Brooklyn?????

[5280 Hooker]

I'm new so sorry for the dumb question...(lots more too come...lol)


Why do you get shunned upon if you bowl lots of "Brooklyn" type strikes? I do it all the time because I'm inconsistent and just learning adjustments, but heck...all the pins went down :)

[J Anderson]

I'm new so sorry for the dumb question...(lots more too come...lol)


Why do you get shunned upon if you bowl lots of "Brooklyn" type strikes? I do it all the time because I'm inconsistent and just learning adjustments, but heck...all the pins went down :)

The best chance of getting a strike for a right hander comes from hitting the 1-3 pocket. When the ball hits "Brooklyn", even though you've gotten a strike and accompished the objective of knocking down all the pins, you've clearly missed the target you were aiming at. Some bowlers feel that because you haven't thrown a "good" strike, you shouldn't be congratulated. Don't let them get you down. On the other hand, don't get the idea that you don't need to improve just because you carry a lot of brooklyn hits.

[jab5325]

It's a mystery to me too--it all counts the same on the score sheet.

I got a new ball yesterday afternoon (Bad Intentions), threw about 8-10 shots with it to make sure it fit, and then had to get going because of other commitments. I got a call from the alley to sub in a Wednesday night league as an emergency, so I did. My old ball is getting resurfaced/plugged, so I only had one main ball to use--the Bad Intentions. Not being used to its aggressiveness, I had a ton of Brooklyn strikes....leaving many shaking their heads. I wasn't happy either, but I don't "get" the disdain some show for it.

[J Anderson]

It's a mystery to me too--it all counts the same on the score sheet.

I got a new ball yesterday afternoon (Bad Intentions), threw about 8-10 shots with it to make sure it fit, and then had to get going because of other commitments. I got a call from the alley to sub in a Wednesday night league as an emergency, so I did. My old ball is getting resurfaced/plugged, so I only had one main ball to use--the Bad Intentions. Not being used to its aggressiveness, I had a ton of Brooklyn strikes....leaving many shaking their heads. I wasn't happy either, but I don't "get" the disdain some show for it.

It's just human nature. If an experienced bowler is throwing it "right", i.e. keeping his or her first ball in or almost in the pocket, and is only getting the occasional strike, they will be bothered by someone else who gets a few strikes doing it "wrong". These are usually the same people who scream they were robbed after leaving a 5 pin, weak ten, or a 4 pin.

[white_rabbitt]

I always feel bad and never know if I should congratulate someone on a Brooklyn strike...most of the time I know it's because they missed their target. So I guess I could say "Nice miss" (same thing I say in golf sometimes) or just not say anything at all.
You could also consider Brooklyn hits as being extremely high pocket or backend pocket hits! If that makes it sound better. lol

[britjeff]

again, being a newbie. whats a brooklyn strike? also any strike is a strike in my book.
jeff

[Mark O]

again, being a newbie. whats a brooklyn strike? also any strike is a strike in my book.


A brooklyn strike is where the ball crosses over to the other side of the head pin but still carries a strike. It's considered a lucky strike which is why it's often looked down upon but I really feel like bowling gives and takes so I gladly take it when it happens. For every brooklyn strike or trip strike will be a shot that you thought was good off your hand but it ends up ringing a 10 pin or something of the sort so it evens out in the end.

[rv driver]

Weirdest thing for me is, "back in the day," when I was throwing rubber on wood lanes -- down and in, I always threw more Brooklyn strikes than 1-3 pocket strikes. I'd hit the pocket time after time and leave spares. Nearly every single time I threw Brooklyn, it would strike. One game I finally just gave up throwing to the pocket and scored in the 250s hitting Brooklyn.

somebody please explain that to me!

[jnv32185]

I am fascinated by the use of the word Brooklyn for a strike on the opposite side of the headpin. I am not use to it, I do not know if it is because I am from New York but we always called it Jersey.

[J Anderson]

I am fascinated by the use of the word Brooklyn for a strike on the opposite side of the headpin. I am not use to it, I do not know if it is because I am from New York but we always called it Jersey.

It's definitely regional. I have a friend who grew up in Penn. who calls them Jersey strikes, here in CT we always called them Brooklyn.

[epiepenburg]

We call them Brooklyn's here in WI. Funny thing about the "Jersey" thing, a guy on our team is a lefty, when he crosses over, he started calling them Jersey strikes, just trying to be funny and out of the blue.

[jab5325]

It's definitely regional. I have a friend who grew up in Penn. who calls them Jersey strikes, here in CT we always called them Brooklyn.

Ditto. I can vouch for (northeast) PA being "Jersey" country.

Central PA, where I live now, is "Brooklyn" country. These idiots in central PA also think hoagies come without mayo too, so what gives?

[rv driver]

I am fascinated by the use of the word Brooklyn for a strike on the opposite side of the headpin. I am not use to it, I do not know if it is because I am from New York but we always called it Jersey.
Ha! Of course you did!

[rv driver]

Ditto. I can vouch for (northeast) PA being "Jersey" country.

Central PA, where I live now, is "Brooklyn" country. These idiots in central PA also think hoagies come without mayo too, so what gives?
Same thing with SW Missouri...

[Hampe]

Here in Switzerland they are called either Brooklyn or "left pocket" strikes. Personally I don't get too excited about them since it means I made a mistake and missed, but I'm not going to look down on a newer player for being happy about getting one. A strike is a strike, and getting a strike when you missed is a hell of a lot better than getting punished with a split.

[Burks]

You shouldn't be upset or ashamed if you aren't really trying to better yourself. When I'm out just messing around and I throw a Brooklyn, good for me! I just play it off and say "See, I can strike from either side" or something sarcastic/playful.

Now when I'm really trying and I get one, it bothers me. But if I make a mistake and get a strike, so be it. Rather a Brooklyn than a 7-10

[RobLV1]

A few years ago I crossed with Ernie Schlegel and Kerry Painter at the Sr. U.S. Open. On one particular pair of lanes, the right lane was impossible. I still remember Schlegel laying on his stomach on the approach, looking down the lane. He proclaimed that the lane actually tilted down toward the gutter at the break point. None of us could break 180 on that pair. A couple of months ago I went to practice with a friend and we were assigned that same pair of lanes. Again, the right lane was almost impossible. Finally, at the beginning of the last game, I decided to go to a really aggressive ball and throw it out to see what would happen. The result was a Brooklyn strike where there was no question that all the pins would fall. The next frame on that lane, I did the same thing, albeit this time intentionally. I ended up shooting 268 for that last game with five straight Brooklyn strikes on the right lane. All my friend could say was, "I can't believe that you lined up to intentionally go Jersey." Whatever works!

[vdubtx]

When we bowl on Tuesdays, we have a running joke about Brooklyn strikes as we have renamed them after one of our team members who hit a bunch of Brooklyns at a tournament in Tulsa this last fall.

We don't have then often, but seems the other team bowling against us always has their fair share. We scoff at those that get them on the other side. :cool:

Like Rob, I have intentionally played the Brooklyn side. Mine was actually at my first visit to Reno for the USBC Open Championships. The last game of the set the lanes were burned and I could not stay off the head pin and subsequently splits. Made an adjustment right to get just bit more past head pin and had 5 in a row ending with a 247 the last game of Singles event. That game actually put me in the cash that year. LOL!

[nomad1721]

Im not making my living at bowling. So whatever makes them fall im good with it.

[rv driver]

Im not making my living at bowling. So whatever makes them fall im good with it.
I have a couple of friends from Jersey. What's wrong with Jersey?

[foreverincamo]

What's wrong with Jersey? Ever been there? I had to deliver there from Ohio twice to three times a week when I was an over-the-road truck driver. Try going to Jersey City sometime. The smell in the summer there will bring you to tears. There are billboards with the website www.jerseydoesntstink.com. along I-95. I can tell you that it does. Way too many people there. Traffic is insane during rush hour. Most of the people who work in New York commute from Pennsylvania. They would rather do that than live in Jersey and have a shorter drive.
I could go on, but you get the point. If you click the link, it goes to the website . Click the YOUTUBE link and there are videos trying to show you that Jersey doesn't stink. The mascot they use is a guy dressed as a car pine tree air freshener.

[Mike White]

What's wrong with Jersey? Ever been there? I had to deliver there from Ohio twice to three times a week when I was an over-the-road truck driver. Try going to Jersey City sometime. The smell in the summer there will bring you to tears. There are billboards with the website www.jerseydoesntstink.com. along I-95. I can tell you that it does. Way too many people there. Traffic is insane during rush hour. Most of the people who work in New York commute from Pennsylvania. They would rather do that than live in Jersey and have a shorter drive.
I could go on, but you get the point. If you click the link, it goes to the website . Click the YOUTUBE link and there are videos trying to show you that Jersey doesn't stink. The mascot they use is a guy dressed as a car pine tree air freshener.

It's not so much about either Jersey, or Brooklyn, as it is about the "other side of the river".

From the N.Y.C. (Manhattan) perspective both Brooklyn, and Jersey are across the river (different rivers).

And as you know, the world revolves around Manhattan (in their opinion).

[foreverincamo]

Yes, they do think the world revolves around Manhattan. They can't even understand why anyone would live or even go outside of the city. They have the entertainment, every food ethnicity in the world, public transportation that reaches everywhere, and tons of places to shop. Drawbacks? No one can afford to live there . Prices on everything way higher than anywhere in the world.

[rv driver]

What's wrong with Jersey? Ever been there? I had to deliver there from Ohio twice to three times a week when I was an over-the-road truck driver. Try going to Jersey City sometime. The smell in the summer there will bring you to tears. There are billboards with the website www.jerseydoesntstink.com. along I-95. I can tell you that it does. Way too many people there. Traffic is insane during rush hour. Most of the people who work in New York commute from Pennsylvania. They would rather do that than live in Jersey and have a shorter drive.
I could go on, but you get the point. If you click the link, it goes to the website . Click the YOUTUBE link and there are videos trying to show you that Jersey doesn't stink. The mascot they use is a guy dressed as a car pine tree air freshener.
I was trying to be tactful and unoffensive for all our Jersey friends out there. The fact that Jersey smells like a sweat sock stuffed in a chicken turd notwithstanding...

[TonyInPortland]

A Brooklyn strike is like a shot in tennis that hits the net and drops over (let cord) and the other player cannot get to it, its like you hit a tree in golf and the ball bounces onto the green, in football when the QB throws a bad pass and it bounces off the defender into the hands of a receiver. Many sports have this type of thing. It can be frustrating to the opponent when it happens, but these kinds of things tend to even out over time (although not necessarily in one game).

[HowDoIHookAgain]

I was trying to be tactful and unoffensive for all our Jersey friends out there. The fact that Jersey smells like a sweat sock stuffed in a chicken turd notwithstanding...

I guess you just get used to the smell after a while xD. I know it gets really bad the more inland you go, but I think the closer to the shore you get it isn't all that bad; we actually take care of ourselves and try to make our swamp-ridden state a little nicer. At least you don't have to put up with hordes of mosquitoes and tourists in the summer (I live about 20 minutes away from Long Beach Island), and toll booths every 30 minutes (not an exaggeration, and they are damn expensive).

[LyalC52]

one of my teammates was getting harassed about his "Brooklyn" strikes
his response: "I'll drive all the way to Queens if I have to, to get a strike"

[jlwonderley]

I'm more annoyed when my someone completely flubs their shot: Like say they pull it way inside, it holds in the oil and doesn't hook, STILL was pulled so badly that it goes through the noise, and they get lucky and split falls late for a strike.