Spare ball:I have come to the conclusion.......

[dgz924s]

....that is a waste of bag space and would better serve as a lawn ornament. Been working on using it but not so good of results. I may hit 3/10 ten pins using it but using the IT I can hit 8/10. Kind of maddening really, cheapest and nicest looking ball in the bag and it just refuses to produce spares. But I guess for a 50.00 ball what should I expect huh! Ok, now just to get the record straight, it is NOT the bowler I absolutely refuse to accept any responsibilty

So here is a poll regarding spare ball usage.

Due to this being my first poll I failed to mention plastic for the 3rd question.

....And since I did not get this choice in...if you don't use plastic...just post that.

[JerseyJim]

DGZ - If you can find it, dig up a copy of Rolf Gauger's TRIAX spare system. It's geared towards using plastic balls. If you practice it diligently you'll definitely notice an increase in your spare shooting percentage.

[Josch]

I have to use a plastic ball for 10 pins and I use it for everything else too. The way I release the ball it will hook, even with no axis rotation. My axis tilt is enough to produce a large hook with a reactive ball. My average would be a lot worst if it wasn't for plastic.

[Davec13]

you need a poll option for what's a spare ball
I was taught the 3, 6, 9 method of sparing and it works well enough for me to not worry about carrying another ball. Granted I still miss the occasional 10 pin, but don't we all?

[J Anderson]

The poll definitely needs a fourth choice; no spare ball.

I have a white dot that I got for shooting spares shortly after finally switching to fingertip grip / reactive resin. I had been using my old conventional grip rubber ball for spares, but it didn't feel right switching back and forth between the two types of grips. The ball is now sitting on a shelf because after two years the ball started chipping around the finger grips. So now I use the Norm duke technique of killing the hook.

[dgz924s]

I agree on that choice of no spare ball. Being a rookie pollster I need a way to edit the poll but at a loss of how?

[dgz924s]

DGZ - If you can find it, dig up a copy of Rolf Gauger's TRIAX spare system. It's geared towards using plastic balls. If you practice it diligently you'll definitely notice an increase in your spare shooting percentage.

I will do just that, thanks for the lead! Even though the name Rolf Gauger sounds like it came out of a WWII spy novel, has to ge a good read!

[billf]

I use plastic for the majority of my spare combinations. I have learned to control it well enough to even hook it enough to catch 2-8, 4-7 and even for the 1,2,4,7,10. I've tried Duke's method with zero success. I even use my plastic ball for the third game of league when the lanes are real dry. I find it helps keep my release correct also as I have to use a ton of hand to hook it a lot.

[JerseyJim]

I will do just that, thanks for the lead! Even though the name Rolf Gauger sounds like it came out of a WWII spy novel, has to ge a good read!

He was a famous bowling coach who wrote articles for Bowling this Month magazine, and was one of the instructors at the BTM Super School. He passed away a few years ago, but his articles still get republished in BTM.

I found a copy of the article.

home.earthlink.net/~litefrozen/downloads/Triax_spare.pdf

[MICHAEL]

I did away with plastic!! My Red Alien has gone flat, and it WORKS GREAT for the 10 pin~ Today I bowled about 10 games, and I bet I hit
90 percent... maybe missed one out of a Billion!! I love the Alien for 10 pins, it has just enough stick to hang on to the edge when I stand way left, and HIT the center arrow !! I do much better with it then the
plastic, that is now at the goodwill!! So good balls that go flat, still have a reason to be kept! IMHA~~