Dennis, just a clarification. USBC defines a pocket "strike" not a pocket "hit" as board 17 or 18 with a 4 - 6 degree entry angle. It is important to know the difference. Less deflection when you have more entry angle.

Valid distinction, Dick. Thanks.

It was discussed on this site before how some of the back row pins are left, or maybe some pins in general. The 8 pin was discussed and someone mentioned that it is often left by what that site said. Unfortunately that thread was probably lost in the server crash in November.

I beleive that the pocket is an area, actually a triangle that allows me to throw a good strike. The triangle is constructed between the 1,3, and 5 pins (2 pin in place of the 3 pin for leftys). It's the area that allows the ball to hit the pins at the right angles so that the1 pin hits the 2,4, and 7 pins, the 3 hits the 6 and 10 pins, the 5 hits the 8 pin and the ball hits the 9 pin. Also I try to hit the Magic 4 for a perfect strike. Usually if I throw the ball and it hits the 1,3,5, and 9 pins i get a strike (1,2,5,and 8 pins for leftys). To answer your question about the 8-10. That gets left when the ball runs out of energy and doesn't have enough to go hit the 5 pin right and the 5 falls sideways or something like that and the ball continues to go through the 9 pin. The 4-9 I believe is a result of the ball hitting high and having too much energy, and the ball travels through the pins. Lastly, infernocal mentioned the 8 pin that is a result of above mentioned circumstancebeut the ball runs out of energy as it's hitting the pins. The singel 9 pin leave also is a result of the ball having too much energy and going through the 5 and the 8 pin.

It's things like this that make bowling such an amazing sport. What other sport could I possibly get a response from someone at Steve Kloempkin or Joe Slowinski's level, or chat on the phone with the guy at Brunswick like I did.

dubble

I doubt you would get any of the top coaches in any of the major sports to email you back, or send you an email to check up on you, like Ron Clifton did for me last week. This is why I come on here and try to help as many people as I can because so many have helped me.

cg as far as double % goes I misunderstood what he said in the book, it makes sense to me now. If you throw a 299 the way I was doing it would be 100%, but the way he says to do it it would be 91%.

i agree with the demolition man. Try this excersize if possible.
Most machines nowadays can set up any spare.Set up the 1,3,5,9 for righties.See how many you can make.If your ball hits these pins your almost sure to get a strike. The only pins your ball makes contact with are there.From there you can adjust to make these 4 pins without worrying about the other pins.Good bowler if you can make 10 out of 10.All the other pins flying around with a full rack sometimes make you wonder what happened.When i tried at first i left a lot of 5 pins , adjusted , and offcourse overdoing it and leaving the 9 cause my ball hooked to much.Very very nice to play for a beer with your mates and makes you understand what "really" happens.
just my 2 cents
grz
joetje

Yeah, the little things that you pick up i.e. the Magic 4. However most "perfect" strikes look like the ball needs to hit the 1,3,5,8,9 pins (the 2 pin for Leftys). You really only need ot hit 4, which really takes a lot of guess work on how to throw perfect strikes.

As for Joetje's exercise for throwing that spare is a good way to throw perfect strikes. Unfortuneately, my house is ill-equipped to perform such a task. I have to try my best with all of the pins up there. However, it does make for an interesting skill shot/spare shot.

Even the solid ones. I would agree with you if it was a weak hit, kinda like how people leave 8-10s. But if the shot looks more solid than anything else you could throw, wouldn't that mean the ball had too much energy? I could be wrong but that's how I interpret it because I've always imagined it happening because of the ball driving through the pocket without getting enough angle on the 5 to knock out the 8. Just wondering so I know. I don't think you need to adjust for them most of the time though, because chances are it's just a bad break.