Bowling a Hook – More Detail!

Let’s dig in a bit deeper into how to bowl a hook!

In a “perfect” release, the thumb does come out of the ball before your fingers do.  What this does for that split second is transfer the weight of the ball from your thumb (that is what should really be supporting your ball through your approach) to your fingers.  In turn, this creates the revolutions needed to get that hook on your
ball.

There is a big misconception out there.  A lot of bowlers want to actually try and “lift” the ball instead of letting it come out naturally.  What happens here is your fingers and thumb actually tense up delaying the release of your thumb.  It also creates an excess grip that actually lowers the revolutions needed to hook the ball.

I know this sounds a bit complicated or hard to follow, but just read it a couple of times and it will make sense!

You want this to be a fluid motion however.  If there is a delay in either the release of the thumb or the fingers, you are going to lose a lot of revolutions.  DO NOT CLINCH YOUR FINGERS OR YOUR THUMB!

If you have a good arm swing, the momentum of the ball will be doing most of the work here, so you don’t need to hold on to the ball for dear life!  Let your fingers roll the ball.

Have you ever bowled or seen someone bowl and the ball is actually spinning backwards as it’s traveling down the lane?  Do you know why this happens?

Basically the fingers are coming out FIRST and the thumb second!

Their fingers are not rolling off the ball.  As the ball is thrown, the thumb stays put causing a halt in the momentum (for just a split second – but…) and creating that backwards spin.

Once you get the motion of releasing your thumb first and allowing the ball to roll off your fingers, then you can start with the wrist movement to get a sharper and tighter hook on the ball.  If you can’t get your thumb and fingers to work properly though, your attempts to bowl a solid and consistent hook will continue to fall short.

Give it a try!