Well, ive been going through a few topics in my head this week. I figured spare shooting would be a good one to discuss as we are bowling a tournament this weekend where spare shooting makes or breaks you. Now i have no structure for this entry so ill try to keep some kind of structure.
To start, lets take a look at what spare shooting is. Spare shooting is what every bowler does when they do not strike. Spares are an important (if not THE most important) part of any bowling competition. Anything left standing after the first ball is considered a possible spare. Spares mean more pins per frame than an open.
There are easy spares, hard spares, and splits. Splits are leftover pins (two or more) that are "split" apart. Now that i tihnk about it, the definition of a split is harder to explain than it may seem. If the pins are in the same row, there does not have to have a pin spot between them. For example, the 2-3, 4-5, 5-6, 7-8, 8-9, 9-10 are all considered splits. However, if pins are not in the same row, there needs to be at least one pin-spot between at least two of them. For example, the 3-10 is a split but the 3-6 is not. There is an exception. A leave that contains the head pin is not considered a split in stat tracking, but lets be honest, it follows the rules.
Now hard spares and easy spares are all opinion. But my definition of a hard spare is generally any leave that contains three or more pins, and any leave that has double wood (sleeper pin). I consider easy spares any single pin and most two-pin spares (besides what i mentioned above).
Now that we got all that out of the way, we can discuss spare shooting in tournament settings. Ill start by saying that the ability to shoot spares is probably the most potent weapon in a bowling tournament or league. This especially rings true if strikes are hard to come by. Everyone has missed a cut or a cash spot by under 10 pins. I bet if all those bowlers looked back at their games, there is at least one time they missed a makeable spare. Thats at least 11 pins right there. now, I know thats not always the case. This past weekend i lost a tournament in the final game by 1 pin, but had a clean game. But in general, you will find somewhere an open that couldve been a spare.
With that being said, i am always saddened when i see people practice, but not shoot at their spares. A lot of times they just reset and keep throwing strike shots. I understand that maybe in warm up or just tossing a freshly drilled rock, but a weekly practice and no spare shooting is a big no-no. I am especially perplexed when tournament bowlers miss spares and tell me they dont really shoot spares in practice. Are we talking about practice? yes we are. i shoot spares EVERYTIME i practice. i am not satisfied until i am 100% on everything.
In longer tournament formats, you can get away with around 75% on multi-pin conversions, but single-pin needs to be no less than 100%. Single pins have to be the simplist spares to shoot at. With the exception of the 7 and the 10, you have around HALF the lane to pick up each single pin. (two ball lengths + one pin length). Right now i figure im at around 95% on my single pin spares over the last few months of tournaments. Its high, but i would perfer 100%.
As i wrap up this entry, ill give a quick tip. throw straight at every spare. just do it. Especially when bowling on a diffucult pattern, throwing straight and hard will take the lane completely out of the situation and your spare shooting is a direct result of your skill. im not going to lie, i hook at left side spares on house patterns, but thats because i know where the friction is and it leaves more room for error than going straight. miss left it will skid and miss right it will hook more. however, even if practicing on a house pattern, ill throw straight and hard.
So if you are on the fence about throwing straight at all spares, its something you need to do to step up your game. Go pay $50 or whatever for a plastic ball and just throw for an hour everytime you practice. wait what? practice? yes practice. you are not going to pick this up by just throwing a plastic ball, you need to PRACTICE it. Some people throw urethane as a spare ball. I have mixed feelings. if you are good at killing the rotation, then i think thats fine. However, urethane hooks on ANY friction, so if you are revving it, it will grab. Urethane does not mean straight. I have been practicing throwing my urethane at spares that last few days, but i can kill the hand pretty consistently. (missed only one single pin so far)
You see some pro's hook on the pba patterns, but they are PRO and dont miss. However, Walter Ray Williams Jr had a streak of like 600 single pin conversions in a row. And we all know what he has done in his career. By the way, im pretty sure he throws straight at everything.
So, this wraps up this entry. I can go on and on about spare shooting. That how important it is. I hate to use this cliche, mainly because it sounds horrible, but strike for show, spare for dough. I like the expression "SPARE OR DIE!!!" more. It seems more elegant. Strikes may be fun, spares are dull, but winning is also fun. So, think about it.
-Cameron
"Insane to the membrane (at least, this weekend)."
No comments:
Post a Comment