Found a hole in my arsenal

[boatman37]

So lanes were very dry tonight. Most nights I start with the Squatch then switch to the Black Widow Gold after the 2nd game. Tonight the Squatch was a little too aggressive from the start but I added a little speed and got around that for the first game. End of game 1 I started leaving pocket 7's. Tried moving in but left 7's in 3 of 4 frames so switched to the BWG. Struggled to find the pocket with it but after a few frames started stringing strikes. By game 3 that ball was struggling. I tried moving into the oil but kept tugging the ball. My only other ball was my Rhino which is at 3000 polished. I only use that ball for 7 pins but it goes almost straight and if I miss to the outside it won't hold the lane. I have really been struggling with 7's. Thinking of maybe going to 3000 unpolished and using that for 7's hoping if I miss wide it will hold the lane. As it is now my aim has to be almost perfect to get that 7. I could also use it as a weaker ball for nights like tonight. I did try the Rhino in warmups tonight and surprisingly it hooked a little. Think if that ball was unpolished it might have been a good choice later tonight. In the past I had always used my weakest strike ball for 7's and been much better than I am with the polished Rhino.

My biggest issue right now is spares. Ball choice isn't the issue. The issue is me being way off target. Not sure why. I can hit my target with my strike ball consistently but miss by several boards with spares. I think the issue is me trying to flatten my hand and my consistency is struggling. Seems like when I use my regular release I'm more consistent with it. Thinking I need to use my regular release to get that consistency back and adjust my lines as needed. I don't get alot of rotation so the Rhino barely hooks. I'd say 5 boards less than my Squatch. If I had to guess I'd say the Rhino hooks about 2-3 boards when throwing my normal strike ball. A plastic ball isn't out of the question but not sure it would help in this situation. Would a plastic ball hook at all even with my normal strike release? Think for next week I will try the Rhino at 3000 unpolished and see if that helps.

[ALazySavage]

In theory any ball can create friction in the dry and hook to some degree. The thought with the polyester (plastic) equipment is that it is an extremely slow reaction and if you cross the lane when throwing at the corner pins you are going to project the ball through the puddle of oil in the middle delaying the reaction even further. With this delay in the reaction due to the oil and the slow reacting nature of the cover you wouldn't see much, if any hook.

What is your thought process around knocking the polish off of the rhino, specifically in regards to your spare shooting?

[J Anderson]

With your speed a true spare ball will probably not hook.

The problem that you face is that most of your previous bowling experience has taught you to throw at the gutter in front of the 7 pin and let the ball hook a bit and follow the edge of the gutter into the pin. The problem with using your Rhino is that your sub conscience “knows” where you should throw a ball that hooks and puts the Rhino right in the gutter. It will take several practice sessions of shooting nothing but 7s to get used to throwing a plastic ball straight at the 7.

Lastly, changing your release to go straight can definitely affect your accuracy.

[Amyers]

With your speed a true spare ball will probably not hook.

The problem that you face is that most of your previous bowling experience has taught you to throw at the gutter in front of the 7 pin and let the ball hook a bit and follow the edge of the gutter into the pin. The problem with using your Rhino is that your sub conscience “knows” where you should throw a ball that hooks and puts the Rhino right in the gutter. It will take several practice sessions of shooting nothing but 7s to get used to throwing a plastic ball straight at the 7.

Lastly, changing your release to go straight can definitely affect your accuracy.

Ding!!! Ding!!! Winner!!! J Anderson nailed it here. there is no reason to make yourself learn and entire new release to shoot spares. If you try it you will never be as successful with it as if you didn't. You simply will not practice this release as much as you do your first ball release so why would it ever be as good or better? if you are a pro and have nothing else to do ie Norm Duke you can learn a second release that is very effective if you are like most of us who are even serious about the game your lucky if your practicing once a week you don't have time to attempt things you don't have to.

I do like your idea of adding some surface to your rhino for use as a ball under the bwg. Go practice before they reoil the lanes especially if there is some period that the lanes are more used or the time is longer between oils with the Rhino. Hopefully that will give you a better feel for how it will preform in low oil conditions. That ball is less than your others but thrown properly on the right conditions it still hooks plenty

[boatman37]

Ding!!! Ding!!! Winner!!! J Anderson nailed it here. there is no reason to make yourself learn and entire new release to shoot spares. If you try it you will never be as successful with it as if you didn't. You simply will not practice this release as much as you do your first ball release so why would it ever be as good or better? if you are a pro and have nothing else to do ie Norm Duke you can learn a second release that is very effective if you are like most of us who are even serious about the game your lucky if your practicing once a week you don't have time to attempt things you don't have to.

I do like your idea of adding some surface to your rhino for use as a ball under the bwg. Go practice before they reoil the lanes especially if there is some period that the lanes are more used or the time is longer between oils with the Rhino. Hopefully that will give you a better feel for how it will preform in low oil conditions. That ball is less than your others but thrown properly on the right conditions it still hooks plenty

@J...my thought process for knocking the polish off was more for using it in conditions like last night as a strike ball, not to help as a spare ball but i'm wondering if it might help since i keep cramming it into the gutter because for 20+ years i relied on the friction holding the edge of the lane. The last few weeks it seems my first attempt at the 7 goes in the gutter so I start tugging subsequent attempts and miss to the inside. i think i was 2/6 last night on 7's. i'm thinking of knocking the polish off and seeing if that helps and then have the ability to use it late in the night like last night and i still have the option of adding a plastic ball if i need to. and yeah, i rarely have time to get out and practice. our center has leagues every night so i think they oil every morning. at least every time i have been there just after open i see the machine running.

and yeah, definitely going to go back to my normal release and work on it from there. several weeks back i was 7/7 on 7 pins. not sure why i was so successful that night but don't think i was altering my release that night. and practice time is very limited for me.

i have been nailing my strikes lately but the spare shooting is really holding me back.

[RobLV1]

How long have you been talking about getting a plastic spare ball? It seems like it's been quite a while now. At the risk of sounding harsh, if you insist on not investing in a plastic spare ball, then stop whining about missing your spares. It's so simple, yet you keep avoiding it.

[ALazySavage]

How long have you been talking about getting a plastic spare ball? It seems like it's been quite a while now. At the risk of sounding harsh, if you insist on not investing in a plastic spare ball, then stop whining about missing your spares. It's so simple, yet you keep avoiding it.

I'm in agreement with Rob. I think in a prior post about the customer service you have received from a pro shop we had figured out that you had made 3 or 4 ball purchases in the past year, none of them an attempt to address the spare game issue yet you are talking about having issues with your spare game. Now you are talking about adjusting the surface of the ball you use for spares in order to try and deal with a condition. People above are saying it, the likely issue is in the attempt to have multiple releases (one for spares and one for strikes - would be a tough thing for any of us to maintain if we don't practice enough). With the angles you are going to use with a spare ball for corners, your rev rate, and you ball speed you won't have to worry about changing the release because the ball isn't going to hook. Release manipulation is likely going to create inconsistent results...that 2/6 night costs you somewhere between 36 and 44 pins.

[boatman37]

Part of the reason is if I buy a plastic ball I need to get rid of one. No more room in my bag. The other reason is my job is in limbo right now so waiting to see what happens next. And with how I'm missing them I'm not sure a plastic ball will help. The issue is my consistency, not the ball hooking. My Rhino goes perfectly straight when I throw at the 7 but my targeting is off. A plastic ball won't fix my aiming issues.

If I do get a plastic ball (after the job stuff is squared away) I would probably remove the Rhino from my bag leaving the Conspiracy, Squatch, and BWG as my strike balls. Sound like a reasonable arsenal?

[mc_runner]

Eh... in terms of bag space, there are plenty of ways to get around that. A cheap single ball bag, backpack, even a reusable store bag would suffice to carry a single ball in a pinch.

[MajorPhoenix]

My wife used a backpack with some foam at the bottom to absorb shock. You dont have to forsake something for a spare ball.

[Amyers]

Their are plenty of easy solutions if you feel you need 4 balls. A joey added to the bag takes care of it generally. Sorry to hear about the job situation that sucks we all go through it from time to time. I think the point of the comments here you don't feel like a spare ball is the problem because your missing left not the ball over hooking. Our point is more that trying to use a release that is different will degrade your accuracy and the fact your not throwing a straight line at the spare is causing you to make mental mistakes in your aim.

[bowl1820]

Part of the reason is if I buy a plastic ball I need to get rid of one. No more room in my bag.

No you don't need to get rid of one, You just don't bring one. If your bowling the same league week after week and bring four strike balls, Most likely there's one ball you don't really need to bring all the time.

Now if you "Want" to bring every ball and have a spare, you get a "Joey Bowling Bag" it's less than $20. You slip it on your bags handle, it holds one ball.


My Rhino goes perfectly straight when I throw at the 7 but my targeting is off. A plastic ball won't fix my aiming issues.

Your right a new ball doesn't fix physical issues with your game.

If your rolling a "perfectly" straight ball and your targeting (Accuracy) is off then there's only one fix, It's called practice. You need to go down to the lanes and shoot 7 (or 10's as the case maybe) pins, Lane conditions won't matter if your rolling a perfectly straight ball.

[RobLV1]

If your rolling a "perfectly" straight ball and your targeting (Accuracy) is off then there's only one fix, It's called practice. You need to go down to the lanes and shoot 7 (or 10's as the case maybe) pins, Lane conditions won't matter if your rolling a perfectly straight ball.

Gotta disagree here. If your aiming accuracy is off, there's only one fix; it's called timing. Find a qualified coach and get your timing fixed. The most common timing problem is called "late timing trying to be early." It happens when the bowler gets to the line in front of the bowling ball and tries to compensate by pulling the bowling shoulder forward to try to compensate. For a lefty, this means that when the should doesn't quite get the ball to where it should be, the miss will be to the left, and when the shoulder over compensates and gets the ball there too early, the miss will be to the right.

[bowl1820]

Find a qualified coach

Yes getting a coach is the best course of action if you truly want to improve Boatman. A good coach helps determines what's wrong and guides you on how to fix the problem. Now once the coach determines that problem and he tells you how to fix it, You'll still have to go to the lanes and practice that. Remember good practice is what helps you develop good muscle memory and habits for what your trying to do when the lights come on.

[boatman37]

I'm thinking my form/timing is pretty good when I'm going more or less straight but when trying to get my ball out to the left I'm getting out of whack. Found out a couple weeks ago there is a girl that works with my wife that is a certified coach. It's not through USBC though. Forget who it is but I mentioned it on here a couple of weeks ago. Thought about seeing if she might want to work with me. Her mother bowls with us Tuesday nights but in the womens league at the other end of our center.

This would all have to wait until the job thing is sorted out. I work for a company that does federal contracting and my company lost the contract. I have signed an offer letter from the new company but no dates are set and there may be a gap in my employment for who knows how long. Hopefully no gap at all but right now nobody knows for sure.

I have noticed that on nights I'm not striking good my spare conversion is pretty good but on nights my strikes are on I struggle with spares. Lately my strike % has been between 50-60% but my spare conversion is about 65-70%.

[boatman37]

Sanded the Rhino to 3000 matte today. Tonight I was 5/6 on 7 pins (missed the first one then made the next 5), and was 92% on single pins (12/13) and 4/4 on multi pins. Can't say for sure the new surface was the reason but it worked for tonight.

[RobLV1]

Sanded the Rhino to 3000 matte today. Tonight I was 5/6 on 7 pins (missed the first one then made the next 5), and was 92% on single pins (12/13) and 4/4 on multi pins. Can't say for sure the new surface was the reason but it worked for tonight.

I must say that I am rarely surprised by any posting I see here, but you did it with this one. Mostly I hear from long time bowlers things that indicate that they think that their physical abilities, or lack there of, are totally responsible for their bowling successes and failures. They disregard the differences between bowling balls, changing lane conditions, topography, and effects of other bowlers in favor of how they throw each shot. You've gone totally in the other direction. Spare shooting does not take power, it does not take ball speed, it does not take hook, it simply takes accuracy. Accuracy is tied to timing. When your accuracy is lacking, it's usually because your timing is off. How is it that you think that changing the surface on your bowling ball will have any effect on your accuracy? Sometimes it's O.K. to take credit for your own bowling ability rather than your ability to use sandpaper! LOL

[boatman37]

I must say that I am rarely surprised by any posting I see here, but you did it with this one. Mostly I hear from long time bowlers things that indicate that they think that their physical abilities, or lack there of, are totally responsible for their bowling successes and failures. They disregard the differences between bowling balls, changing lane conditions, topography, and effects of other bowlers in favor of how they throw each shot. You've gone totally in the other direction. Spare shooting does not take power, it does not take ball speed, it does not take hook, it simply takes accuracy. Accuracy is tied to timing. When your accuracy is lacking, it's usually because your timing is off. How is it that you think that changing the surface on your bowling ball will have any effect on your accuracy? Sometimes it's O.K. to take credit for your own bowling ability rather than your ability to use sandpaper! LOL

Pretty sure my accuracy had something to do with it but have to say my accuracy on my strike balls was off last night. But by adding a little surface I'm sure I saved a couple of potential missed 7's last night. A couple of them got to the edge of the gutter a little early but hung on where in the last few weeks it slid right off with the polished surface. A few of my 7's were dead on last night but at least 2 rode the ledge for a few feet. Just wish I could put a night together where both are working, strikes and spares. Seems I can get one or the other but not both.

[RobLV1]

It just so happens that this year I am bowling in an almost-scratch trios league with a bowler who also insists on using a non-aggressive reactive ball to shoot at ten pins (he's a righty). He's pretty good at riding the friction and picking them up most of the time EXCEPT when he comes up in the tenth frame of a close game (he's the lead-off bowler) where we need a mark. If he happens to leave a ten, he will miss it for the simple reason that to pick it up, he has to be perfect, and the more pressure, the harder it is to be perfect. If you are ever in Vegas, let me know and I'll introduce you to him.

[boatman37]

I usually do better under pressure. Back in the early 90's I was anchor and when it was down to the 10th and a tight game I would walk up and say 'Hamma Time' (I was using a Brunswick back then...lol). But I enjoyed being the one the team relied on at the end. But back then I was one of the top 5 or so in our league. But for me it seems I have to be a little more perfect with less traction. I'm sure there is some mental aspect to that too but I know if I miss outside with a little friction it is more likely to hold on but if I miss outside with no friction it will drop off. I have a teammate that uses his strikeball for 7's (he is a lefty too). He doesn't even go cross alley. His ball turns hard right at the breakpoint but somehow he can keep it on that edge most of the time. It does break and catch the inside of the 7 but he also misses it quite a bit too. He is even more stubborn that me about it...lol. I mentioned to him about trying a different ball for 7s but he has a DV8 Pitbull with a 1000 matte finish and uses it for every ball he throws. He stands slightly left of center and throws right down about the 1st arrow.

On my first 7 pin last night I missed my mark at the arrows to the outside by a board or 2. The next few were right on it. Overall last night was a struggle with consistency but seems like I was good when it came to spare shooting. But I did use my normal release for the 7 pin instead of trying to flatten out my hand so I'm sure that helped.