the bowling lane. Place your middle and ring finger in the top 2 holes and place your thumb into the bottom hole.^[8]

• Hold the ball slightly to your side with your bowling hand underneath the ball and your other hand resting on the bottom side of the ball for extra support.
• Keep your thumb on top of the ball at 10:00 position if you’re right-handed. Use the 2:00 position if you’re a lefty.

1. 2Approach the foul line. The standard approach consists of standing with your back straight, your shoulders centered squarely towards your target, and your knees slightly bent. Your ball arm should hand straight down by your side. Your back should be tilted slightly forward.^[9]
   • Your feet should be slightly apart and your “slide foot” should be placed slightly in front of the other foot. Your slide foot will be the opposite of the hand you use to bowl (a right handed bowler will slide with their left foot).
2. 3Work on aiming the ball. Your bowling lane should have a series of dots 7 feet (2.1 m) down the lane, and black arrows about fifteen feet down the lane. If you’re a beginning bowler, you should aim to roll the ball in the center of these marks. Once you develop your bowling skills, you can aim to the left or the right of the marks when you hook the ball.^[10]
   • Even if you aim your ball through the center of the marks, you may not be able to hit the pins because the ball can slow down or roll off toward the gutters. Just notice where the ball rolls when you do and don’t bowl a solid frame and adjust your aim accordingly.
   • Focus on aiming at the marks, not the pins.