Coaching 5-Pin Bowling

Coach education is extremely important to the development of 5 Pin Bowling ensuring appropriated development and training of our athletes at all levels. The NCCP stands for the National Coaching Certification Program. The NCCP is a coach training and certification program that assists coaches in developing their skills as a coach. Connect to the Canadian 5 Pin Bowlers Association (C5PBA) website at www.c5pba.ca and click on links, then click on your Province or Territory and this will take you to your association. 

In 5-Pin Bowling there are two streams that have been identified by the C5PBA:

1. Community Coach program

2. Competitive Coach program

The Community Coach is designed for parents, grandparents or people who are interested in coaching the basics of 5-Pin Bowling. 

The Competitive Coach is a more advanced course developed for those who would like to coach at the provincial or national level. 

A person needs to complete the Community Coach program before they can take the Competitive Coach program.

The Community Coach is a non evaluated course. This means that once you have completed the 7 hour course you will receive the status of “Trained” as a Community Coach. The cost of this course is $40.00. This course consists of 7 modules:

1. Introduction

2. Setting the Scene

3. Plan a Practice

4. Analyze Performance 

5. Safety

6. Practice Coaching

7. Making Ethical Decision

The Competitive Coach course is an evaluated course and at the end of this 19 hour course you will receive the status of “Trained”. After three months of training you then can apply for the “Evaluation Process”. The cost of this course is $ 175.00 which includes the Evaluation. This course consists of the following 7 modules:

1. Introduction

2. Safety

3. LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) and CS4L (Canadian Sport for Life)

4. Analyze Performance

5. Making Ethical Decisions (6 step approach)

6. Provide support to Bowlers in training

7. Support the competitive experience 

During the 3 month waiting period, a coach will be required to go out and work with all types of bowlers. During this time the coach can work on their portfolio. The portfolio consists of:

• Signed Coaches Code of Ethics

• Design a practice plan for a novice bowler

• Design a practice plan for an experienced bowler to refine a skill

• Design an Emergency Action Plan

• Complete a Coach self-assessment form

• Complete a Athlete / Parent assessment form

• Complete a Administrator / Proprietor assessment form

• Complete CAC Coach transcript

• Provide evidence of successfully completing the on-line Comp Intro MED

When this portfolio has been completed you then will proceed to the on-lane Evaluation. Based on the new NCCP you must show evidence of achievement in the following contexts:

• Professionalism

• Teaching methods

• Structure and organization of a practice

• Safety

• Planning a productive practice.

• Correct errors 

To learn more go to the C5PBA website www.c5pba.ca and click on “Technical” and “Coach Cert" and read all of our documents. 

Bowling Tips For Beginners

1. When picking up the ball use one hand. The fingers and thumb must be placed on the ball safely, with the fingers spread and pointed towards the far side of the ball and the thumb pointed towards you. Again make sure you are facing the returning balls.

2. To grip the ball correctly keep the ball out on the finger tips for better control and more consistency. An effective way to check the grip is to hold the ball in one hand and insert your finger from your other hand under the ball to make sure the ball is not resting in your palm.

3. In this lesson we will be looking at the stance: The body should be erect, shoulders square to the target. Toes should be pointing directly towards the target. Knees slightly bent and the ball is held chest high in front with the right hand supported by the left hand. If you are going to step off with the left foot, the bulk of your weight should be on your right foot.

4. In this lesson we will be looking at the second step in the proper delivery and that is the push-away. The hands and the left foot begin to move simultaneously. The ball is pushed slightly upward and away from the body as the first step is taken with the left foot. The upper body is tilted slightly forward. As the first step is nearing completion the left hand leaves the ball and the left arm is extended to maintain your balance. The right arm pushes forward to the full extension of the push-away. The right arm and ball then begins a downward motion, which marks the start of the backswing.

5. In this lesson we will look at the next step in the proper delivery and that is the backswing. At the completion of the push-away the right arm should be straight and fully extended. The hand should now descend in a natural arc, like a pendulum. Allow the weight of the ball to control the height of the backswing. This action is coordinated with the second step with the right foot. Be sure that the arm is kept close to the body during this pendulum motion. The backswing must be natural and not forced.

Bowling Tips For Children

1. When picking up the bowling ball, always look in the direction the ball is traveling down the ball return. When picking up the ball use two hands for beginners and one hand for adults but beware of the balls coming back.

2. When delivering the ball with two hands keep your fingers spread out with your thumbs on top of the ball. Keep your third and fourth fingers touching to assist in the follow-through. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart (approximately 20 inches) and your toes 2 inches from the foul line.

3. When delivering the ball with two hands keep your toes pointed towards the head pin. Swing your arms between your legs twice and on the second swing release the ball and follow-through.

4. When delivering the ball with two hands make sure the hands operate in unison. If you step on the foul line when you are setting up and the foul light goes off, step back away from the foul line until the light goes off. If you do not release the ball there is no foul.

5. When delivering the ball look at the arrows on the lane and aim for the center arrow.

Learning To Bowl

1. There are 4 aiming methods in 5 pin bowling. The one that produces the best results is spot bowling. This uses a fixed target 15 feet from the foul line. To properly understand spot bowling you need to better understand the rifle technique. When you have found your starting position on the approach this is the rear sight. The dot at the foul line where the ball is released is the front sight and the arrow which the ball rolls over is the target. It is suggested that the target remains the same and that only the right sight and front sight is adjusted.

2. In this lesson we are going to look at making adjustments when you are missing your target. If you are missing to the left then you should move your rear sight to the left and if you are missing to the right move your rear target to the right.

3. How do you adjust to eliminate head pins? You may move your starting position up a few inches and this change causes the ball to get to the head pin sooner and hit it more on the left side. You may move your starting position back a couple of inches and this change gets the ball to the head pin a little later and hits it more on the right side. You may move right or left one or two inches and then the ball hits the head pin on the side , one or two inches in the opposite direction.

4. One of the easiest and most effective ways to practice spot bowling is the target drill. Here you will place two towels on either side of your intended target arrow. The distance between the towels can be adjusted depending on your skill level. This drill allows you to concentrate on hitting the target and not worrying about hitting a pin.

5. In this lesson we are going to look at reading lanes. On a fast lane the ball intends to slide over the surface and the spin on the ball is ineffective. This condition generally produces lower scores. On slow lanes the ball breaks before it hits the head pin and this energy is transferred to the pins to produce higher scores. Lanes usually have a fast/slow texture. Lanes are relatively heavily conditioned in the first 15 to 45 feet to protect them from the pounding of the ball. The ball slides through the oily part of the lane and begins to break in the last 15 feet where the lane is dry.