Carrying this over from the old site, in a conversation with brett, where he mentioned playing a line pretty straight up the middle...

Have you ever tried a line laying the ball down around the 1 or 2 board, just to create a little more angle? Don't know if there has been any research into the best carry for throwing a straight ball...

Actually, a line that starts on the 1 or 2 board and tries to hit just on the left side of the headpin would probably get really good pin action, and if the ball deflects nicely it might even send the 1 towards the 10, the 2 towards the 9, the 4 into the 8, and then take out the 7 pin...

Food for thought. Anyone else have ideas?

This has actually been covered numerous times. Just to update you, research has been conducted. It has been found out that an angle of 6 degrees is the optimal entry angle getting strikes. It is impossible to create that angle by rolling the ball straight to the pocket from the one board. The ball would have to roll a certain distance straight down the boards and hook to the pocket ( Walter Ray, Norm Duke ). When you play the lanes straight, If you are accurate, getting to the pocket isn't the problem, carry is. The answer is usually to just add more speed and play the same line. This is what Walter Ray and Norm Duke do to perfection. If you can play the same area, with this straightish line to the pocket ( the ball does hook some ), the straight player will have an advantage over the big hooker on tough conditions.

There are some conditions where it is very hard to create any hook at all. Like the 50 foot pattern they use in the Tournament of Champions. However, the bowler with the best chance of winning is the bowler who can consistently get their ball to the pocket with the highest rev rate on the ball as it enters the pocket. This was the case with Tommy Jones last year at the ToC. His ball had the most energy as it entered the pocket. All of the bowlers were playing similar lines. The main difference was the rev rate.

I stand on 16 and aim at 15. Its a very minimal angle, but it has served me well for avoiding splits. Tonight in league I rolled 182, 149, 214 for my best series in my first year of bowling.


Tonight in league the lanes were dry, especially the back end. It hardly affected me at all, but the guys with big hooks were struggling. The only thing I noticed was that with the dry lanes my ball was rolling out, so I had to throw it faster. Normally I have to throw my 16 pound ball at least 15 MPH to have a chance of striking. Tonight I had to get a higher backswing and bring the speed up to at least 16+ to strike. (By game 3 I had it down!).

I plan to practice with the maximum possible angle. If I'm in the left lane of the pair, I will probably be starting extremely close to the ball return. Will see if this helps my game.

You have to find the best entry angle for your ball. Yeah, your current line may be safe from splits, and that's OK. But, is it the best line to carry strikes? That is the angle you have to find.

I know a few straight bowlers in my league, and 2 of them start on the left because their entry angle to the Brooklyn produces better first ball results and the ball sits in the center oil longer.

It's a matter of what you can do best.

Smooth: I meant for someone who does not hook the ball and does not want to learn (or can't).

Brett: I'm sorry, I thought you were conventional grip + straight ball. You do use a conventional grip, right? But you get some axis rotation? If that is the case, moving outside to help get that angle might not be the best move, just because the boards are so dry out there on a typical house shot that you'd probably roll out after about 20 feet, which would probably get you a lot less entry angle than you can get now (if you are in fact hooking the ball a bit). Then again, if you could point to the ball to the pocket a bit, and find a consistent breakpoint out there, you might be able to create more angle than you have now. It just gets so touchy out there on a house shot that a consistent breakpoint can be hard to find.

Pocket hits are about 50% strikes with my current line and ball speed. I get about 1 split per game. I should try some different lines in practice, or learn to hook it.

I'm not sure I understand the advantage of starting left? (For a right handed bowler). I would think that to get the maximum angle starting left, you would be starting almost in the neighboring lane. Or are we talking about a ball with a very slight left hook?


Yes, I use a conventional grip and bowl straight (my wrist was weakened by an accident many years ago). I get no axis rotation.

Now I realize that I probably confused you by using the words 'rolling out'. What I meant was that in league last night I noticed that my ball was starting its roll very early (losing too much energy) on the dry lane conditions.

Another thing I noticed last night is that my ball is tracking over the thumb hole. And it was noisy going down the lane - you could hear it thump every rev when the thumb hole was on the lane. .... Oh well, didnt seem to hurt my score.

Brett. in response to your comment; How many 5 pins do you leave, alone or with other pins standing?

"I'm not sure I understand the advantage of starting left? (For a right handed bowler). I would think that to get the maximum angle starting left, you would be starting almost in the neighboring lane. Or are we talking about a ball with a very slight left hook?"

It is very common for a straight baller, coming in from the right, to experience deflection when hitting the pocket. Coming in from the other side minimizes that, as the ball is driving through to the 5 rather than bouncing to the right.

I leave a lot of 5's unless I can throw it 16+ MPH. But I lose accuracy going fast.

I'll try your suggestion about getting maximum angle from the left in practice tomorrow night.

Dennis, I have to disagree there. Unless he learns to walk around the ball return, he'll be able to create maximum angle from the right side. If he puts it down on 1, he's sliding on 7 or 8. That's pretty comfortable on either side of the return. If he's setting it down on 39, he's sliding into the gutter cap. That's tough to do on the right lane. In 2 of the centers around here, with above-ground returns, it's impossible to lay it down left of 30.

Physics doesn't from a different angle - Jason Couch gets just as much deflection as Tommy Jones (tried to pick similar rev-rates and angles for the example) Likewise, a line from 1 to 17 gets just as much deflection as a line from 39 to 23.

Now, in the case that you meant he start left and aim for the right-hander's pocket, then that is what I was suggesting he do, except that I suggested starting on the far right and aiming to the left-handers pocket, probably on board 22 for best carry.

Not saying this is a cure-all. As a hook bowler will move inside to change the entry angle, a straight bowler has to find the optimum angle to carry.