Norm Duke's How-to Spare the 10 pin

[bowl1820]

Norm Duke's How-to Spare the 10 pin


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeRJg4HVink

[bowl1820]

Walter Ray about picking up the 10 pin also.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q8k2TqdeGc

[Zaxmazr]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was little (mind you I'm only 22)

[Aslan]

What I found interesting is that in Norm's video he essentially throws cross lane....simple. But he doesn't really use the "9 boards to the left, aim slightly center of your mark". I'm trying "not" to "cheat" and do that...but I admit it's tempting and I sometimes if I'm struggling with those corner pins...I'll just say "screw it" and do it Norm's way.

[Bunny]

What I found interesting is that in Norm's video he essentially throws cross lane....simple. But he doesn't really use the "9 boards to the left, aim slightly center of your mark". I'm trying "not" to "cheat" and do that...but I admit it's tempting and I sometimes if I'm struggling with those corner pins...I'll just say "screw it" and do it Norm's way.

I use 3-6-9 as a guideline. Sometimes you need to adjust a bit for whatever reason.

[J Anderson]

What I found interesting is that in Norm's video he essentially throws cross lane....simple. But he doesn't really use the "9 boards to the left, aim slightly center of your mark". I'm trying "not" to "cheat" and do that...but I admit it's tempting and I sometimes if I'm struggling with those corner pins...I'll just say "screw it" and do it Norm's way.

Why would it be cheating to do it Norm's way?

Don't forget that this is a one minute bowling tip, not an actual lesson on how to shoot the ten pin. Have no doubt that Norm knows exactly where he needs to stand and what board he has to shoot at to make the ten. The advice was really on how to throw the ball as straight as possible and to go cross lane at it.

[Zaxmazr]

Tonight I missed four 10 pins last game, but still ended up with a 185.
I wanted to literally eat my towel.

[Aslan]

Why would it be cheating to do it Norm's way?

Don't forget that this is a one minute bowling tip, not an actual lesson on how to shoot the ten pin. Have no doubt that Norm knows exactly where he needs to stand and what board he has to shoot at to make the ten. The advice was really on how to throw the ball as straight as possible and to go cross lane at it.

What I mean by "cheating" is that the fundamentals of bowling would tell a person to always aim at a target somewhere in the first 5-15ft...and adjust your throws by adjusting your approach. Then move certain boards to the right and left based on what spares you need to pick up. Simple bowling 101. Norm's advice is essentially to aim at the pin...which is NOT a usual approach. If someone new to bowling tried aiming at the head pin (rather than a spot on the lane)...most people would try to get them to "fix" that...because the fundamentals and traditional approach is to aim at a spot, not the pins.

Technically, I should be able to shoot any spare by moving my feet and using a consistent approach. If I can't, and I need to switch to a plastic ball or some cross lane aim at the pin approach...I consider that "cheating". Not that it's not something that can work...it's just "cheating" to me because it's me giving up on the fundamentals out of frustration more so than anything else.

[bowl1820]

Norm's advice is essentially to aim at the pin...which is NOT a usual approach.
That's not exactly what Norm said, he said to "Aim diagonally at the Ten pin" which means your going cross alley at it. Not that you "Aim at the pin"

[Zaxmazr]

There's just something about shooting diagonal that messes with my head..

[Hampe]

How to spare the 10 pin:

step 1) Get a plastic spare ball
step 2) Practice

I used to use the 3-6-9 method when I had a light-oil reactive ball as my spare ball, but now that I've got a plastic ball, I can pretty much stand on the same board for the same spares in any center.....it's so much easier that way.

[Mudpuppy]

10 pin is easy for me. 7 pin (left handed) is my 10 pin. I just shoot straight at it - if I do it just right the ball will flatten out just before it gets to the 7. I shoot it consistently about 80%. No spare ball just shoot my normal ball with no hook - increase the speed by about 1.5mph.

[Zaxmazr]

10 pin is easy for me. 7 pin (left handed) is my 10 pin. I just shoot straight at it - if I do it just right the ball will flatten out just before it gets to the 7. I shoot it consistently about 80%. No spare ball just shoot my normal ball with no hook - increase the speed by about 1.5mph.

My 7-pin is no problem. Just put massive hook from my strike ball, never miss :P

[Mudpuppy]

My 7-pin is no problem. Just put massive hook from my strike ball, never miss :P

Same thing I do with the 10. I just slow the ball down and hook the living daylights out of it. I always like to laugh when I bowl against new people because when I throw it I walk away and don't even look - the look on their faces is like oh darn he missed and then like a kid on christmas morning their face lights up like holy cow he hit it and then I do it over and over again (of course I try not to leave the 7 or 10 or any other pin but it happens).

On a really good night after 5 or 6 beers I might even moonwalk after I throw it.

[Aslan]

That's not exactly what Norm said, he said to "Aim diagonally at the Ten pin" which means your going cross alley at it. Not that you "Aim at the pin"

Correct. But he doesn't do it the standard way is my point. The usual way is to move 9 boards left and aim slightly left of your mark. Or some variation of that depending on lane conditions. He just moves all the way left and throws cross lane (at the pin). It's effective, because going back to our "how hard is it to pick up spares" debate...if you can just get the ball somewhere around that corner...you have a good chance of picking the pin up.

I've been trying to do it the "right" way...but I admit, there've been a couple games where I just said &$*% it and started throwing cross lane at it.

[bowl1820]

Correct. But he doesn't do it the standard way is my point. The usual way is to move 9 boards left and aim slightly left of your mark. Or some variation of that depending on lane conditions. He just moves all the way left and throws cross lane (at the pin).

The standard way to which I guess your referring to is the 3-6-9 System. In that system as a righthander you don't move 9 boards left to pick up the 10, The move is 12 boards left , open your shoulders and target between 3rd & 4th arrow.



It's effective, because going back to our "how hard is it to pick up spares" debate...if you can just get the ball somewhere around that corner...you have a good chance of picking the pin up.

and that right there is why you should throw a straight ball cross alley at the 10 It's effective.


I've been trying to do it the "right" way...
There is no "Right Way" spare system, just different ways.


but I admit, there've been a couple games where I just said &$*% it and started throwing cross lane at it.

Sometime instead of using that as a "last resort" shot at the 10, try it from the very beginning

Now if you have a hard time throwing a straight ball, well that's called practice.


If your interested in spare systems take a look at Rolf Gauger's "Up your Average" 2 part article from bowling news where he tells about the Triax system.Heres a link to it, Also I added Triax chart to the pdf.

http://home.earthlink.net/~litefrozen/downloads/Triax_spare.pdf

[Aslan]

I don't think Bob Strampe would agree with you...but I guess it comes down to what works.

[bowl1820]

I don't think Bob Strampe would agree with you...but I guess it comes down to what works.

Bob Stampe boy we going back time.

And what would be disagreed with?
The moving 12 boards left? Here's from the USBC Bronze Level Coaching Manual:
http://s5.postimg.org/5c5zui5s7/RHsparechart.jpg

or here's from Fred Bordens book Bowling: Knowledge is the Key
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/aloarjr810/bowlingxtras/sparechart.jpg

That throwing a straight ball cross alley is a effective way to pick up the 10?
As Rolf Gauger (and that's a respected name in bowling) said in the Triax article

The Straight Spare Shot
This is critical. Trust me, ball manufacturers wouldn’t bother to
make spare balls if they weren’t profitable. Oil conditions change at
different points on the lane, so hook shots on off center spares are
dangerous. The straight shot is the only sure way to take lane conditions
out of the game.

or lets take a look at the PBA and see how many players stand far left and throw straight for 10 pin's

Or that There is no "Right Way" spare system, just different ways?

Good coaches will tell you that. There's no one approach that works for all.

Now most coaches teach you the way they are familiar and comfortable with, that doesn't make it the only way. A good coach I think should show a bowler a variety of methods and allow them to try them and evaluate them and find what works best for them.

Now if you have coach, I'm not saying their wrong or you shouldn't do what they say. Just that there are other options and you should investigate them.

Another interesting link on converting the ten pin;
Click for Converting_The_Ten_Pin#Making_that_Pesky_Corner_Pi n (http://wiki.bowlingchat.net/wiki/index.php?title=Converting_The_Ten_Pin#Making_that _Pesky_Corner_Pin)

[Bunny]

Bob Stampe boy we going back time.

And what would be disagreed with?
The moving 12 boards left? Here's from the USBC Bronze Level Coaching Manual:
http://s5.postimg.org/5c5zui5s7/RHsparechart.jpg

or here's from Fred Bordens book Bowling: Knowledge is the Key
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/aloarjr810/bowlingxtras/sparechart.jpg



Cool! I was doing 4 8 12 to left on my own. I had learned the 3 6 9 for both sides but it didn't seem like I was getting enough angle on the right sided pins (plus the pros practically end up with their left foot in the gutter when picking up the 10) so I thought maybe 4 8 12 would work better when moving left for spares. (Patting myself on the back.)

[bowl1820]

One thing I need to add here is, that there are two 3-6-9 systems. (which maybe is why there is some confusion)

There's the old, old 3-6-9 system and the updated version.

In the old 3-6-9 system You had two lines from which you'd make adjustments: your strike-line and your corner-pin line.
You'd keep the same target and move your feet to the left or the right 3 boards at a time 3-6-9 etc.

Now Different players may have a different " strike& corner pin lines" but can still use this system, based off their own lines. The diagrams here show two starting lines (in yellow) using the 2nd or 3rd arrows.

http://s5.postimg.org/6rpy270ef/t369_Lhs.jpghttp://s5.postimg.org/aqn5l0p1j/t369rhs.jpg

But that system became outdated with the development of the stronger ball's and the bowlers ability to hook the ball and changing lane conditions.

So they came out with the updated version which is shown in the earlier posts.

[Zaxmazr]

One thing I need to add here is, that there are two 3-6-9 systems. (which maybe is why there is some confusion)

This is how I throw mine usually. Can't for the life of me throw straight across.