Tom's Tips 

 Bowling Tips that Tom would like to share with you.

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A page where you can learn the finer points on Bowling

(As if I know!)

 

11-09-05

 

Practice Who Needs it:

This is the question we all ask ourselves.

Many times we find we do not have to time, the energy or the ambition to go to the bowling alley and practice. If we want to get better at bowling, practice is a very important part of this activity. Go to any high school in America and what do you see. The football team has practice, the band has practice and even the chess club has practice, then it only make sense in bowling that we practice too.

When you practice keep your session simple. Remember try to improve just one small area of your game at a time. A general statement like, "I need to practice rolling more strikes", is not going to work well in a practice session. For me it was walking to the foul line in a straight line. No drifting to the right. I placed a piece of tape at the foul line where I wanted my left foot to slide to. Then without the ball walked to this point on the alley about 4 to 5 times. When I was comfortable with  the foot work and the feel of this approach, I then went to the next step.  I picked up my ball and tried making my approach in a straight line with a release of the ball. Not too bad, but I had to work at it for a while. I did not care that I was not rolling strikes. I was not working on rolling strikes, I was working on improving my approach to the foul line. I continued for about an hour on this task.

After this session I improved my approach. I was making better shots and my scores improved as well . It took a little work but it was worth it. Anyone can improve their game with a little work.  Remember, just keep it simple.

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10-17-2005

 

Introduction: Gee Whiz, I just bowled a 299

Damn it,  I should have bowled a 300!!!

 

For some of you, this time may come.  Others can sit and watch the fun. No matter how long you bowl, you will see it and feel it. The excitement of  a bowler going for the 300 game. Now I have seen dozens of bowlers roll a 300 or a 299, but for me it was the 1st.

Last year I bowled a 289.  Just 1 strike short of going for the 300.  This was the first time I had a shot at a perfect game. It  sounds great, THE PERFECT GAME. 

 

Well for me it was almost perfect.

 

Ok, here is what happened. 

 

The first two balls in the 10th were great shots. The rolls had nice tracks, good rotation and a good finish, no need to change anything.

After the second shot the nerves kicked in. 

I picked up my ball and DAMN, who moved the finger holes. Not only have they been moved, this ball does not have any finger holes.

Wait a minute, here they are. Wait, did anyone see that I could not find the finger holes?  I hope not. I sure don't need to look stupid. 

Now where do I stand?  I am on the correct alley, right?  Why are my legs like Jell-O.  I sure hope I don't put this ball in the gutter. Make sure....damn just roll the ball. 

 

Off you go, this biggest shot of your bowling career. Will you make a great shot or miss it?  Some make the great shot and others will wish they could roll it over.

 

The final shot of the perfect game is a hard one. You don't get many chances in your bowling career to be at this junction.  You have to fight the fear, the nerves, and the excitement. 

 

It's not easy as you think as I learned. Take your time. Wait till the Jell-o legs have passed. Breath deep and tell yourself you are going to make this shot, it's easy.  And the next thing you know, you hit 9.

 

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Introduction: Make a good toss with lots of drive

We have just finished the 5th week of league bowling. So how are you hitting the pocket?  

A few bowlers are trying their luck in picking up the sour apple spilt (5-7-10).  

You leave this when your ball skids down the lane and has no drive when it reaches the pocket. The ball deflects to the right missing the 5,3 and 6 pins are driven in front of the 10. The 1 and 2 pins are driven in front of the 7 into the gutter. The 8 may be taken out by the 1 pin and the ball takes out the 9.  

I have to tell you I have left this spilt with what I thought was a very good ball. This is why most bowlers get so mad. They think  they released a good ball.  When if fact it was a very weak ball. 

Again you must have drive on the ball or your ball will deflect to the right, when you hit the 1 pin.  It’s not the house’s fault nor is it the alleys fault. It’s YOUR fault for a poor release of the bowling ball. 

If you happen to leave this spilt just shake it off and make an adjustment on the lanes and put more drive on your next toss.

 

Corner Pins and why does it happen

Eliminating corner pins

You just rolled a great shot that hooked into the pocket, but you left a corner pin standing. Sometimes what may have appeared to be a perfect shot didn’t hit quite so perfectly. Let’s take a look at why this happens and what we can do about it.

The most common leave for a right-hander is the 10 pin. On a perfect strike hit, the ball hits the 1-3 pocket before continuing through and hitting the 5 and 9 pins. The 3 pin is driven into the 6 pin and the 6 pin in turn hits 10 pin as shown in Figure 1. If the 10 pin stands, you need to find out where the 6 pin went. Did it get driven straight back to where the 9 pin stands? This would be a high shot. Did the 6 pin go to the side wall as in Figure 2? This indicates a light shot.

The scenario is the same but on the opposite side for a left-hander who leaves a 7 pin standing. The direction of the 4 pin (like the 6 pin for a right-hander) is the key to finding out why the hit wasn’t perfect.

You can make your adjustment once you know whether your ball hit high or light. Remember the general rule of adjustments is to move in the direction on the miss (miss right = move right) with your feet. Just a slight move is all that is needed to get rid of corner pins. For more information on adjustments, see the tips page index.

Understanding the reaction of the pins can help solve the mystery of most spare combinations.


Figure 1: (Strike Pocket. Source, USBC Coaching Level I manual, Chapter 7)


Figure 2: (Light hit. Source, USBC Coaching Bronze manual, Chapter 8.)

 

 

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