Hey, I get it, bowling at the intermediate and advanced levels are tough.

When you have a free moment you run down to your local center, buy a bunch of games and practice until your thumb is blistering and you can barely get it into the thumb hole. Then you look around at the better bowlers in the center and strike up a conversation to get some tips on improving your game, because after all they can see your game better than you can.

You listen to their advice and try a few things differently. They later come by and watch you throw a few more balls and tell you that your game is now looking better after incorporating a few of their tips. WRONG! I’ve seen so many bowlers struggle because of this type of thinking and they never get anywhere with their game. At best it can take you from rank beginner to low level intermediate player. At worst I’ve seen players regress and develop bad habits that are harder to break than someone starting with a clean slate. Well if that’s the case, other than taking expensive lessons from a local coach what can you do?

“To Be the Best You have to Learn From the Best”

- Norm Duke, Storm Bowling Pro Staff

The good news is that I recently got a hold of Norm Duke’s new DVD titled Learn to Bowl Competitively. Press Play for a quick preview:

I have to say overall the DVD is awesome.  It’s the highest quality production I’ve ever seen in an instructional bowling video, and I’ve seen quite a few even as far back as when DVDs didn’t even exist.  Duke does a great job breaking down some of the most difficult challenges an advanced bowler faces and simplifies them to allow anyone understand them.  The DVD is also entertaining and fun to watch as you get some of Duke’s humor and stories about his success on the PBA tour.

You can order your own copy direct from the distributor by clicking here.

The DVD is broken down into 20 different lessons:

1. The Setup – Part 1
2. The Setup – Part 2
3. Finish Position
4. Ball Placement
5. Free Swing
6. Turning the Ball Early
7. Timing
8. Approach
9. Tight Rope
10. Grip Pressure
11. Grip
12. Weak Wrist
13. Power Source
14. Revs
15. Release Drill
16. Swing Planes
17. Low Ball Drill
18. Reading Lanes
19. Lane Transition
20. Carry and Pinfall

In every lesson Duke dives in and breaks down the topic so you can understand the intricacies of bowling and improve your game.

THE GOOD

1. The DVD covers many aspects about the game of bowling that most just simply aren’t familiar with
2. Material is presented in a way that is easy to understand as each topic is explained simply and thoroughly
3. The release drill is likely worth the cost of the DVD alone, incorporating just this one thing can really change your versatility
4. You are learning from a Pro with 30 years of experience, so you don’t make 30 years of mistakes

THE BAD

1. Little information on putting everything together into a structured practice plan
2. Not much time spent covering picking up spares

This Instructional DVD is for:

• Any bowler from intermediate to advanced looking for strategies to raise their average.
• Any bowler from intermediate to advanced looking to increase revolutions and rotation on the bowling ball.
• An intermediate or advanced bowler looking to get an edge on the competition in a bowling league.
• Someone looking to understand more about many aspects of the game (even as a USBC Silver Coach I picked up a few things I hadn’t thought of, or fully understood).
• Someone looking to cash in a local tournament.
• Someone who bowls on difficult oil patterns like sport shots or PBA/Team USA experience patterns

This instructional DVD is not for:

• A rank beginner, as they will likely struggle with some of the terminology and the advanced concepts.  They would likely be suited for an introductory DVD like Bill Hall’s Bowling at the Next Level which better covers the fundamentals of bowling.
• Someone who already knows all there is to know about bowling.
• Someone who won’t put any of the lessons learned into a targeted practice session to better their game.

Overall for an advanced DVD this definitely provides good value.  If you were to spend 1 on 1 time with Norm Duke at one of his clinics you would be spending hundreds of dollars.  If you break it down it comes out to only $2 per lesson ($39.99). You can purchase the DVD by clicking here.

If you are still hung up on the cost just look at it this way, many bowlers spend hundreds of dollars investing in equipment.  The results spent on a new hook in the box bowling ball will be temporary at best, if at all.  Think of this DVD as an investment in yourself, as you’ll have new knowledge that can help you for the rest of your days as a bowler (which I hope is a very long time).

What are other bowlers saying about it:

“If you’re not studying and applying the information in this DVD to your game, you are giving pins to your competition!”

–Jason Doustrn, Tenpin Bowling Australia Level 2 Coach, Former PBA Member

“I’ve already started teaching some of his methods to the young high school bowlers in Bossier City, LA and I’m seeing instant improvement and higher scores. Thanks Norm.”

–Charlie McCoy

Lastly, the supplier has great support as well.  I goofed when entering my shipping address and they were helpful in sorting it all out.  Also they had fast shipping and I had my DVD in a couple days.

Learn To Bowl Competitively Instructional DVD

If you haven’t clicked a link to buy this yet, I’m not sure what you are waiting for, but this is the last link I’m giving you.

If you have any questions about the DVD please post a comment below.  Also, if you have seen the DVD let me know what you thought about it.