So my angle is OK if the ball is causing the 1 to hit 2, which hits 4, which hits 7, the ball hits 3 which hits 6, which hits 10, the ball hits 5 which hits 8, and the ball hits 9.

That would flush/pure/10 straight back, yes. Does the chart posted on Page 1 make sense to you?

Could or did they determine the entry angle of a the ringing corner pin leaves?

The distance between the pins is 12 inches measured center to center of each pin. The maximum width of each pin is 4 3/4 inches. Doing a little math, the space between each pin is approximately 7 1/4 inches across. The diameter of a bowling ball is 8.6 inches so for a bowling ball to take out both pins at the same instant the ball would have to approach the line between the two pins at very nearly a 90 degree angle with a little over 1 1/4 inches to play with. This can happen when shooting the 4-5 leave for a spare and firing a straight ball up the 23rd board. For the ball to take out the head pin and the number three pin simultaneously your angle of entry would have to be close to 60 degrees, obviously impossible.

To answer your second question it is very complicated to explain without a diagram and a slowmotion video(but I will try). Ideally the ball makes contact with the head pin at a 6 degree angle approximately 1 1/4" right of center of the pin. What part of the ball that makes contact with the head pin is about 4 inches on the left side of the ball measured from the most foreward part of the ball. I would hope that this is a "perfect strike" but we all know that strikes come in all shapes and forms and we take all the strikes we can get. I think that the 6 degree angle of entry was proven to get on the average the most strikes with and without fitting the ball perfectly in the 1-3 pocket.

This is very helpful:

http://bowlingmentor.com/Offset_and_Ideal_Strike_Locatio.html

~ John

johnw1, I hear what you are saying. I have never gone through a 4-5, but I have gone through a 3-10. So how did that happen?

Ringers are caused by the ball coming off the breakpoint slightly too far down the lane and coming in "behind the head pin." It's easier for a ball to do that as the entry angle rises. All that study showed was the percentage of carry for each board and angle at entry.

So now for the more practical issue...

Last night I strung a few strikes together and rolled a 219: 7 strikes and two opens. I followed that up with a 189 and 171, my average. In the second game, I was plagued with a mix of less oil on the path and the thumb sticking. By the third game, I had adjusted my stance two boards to the left and my target one board to the left. The shot consistently hit the pocket, but seemed to be hitting at too high of an angle.

How do I make adjustments and maintain the same angle?

Ludo, if you look at the chart, before, even at 2-4 degree entry, you have high strike probability but at 2-2 1/2 icnhes from head pin center.

So, if you play tight, and enter at a lower angle, you can still get strikes.

But what I think is happening is that my adjustments are generally increasing my angle.