Spare Systems

[Pinboy]

There are three systems that are very known and mostly used by bowlers, namely the 3-6-9 spare system, the 2-4-6 spare system and the KISS spare system. The text is written for a right-handed bowler, but if you are a left-handed bowler, right is left and left is right.

[Pinboy]

With this spare system the target will stay the same, only the starting position will change depending on what spare you must make. There are two starting positions on the approach used with this system, namely the strike starting position and the 10-pin starting position. You will also use two aiming targets on the lane, the strike aim and the 10-pin aim, for all the spare combinations. Below I will discuss how this spare system works in more detail.



For spare combinations in the center, you must do the following actions depending on the key pin.

The headpin is the key pin, use your strike starting position and strike aim to spare.
The 5-pin is the key pin, use your strike starting position and strike aim to spare. Note that if you bowl with a large hook, you will have to move a half to a whole board to the left to spare (a combination with) the 5-pin as the key pin. If you don't do this, you might chop or miss the spare.
For spare combinations on the left, you must do the following actions depending on the key pin.

The 2-pin is the key pin, move three boards to the right of your strike starting position and use your strike aim to spare.
The 4-pin is the key pin, move six boards to the right of your strike starting position and use your strike aim to spare.
The 7-pin is the key pin, move nine boards to the right of your strike starting position and use your strike aim to spare.
For spare combinations on the right, you first need to find your 10-pin starting position and 10-pin aim (e.g. the third arrow). When you have found these, you must do the following actions depending on the key pin.

The 10-pin is the key pin, use your 10-pin starting position and 10-pin aim to spare.
The 6-pin is the key pin, move three boards to the right of your 10-pin starting position and use your 10-pin aim to spare.
The 3-pin is the key pin, move six boards to the right of your 10-pin starting position and use your 10-pin aim to spare.

[Pinboy]

The 2-4-6 spare system, which is sometimes also called the 'Swedish spare system', is a system for the more advanced bowler. The bowler must not only be able to bowl on the arrows, but also on the boards between de arrows. With this spare system the starting position will stay the same, while the target will change depending on what spare you must make. There are two starting positions on the approach used with this system, namely the strike starting position and the 10-pin starting position. You will also use two aiming targets on the lane, the strike aim and the 10-pin aim, for all the spare combinations. Below I will discuss how this spare system works in more detail.

For spare combinations in the center, you must do the following actions depending on the key pin.

The headpin is the key pin, use your strike starting position and strike aim to spare.
The 5-pin is the key pin, use your strike starting position and strike aim to spare. Note that if you bowl with a large hook, you will have to move your strike aim a board to the right to spare (a combination with) the 5-pin as the key pin. If you don't do this, you might chop or miss the spare.



For spare combinations on the left, you must do the following actions depending on the key pin.

The 2-pin is the key pin, move your strike aim two boards to the left and use your strike starting position to spare.
The 4-pin is the key pin, move your strike aim four boards to the left and use your strike starting position to spare.
The 7-pin is the key pin, move your strike aim six boards to the left and use your strike starting position to spare.
For spare combinations on the right, you first need to find your 10-pin starting position and 10-pin aim (e.g. the third arrow). When you have found these, you must do the following actions depending on the key pin.

The 10-pin is the key pin, use your 10-pin starting position and 10-pin aim to spare.
The 6-pin is the key pin, move your 10-pin aim two boards to the left and use your 10-pin starting position to spare.
The 3-pin is the key pin, move your 10-pin aim four boards to the left and use your 10-pin starting position to spare.

[Pinboy]

While the 3-6-9 and 2-4-6 spare systems are the more old fashioned spare systems, the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) spare system is the system mostly used nowadays by top amateurs and professionals. With the other two systems you will use your strike ball to make your spares, but with the KISS spare system you will use a special spare ball. This can be a urethane, polyester or even a reactive bowling ball. The one thing you want to make sure is that you make your spares as straight as possible. You can do this by don't give any lift or turn at the release of the bowling ball.
The KISS spare system looks a lot like the 3-6-9 spare system, because you will also use fixed target points and move around the approach to convert the spare. But to make the spares on the left side of the lane, you normally will not use your strike aim, but the aim where you can make the spare as straight as possible (often the aim where you can make the 7-pin as easy as possible). Making the spares on the right side looks a lot like how you make them with the 3-6-9 spare system, only the ball will go a bit straighter towards the target. For making spares in the center you can still use your strike aim, but you can also use one of the spare aims. It is up to you to use the aim that makes you more comfortable in converting that spare.
Movement around the approach is quite the same for the KISS spare system as the 3-6-9 system, but you can tweak on some spares to make it more comfortable to spare. For example you could move two boards on the approach instead of three and so on. Just tweak during practice until you have found your own most comfortable 'spare system'.

[Pinboy]

The 3-6-9 spare system and 2-4-6 spare system were mostly used in the days that the oil patterns were quite flat. The oil was equally divided across the lane. The ball would react the same everywhere on the lane. Nowadays we use more sophisticated oil patterns, with more oil in the middle and less on the outside of the lane. Now the ball will react different on other parts of the lane.
If you use the 3-6-9 spare system to spare the 7-pin, you can miss it due to the fact that the ball will skid more in the center (which contains more oil) than on the outside of the lane. The ball will come short to the 7-pin, resulting in a miss. The bowling ball could also go long on the 7-pin, due to the fact that the middle of the lane contains less oil than the outside of the lane. This can result in making the ball hook more and thus going long. You will have the same problem with other spares and using the 2-4-6 spare system.
Due to the above most advanced bowlers use the KISS spare system nowadays, because the reaction of the ball will always be the same, namely going straight. This makes it easier to convert spares, regardless of the pattern you're bowling on. You don't need to worry about skid or hook, the ball just go straight. So KISS.