Struggle Bus

[mx1alex]

Been a tough year so far. I've actually raised my average by a couple of pins from last year but my scores are all over the place. Having a very hard time staying on the right side of the head pin. I usually end up starting the night standing on the 30 board and end the night 35+. I feel like my ball hooks too much and goes brooklyn or when I do get it far enough out to the right it will hook but then it just straightens out into the pocket and I get no carry. Not sure if I described that well but basically I feel like my ball has done all it's action mid-lane and by the time it hits the pins it's rolling too straight. The ball is Cutting Edge Hybrid with a 500 and 2,000 Siaair Micro Pad finish? Would putting a smoother finish on there get my ball down the lane farther?

[Amyers]

From your post here my guess would be you are a lower speed bowler. Adding some polish may help this situation some. You might want to make sure your next ball has a higher rg then the cutting edge that's pretty similar to the Melee witch always rolled early for me.

[mx1alex]

I've thought about the speed thing as well. I use a 4-step approach, would a 5-step up my ball speed any. I know I don't have a very high back swing but it feels very uncomfortable to me. I've also thought about going to a two handed approach. I've done it a handful of times and it really does feel like I have more control, Just kinda scared to commit to it I guess.

[Amyers]

Speed problems are one of my big issues too. You may see a small increase in a 5 step but not much I doubt. Two handed I can comment on. I'd just fall down lol

[vdubtx]

I would also suspect a slower ball speed from the description. At what point on the lane are you aiming for? What is the break point you are looking to hit down the lane. Several years ago I also had some of the same trouble and I moved my entire line inside to about 14-15 at the arrows with a break point of about 8-9 down the lane. I certainly try not to get outside of this as hitting that friction will burn the ball's energy up early and either roll out or jump left of the head pin.

Focusing on the area I wanted to hit downlane, not at the arrows also helped me with my targeting when I am needing to project further down lane.

[djp1080]

I would also suspect a slower ball speed from the description. At what point on the lane are you aiming for? What is the break point you are looking to hit down the lane. Several years ago I also had some of the same trouble and I moved my entire line inside to about 14-15 at the arrows with a break point of about 8-9 down the lane. I certainly try not to get outside of this as hitting that friction will burn the ball's energy up early and either roll out or jump left of the head pin.

Focusing on the area I wanted to hit downlane, not at the arrows also helped me with my targeting when I am needing to project further down lane.

The lanes I bowl have the range finders making it a bit better to see the distance down the lane and seeing the breakpoint at around board 8.
I'd like to do what you're doing, but I've tended to targeting at the dots much of the time these days. Took a look at where the half-way point (30 feet) is by seeing that there are plastic covers along side the lanes. The 30 foot point has a place where two of the covers meet.
What area are you targeting at? How far down and what boards to achieve your ball rolling over board 14 at the arrows, etc.? What board do you lay the ball down? Thanks!

[vdubtx]

DJ, my target I look at to start the night is about 40 feet downlane at my intended breakpoint of about 8-9. I line up between 25-30 and lay down is at about the 17-18 or so. Not a huge swing of the lane by any means. As the night progresses, I typically move left with feet and target at arrows and shift focus even further down lane depending on how hard the ball is jumping once it hits break point.

[djp1080]

Thanks Vdubtx, I tried it this morning and was standing around 29 - 30 and started targeting board 10 at 30 feet or so. Had to get used to handling things that way and later switched to the arrows and was hitting 13 - 14 with some success. Stayed with this for the first two games, but my spare shots were terrible. Suffered all morning long unfortunately. Tried a different ball and that didn't help. I'll have to try this during a practice session to get more comfortable with this approach though. Used a Storm Soniq and a Hy-Road Nano. Both made the corner turns just fine. The bowler wasn't very helpful though. Hope you have a great holiday. Merry Christmas!

[mx1alex]

I kinda do the three point targeting deal. I usually focus at the 8 board about 40' down and mentally draw a line from there, through the arrows and dots, and to the foul line. On my approach I look at the dots but try to keep a mental picture of that line in my head.

[djp1080]

I kinda do the three point targeting deal. I usually focus at the 8 board about 40' down and mentally draw a line from there, through the arrows and dots, and to the foul line. On my approach I look at the dots but try to keep a mental picture of that line in my head.

Mx1, I've read about the 3-point targeting method and tried it a few times.
What's interesting is that earlier this week I was using my Storm Code X which is probably the most aggressive ball I have. I found that by laying it down on about board 18 and targeting board 13.5 I had a nice path to the pocket; however, if I rolled it straight the ball would likely hit board 9 at the arrows and head right toward the gutter at about 30 feet down the lane. It would be kind of difficult to use 3-point targeting in this case unless you'd look at the lane to the right of you. Perhaps I should have moved more to the left and targeted elsewhere. Things worked well for me though. Don't know what I could have done if I laid the ball down on 20 or 21 or 22 as far as targeting is concerned. Maybe I should have tried another 2 and 1 move left, don't know...