling lessons are worth it for many players. The right coach can help motivate you and show you some basic techniques to improve your bowling game. However, lessons can be expensive and may not be worth it for amateur players.