Looking for the Perfect Strike

Looking for the Perfect Strike

You’ve let it go, it felt great off your hand, looks good going down the lane……4 – 9. What happened? You’ve got to figure out how to see that coming. Great execution doesn’t mean great results and watching your ball through the pins is just another way of forecasting what adjustments to make.

Splitting the 8 – 9 every first shot isn’t practical, while it’s desirable, it’s not going to happen. Once you’ve let go of the ball and done all you can “physically,” take mental notes as the ball travels down lane and enters the pins. The three phases of ball motion – skid, hook, roll – are important to hitting the pocket but watching the ball exit the pin deck will tell the rest of the story.

 Yellow = “Skid”
Green = “Hook”
Purple = “Roll”
The Orange ball between each phase marks the approximate beginning and end of each phase.

A ball entering the pocket is doing one of three things – skidding, hooking or rolling – and each can offer different results. For demonstration, picture a right-handed bowler with a strike-ball motion that hooks from right to left, much like the picture above. A ball skidding is easily deflected and often exits the right side of the pin deck after hitting the pins, while a ball still hooking as it hits the pocket would continue to the left and exit the left side of the deck. Ideally, a ball in the roll phase leaves the pin deck directly off the center, splitting the 8 and 9 pins. That’s our goal.

A high hit on the 1 – 3 pocket can tend to leave combinations such as a 4 pin, 9 pin, 4-7, 4-9, 4-6-7-9-10 or 3-4-6-7-9-10 (better known as “four through the face”). Early detection of any of these combinations can be seen by noticing the ball leaving the pin deck more to the left (behind the 8 pin). Adjust to have the ball go further down the lane and hit the pocket lighter.

A light hit on the 1 – 3 pocket can leave combinations such as a 10 pin, 2 pin, 2-8, 2-8-10 or 2-4-5-8 (better known as “the bucket”). Early detection of any of these combinations can be seen by noticing the ball leaving the pin deck more to the right (behind the 9 pin). Adjust to have the ball read the lane sooner and hit the pocket higher. 

To practice watching the phases of ball motion, tape your bowling ball's positive axis point (PAP) and run a piece of tape from that spot to just above the finger holes. This will provide a visual of when the ball transitions from skid to hook to roll. Sometimes this can be seen using a ball with distinctive color combinations that are easily identifiable. Try recording this on video as well and analyze it after each shot in slow-motion to make it easier to see.

Practice getting your ball into the roll phase just before hitting the pins and, before you know it, the ball will be leaving the deck with nothing to spare.