For Those of you who think only high rev players can play deep...

[RobLV1]

I hope you got a chance to see the PWBA Sacramento Open Telecast. Liz Johnson, one of the straightest players on the Women's Tour, known for her ability to point the corner, won the tournament playing the 4th arrow, never getting the ball left of 13. She beat Diana Zavralov, a much higher rev player, at her own game. That's impressive!

[ALazySavage]

Thank you for bringing this up, and this event to our attention Rob. This thought of a higher rev rate being a prerequisite of playing deep has become one of my biggest annoyances recently. I will fully agree that a lower rev player will be at a disadvantage when going inside when bowling against higher rev rate players, but that doesn't mean you cannot migrate there when the shot dictates it. I personally am not a high rev player by any stretch of the imagination, but you can still find success there when that is what the lanes are requiring. So often I have seen teammates and opponents making bad ball choices and trying to force the shot on the outside because they are convinced that they simply cannot play inside.

For those who avoid it like the plague with the thoughts that they cannot play there my question is how often have to tried this outside of the random instance in league that it is required. We can all practice this shot, even when the pattern doesn't dictate it, so that we can be more comfortable when it appears. Obviously this will not be the highest scoring situation, but it may be the best scoring situation and by being prepared you can keep the shot in front of you and cover spares.

[Aslan]

I've noticed the same thing on the PBA50 Tour. The vast majority look like old dudes showing up to league night and playing second arrow.

There are a couple guys that really get hand into the ball...like Monacelli...but most of the guys seem to be relying on accuracy and letting their equipment do the work.

Granted, the counter-arguement is that most maybe 5% of the PWBA and 5% of the PBA50 have a shot against the National Tour fellas...who are almost ALL spinning the ball like mad.

[RobLV1]

Granted, the counter-arguement is that most maybe 5% of the PWBA and 5% of the PBA50 have a shot against the National Tour fellas...who are almost ALL spinning the ball like mad.

A high rev rate is NOT achieved by spinning the ball!

[Aslan]

A high rev rate is NOT achieved by spinning the ball!
Whatever ya wanna call it...they're doing it.

[JCM]

I would love to be able to play that deep inside line that Liz played when nothing else is working but it just doesn't seem to fit my eye. I've tried it in practice and just can't seem to get myself to throw it into the right spot like she did. It almost looked like she did what she does best except in reverse. As opposed to throwing it right at the 1-3 from the right gutter, she threw it right at the 1-3 from the left gutter! It worked better than I thought it would!

[fordman1]

Two things I have found about playing deeper. First you have to be more accurate. Second you will leave more ten pins.

[Amyers]

Two things I have found about playing deeper. First you have to be more accurate. Second you will leave more ten pins.

Funny thing I tend to think the same thing when I move right and play in the dirt. lol

[fordman1]

Didn't say I played outside or strait. Just not stupid deep.

[Amyers]

Didn't say I played outside or strait. Just not stupid deep.

Fordman that wasn't personal to me anything right of 12 is in the dirt. My point was simply that we tend to think playing outside of our comfort zones takes extra accuracy or extreme rev rates or speed. Bad things happen like leaving pins and general doom or gloom lol. For you it's moving deeper for me it's straightening out. My personal guess would be there is no real extra difficulty or above average prowess required it's simply different than we are used to and it takes practice the same way our comfort zone shots once did.

[foreverincamo]

Liz just shows what diversity your game needs to win a major, or 9.

[fokai73]

Back in 2005/6 and being under 300 rpms at the time, I worked on learning to playing out and inside the 4th arrow. It wasn't just the skill I had to work on, but ball surface management and understanding more what I'm bowling on in order to match things up. For a whole season I played inside the track and passed the 4th arrow on THS and bowled on the sport patterns like the shark or open patterns. Speed is key.

About 5 years ago while overseas, I won some side action money enough for expensive Korean BBQ food for two playing the 5th arrow. After 6 games on this world pattern and only bring one ball, I had nothing at the heads/outside. It was the first time I slide in front of the gutter went over the 5th arrow and managed a deuce game.

SO as the OP stated, it is very very possible to play the 4th arrow and beyond. You just need knowledge and it's not just the physical game alone.

Today, with much more revs than before, I prefer high percentage shots and keep angles close/straighter.