Where to start with a youth bowler?

[Stylez78]

My son is 9 years old. He just started bowling about 2 months ago. We signed him up for a league because the flyer came home form school, he really loves it! He has his own ball and he tries to practice some of the things I tell him but I am nobody to be giving advice on how to bowl, especially to a kid just starting out. I don't want him to start learning bad habits but I also am not sure if getting him a direct coach is the right move either? I tried going to usbc.com and searching for coaches but when I put my area bunch of names came up with no way to contact anyone.

So not sure what the right path is? Not sure how to find youth bowling clinics or teams or something that will give him a good starting foundation at a young age. Any advice is appreciated!

[MegaMav]

This is a very difficult thing to answer.
Have you talked to your son about his goals with his bowling?
Is it to go out and have fun with friends and family or is it more?
Where are you located?

[Stylez78]

This is a very difficult thing to answer.
Have you talked to your son about his goals with his bowling?
Is it to go out and have fun with friends and family or is it more?
Where are you located?

I'm Located in Long Islan, NY. He is 9 so I would say he is not at the "I want to be a professional Bowler" stage. The league he is in acts like a real league, so they all have an avg (even though the bumpers are up), they print out high scores, high series, give out trophies shout outs etc. So he loves all of that and strives to get his name on the leaderboard. This is where I am torn because working with a coach it becomes more serious and he is not at a place of hooking the ball, fingertip releases etc. I guess I would akin this to looking for something like little league where they have a team or a clinic or a camp that will give him the basics, working on aproach footwork, the right way to roll the ball with a conventional release etc. Simple basics to give a foundation for the game of bowling and he can roll the ball keep it on the lane and see where he wants to go from there.

[kajmk]

Off the top of my head.


Sounds like he has a competitive spirit and is having fun. I would have a conversation with him to see if he would like to take bowling lessons. A good coach will work on fundamentals and progress in accordance with your sons readiness.
Children grow and mature at different rates.
I perused the internet a bit looking for 9 year old bowlers, of course we are going to see exceptional examples. I wanted to see kids that age on the lanes.I was surprised at how good they could be at that age. Again, on YouTube we tend to see exceptions, but they do give you something to strive for.
One of the videos was of a youngster in Kansas, in that video, the coach was Frank Russell.
Some of you will know the name from his YouTube channel which consists of numerous bowling videos, NOT LESSONS BY HIM. So I looked him up and found they were one and the same.
Here is a link with contact information, you might want to send him an email for his opinion since he is experienced with kids of your sons age. It couldn't hurt.Maybe even invite him to join the Forum.

https://missionbowl.com/contact-us/

Also, Long Island is a big place, ask around for Coachs and speak with some. Check local bowling papers.

Look at post #4 By Coach Jim Merrell.
It has some drills ...

viewtopic.php?p=103514&hilit=Youth#p103514

[walterp]

Off the top of my head.


Sounds like he has a competitive spirit and is having fun. I would have a conversation with him to see if he would like to take bowling lessons. A good coach will work on fundamentals and progress in accordance with your sons readiness.
Children grow and mature at different rates.
I perused the internet a bit looking for 9 year old bowlers, of course we are going to see exceptional examples. I wanted to see kids that age on the lanes.I was surprised at how good they could be at that age. Again, on YouTube we tend to see exceptions, but they do give you something to strive for.
One of the videos was of a youngster in Kansas, in that video, the coach was Frank Russell.
Some of you will know the name from his YouTube channel which consists of numerous bowling videos, NOT LESSONS BY HIM. So I looked him up and found they were one and the same.
Here is a link with contact information, you might want to send him an email for his opinion since he is experienced with kids of your sons age. It couldn't hurt.Maybe even invite him to join the Forum.

https://missionbowl.com/contact-us/

Also, Long Island is a big place, ask around for Coachs and speak with some. Check local bowling papers.

Look at post #4 By Coach Jim Merrell.
It has some drills ...

viewtopic.php?p=103514&hilit=Youth#p103514

A couple of coaches that come to mind are Arthur O'Connor And Joseph J. Hoenig, both Silver lever coaches.