Why bother
USBC’s fitness guide answers it directly: bowling uses every major muscle in the body, and “Making sure muscles are loose and ready for physical activity will reduce the risk of injury, increase your ball speed, and increase your consistency.” If you are working on repeating your shots, the warm-up is the first part of the routine.
The routine: 5 to 10 minutes, moving
USBC’s guide says to warm up with dynamic stretches, which move a muscle through its range rather than holding it still, “followed by static stretches as a cool down.” Nick Bohanan, USBC’s exercise and strength conditioning specialist, gives a 5 to 10 minute version you can do in the concourse:
- Get warm (30 to 45 seconds): jog in place or do jumping jacks.
- Torso twists: feet apart, turn the shoulders side to side.
- Leg swings: hold a wall or a chair, swing each leg forward and back.
- Arm swings: both arms, forward and back and across the body.
- Side bends: reach over the head to each side.
Bohanan calls this “the bare minimum you should do to warm up before competition.” USBC’s guide adds squats and lunges to the list of dynamic stretches. The National Bowling Academy’s warm-up also includes arm circles, from small to large, and stretches for the hand and wrist flexors, including the thumb. The NHS leaflet below notes you can practise skills from your sport as part of a warm-up, so a few easy practice shots count.
Save the long holds for afterwards
The classic arm-across-the-chest hold for 30 seconds is a static stretch. USBC puts those at the end of the night, held for 15 to 30 seconds. The research agrees with the order. A 2016 review by Behm and colleagues found dynamic stretching “produced small-to-moderate performance improvements when completed within minutes of physical activity,” and recommends any stretching be followed by dynamic activity. A 2013 meta-analysis concluded that static stretching “as the sole activity during warm-up routine should generally be avoided.” Short holds inside a fuller warm-up, followed by movement, are what the reviews recommend; a warm-up made only of long holds is the thing to avoid.
For young bowlers
An NHS physiotherapy leaflet written for young people (Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh) suggests 5 to 10 minutes: a few minutes of marching or jogging, then dynamic stretches such as knee lifts, walking lunges and arm circles, starting small and getting bigger. It advises against static stretches in the warm-up and keeps them, slow and gentle, for afterwards. For young athletes generally, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association recommends at least one to two days off per week and increasing training by no more than about 10% a week. Ball weight matters too: see bowling with kids and choosing a ball.
When it hurts
A warm-up is not a fix for pain. Soreness at the base of the thumb, tingling, or wrist pain that lasts are worth getting checked by a doctor or physiotherapist, and a ball that doesn’t fit is a common cause of hand problems. Our ball fit and thumb pain page covers bowler’s thumb and what a pro shop can change. This page is general information, not medical advice.
Common questions
How should I stretch before bowling?
Warm up with movement rather than long held stretches. USBC recommends dynamic stretches such as arm swings, torso twists, side bends, leg swings, jumping jacks, squats and lunges before bowling, and static stretches held 15 to 30 seconds as a cool-down afterwards.
How long should a bowling warm-up take?
About 5 to 10 minutes. USBC's conditioning specialist Nick Bohanan suggests 30 to 45 seconds of jogging in place or jumping jacks, then torso twists, leg swings, arm swings and side bends, and calls that the bare minimum before competition.
Is static stretching before bowling bad?
Not harmful in short holds, but it should not be your whole warm-up. Research reviews found static stretching as the only warm-up activity should generally be avoided, and recommend dynamic activity after any stretching. USBC puts static stretches in the cool-down.
Why warm up for bowling at all?
USBC says bowling uses every major muscle in the body, and that loose muscles reduce the risk of injury, increase ball speed and increase consistency.
What should young bowlers do differently?
The same kind of warm-up works. An NHS children's physiotherapy leaflet suggests 5 to 10 minutes: light jogging or marching, then dynamic stretches, starting small and getting bigger. For young athletes generally, the National Athletic Trainers' Association recommends at least one to two days off a week.
Sources: USBC Coaching, “Physical Fitness” Q&A (PDF, 2021); Nick Bohanan, “Intermediate conditioning tips”, bowl.com, 21 October 2009; Scott Pohl, National Bowling Academy, “Bowling warmup and cooldown”; Behm DG, Blazevich AJ, Kay AD, McHugh M, “Acute effects of muscle stretching on physical performance, range of motion, and injury incidence in healthy active individuals: a systematic review”, Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 41(1), 2016; Simic L, Sarabon N, Markovic G, “Does pre-exercise static stretching inhibit maximal muscular performance? A meta-analytical review”, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 2013; NHS Lothian Physiotherapy, “Preventing sport injury: warm up and cool down. Information for young people” (PDF, 2021); Valovich McLeod TC et al., “National Athletic Trainers’ Association position statement: prevention of pediatric overuse injuries”, Journal of Athletic Training 46(2), 2011. Checked 29 October 2026.