What is your best tip on making 10 pin spares? Or 7 pin if you're a lefty.

[vdubtx]

^^This is a great tip.

One thing I've had trouble with this season is the 4-7. I keep picking the 7 off somehow, and then when I adjust, I start picking off the 4. I'm less than 60% on the 4-7 this year.

I had a session with Susie Minshew last year and we discussed the exact thing of shooting at multi pin spares. She has an article on Bowling This Month that covers this.

Here is part of what she wrote in her article "Never Shoot a Single Pin Again":

Regardless of what’s standing, shoot something else
One of the best ways I know to conquer sparing ills is to never shoot a spare alone. By this I mean that regardless of what’s standing up, you are shooting at something else. Here’s how it works:

Let’s say you leave a 3 pin. Don’t just shoot that lonely 3 pin. Decide you will shoot it as though it were the 3/9, the 3/10, or even more fun, something with the 3/7 in it. We’ll start with the 3/10.

Let’s say you line up and roll your shot, smashing the 3 pin in the face. In fact, you hit it so squarely, it looked like the ball was chasing the pin off the deck as it hit it again on the way back. (My coach, Bill Harris, used to tell me that counted as a double!)

You’ve made the 3 pin spare, of course, and now you get to slap everybody’s hand and take a card to see if you got your full house yet. In your heart, though, you know it wasn’t good enough. You’ll know that if you leave the 3/10, you are not lined up to make it.

So, you earn your slash mark by making the spare, you’ve learned how to spare the 3/9 if you should leave it, AND you know how much to move to make the 3/10. That’s a lot of information from one simple shot!

Never turn your back on a shot whether you think you’ve missed it or made it. You’ve got to pay close attention to how you hit that 3 so you get the maximum benefit from your conversion – not just the eleven points added to your next shot but the wonderful information of how to make a spare you haven’t even left, without having to miss it for real.

The same approach (pun intended) is true for all single pin spares. You’ll shoot the 4 as if it were the 4/9 or 4/10. You already know that you always shoot for the 4 and 7 pins, whether both pins are there or not. If you shoot the 4 as if it were the 4/9 or the 4/10 and you hit it in the face, you’ll know you need to move more to make either one of those spares. If you make the imaginary 4/9, you’ll know how to make the Greek Church.

Shoot the 6 as if it were the 6/7 or 6/7/10. This is also a great way to stop chopping the 6/10 spare. You’ll notice you almost never miss the 6/10 if the 7 is with it and in the very same game, chop it if the 7 pin isn’t there. This will also work for the 4/10 or 4/7/10. (I once had a spare ball that seemed to shrink up as it got to the corner just so it could miss the 6 and hit the 10!)

[AlexNC]

I use plastic for my 10 pin spares and have struggled to an extent lately. My thumbhole on my spare ball feels slightly different and I often have problems releasing it early no matter how snug it is. Gonna have to get a new slug soon or I'm gonna go nuts.

[Aslan]

That's actually one of the rare Suzie Minshew articles I disagree with.

Her premise is that if you can hit a 10-pin and a 6-pin...you just "pretend" that you're shooting one of those and forget the other pin is there.

Now, in the case of a 2-8 or 6-9-10...maybe that makes sense. But I've chopped a LOT of 6-10s and 4-7s...and rarely would imagining other pins were there...would that have helped.

And I've never understood the idea of targeting the pins or reflection further down lane. That tends to be counter to the age old thinking that targeting the pins is detrimental to bowling. It's like the 1st or 2nd thing you learn about bowling as a kid, "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows".

I've also tried 2-point targeting...didn't work either...hard to find that sweet spot where you switch your eyes from one spot to the next without yanking your head up.

So, to answer the question of the OP...here are the things that have worked for me:

1) Plastic ball for all corner pins, 6-10s, 4-7s, 4-7-8s, and 6-9-10s.
If you can get away with throwing one strike ball at your spares doing a 3-6-9 or 4-8-12 adjustment laterally...just realize that won't work forever.

2) Have a coach help you get lined up so for each single corner-pin...you know where to stand and what to aim at.

3) If you struggle...practice. Play low-ball...just shoot at corner pins for 1-6 games. You want to get to a point where it's not scary...it's simply routine...and you're confident.

4) If you have a tendency to miss for mental reasons...try to focus on something else other than hitting your mark. For me, I focus on my release. Even though it's a plastic ball and on fresh conditions it really doesn't matter what the axis tilt is...by focusing on the release instead of the shot...I actually 'trick' myself into not worrying about it.

My 2 cents...

[GeoLes]

I had a session with Susie Minshew last year and we discussed the exact thing of shooting at multi pin spares. She has an article on Bowling This Month that covers this.

Here is part of what she wrote in her article "Never Shoot a Single Pin Again":

Awesome advise. I was just sharing similar advise with a friend Monday night. He was making individual adjustments to shoot each spare individually and I advised him to watch the path of his first ball through the pins and where it fall off the pin deck. He noticed 1-3-5 and maybe 7 pin. I told him if the 5 pin were not there to deflect the ball it would cut the right side of the 8-pin instead, so a first ball can be used to pick up any of those pins, no adjustment necessary.(or vary little depending on the exact ball path).

This takes that info to a higher level. I just learned the value of practicing by throwing at pins that are not there. I have been trying it, throwing at a full rack to make the 2-8 and 3-9 double woods. now I can see working on the splits the same way.

Great advise.

Thanks

[NewToBowling]

I know for the 3-10 split (very common for me) I just imagine the 6 still there and aiming directly at it. Works most of the time

[bowl1820]

And I've never understood the idea of targeting the pins or reflection further down lane. That tends to be counter to the age old thinking that targeting the pins is detrimental to bowling. It's like the 1st or 2nd thing you learn about bowling as a kid, "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows".

I think your taking two different "targeting" ideas and confusing them together.

The old "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows" is not the same thing as "targeting" a certain pin or combination of pins in a spare leave to pick it up.

I might not quite say this well here but,

The "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows" had to do with the target bowlers were looking and aiming at. Coaches would tell bowlers who were "Pin bowlers" meaning those who looked at the pins to target them, to look at the arrows and target them. Because it was easier to hit a target 15' away from you than one 60' away. (though today instead of the arrows, more players have started targeting the breakpoint.)

While "targeting" a certain key pin (or a spot where a missing pin usually stands) or combination of pins in a spare leave to pick it up. Doesn't necessarily mean that's what your looking at, it just means that's the target you want to hit with the ball to pick up that spare.

[billf]

I had a session with Susie Minshew last year and we discussed the exact thing of shooting at multi pin spares. She has an article on Bowling This Month that covers this.

Here is part of what she wrote in her article "Never Shoot a Single Pin Again":

I feel so stupid. I have been shooting the 4 and 6 pins as if the 9 and 7 were there yet move when the 6-10 or 4-7 were left. DUH! Definiitely a case of me over-thinking instead of KISS. Thanks for the slap to the back of the head.

[mc_runner]

I think your taking two different "targeting" ideas and confusing them together.

The old "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows" is not the same thing as "targeting" a certain pin or combination of pins in a spare leave to pick it up.

I might not quite say this well here but,

The "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows" had to do with the target bowlers were looking and aiming at. Coaches would tell bowlers who were "Pin bowlers" meaning those who looked at the pins to target them, to look at the arrows and target them. Because it was easier to hit a target 15' away from you than one 60' away. (though today instead of the arrows, more players have started targeting the breakpoint.)

While "targeting" a certain key pin (or a spot where a missing pin usually stands) or combination of pins in a spare leave to pick it up. Doesn't necessarily mean that's what your looking at, it just means that's the target you want to hit with the ball to pick up that spare.

I figured it was because with a single pin, you don't have to worry about the angle you hit it at for carry.

Edit: I mean that if you're hooking the ball, you want to aim for a spot that is not in line with the pin you're shooting at. I suppose you could aim for the 3-pin or 6-pin or something but again, if you're "trying" to hit the 3 or 6 pin on your target that's probably counterproductive. Arrows give you an actual spot to aim for and hit.

[billf]

One thing I noticed with some of the anwers: "I stand at the far left dot...." Not all centers have the same number of dots on the approach. My home center has 7 (5 board, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35). Another house I go to only has the middle five.
Sounds silly but I stand and target exact boards not dots or arrows. If you're aiming somewhere betweeen two arrows then that's a five in variance.

[RobLV1]

I think your taking two different "targeting" ideas and confusing them together.

The old "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows" is not the same thing as "targeting" a certain pin or combination of pins in a spare leave to pick it up.

I might not quite say this well here but,

The "don't aim for the pins, aim for the arrows" had to do with the target bowlers were looking and aiming at. Coaches would tell bowlers who were "Pin bowlers" meaning those who looked at the pins to target them, to look at the arrows and target them. Because it was easier to hit a target 15' away from you than one 60' away. (though today instead of the arrows, more players have started targeting the breakpoint.)

While "targeting" a certain key pin (or a spot where a missing pin usually stands) or combination of pins in a spare leave to pick it up. Doesn't necessarily mean that's what your looking at, it just means that's the target you want to hit with the ball to pick up that spare.

There is often another factor involved in targeting strategies. Personally, I'm right handed, but left eye dominant. Targeting at the arrows is impossible for me as by vision has not yet "come together" at the arrows. When I try to hit a target at the arrows, I miss by five boards. Two boards I can live with, but five boards is just way too uncomfortable. It was Joe Sloinski's article on left eye dominant bowlers that substantiated what I had come up with on my own: left eye dominant right handed bowers have to target much further down the lane to have the target mean anything at all.