Today I only hit about 40-50% of my ten pins at our highschool match. All of them were missed just about three boards to the left. I was trying to throw it about 4 or 5 mph faster than my normal ball. Do you guys think that that was causing my problem with trying to throw it to fast. Or was it just something else?

I think it could have been how you were trying to throw it faster. You could have been pulling the shot down from the top of the backswing which resulted in you pulling the shot to the left. Just let the ball swing, and go at its own speed.

It could have also been you didn't have your angle correct and might have needed to move a little left and hit the same target to let the ball go a little more right. I personally think it was what I described above.

Alright thanks infernocal, I had a feeling that trying to throw it to hard was the reason but I wasn't sure, and I just wanted to check and make sure thats what you guys thought. Thanks.

You don't need speed to pick up a single pin. Why throw harder?

Justin:

Are you using a spare ball when you are throwing at the corner pins? If not, are you breaking down your wrist with your strike ball?

Justin, I have trouble with the ten pin from time to time as well. What helps me is taking an extra second to aim and lock onto my target arrow, then making sure my speed is a bit down.

Justin,
I seen to throw harder on my spares for some reason too. Though it never was cause for me missing at spares. Usually it is i wasnt lined up correctly. If you missed left should of tried to move left. Also if you are not using spare ball could be the cause of it. If you are using a strike ball i seen many people shoot with strike ball and it last minute it hooks left missng the spare.

Might be a good idea next time you practice just shoot a whole game at 10 pins to practice on them. that usually helps me.

I was a bit inconsistent with ten pins not too long ago. I had a spare ball, and even straightened my wrist with it to go in a straighter line. Then I saw someone take their index finger and slide it into their grip- i.e. right next to their middle finger. With the addition of my pinky next to my ring finger, my griphad all four fingers adjacent when releasing.This gave the ball an even straighter trajectory and more accurate line to my target. May be worth taking into consideration.

Get a plastic spare ball, use whatever hand position is comfortable, lay it down on 37, hit 21 at the arrows, and you'll cover the 10 no sweat.

First, there are only three types of spare leaves that I ever try to throw harder at: The Big Four, the 7,10 or the 6,7,10 or its counterpart. Aside from those I throw my ball at the same speed or at least try to on my spares. Yeah it sounds like you're grabbing the ball and as a result pulling it left.

As far as picking up tens go, I'd say find a way that is comfortable with you. If you use a spare ball, go through your normal approach just stand on the filler board, have the ball go anywhere between 20-15 and you got it. And if you use a strike ball, do things like breaking your wrist or at the very least flattening it, minimizing your hook with your index finger in and exstending your little finger out, and finally coming up under the ball. The target is still pretty much the same, filler board, 20-15 at the arrows and you got it. Now if you have a really cool ball like my Scout Reactive, you might not need all that stuff, but I still use some of the aforementioned techniques and tricks.