Limit to number of balls in the rack?

[Aslan]

I miss having the lower rack. They got rid of it when they changed from wooden lanes to synthetics. The AMF center only has the old round ball return. And the new place I bowl at doesn't have a bottom rack either.

But even with the bottom rack...bowlers will still forget to move their ball down there. Like Amyers, if I'm 0 for 3 on single pins in a game...I'm not thinking about putting my spare ball away...I'm thinking about throwing all 5 balls in a dumpster and taking up a different sport.

[Amyers]

I miss having the lower rack. They got rid of it when they changed from wooden lanes to synthetics. The AMF center only has the old round ball return. And the new place I bowl at doesn't have a bottom rack either.

But even with the bottom rack...bowlers will still forget to move their ball down there. Like Amyers, if I'm 0 for 3 on single pins in a game...I'm not thinking about putting my spare ball away...I'm thinking about throwing all 5 balls in a dumpster and taking up a different sport.

I was there Friday night and it was a H*** of a lot worse than 0 for 3. I don't think any of my balls have ever come so close to going for one final swim

[Aslan]

I was there Friday night and it was a H*** of a lot worse than 0 for 3. I don't think any of my balls have ever come so close to going for one final swim

I'm at the stage now where my expectations are probably greatly exceeding my abilities. Sometimes I feel like I can't make a single-pin spare to save my life and then I look at the stats in PinPal and see I went like 5/7 or 7/9...not as bad as I thought.

[Amyers]

I'm at the stage now where my expectations are probably greatly exceeding my abilities. Sometimes I feel like I can't make a single-pin spare to save my life and then I look at the stats in PinPal and see I went like 5/7 or 7/9...not as bad as I thought.

Try 2/11 on 10 pin and 6/10 spares combined. I did convert 6 single 9 pin spares though (if you consider leaving that many 9 pins in the first place as believable).

[Aslan]

Try 2/11 on 10 pin and 6/10 spares combined. I did convert 6 single 9 pin spares though (if you consider leaving that many 9 pins in the first place as believable).

Seems like 2/11 that you'd hit more than 2 just by accident.

Most of my problem is I have a tendency to square up to the foul line. So I'll travel towards the single-pin, and then as I swing I straighten my shoulders parallel to the foul line and miss inside. That's probably 70% of my misses.

One thing I've done recently, which has helped mentally, is I try to focus on how much axis tilt I want in the shot....45 degrees, 90 degrees, whatever. Now, does it matter what the axis tilt is on a spare shot with a plastic ball? Nope. The ball will theoretically do the exact same thing...go straight. BUT...it gets me thinking about something other than how badly I'm about to miss my single-pin spare shot.

My coach tells me not to think about anything other than just hitting my target...but for some reason ONLY thinking about that makes me miss. I need to distract my mind with something else....so long as that "something else" is pointless.

[Amyers]

Seems like 2/11 that you'd hit more than 2 just by accident.

Most of my problem is I have a tendency to square up to the foul line. So I'll travel towards the single-pin, and then as I swing I straighten my shoulders parallel to the foul line and miss inside. That's probably 70% of my misses.

One thing I've done recently, which has helped mentally, is I try to focus on how much axis tilt I want in the shot....45 degrees, 90 degrees, whatever. Now, does it matter what the axis tilt is on a spare shot with a plastic ball? Nope. The ball will theoretically do the exact same thing...go straight. BUT...it gets me thinking about something other than how badly I'm about to miss my single-pin spare shot.

My coach tells me not to think about anything other than just hitting my target...but for some reason ONLY thinking about that makes me miss. I need to distract my mind with something else....so long as that "something else" is pointless.

Yeah I'm pretty sure that I could have kicked the ball at the pins and done better. I don't know why I have these meltdowns on right side spares occasionally. Bowled twice since made 15 missed 2. Who knows.

[Tony]

Seems like a lot of trio leagues on here is that on purpose or because you don't have enough bowlers? Not many with a sense of humor either.

I went down to practice one Friday morning and got drafted into subbing in a trio league, I liked it so much I joined the team. The guys have more fun and there is more comradery than any league I've ever seen.

[Tony]

Yeah I'm pretty sure that I could have kicked the ball at the pins and done better. I don't know why I have these meltdowns on right side spares occasionally. Bowled twice since made 15 missed 2. Who knows.

I've done the same thing more than once, and certainly part of it is mental, I will miss one badly and start to tighten up, then try to aim the ball instead of taking a normal loose swing and extend my arm out toward my mark, I think I missed about 8/10 10 pins one week, absolutely horrible spare shooting. The thing I'm trying to focus on is not
letting one or two misses take over the whole game

[JasonNJ]

Yeah I'm pretty sure that I could have kicked the ball at the pins and done better. I don't know why I have these meltdowns on right side spares occasionally. Bowled twice since made 15 missed 2. Who knows.

How are you missing them? Are you missing left or dumping the ball into the channel? I was struggling with making 10 pins a few months ago and my problems was I was too concerned about throwing the ball into the gutter that I would miss left a lot. What finally helped me was I bought a Storm Mix for my spare ball, it's a pearl urethane ball and I applied a 1000 grit pad to it. It still goes really straight but has enough hold that if I miss right a little bit that it has a chance to ride the gutter and still make the 10. That gave me more confidence and I rarely miss left now and if I do miss it's because the ball drops into the gutter right before hitting the 10. My 10 pin percentage was about 55% and I would say it's about 75% now.

Although before buying my Storm Mix, I should have realized I could have tried applying surface to the spare ball to give it more hold too. Anyway, I would say give that a shot, maybe surface your spare ball so it doesn't skid as much and see if that helps.

[billf]

Right side spares are not my issue even being right handed. Now if I leave a 4 pin or 7 pin then it's an adventure. It's not a lack of practice either. I have gone so far as to getting 100 7 pins in a row then 100 4 pins. It has to be mental or maybe it's because I'm mental. I had one season where my conversion rate for the 7-10 split was higher than my 7 pin. The odd part is I hit the 7 pin when going for that split.

Any body else get so mad at themself that they just throw too damn hard at the single pins? One of these days one of those 30mph throws are going to take my shoulder with it.