10 Pin Shooting

[Cdolcejr]

I've been down this road. Three things more that I tried:
1) Used of my 50+ year old Black Beauty.
2) Tried a Columbia White Dot.
3) Tried a conventional grip on a Storm Polar Ice urethane ball.

Today I use a Storm Mix urethane drilled exactly like my reactive resin balls (right-handed). I stand with the middle of my slide foot on board 29 and aim at board 9 at the range finder at about 40 feet (or use board 14 or 15 at the arrows). Once I angled my shoulders and swing towards my target while continuing to walk straight up the boards (i.e., perpendicular to the foul line) my ability to hit the 10 pin improved drastically. I don't wince now when leaving them and have every confidence in picking it up. Hope this helps... Works for me...

What made you switch from the plastic white dot to urethane?

[Mark O]

I can second a lot of what has been said in this thread, especially what was said by Vdub as the advice he gave is the advice that really put my 10 pin shooting over the top this season. I used to use my strike ball for every spare and was lingering around 50% on my 10 pin conversions. I switched to plastic this past season, shot over the 3rd arrow, and I jumped up to about 80% on my conversions. Towards the end of the season I was given the advice to focus on the pin instead and I converted 22 straight at one point and ultimately ended the season by making 36 of my last 38 10 pins. I realize it is a small sample size but I have no doubts that I'm much better at it now than I ever have been.

It's ultimately about what works best for you and finding a way to consistently and confidently convert the spare. But judging by your average I think it's safe to say you are pretty good at hitting what you are looking at so you might as well give targeting the pin a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised.

[Cdolcejr]

I can second a lot of what has been said in this thread, especially what was said by Vdub as the advice he gave is the advice that really put my 10 pin shooting over the top this season. I used to use my strike ball for every spare and was lingering around 50% on my 10 pin conversions. I switched to plastic this past season, shot over the 3rd arrow, and I jumped up to about 80% on my conversions. Towards the end of the season I was given the advice to focus on the pin instead and I converted 22 straight at one point and ultimately ended the season by making 36 of my last 38 10 pins. I realize it is a small sample size but I have no doubts that I'm much better at it now than I ever have been.

It's ultimately about what works best for you and finding a way to consistently and confidently convert the spare. But judging by your average I think it's safe to say you are pretty good at hitting what you are looking at so you might as well give targeting the pin a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Definitely worth a shot. That might be the only thing I haven't tried yet. I'll see how it goes tonight.

[RobLV1]

For those of you who are usually pretty good at picking up tens, but go through periods of missing, look at your timing. Work on posting every shot you throw; strikes and spares alike. I think you'll find that once you fix your timing, you'll be back on track picking up ten pins.

[John Anderson]

I'm using my old bash to shoot spares because I haven't bought a spare ball yet. I'm thinking about buying one, but I'm not sure that I really need once since I'm not doing tournaments or anything too serious. I can't justify spending $175 for a new ball.drilling plus a new bag when I pretty much bowl for fun.

[djp1080]

What made you switch from the plastic white dot to urethane?

Like you I tried everything under the sun. I was losing many of my attempts into the channel. I first thought that a bit of hold in the last 20 feet or so might help keep the ball on the lane. So the urethane ball moved slightly on the back end which gave me just the right amount of cushion and later confidence. Two things though... Moving my shoulders and swing was likely the biggest physical aid that helped. Secondly, Rob's articles in Bowling This Month regarding spare shooting were an inspiration, especially seeing his photo shots of the lanes. I finally realized that the middle of the 10 pin sits about on board 3 rather than board 5. Rolling a pretty straight shot and getting it over board 8 or 9 at 40 feet should be plenty good enough (near the tip of those range finders). Laying the ball down on about board 20 or 21 was just about right. Hope this helps...

[RobLV1]

I'm using my old bash to shoot spares because I haven't bought a spare ball yet. I'm thinking about buying one, but I'm not sure that I really need once since I'm not doing tournaments or anything too serious. I can't justify spending $175 for a new ball.drilling plus a new bag when I pretty much bowl for fun.

Most proshops offer plastic spare balls for $60-$70 drilled. My advice is to go with a less expensive strike ball than you are considering in the other post, and spend the difference on a spare ball.

[RobLV1]

I think that a lot of the problem with shooting ten pins comes from the stress involved in the fear of missing. The stress results in fast feet that results in late timing which results in misses to the right. Often bowlers realize this and slow their feet down too much which results in early timing and missing to the left. Consider this: When you shoot at a single five pin, you have the pin that is 4 3/4" wide, plus 8 1/2" on the left side (the bowling ball is 8 3/4" in diameter), and 8 1/2" on the right side - that is a target that is 21 3/4" wide! With a ten pin, you still have the 4 3/4" for the pin, 8 1/2" to the left of the pin, and 4 1/4" to the right (1/2 of the diameter of the ball). That is still a target that is 18" wide. To put this in perspective, a standard shoe box is 11 1/2" long. Could you hit a shoe box that is on the far right side of the pin deck? Of course you could!

Once you put the task in perspective, hopefully it will help you to free up your armswing and just let the ball go. Unless, of course, you are one of the 18% above that chooses to use a reactive ball to shoot the ten pin, in which case I have no sympathy for you at all. 99% of the top bowlers in the world throw plastic for a reason!

[John Anderson]

Most proshops offer plastic spare balls for $60-$70 drilled. My advice is to go with a less expensive strike ball than you are considering in the other post, and spend the difference on a spare ball.

It's $81 (including 8% sales tax) for me to get any spare ball since I want grips and slugs. That equates to about $40ish for the ball itself and $35 for drilling + slug/grips, so that's still cheaper than online. Plus, my pro shop guy is awesome, so I'll see if he will cut me a break for buying two balls from him plus a bag at once. If I can sneak in two balls plus a 2 ball roller in for ~$250-$260 I'll do it. I'm waiting to talk to the guy until I'm ready to make my purchases.

I know that using a spare ball will increase spares converted, but I'm pretty happy now since I'm averaging about 185 at the moment, and really need to get better at reading the lanes to bump my average up. I figure a new ball will help anyways since I'm due for a span adjustment.

[Mike White]

I think that a lot of the problem with shooting ten pins comes from the stress involved in the fear of missing. The stress results in fast feet that results in late timing which results in misses to the right. Often bowlers realize this and slow their feet down too much which results in early timing and missing to the left. Consider this: When you shoot at a single five pin, you have the pin that is 4 3/4" wide, plus 8 1/2" on the left side (the bowling ball is 8 3/4" in diameter), and 8 1/2" on the right side - that is a target that is 21 3/4" wide! With a ten pin, you still have the 4 3/4" for the pin, 8 1/2" to the left of the pin, and 4 1/4" to the right (1/2 of the diameter of the ball). That is still a target that is 18" wide. To put this in perspective, a standard shoe box is 11 1/2" long. Could you hit a shoe box that is on the far right side of the pin deck? Of course you could!

Once you put the task in perspective, hopefully it will help you to free up your armswing and just let the ball go. Unless, of course, you are one of the 18% above that chooses to use a reactive ball to shoot the ten pin, in which case I have no sympathy for you at all. 99% of the top bowlers in the world throw plastic for a reason!

Amazing bad math.


The "perfect" shot has the ball hitting the 5 pin exactly in the center of the pin.

Lets calculate how much off of perfect you can be and still hit the 5 pin.

The pin is 4 3/4" wide, and the ball is 8 1/2" wide, so if you are more than 6 5/8" off of perfect, you miss the pin.

That's 1/2 the width of the pin, plus 1/2 the width of the ball.

Since you have that room for error both left and right, you have a total area of 13 1/4" to hit the 5 pin.

Things are different for a 10 pin.

You have the same 6 5/8" before you miss on the left, but only 2 3/4" on the right before the ball is off the edge of the lane.

Thats a total of 9 3/8" for a 10 pin.

You can add a small amount to that because it's possible to hit the 10 pin as the ball is barely falling off the edge of the lane.