I still say its likely to be lane breakdown rather then carry down. But carry down you need to move back outside or target closer to you.

Perhaps you are starting off too far inside. So the weak hits are there at the beginning? Its pretty tough to see what's going on without being there. However, you've gotten a couple of really good ideas to try.

Another issue that hasn't been mentioned is adrenaline. When you start bowling you are not fully warmed up, streched out and perfectly fluid. As the games go on, you get warmed up and most people start throwing the ball harder. When you throw harder the ball is going to hook less. So watch yourself and see if you are speeding up too much.

Erin

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">Since you have recognized this as a trend, start just habitually moving before it starts happening. As soon as you see that 4 pin leave you should move maybe 2 and 1 inside. That's 2 with your feet, one with your target....inside. Try that for starters. Don't mess with your ball speed and hand position until you gain enough skill to control the differences and are able to consistently implement the changes. Very few people, even elevated scratch bowlers can do this. As you've seen if you try to speed up you get less accurate and more reckless. Just move. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">That has really turned out to be good advice, especially now that I've been practicing it for a bit and am learning to tell the difference between starting to hit weak and just making a bad throw.

I think at first I was adjusting to early because I wasn't being honest with myself about if the shot was good or not. Now I'm trying not to move untill I honestly make a good shot and it just hits weak, not necessarily as soon as I leave a 4 or 9.

"...by the third game its more like a little girl throwing a plastic ball down there and I knock over a few and leave some strange splits."

I love this line. It makes me laugh everytime I see it. I must say, however, that the last time I went bowling, there was this little girl a few lanes down from me and she was AWESOME. I actually watched her bowl and tried to emulate her delivery/follow-through. I happened to bowl my all-time high that day.

Erin, I can't thank you enough for that advice about watching the 4 and 9 or 10. I'm applying it everyday.

The only thing I've found is that if I'm watching for the high hit or the low hit in the pocket and I'm honest about if it was a good shot or not that suggestion of a one board adjustment is more often than not too much. I'm having much better success with small adjustments to my feet position once I find the right line, maybe 1/4 or 1/5 of a board. Of course if I lose my balance, stumble or just miss my target, then I don't make an adjustment at all I just try and do better next time. It really worked well tonight, I got a 5 bagger, a 4 bagger, and multiple doubles and turkeys.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA"> The only thing I've found is that if I'm watching for the high hit or the low hit in the pocket and I'm honest about if it was a good shot or not that suggestion of a one board adjustment is more often than not too much. I'm having much better success with small adjustments to my feet position once I find the right line, maybe 1/4 or 1/5 of a board. Of course if I lose my balance, stumble or just miss my target, then I don't make an adjustment at all I just try and do better next time. It really worked well tonight, I got a 5 bagger, a 4 bagger, and multiple doubles and turkeys.
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">If you need a small adjustment, try moving closer to the foul line or further back from the foul line when you line up (instead of moving left or right). I'm not talking an inch or two up or back -- it takes about 4-5" to make a difference for me. Sometimes this is more effective than trying to move 1/2 or 1/4 of a board for the reasons you stated above.

OK, I will give that a try.

So 4-5" up would be a hit farther back in the pocket while moving 4-5" back would higher in the pocket right ? Or do I have that backwards ?

You have it right. That is just one solution/adjustment. Depending on the condition, it may or maynot work. But its pretty simple to implement as far as fine tuning your pocket hits. When lanes break down, you probably won't find it too helpful.


Erin

I was reading through this topic. I plan to work on this myself as I've seen the same problem. As far as strange splits go, last Tuesday during league play, we were bowling a team that was much, much better than we are. On three occasions (one for me, two for a member of the other team, who happens to carry a 215 average), the ball hit the pocket beautifully (or so it appeared), but left a 7-10 split. I guess we angered the bowling gods. I'll sacrifice more beer to them next week.

The pocket 7 10 is usually because the ball just had to travel too far then it's coverstock wanted to. So by the time it hit the pocket properly it was "dead". Similar to the 8,10 only not quite as disappointing. For me, its a sure sign that I'm playing too much in the dry, instead of following the oil line.

But you also have to add in there that there may have been a cracked pin in the rack, some pins may have been off spot. You might not have given the release the same amount of "fingers" you did in the others. Those are excuses that may have some credibility.

Erin

Erin,

Can you say that may be happening when you leave the 10 pin. Last week, I kept leaving the 10 pin. Each time I move back a little bit, but the 10 pin remained. Moving a board left or right produced the same results.

All night I thought the 10 pin was glued down or had a force field around it