Free drill library · Bowling

At-home bowling drills for 14 year olds and older

This is a free sample week of at-home bowling training for 14 year olds and older: 3 of the 7 plans SSTracker has for this group, each 13 to 15 minutes, with every step and minute. Nothing here is written for this page alone; it is what the app gives a family.

Everything here can be done in a room, garage or yard. Drills that need a team are left out; a parent can be the partner in a pair drill.

A free sample week of bowling for 14 year olds and older

Session 1

Lane Reading at home 13 minutes

  1. Lane Change Check · 4 min
    Adjust early, not late.
  2. Pair Lanes Adjustments · 5 min
    Each lane is its own.
  3. Long or Short Oil Check · 4 min
    Where it turns tells the length.

Session 2

Focus at home 13 minutes

  1. Beat Your Own Last Game · 4 min
    One frame at a time.
  2. Fill Every Frame · 5 min
    Plan, breathe, roll.
  3. Three Game Series Plan · 4 min
    Fresh each game.

Session 3

Release: Goblet Squat with Light Load 15 minutes

  1. Warm-up: easy jog, skips and arm circles · 3 min
    Start slow and build up. Loosen up; nothing should hurt.
  2. Goblet Squat with Light Load · 5 min
    Chest proud, knees out. Safety: Only with a coach or trained adult watching. Light load only, never a maximal lift. Stop the set when form slips.
  3. Six-Station Circuit · 5 min
    Good form while tired. Safety: Good form beats more reps: stop the set when your form slips. Muscles may feel tired; stop if a joint hurts.
  4. Cool-down: walk and easy stretches · 2 min
    Breathe slowly and hold each stretch about 20 seconds, never to pain.

Want the rest of the plan?

This sample is 3 of the 7 bowling plans SSTracker has for this group. In SSTracker every step is on the screen, your child logs the work, and you see it. No club needed: the family plan is $7.50 a month per player, or $12 a month for the whole household, and the first 14 days are free.

Get the full plan free for 14 days Coach or club director? Set up your team free Print a free week for another sport or age

The drills in this week

Lane Change Check

Ages 14 and up · 20 min

Track how the lane changes over a game and adjust before you miss.

  1. Bowl a full game.
  2. After every 3 frames, write where the ball hit the pins.
  3. If hits are drifting, move feet and target.
  4. Compare your notes with your own last game.

Coach's cue: Adjust early, not late.

Bring: bowling ball, lane, notebook

Safety: Never step past the foul line; the lane is oily and slippery. Wait for the pinsetter to finish before you bowl, and never go down the lane.

Pair Lanes Adjustments

Ages 14 and up · 20 min

Bowl on two lanes in turn and keep a separate plan for each.

  1. Note your starting line on the left lane.
  2. Note your line on the right lane.
  3. Bowl alternate frames and adjust each lane on its own.
  4. Write down where you ended on both.

Coach's cue: Each lane is its own.

Bring: bowling ball, 2 lanes

Safety: Never step past the foul line; the lane is oily and slippery. Wait for the pinsetter to finish before you bowl, and never go down the lane.

Long or Short Oil Check

Ages 14 and up · 15 min

Learn whether the oil is long or short by where your ball starts to turn.

  1. Bowl 4 balls at your normal line.
  2. Note where they start to hook.
  3. Ask a coach how long the oil pattern is.
  4. Choose a line that fits it and bowl 4 more.

Coach's cue: Where it turns tells the length.

Bring: bowling ball, lane

Safety: Never step past the foul line; the lane is oily and slippery. Wait for the pinsetter to finish before you bowl, and never go down the lane.

Beat Your Own Last Game

Ages 14 and up · 25 min

Set a goal from your own last game and stay present frame by frame.

  1. Write your score from your own last game.
  2. Choose one process goal, like "full routine every ball".
  3. Bowl a game and tick each ball you kept the goal.
  4. Compare only with your own earlier games.

Coach's cue: One frame at a time.

Bring: bowling ball, lane, notebook

Safety: Never step past the foul line; the lane is oily and slippery. Wait for the pinsetter to finish before you bowl, and never go down the lane.

Fill Every Frame

Ages 14 and up · 20 min

Bowl a game where your goal is to make every spare you leave.

  1. Bowl a full game.
  2. For every leave, say the key pin and your move first.
  3. Count frames with a strike or spare.
  4. Write one thing that helped your focus.

Coach's cue: Plan, breathe, roll.

Bring: bowling ball, lane

Safety: Never step past the foul line; the lane is oily and slippery. Wait for the pinsetter to finish before you bowl, and never go down the lane.

Three Game Series Plan

Ages 14 and up · 25 min

Plan how you will stay fresh and focused across three games.

  1. Plan a drink and a stretch between games.
  2. Write one focus for each game.
  3. Bowl the series.
  4. Note how your focus held up.

Coach's cue: Fresh each game.

Bring: bowling ball, lane, notebook

Safety: Never step past the foul line; the lane is oily and slippery. Wait for the pinsetter to finish before you bowl, and never go down the lane.

Goblet Squat with Light Load

Ages 13 and up · 12 min

Hold a light weight at your chest and squat with perfect form. Load is added only when every rep looks the same.

  1. Hold a light weight against your chest.
  2. Squat down between your knees, heels flat, chest up.
  3. Pause at the bottom for 1 second, then stand.
  4. Do 3 sets of 8; add weight only with your coach, never to failure.

Coach's cue: Chest proud, knees out.

Bring: light dumbbell or kettlebell

Safety: Only with a coach or trained adult watching. Light load only, never a maximal lift. Stop the set when form slips.

Six-Station Circuit

Ages 13 and up · 20 min

Move through six body-weight stations for 40 seconds each: squats, step-ups, push-ups, shuffles, plank, skips.

  1. Set six stations in a loop.
  2. Work 40 seconds at each with 20 seconds to move to the next.
  3. Rest 2 minutes after the full loop.
  4. Do 2 or 3 loops.

Coach's cue: Good form while tired.

Bring: cones, mat

Safety: Good form beats more reps: stop the set when your form slips. Muscles may feel tired; stop if a joint hurts.

Safety for ages 14 and up

  • Plans for this age group use beginner, developing and advanced drills only. Advanced drills open from age 13 in the app.
  • Home plans use only drills for a room, garage or yard. Stop if anything hurts.

Before you start: bowling

  • A light ball you can control: if it is hard to hold with one hand, the ball weight is too much.
  • Bowling shoes.
  • Never step past the foul line: the lane is oiled and slippery.
  • Pick the ball up with both hands from the sides of the return; keep fingers clear.
  • Hook practice: short sets, and stop if your thumb tingles or your wrist hurts.
For every sport and age (7)
  • Head knock or concussion signs (headache, dizziness, confusion, feeling "off"): when in doubt, sit them out. See a doctor, and no return the same day.
  • Back to sport only with a doctor's written OK, after a step-by-step return. Every U.S. state has a youth concussion law.
  • Heat: drink water before, during and after. Take shade breaks, ease into hot weather over about two weeks, and stop if dizzy, sick or headachy.
  • Lightning: if you hear thunder or see lightning, go inside a building or a closed car. Wait 30 minutes after the last thunder (the 30-30 rule).
  • Pain is a stop sign, not something to push through. Stop and tell a grown-up; pain that lasts or comes back each session needs a doctor.
  • Water and rest are part of training: 1-2 rest days a week, plenty of sleep, a meal or snack before and after, and other sports welcome.
  • Know where the nearest AED (heart defibrillator) is, and who calls for help in an emergency.

The research behind these plans

Which drills are shown at which age, and the safety notes, follow the 28 sources below: national governing bodies, medical associations and studies on youth sport (last reviewed October 2026). Where no study gives an exact number, the plans use cautious defaults, and we change them as the research does.

Bowling: governing bodies, safety and development (8)
Youth athletic development and safety (20)

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