playing the middle (inside the 10)

[boatman37]

Yeah, for me anything inside the 10 is 'inside'. So lately the outsides have been very dry and that's where I like to play but last week I had to move inside. So for a slightly speed dominant bowler playing in the oil I'm guessing I want something that will read the lane sooner? I have been leaving my Kingpin home since I don't have any room in my bag. I do have my Conspiracy but it's at 3000. Wondering if I should take the Kingpin at 1000 in case I need to play deeper in the oil? With the Squatch and Black Widow Gold at the 10-12 board there was a slight hook but at the 15 board they were pretty straight.

[mc_runner]

That's what practice is for, and why different balls are important. A benchmark will give you a read on the lanes - a couple of shots and you will hopefully know what you'll need to do for that night. The inside line can be a real benefit for you when the outside or track area is fried. Playing with the surface is also good, especially if its with a ball you're maybe not using as much... there's nothing to lose at that point, so try 1000 and see what it does on an inside line.

Finally, where I personally run into problems when I have good looks with multiple lines in practice. I can throw over 14 out to 5 and strike solidly and then try from 11-8 an d strike solidly (sometimes same ball, sometimes different... solid vs pearl, etc). I've had times where the game starts and I take 4 frames to figure out that even though I had a good look with both in practice, I started off with the "wrong" ball.

[RobLV1]

You really need to learn to look at the lanes differently: to move inside of ten, you need to look at the ball in terms of roll rather than hook. When you play in the dirt (outside of ten) you are pointing the ball at the pocket which often leads to artificially trying to make the ball hook. When you move into the oil, you need to see the friction that is past the pattern rather than the friction that is outside of the pattern like you are used to. The ball doesn't need to hook to strike; it does need to achieve maximum roll at the proper time to reach maximum power at the pins.

[boatman37]

You really need to learn to look at the lanes differently: to move inside of ten, you need to look at the ball in terms of roll rather than hook. When you play in the dirt (outside of ten) you are pointing the ball at the pocket which often leads to artificially trying to make the ball hook. When you move into the oil, you need to see the friction that is past the pattern rather than the friction that is outside of the pattern like you are used to. The ball doesn't need to hook to strike; it does need to achieve maximum roll at the proper time to reach maximum power at the pins.

When you say 'pointing at the pocket' do you mean a straight ball angled to the pocket? If so that isn't the case with mine. Mine rides about the 7 board until the breakpoint then hooks in. But nights like last week it was too dry out there and the ball would not skid, just roll. I'll admit I haven't spent enough time playing the 'inside' but when I do I seem to leave alot of 5's and 9's (lefty). Like my ball deflects too much off the 1-2. Maybe I need to hit a little higher in the pocket when it's that straight? I have been working on slowing my speed down though which should get a little more reaction once it hits the end of the pattern? Will see how tonight goes if I need to play inside.

[boatman37]

Well tonight I played about 1/2 the night around the 10-12 board. When I played anywhere outside there I was coming across the head pin with the Conspiracy, Squatch and Black Widow Gold. Even on the 10 board I had to move right a couple of boards to keep it on the left side of the head pin. Talked to the PSO tonight and he said nothing has changed with the lanes or oil and he said he hasn't seen a difference. I dunno. Anyway, struggled playing the inside. Kept leaving pocket 7's then started pulling my shots and going Brooklyn. I'll keep working on it but even around 10-12 boards my ball was hooking quite a bit (all 3).

[RobLV1]

If your ball was still hooking playing 10 to 12, you probably didn't move in far enough. You mention leaving "pocket 7's", but were they ringing sevens or weak sevens? Since you were still crossing over, I'm guessing weak sevens that result from too much friction. Try moving in to 13-14, Mikey, you might like it!

[SRB57]

Like RobLV1 said you got to move in especially on a house shot. Last night I was standing 35 and swinging inside the third arrow (right handed). If you are leaving weak 7's you need to move. Watch your ball go through the pins and if it goes off to the left thats no good it needs to split the 8 and 9 and you can tell. According to my bowler ID specs I am a low rev guy which I don't believe but I play deep on house. Try and make a big move and when you do commit to it. Steve

[boatman37]

Thanks guys. I did think about moving a little further in but it's so far out of my comfort zone...lol. And from what I could tell they looked like flat 7's but not 100% positive. It only happened twice but it was back to back so I made a move. Both shots looked identical

[boatman37]

My attitude has gotten a little better the last few days. If I encounter the same conditions I will play more inside and adapt. It's either that or get a ball that fits between the BWG and the Rhino. Or change up my release to take revs away. But makes no sense for a low rev player to try to decrease revs so I will try to adapt

[boatman37]

Well played the 10 board all night tonight. Might not sound like much but I'm not comfortable playing there and usually struggle by pulling the ball but forced myself to stay there and get used to it. Plan was to move even further inside if I needed to but even with 5 lefties on our pair I still stayed in the same spot. I did adjust my speed a little to adjust to lane changes but it was minimal. For the most part did very well throwing the 10 board. Stood on about 20-21 board and threw over the 10 board at the arrows. Early on ball was going out to about the 8 board at the breakpoint but as I had to pick up speed it pretty much stayed straight. Talked to PSO when I got there and he said lanes were pretty wet last week. Last week I couldn't keep it on the left side of the head pin. I even dusted off the Kingpin and hit it with a fresh 1500 pad in case I had to play deep inside. I tried it a few times in warmpups targeting the 3rd arrow and it looked god but never had to try it in the games. Used the Conspiracy all night except the first half of game 2 when I tried the Squatch but the problems there were me and not the ball. Switched back to the Conspiracy near the end of game 2 and stuck with it the rest of the night.

[boatman37]

So in order to keep my ball selection limited to what fits in my bag I left the Kingpin at home but hit the Conspiracy with a fresh 1500. Warmups tried it at the 3rd arrow and it looked pretty good. Only tried it once in the games and pulled the shot but was happy with how it looked in the warmup throw. Now I have that option in my bag every week.

[RobLV1]

Okay, I've been putting off writing this just because I'm getting lazy in my old age. You post that you had a pretty good look at the third arrow, but you didn't use it even though YOU SHOT 136 IN GAME 3!!?!! How bad does it have to get before you abandon your comfort zone? With 5 lefties on the pair, you need to adjust like a right-hander. Back in the day (70's and 80's) we were all looking for friction because balls were very weak and lane surfaces were wood. Lefties either had it real good or real bad depending on how much friction they could find on the outside. Today, with strong balls and synthetic lanes, we are looking just as hard for oil as we used to look for friction. Every shot that is thrown with a reactive ball takes oil off of the lane. A few years ago, Gold Coach Joe Slowinski wrote and article about El Dorado and El Diablo. El Dorado is the good friction that brings the ball into the pocket. El Diablo is the bad friction that robs the ball of its energy, leaving it unable to get back to the pocket. At some point during play, particularly when several players are playing in the same area, we start to see a "Y" shape at the end of the pattern where shots missed outside can't make it back to the pocket, and shots missed inside dive through the nose leaving horrendous splits. Sloinski's words of wisdom; "The question is, when you see the "Y", why are you still playing there?"

[SRB57]

So in order to keep my ball selection limited to what fits in my bag I left the Kingpin at home but hit the Conspiracy with a fresh 1500. Warmups tried it at the 3rd arrow and it looked pretty good. Only tried it once in the games and pulled the shot but was happy with how it looked in the warmup throw. Now I have that option in my bag every week.

Like RobV1 said if you got a good look at the third arrow committ to it and move in. You have a decent rev rate and would love to have your ball speed. If you are on a THS put a litttle more surface on and try it. I was on second shift last night and was standing 32 to start and targeting 3rd arrow and had no trouble getting the ball back to the pocket. Like I said you have to belive in the move. It will work. Steve

[boatman37]

Looking back I wish I had stuck with it but game 3 I started to struggle with accuracy. Not so sure the lanes caused that. I did try the 3rd arrow once later in game 3 and tugged the shot (about the 7th frame). Since it was a close game at the time I thought it might be better to get a good pin count than to try a new line. In the end we won that game by 62 so I would have had error room but at the time it was a close game. And yes, I do need to trust myself more. I had the Conspiracy at 3000 but knew that wouldn't be enough in the oil so hit it with a 1500 the other day. I noticed the other higher rev lefty on my team was playing deeper inside than I was (his average is 204) but the other high rev lefty on the other team (averages about 210-215) stayed out around the 10 board all game and rolled a 143 in game 3 (after a 223 and 207). I'm wondering if me being out where he was messed up his line which he might not be used to? But he is very knowledgeable about the game and stuck with the same ball and same line all night.

[RobLV1]

I've said this many, many times before, but here goes one more time: you can strike on any line you choose, if you throw the shot perfectly. When you are playing the correct line, you don't have to be perfect. I have a hunch that the lack of accuracy that you perceive in game three was specifically because you were trying to play the "Y" and misses outside missed outside, and misses inside went through the nose, because you had no room. Please, please stop with the excuses and MOVE!!!

[boatman37]

I've said this many, many times before, but here goes one more time: you can strike on any line you choose, if you throw the shot perfectly. When you are playing the correct line, you don't have to be perfect. I have a hunch that the lack of accuracy that you perceive in game three was specifically because you were trying to play the "Y" and misses outside missed outside, and misses inside went through the nose, because you had no room. Please, please stop with the excuses and MOVE!!!

I actually hope you are right Rob. It would be easier to fix a stubborness to move than it would to figure out why all of the sudden I can't hit my target for no reason. But yeah I am starting to move out of my comfort zone more and more. In the past I have stayed out around the 5-7 board as long as I could (and even longer). Last week I didn't go out there at all and last night I went out there for 2 shots to try it then went right back to the 10 board.

And yep, I agree with the 'miss room' comment. I have told teammates that before. When you find the right line you have a little room for error. I can find that sometimes but I think when I do it's usually cause it fell into my lap. Seems like that line fell into my lap in game 2 last night. It seemed to get better as the night went on until the end of game 2. I didn't make any adjustments until the start of game 3 when I tried a ball change, tried moving back out to the 75-7 board for 2 shots, and tried the 15 board for 1 shot, then went back to where I started. Next week we bowl a bunch of righties so might not get as bad next week but I will definitely be willing to move in if I see the same thing happen again. Boy, Wednesday afternoon quarterbacking is easy...lol

Another question...that other hi rev lefty I mentioned from the other team...In warmups he throws his first few shots on each lane very casually. Just walks up to the line and swings it out there. I had thought before that it was just him loosening up but last night I watched him and he stood and watched his ball the whole way. This was nowhere close to a competitive shot. Does he do that to try to find the end of the pattern? Or something else? Or is he just loosening up? His ball goes pretty straight up the 10 board to the breakpoint and turns hard right with alot of revs. Even on these warmup shots he still gets revs and it still breaks pretty hard at the end but it usually crosses way past the head pin.

[J Anderson]

Another question...that other hi rev lefty I mentioned from the other team...In warmups he throws his first few shots on each lane very casually. Just walks up to the line and swings it out there. I had thought before that it was just him loosening up but last night I watched him and he stood and watched his ball the whole way. This was nowhere close to a competitive shot. Does he do that to try to find the end of the pattern? Or something else? Or is he just loosening up? His ball goes pretty straight up the 10 board to the breakpoint and turns hard right with alot of revs. Even on these warmup shots he still gets revs and it still breaks pretty hard at the end but it usually crosses way past the head pin.

It’s probably a bit of both. Even though we have our youth league bowlers do about ten minutes of exercises and stretches before the lanes get turned on, we tell them to take the first few shots at 50% effort to make sure they are loose. By the way I have never seen any of them do this but hope springs eternal. By throwing the ball without much speed but normal revs and rotation, the guy in your league should be able to tell where the oil ends.

[ALazySavage]

Another question...that other hi rev lefty I mentioned from the other team...In warmups he throws his first few shots on each lane very casually. Just walks up to the line and swings it out there. I had thought before that it was just him loosening up but last night I watched him and he stood and watched his ball the whole way. This was nowhere close to a competitive shot. Does he do that to try to find the end of the pattern? Or something else? Or is he just loosening up? His ball goes pretty straight up the 10 board to the breakpoint and turns hard right with alot of revs. Even on these warmup shots he still gets revs and it still breaks pretty hard at the end but it usually crosses way past the head pin.

In my situation it is a combination of both reasons, it is a really easy way to add to your warm-up and ease into the night and also is a very easy way to get a ballpark idea of where the end of the pattern is. Without going into too much detail (could bore the death out of people) the first few shots are warm-up/read the approximate end of the pattern, this then gives me an idea of where I want the ball to be when I am exiting the pattern. At that point I can throw one or two shots with different projection angles to that spot to see what kind of recovery I get with each shot, then it is just a matter of determining if I like any of those looks and if I have the necessary "tools in my toolbox" to make that work (with some additional time to throw a few more shots in different areas to scout out the rest of the lane).