I just started back in a league after a 13 year layoff, and one thing I picked up from this forum is how important it is to alter your ball speed to suit the conditions. I never really paid much attention to my ball speed until last night. I usually throw around 16 mph, but I lowered that to around 14.5 mph for the first game (where I usually struggle to get any kind of reaction). While the Marauder did not turn into a heavy oil ball, that change in speed did allow me to keep basically the same target (12 to 8) as in my last game. Pretty cool.
Style: 14-16 mph, 275-300 revs
Stats: 170-180 average, 257 high game, 649 high series
In the Bag: DV8 Marauder Madness and Marauder
I throw two balls that are pretty different. With my Misfit I will stand at board 25 and my target is 15. With my Hammer I will stand on 15 and throw at 11. I've actually never paid attention to what board my breakpoint is at. Looks like I have something to pay attention to in my league tonight!
All depends on what the lanes give me. Tonight, when I'm at league, I'll probably start around 23-24, hit the arrows around 12, have it break at at 8-9 board and snap in from there.
Lately, at my lessons, I've been doing 30-15-10 because they are drier on the outsides so I need the inside oil.
Other times I've played straight up the five board.
Given that we are talking our home center on a THS, I play where I feel like at that time. Up 3. Or like last night lay at 40, cross at 22 break at 3. With my rev rate I have no problem getting to the pocket with my breakpoint at the third board no matter where I start from.
If you watch the top players on any shot, their break point on a good shot will be the same no matter the style or speed used to get it there. The lanes/conditions dictate the ideal break point.
USBC SILVER CERTIFIED COACH
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Owner/Operator of Bowlerz Score Coaching
Tweener Rev Rate of 420, Speed 19 mph
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Key Bowling Coaching Staff
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Former Staff Bowler at www.BowlerX.com
Exactly. My team in Reno went out with a gameplan. We picked one board for our breakpoint and broke it down. We all had very different shots, but we all ended the same spot.Originally Posted by billf
Tonight I started with about 20-12-8 (Dots-Arrows-Breakpoint) with my Sync. Once I dried that line up, I switched to my Frantic and went about 15-10-8. Dried that up, switched to my Tropical Breeze, went 12-10-8. It was just a matter of getting each ball to that same breakpoint and then watching with glee as they snapped into the pocket.
Right now i'm playing between the 11-14 board for last couple weeks and have managed a 194 avg,which is 19 pins above current avg. I was playing the 10 board.
Zothen
Our league night gets fresh oil before we bowl. At practice before it counts I will start out with the arch of my slide foot-I am a lefty- on
boards 15 to 20 and throw over the second arrow/board 10 and see where the breakpoint works best from. When the alleys break down
or on drier alley nights I will stand with my slide foot arch on board 26 to 28 throwing over the 3rd arrow from the left to a breakpoint
from board 3 to 9. It is hard to believe that I can do this with a urethane ball. My Blue Hammer has a nice controlled arc to the pocket.
I'm also a farily high rev thrower, so I am usually starting around 30-35 (depends on lane) and target 15-17. I wish I could target break point, but 2 issues: (1) House lanes do not have markers down lane and
(2) even if they did, my poor 'ol eyes can't see the boards due to the glare of the lights anyhow....
Maybe I need some cool sunglasses like PDW???
I was initially taught to roll my ball through the second arrow. (a good starting point that might change as your game evolves). No I prefer the third arrow. Las tleague,play I dept gettin a lot of funky splits - meaning the ball path through the pins is too direct, so I moved to the second arrow instead. I will switch between the two arrows in order to remedy 7 or 10-pin leaves as well.
I live by three simples rules:
1. Don't ever ask about my business
2. Never discuss business at the table
3. Don't ever side with anyone against the family
My line varies depending on conditions. I sometimes will play straight down the five board, sometimes angle in from the corner, sometimes play straight up the ten board, and sometimes I'll throw from the twenty boards left of center and across the middle arrow. It's rare that I throw the exact same shot on two separate days because the center's lanes just are not that consistent in the oil pattern. Some days it's bone dry and some days they have a lot of oil on them.
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