The hardest part of bowling: Adjustments

[Aslan]

I feel bowling is far more frustrating than golf for primarily ONE reason: Golf is theoretically hard. You are trying to hit a little ball 400 yards into a tiny hole in the ground. Any slight error, and the ball could go 25-200 yards off course. It's a theoretically difficult game. BOWLING...on the other hand...is something that is theoretically easy. You roll a heavy ball towards a grouping of light pins...that are only 60ft away. Technically, you could probably train a monkey or a dog to roll a ball in a given direction. It is a theoretically EASY game.

So, why is it frustrating?

Well, it depends...and the conversation could go in a hundred different directions. It's frustrating because you can't really practice on fresh conditions...or conditions aren't standardized...or equipment has closed the gap between the good and bad bowlers...or even our own expectations. People now EXPECT to throw a 600-700 series...where in golf, most golfers would be fine with a par outing...they don't need an eagle every hole to feel satisfaction.

But, one thing I've found is the most frustrating concept (for multiple reasons), is "adjustments". "Adjustments" are why we all carry more than one ball and why an 800 series is so much more elusive than 300-games that have become a dime a dozen. "Adjustments" are those things that virtually no 4 bowlers can ever agree on. "Adjustments" are the real difference between the pros and the amateurs.

To illustrate why adjustments are so difficult, I'll use my own dilemma last night.

Conditions: I bowled at a house (THS) where I have had some decent success standing (left foot) at 16 and aiming up the 8-board. 8-11 is pretty much the dominant shot for all of the high average folks (except the 2-handers).

Dilemma: I was crushing the pocket...but I couldn't carry on the left lane. 10-pin after 10-pin. As the night progressed, I started having the same problem on the right lane.

Options: The hardest thing about adjustments is how MANY options you have...and how difficult it is to tell WHY your shot isn't working. For example, in my situation...I asked myself a laundry list of questions:

1) Is this a physical game issue? Do I just need to make better shots? I'm hitting the pocket...some of the hits seem to be "ringing" 10s versus "flat" 10s...should I just keep trying to make better shots?

2) Is my orignial line 'off' slightly? Should I change my feet target to create a little more angle? Or, am I hitting light because I have too much angle on this pair?

3) Is my ball choice wrong? Is this ball burning out and I need to ball down? If it's happening early, it may have just been the wrong ball to start with. If it's happening later...I may be dealing with transition.

4) Should I move right...try to get the ball to bite earlier? Maybe it's just a little too far into the oil and I'm hitting just a 'smidge' too high?

5) Should I move in? 1:1 or 1:2? Maybe I need to retain energy and am too far out in the dry?

6) What is my speed? Am I just a little to "juiced" and need to calm down? A relaxed shot hooks more...maybe thats my problem?

7) What about a vertical targeting adjustment? Could I lay down the ball closer to the line...give it more time making contact with the lane surface? Or, should I get the ball out further on the lane...with a little more loft?

Solutions:
- The first key was to know I wasn't bowling badly. My timing wasn't perfect...but I knew it was good enough that I could maybe cross off the physical game as a solution.

- Since it happened so early, and I' a big believer in a progression approach, I figured jumping to a different ball wasn't the best choice. My rule is to switch balls when I heat weak, move inside, strike, then start to hit weak. I'd prefer to make a lateral move inside before I jump to the next ball in the progression. Each ball change is essentially reducing my options. Later in the night is fine...but switching to Ball #2 early in Game 1 means I better darn well be sure it's a ball issue. My skid/flip ball (#3) isn't going to work if there's no carrydown (which there won't be that early...if at all)...and my ball #4 is extremely weak and I only use it as a last resort. So, I eliminated ball change as the best choice of action.

- Messing with speed is almost always my last resort. Too much of a chance that it screws up your timing...and I'm not good enough where I can screw up my timing and have a decent outing. So, speed change is out.

Unfortunately, I still have essentially 4 options...and no idea which one is the best:

- Move my feet a half board left and my target a half board right...thus creating a little more angle? If my original line was off slightly...that has worked in the past.

- A half board move with my target to the right...and a half board move with my feet to the right? Ya never like to move right...but if it's early...maybe ya just were lined up a little 'off'.

- Move left. I should mention that our in-house guru Rob is a BIG proponent of moving left. And, moving left has the advantage that even if you do it too soon...you'll probably need to do it eventually...so at worst you're ahead of the transition.

- Change vertical targeting. If I feel like I'm hitting too high in the pocket...maybe set it down midway between the arrows and the foul line. If I feel like the ball is just losing a tiny amount of energy...but not enough to make a lateral move left...I can push my vertical target out a couple feet further than the arrows.

These are all potentially good solutions...and I'm sure there are more that didn't occur to me. And it's not easy to know which one is best...because you're rarely sure exactly why you're not carrying. As 3 pros and you might get 3 different answers.

If I'm confident it's transition, I would normally move left...and absolutely eliminate the slight move right as an option. The problem was...I wasn't quite sure. It was pretty early in Game 1 for it to be transition...so I narrowed my choices to either a slight angle change or a vertical targeting adjustment. Both would have probably worked...but I chose a vertical targeting change...and it worked....for awhile. After a game and a half...I eventually needed to move left. Rather than make a 1:1 left and keep my target out past the arrows...I made a full 1:2 move left and moved my target midway between the arrows and the foul line.

As to the topography discussion...did I make the same move on both lanes? No. I ended up making the same vertical targeting adjustment on both lanes...but one lane required the move left before the other lane required it...topography differences or whatever you wanna call it.

The point?? I think this is the missing link between most bowlers and the really good bowlers (not me by any means)...it's not how many revs you get or what ball you throw. What separates average bowlers from good bowlers is, can you see something (like a solid hit leaving a 10-pin) and have a good chance at fixing that problem. Additionally, can you explain to someone 'why' you made that decision?? Most bowlers can't see the issue and virtually no bowlers...even higher average ones...can really give you good reasoning behind a move or ball change.

As a sidenote regarding the post on coaching tips...one of my coaches used to end our session by having me throw a game. And, whenever I made an adjustment...or chose not to make an adjustment...I had to tell her 'why'. The exercise wasn't designed to get me to throw better shots (that was the first 90% of the lesson)...it was designed to make me understand how to interpret what the lanes were saying to me...and how to adjust accordingly.

Now...to submit the new thread and wait to find out if I exceeded the word count limitations....

Should there BE a word count limitation on a "Bowling God"??

[boatman37]

My biggest issue is how many frames it takes me to figure out if it is me or something else (lane conditions, ball choice, etc). Usually takes me 4 or 5 frames to finally try something different and by then I have killed my game. I have been getting better at that though.

[RobLV1]

I think your problem may be in your perception of adjustments in that you usually mention starting at the line that normally works. Please permit me to tell you a story that might help you with your problem. Please note, and I think that you know me well enough to know that this is not FIGJAM.

Last week I went to my four-game senior "almost scratch" league. When practice started, I threw my first shot on the left lane based on the shot that had worked at the beginning the week before. The shot missed the pocket. Next, I threw the same shot on the right lane and buried a strike. Next I went back to the left lane a tried something a little different with no success. I stayed on the left lane all throughout practice and never struck. Finally, with 35 second left of the 10 minutes of practice, I picked up a different ball, tried a different line, and a different angle. The strike was perfect. I ended up that day shooting 914 for four games. Of the other five bowlers on the pair, one guy on the other team shot 921, and no-one else including a former tour bowler was able to shoot 800. The reason was that most of the bowlers just would not believe that the two lanes were different.

After a game or so when the lanes started to transition, I was able to figure out that the left lane was hooking early and was very tight on the back end, while the right lane was tight through the heads with screaming back ends. Why the difference? Topography, plain and simple. Deny it's existence, or downplay its role in modern bowling all you want, but once you accept it and embrace it, it cannot do anything but make you a better bowler.

Soapbox put away!

[boatman37]

Last week we bowled the dirst set against the owners daughter who is normally a 215 bowler (205 this summer) and who got a full ride bowling scholarship. She is probably mid 20-s or so now and out of college. Anyway, the first game I kept hitting light and I tried moving feet left, target right, different ball, etc. Took me about 5 frames to finally get it. But she commented a few times about how 'tight' the lanes were. 3 of us 4 were struggling. I'm not sure what she meant by 'tight lanes' but thats what she kept saying

[RobLV1]

Last week we bowled the dirst set against the owners daughter who is normally a 215 bowler (205 this summer) and who got a full ride bowling scholarship. She is probably mid 20-s or so now and out of college. Anyway, the first game I kept hitting light and I tried moving feet left, target right, different ball, etc. Took me about 5 frames to finally get it. But she commented a few times about how 'tight' the lanes were. 3 of us 4 were struggling. I'm not sure what she meant by 'tight lanes' but thats what she kept saying

"Tight" lanes are the opposite of "hooking" lanes. Probably the most important things for modern bowlers to understand is that it's not enough to know that one lane is hooking more than the other, you also have to know where they are hooking and where they are tight.

[boatman37]

Sounds about right. The first 5 or so frames I kept coming in light. Ball just wouldn't turn in for me. I tried both balls and the 7-10 boards. She is also a lefty and was hitting the 10-12 board at the arrows and getting out to about the 7 board at the breakpoint. My ball doesn't arc out. It pretty much rolls a straight line until the breakpoint. Being speed dominant if I try to arc it out it won't come back. I have done it before but I have to slow it down so much I'm not comfortable but I have been much slower recently so maybe just slow it a little at a time.

[J Anderson]

My biggest issue is how many frames it takes me to figure out if it is me or something else (lane conditions, ball choice, etc). Usually takes me 4 or 5 frames to finally try something different and by then I have killed my game. I have been getting better at that though.

Observation is the key to both getting lined up and making adjustments. We all need to get in the habit of watching our shots all the way through the pins. It’s important to where the ball starts to hook, where and how it hits the pins. Always assume that you made a decent delivery and adjust accordingly. The typical house shot is forgiving so a shot that misses by a board at the arrows should still make it to the pocket. If it doesn’t you know an adjustment is needed.

[RobLV1]

Sounds about right. The first 5 or so frames I kept coming in light. Ball just wouldn't turn in for me. I tried both balls and the 7-10 boards. She is also a lefty and was hitting the 10-12 board at the arrows and getting out to about the 7 board at the breakpoint. My ball doesn't arc out. It pretty much rolls a straight line until the breakpoint. Being speed dominant if I try to arc it out it won't come back. I have done it before but I have to slow it down so much I'm not comfortable but I have been much slower recently so maybe just slow it a little at a time.

Did you try playing outside of five board to utilize the friction that's built into the house shot?

[boatman37]

Did you try playing outside of five board to utilize the friction that's built into the house shot?

Actually when I got to about the 5 board that's when it started coming in for me so I played there all night. My first practice shot each week is at the 7 board then adjust from there. The other night I stayed on the 7 a few frames and moved my feet but that didn't work so I moved my target closer to the 10 and still no good so went back closer to the 5 and it started coming in. During this process I also slowed my speed and tried both balls and tucked my pinky. Ended up with the pinky tucked all night too. Actually had a good night at the end except for a few missed spares that should have never been missed. Normally if I get out past the 5 board my ball won't come back. Alot of times even at the 5 board it won't but that night it worked good.

My teammate ran into the same thing with his new Squatch about 1/2 way through the night. The ball started missing light so I told him to get more outside with it. He hates going outside the 10 board but he did it and ended up with an 887 4 game series

[Albundy]

Wrong. Throwing it the same way is the hardest..the steps and swing..it is a lot to repeat. And solid balance. There's a guy in my league who averages 240. He very rarely opens or throws a split. His shot is simple and powerful. My ball release feels slightly different all the time and so does my knee bend. I don't know how to keep it all uniform and may never bowl a 300 as a result. There are people twice my age ...80 that throw a 300 and that angers me.