Many of us struggle with shooting spares and probably more than 50% of our shots will be trying to cover spares. It can become a very important part of ones game that can lift you from an average bowler to a highly competitive bowler. Unlike our counterparts on a pro level your average league bowler usually isn’t going to string strikes or even carry a high ratio of strikes per frame. If you can increase the number of covered spares per game by 2 you will increase your average by 17 to 20 pins per game.
Quite simply put, the first way to increase your spare making capability is to consistently keep your first shot near the pocket to leave yourself the smallest number of pins left for your spare attempt. The more pins remaining, the more the chances are that you will be unsuccessful on the attempt. I know folks hate 7 and 10 pin spares but single pin spares actually give you the greatest distance that your shot can be off and still cover the pin, which is about 23″. With other multi-pin spares we have to rely on the correct bouncing of pins into each other and hope we get no wrap arounds or weird bounces.
The most effective method of spare shooting is what I have listed below and allows the bowler to remove most of the uncertainty in your release and varying lane conditions. I’ve been able to apply these rules across varying patterns and oil amounts. My description will be from the viewpoint of a right handed bowler but can be easily reversed from a lefty’s perspective.
There are some basic techniques that you will want to apply to your release and mechanics. First you aren’t looking to hook this shot and turn it more into a straight shot, keeping your thumb up and wrist straight at release. For a righty I’m using just 2 targets based on what side of the head pin my spare has been left. For spares on the right of the head pin I target the 17 board and for spares to the left I target the 10 board. I’m using the second second of targets that look like diamonds towards the middle of the lane. For reference the first board on the far right is the 1 board and the last board on the far left is 35. When approaching the foul line I walk straight from my starting board towards the line and keep my shoulders/waist turned towards my target.
I would also highly recommend that you pick up a plastic spare ball to make it easier to trow the ball straight and take out any hook from your shot to reduce the error ratio that your shot can be off. Also note that we have you shooting ten when shooting spares on the left and this may seem odd as you are moving to the left as you adjust but with your shoulder width taken into consideration the ball should always remain to the right of ten upon ball release. Last note is you may have to play a little with foot positioning when you start but the adjustments I show here are pretty out of the box effective.
So with the basics out of the way lets discuss my methodology.
for the ten pin stand 35 and shoot 17.
for the 6 pin stand 33 and shoot 17
for the 3 or 9 pin stand 25 and shoot 17.
for a 6-10 stand 34 and shoot 17.
for the 3-6, 3-6-10, 3-10 stand 23 and shoot 7.
for the 7 pin stand 10 and shoot 10.
for the 4 pin stand 12 and shoot 10.
For the 4-7 stand 11 and shoot 10.
for the 2 pin or 8 pin stand 15 and shoot 10.
for the 2-4, 2-4-7, 2-7 stand 13 and shoot 10
