Hitting My Mark

[MICHAEL]

I find when I start to miss my mark, I am trying to rush things. I slow down my approach some and start hitting my mark more consistently

I agree 100 percent!! I do self talk, just before I start my approach,,, and my biggest problem is rushing things! Focus, good push away with the ball, nice fluid straight arc with ball swing back, focus, on arrow, and follow through! ( also watch my speed with fresh oil)!

[Tampabaybob]

JaMau..... Lets start at the beginning. When I'm coaching someone I teach that the 3 most important things in bowling is: 1. Accuracy, 2. Accuracy, & 3 Accuracy. Regardless of your style as long as you're lined up good, and hit your target, you should hit the pocket or have a good shot at the spare. With that said, first and foremost you "must " watch the ball roll over your arrow (or spot). Normally, if you find yourself missing your spares to the left (i.e.; pulling the ball), then you're lifting your eyes up prior to releasing the ball. Why does this happen? Because your release hand will always follow your eyes and in most shots your target is to the right of the object pin you're shooting. So the first step is to be sure of your accuracy. You should be able to tell someone standing behind you "exactly" which board your ball rolled over at the arrows. Basically you want to try to hit a gnats *** on an elephant. The next thing you want to see if you're doing, is pointing the ball at the pins rather than at the target on the lane. TRUST YOUR BALL. Just get the ball to the target on the lane. If you HIT THE TARGET, and miss your spare, then move your feet left or right to compensate. If you are confident in shooting most spares throwing a hook, then I would say throw the hook at most spares EXCEPT on the right hand side. There, use your spare ball. 3-6-10, 6-10, or 10 pin. I know that the "accepted method by the pros is to throw straight at 'all' spares, but not everyone shoots 60 - 100 games a week in practice or tournaments. Do what makes you most comfortable and confident. You do not have to throw a straight ball at all spares (especially the 2-8 and 3-9, always throw a hook at those two, it will increase your percentage) If you keep track of you spare shooting percentage, keep a record and each time you practice try to exceed your last outings percentage. If you're bowling in a league this summer, when you go to shoot a spare give yourself an additional second or two to be absolutely sure of your target alignment. If you have an app on an I-Pad thats great, If not most bowling centers can print your games after practice and you can go over the games after to analyze them.
Try a few of these things and let me know if it helps. There might be a couple of other things you could try as well. Also look at the thread above that I wrote about not blinking and try that also. That's a biggie. Good Luck & let me know.

Bob

[billf]

Jason, the span can play a huge role in accuracy especially when it's different than your primary ball. With the feel being off you could be releasing the ball late without realizing it. As we've all learned from reading the 3 point targeting with quiet eye article, the further down lane you look, the longer the ball will go. Maybe when you're looking at the pins your wrist stays straighter and the release closer to on-time.

[JaMau24]

JaMau..... Lets start at the beginning. When I'm coaching someone I teach that the 3 most important things in bowling is: 1. Accuracy, 2. Accuracy, & 3 Accuracy. Regardless of your style as long as you're lined up good, and hit your target, you should hit the pocket or have a good shot at the spare. With that said, first and foremost you "must " watch the ball roll over your arrow (or spot). Normally, if you find yourself missing your spares to the left (i.e.; pulling the ball), then you're lifting your eyes up prior to releasing the ball. Why does this happen? Because your release hand will always follow your eyes and in most shots your target is to the right of the object pin you're shooting. So the first step is to be sure of your accuracy. You should be able to tell someone standing behind you "exactly" which board your ball rolled over at the arrows. Basically you want to try to hit a gnats *** on an elephant. The next thing you want to see if you're doing, is pointing the ball at the pins rather than at the target on the lane. TRUST YOUR BALL. Just get the ball to the target on the lane. If you HIT THE TARGET, and miss your spare, then move your feet left or right to compensate. If you are confident in shooting most spares throwing a hook, then I would say throw the hook at most spares EXCEPT on the right hand side. There, use your spare ball. 3-6-10, 6-10, or 10 pin. I know that the "accepted method by the pros is to throw straight at 'all' spares, but not everyone shoots 60 - 100 games a week in practice or tournaments. Do what makes you most comfortable and confident.

Good stuff there, Bob. Thanks. I probably will continue throwing a hook at spares during league (on a house shot), but being that I'm joining a sport league and now starting to bowl on PBA/sport patterns, it's important to me and my game I get the spares locked down. We all know how challenging the patterns are, and you're only making them harder by trying to hook the ball into your spares, especially your single pin spares. I'm trying to completely take the lane condition out of the equation when I'm shooting spares on PBA/sport patterns.

You do not have to throw a straight ball at all spares (especially the 2-8 and 3-9, always throw a hook at those two, it will increase your percentage)

Yeah, this I know.

If you keep track of you spare shooting percentage, keep a record and each time you practice try to exceed your last outings percentage. If you're bowling in a league this summer, when you go to shoot a spare give yourself an additional second or two to be absolutely sure of your target alignment. If you have an app on an I-Pad thats great, If not most bowling centers can print your games after practice and you can go over the games after to analyze them.
Try a few of these things and let me know if it helps.

I have an iPhone app I keep track of everything on, so it will all be charted.

There might be a couple of other things you could try as well. Also look at the thread above that I wrote about not blinking and try that also. That's a biggie. Good Luck & let me know.

Bob

Oh yeah, not blinking is a big deal. I've always made it a point not to blink. I know how much it can distract you. Happened to me just the other day in practice, I blinked, and it took away my focus and I missed my mark by 7 boards.

Anyway, thanks for the help, I'll let you know if it gets any better.

Jason, the span can play a huge role in accuracy especially when it's different than your primary ball. With the feel being off you could be releasing the ball late without realizing it. As we've all learned from reading the 3 point targeting with quiet eye article, the further down lane you look, the longer the ball will go. Maybe when you're looking at the pins your wrist stays straighter and the release closer to on-time.

Hmm... good point Bill. Now that you mention it, I'm starting to wonder, like you said, maybe because I'm targeting closer, I'm letting go of it sooner. I'll really focus on trying to target closer, but throw the ball as if I was targeting the pin. Maybe that will give me a complete swing with a nice follow through.

I really need to get that ball span fixed... I don't want to if it's not the problem though. Anyway, thanks for the help.

[Greenday]

Once I get set at my starting position, I look at my mark, not the pins, until I have released the ball and I keep looking at it until the ball goes past my mark. This helps me stay focused on it and only it. If I miss it, I miss it by a board or two. The lanes I bowl on usually allow for an error of up to three boards with still hitting the pocket. The lanes are ery forgiving too which helps.

I tried this out today. After they oiled the lanes, I bowled a 190, a 210, and a 198. My average has been in the low 160s. My spare shots were dead on every single throw. My strike throws were consistently in or very close to the pocket. This worked great!