3-6-10 and 3-10 split

[DrBob806]

Howdy folks. I've been bowling for 48 years and have had my fair share of success, but I'm looking for help all of a sudden. I'm a righty fyi.

The last year or so, I've simply lost confidence in covering these spares and it's definitely a problem. I always use a plastic ball, and my conversion rate has become poor, like only converting them around 60%. If the 9 pin is in there (3-6-9-10) and I hook at it, I'm ok (probably 90%).

I went and practiced today at a center with no range finders. Worked on splitting the 3/6. Sadly, it wasn't nearly as productive as I'd like. I realize this is going to take more effort, I've simply lost my way here. Honestly, I believe the rest of my spare game is fine.

So if anybody wants to chime in on better methods of shooting at this, please chime in. On right side spares, I have always looked at the pin(s) instead of arrows or range finders. For the 10 pin, I target the reflection on the lane. Thanks in advance.


THANKS for the replies, I appreciate it.Good news is I've taken in the tips and after a couple practice sessions, I feel more confident. I just need to implement a 3/6 spare routine into my sessions more often. Getting to grabby on the 1st ball tends to leave these spare combos, so ultimately that needs to be cleaned up as well. Happy New Year.

[kajmk]

Here goes. Maybe if I say some thing dumb enough someone with good suggestions will chime in.

I used to bowl against a guy who always hooked it at the 3-10, more than not the ball would sail right through. He'd turn with a big smile, because he knew we were all waiting for it!

A few thoughts -

Check out these common reasons.

https://www.bowlingball.com/BowlVersity ... e-shooting

Video yourself, noting alignment and walk direction.
Know the board you should be finishing on.

You are good at the ten pin, compare videos of yourself shooting the 10 versus the trouble ones. Try to sense any different feelings.
Keep notes.

Log your shots and results, hit, miss direction.

Try to develop a straight ball via hand position.

This problem is probably part mental now, as chances are these spares affect your mind which will affect your performance.
Its like a football field goal kicker who all of a sudden starts missing ...

Whatever your Pre-Shot routine is, keep it.
Take a breath, blow it out, go, trust ...

Good luck, report back with your results and ideas.

[TonyPR]

All lanes are 60’, from the foul line to the arrows it’s approximately 15’ so we have 1/4 of the lane from foul to arrows and 3/4 from arrows to pins. That means that when using a certain arrows the proportion from lay down point to the pins is 3:1.

If we lay the ball down at 20 and use the middle arrows to shoot at the middle of the 1 pin then the ball will land on 20, pass over the arrows on 20 and hit the 1 pin in the middle. Of course this is asuming your swing is straight up and down (not looping around your body), you aren’t grabbing it and you’re sliding with the inside of your shoe on 25-26. If you were to use the same arrow (20 board) but instead of laying the ball on 20 you lay it on 21, it will cross the arrows at 20 but hit the pins at 17 (the pocket). This is because of the 3:1 proportion.

Using the same math, if you wanted to shoot at the 6-10 spare (6 or 7 board at the pins) using 20 at the arrows your laydown would be 25 and your slide would be 30 or 31 depending if you release 5 or 6 boards from your ankle… From this, if you were still using 20 at the arrows, for a right hander, you would move 1 board right for the baby split and another board right for the 3,6,10… again, this is asuming your swing is straight up and down (not looping around your body). Also, you don’t want to be sliding more than 6 boards from your lay down as this will affect your swing trajectory (it will not be up and down, trust me).

I used 20 to illustrate the example but I would prefer you shoot them as left as you feel comfortable to give you more margin of error.

Hope this helps.

[kajmk]

Hi Dr Bob, I hope your success rate has improved.
Please be sure to share what you found works best for you.

Video recording yourself can help you learn about what you are doing versus what you think you are doing. For example swing shape and consistency, how far the ball is from your sliding foot at release time.

Take care.