Darren Tang Makes PBA History Winning With Both Styles: “The Optimal Way to Throw Strikes Is With Two Hands”

Darren Tang | Picture credit: Darren Tang YouTube Channel

Darren Tang, a PBA Tour title holder since his win at the 2021 Bowlerstore.com Classic, has officially written his name into the PBA record books with one exceptional achievement.

After years of competing as a one-handed player, Tang made a bold move in late 2024 by switching to a two-handed delivery. Many fans assumed it was just for content - since Tang is the one of the biggest bowling content creators on YouTube - but it wasn’t. He bowled his first tournament using the two-handed style in November and fully committed to the change in February 2025.

This weekend, his efforts fully paid off as he won the PBA Santa Maria Open in the West Region.

With this victory, Tang becomes the first bowler ever to win PBA titles using both one-handed and two-handed techniques.

Following the victory, Darren Tang spoke with Erikas Jansonas from BowlingLife about his newest achievement, the challenges he faced during the transition to two-handed, and how he sees his future on tour.

As most things in life, best of them comes unexpectedly. That happened and this time. When asked what it meant for him to become the first player in PBA history to win titles using both styles, Darren said that he didn’t pursue the distinction on purpose, but acknowledged it was still a special moment.

“Always cool to have the distinction to be the first to do something. It’s not something that I thought too much about,” Tang stated. “I just want to keep getting better to give myself the best chance possible to win again on the tour.”

Even though many say that two-handed bowling is a kind of cheat code, it’s still difficult to learn - especially well enough to win a PBA title. When explaining the technical challenges that came with switching styles, Tang shared that one old habit in particular was especially tough to break.

“The hardest habit to break for me is the internal rotation of my shoulder. I had this move as a one hander, and it would cause misses to the left and is more or less a power leak," Tang explained. "It’s exaggerated bowling two handed because of the position I have to rotate around now. If I don’t keep it in check, my elbow flies around the ball much worse than a good shot.”

Starting over with a brand-new style is never easy—it takes time to develop, and there’s always some doubt. For pros like Tang, who need to perform just to make a living, the risk is even bigger. He admitted that the initial decision to switch wasn’t easy. But once he fully committed to going two-handed, he never looked back.

“I haven’t doubted the switch. I did doubt switching initially. I think the hardest part in anything someone does is start. I understood that this would take some time. I told myself that I need to be okay with not cashing for the rest of the season to develop this skill. Once I committed, I never looked back. I was extremely fortunate to pick up on it much faster than I anticipated.”

Tang noticed that he strikes more often with the two-handed style, but some old habits of one-handed style still sneak into his current technique - reminding us that bowling is always changing and adapting.

“I have committed to both styles. I believe the optimal way to throw strikes is with two hands. I also believe that the optimal way to shoot spares is with the thumb in. So that is what I will be committing to for the foreseeable future.”