What foot do you use to mark your starting spot on the lane?

[Tony]

I being a right hand bowler have always used my left foot to mark my starting spot on the lane and then moved my right foot back a little , toe even with instep of left foot and a couple inches to the right, and keep weight spread evenly between both feet.

Bowled with a guy who has been coaching high school kids for 35 years and has had a number of state champs (he s a bronze or silver coach). He told me with his students he had great results having them mark the starting position with the right foot then align the left foot heel with the toe of the right foot and start with more weight on the right foot and transfer that weight as you step with the first step.

I tried this and it felt quite strange with the foot position and weight. I can mark my spot with the right foot with no problem but I'm not sure how much help that might be in the long run.

What are your thoughts / observations on this alignment ? (4 step approach)

[TVan]

I use a 5 step approach as a right handed bowler. I use my left foot as my mark because I start my approach with that foot.

[Stormed1]

i also use my left foot to mark my starting spot

[RobLV1]

A right hander should always line up with the left foot on the approach. If you line up with your right foot and slide with your left foot, how can you tell if you are drifting during your approach?

[J Anderson]

As a coach, I reccommend that people line up using thier slide foot so its very simple to check for drift.

As a bowler, I got started with the habit of lining up with the inside edge of my right foot. Since my shoes are touching eachother, it's only a one board difference to check my drift when bowling righty. Obviously I'm doing it "right" lefty.

As for how to place the feet with respect to eachother, one size does not fit all. While most of us agree that the slide foot needs to be ahead of the other foot to set the proper angle for the hips, the distance depends on several factors. Most bowlers do well with an equal weight distribution in thier set-up/stance. Others are helped by having more weight on one foot than the other.

[AlexNC]

I use the inside of my left foot covering board "x"

[taxexpert2]

This is an interesting thread. Since I bowl both right and left due to a hand injury I had to think about this. I do line up with left foot on right handed throws but I think I may also line up with left foot on left handed throws. I will have to check. I bowl mostly right but keep left in practice for the time when I can't bowl right any more.

[bowl1820]

The standard method is using the inside edge of the slide foot. As others have said, You have to use the slide foot because helps in determining drift.

The inside edge of the slide foot is also where you typically measure your lay down point from.



(Note: Some consider the part of the slide foot that is used to line up on the approach such as the instep, toe, etc., is really just personal preference.

But since the standard (inside edge of the slide foot) method is the commonly taught method, it is a commonly (and taken for granted ) used reference point in most discussions of where you stand, slide, etc.

If you use a different point than that, you should mention it in discussion's. Because it could conceivably affect the discussion.)

[Aslan]

Toe of slide foot (left).

I see people (especially new bowlers) line up with their midsection of their body. They try to "stand over" the spot.

And that's why I say the worst thing you can hear from a new bowler is when you ask them where they start and where they target and they look at you like you're asking a question only Stephen Hawking can answer.

[billf]

Left foot for the reasons the others have stated above (drift).
My guess is this coach got his Bronze in the days of it's infancy and hasn't done a whole lot to stay up to date. I would also hazzard the guess that he is no longer an active coach. Probably deoesn't like two-handers either lol