From: ak331@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jerry A. Jelinek)
Newsgroups: alt.sport.bowling
Subject: Re: Finding the line.
Date: 25 Jan 1993 21:13:45 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: thor.ins.cwru.edu


Glenn Williams asks:
 
>> I normally bowl an outside line in the house our league is in.
>> The lanes are medium-oily. Last weekend I participated in a city
>> tourny, and bowled in two houses where the conditions were
>> extremely dry. My outside line went from gutter to gutter. I adjus
>> ted to an inside line, after watching serveral other bowlers, and
>> found that I was at least around the head pin. So...what line does
>> what? What are the guidelines? Does an inside line cut down on the
>> hook? When do you change lines?
 
Bernie gives a excellent set of conditions to judge how to play the lanes.
I'm motioning for Bernies response to be a FAQ (Hear that Aki?).
 
Here is some more helpfull tips. Bernie hits on the key to becoming a 
better bowler:
 
>What you're striving to do is play the lanes so that your ball has
>a proper reaction pattern [this is the front-to-back aspect] and
>where you can get a little margin for error by some help from the
>oil [this is the left-to-right aspect].
 
This is a excellent point.  Bowling is simple when you find a area of the
lane where you can maximize your error.  If you watched bowling Saturday
you saw the pros bowling on a tough condition.  Why was it tough?  The
bowlers seemed to have a "dry" back end - meaning the ball would hook hard
at the 40-50 foot mark.  The bowlers seemed to have a fair amount of oil
outside and drier inside (this I saw and represents a "reverse block").
Ok we have looked at the conditions and still ask why did the pros
struggle.  Only one answer, they didn't have a large margin for error.
If they increased speed or tried to hook the ball farther outside.  The ball
would hit more oil and die.  If they slowed down or moved further in, the
ball would hit dry boards and hook to early.  The same priniciapl applies if
you are a 150 bowler or a 220 bowler.  The more margin of error if you have, 
the higher you will score.
 
Bernie makes some more excellent points:
 
>My own strategy is that I think that getting some 'help' from the
>lanes is more important than the reaction profile, so I'll try to
>find the line which gives me some margin for error... what this
>means is that an area of the lanes where if I miss my mark a little
>bit to the right, the lanes will 'help' and my ball will hook a bit
>extra; similarly, if I pull the ball a tiny bit the lanes will help
>and my ball will 'set' a bit and hold pocket.
 
But how do I find this "magical" error zone.  Practice, Practice PRACTICE!
There are some excellent books to help you decide on practice techniques.
I go back to my favorite "Knowledge is the Key" by Fred Borden.  Another
book which is good is "Bowling 200+" by Mike Aulby and Dave Ferraro.  What
I like about the later mentioned is a neat practice technique.  
 
"The Dots Game"
 
Take any piece of equipment you have, say a Columbia Yellow Dot.  There are
a set of dots at 7 foot from the foul light (can't remember how many. Maybe
15 or so) Use the dots of your side of the head pin (right of the 20th
board for righties, left of the 20th board for lefties).  Pick the furthest
right dot.  Throw your ball.  When you get a double, move to the next dot.
Count how many shots it takes you to use the same piece of equipment to 
get doubles on each dot.  After you have done this, pick another piece of
equipment, say a Fab Blue Hammer. Repeat the game.  This game is a excellent
way to learn how to throw each piece of equipment you have to hook and go 
straight. This is tough, but a excellent learning tool. 
 
>How do you know when to change your line?  I think this is a VERY
>difficult and subtle question, much much harder than the original
>question [of finding the line in the first place], especially if
>you consider it with its dual: how do you know when to change
>balls/release/speed/etc.  The first and *MOST* important principle
>is *NEVER* make a correction based on a bad shot. 
 
Bernie makes another good point.  (I'm not a big Bo Burton fan, but he does
emphasise this in his bowling theory).
 
Another good technique to know when to move is by watching bowlers you know
and see how they adjust.  I'm lucky enough to bowl with 2 Cleveland Hall of
Famers. I use their knowledge to my best advantage.  Both have similar games
to mine, so we feed off each other and how we feel the lanes are acting.
 
Also as you begin to get better, you begin to have different pieces of
equipment which react differenetly.  Each piece will have its own 
characteristics and thus will work on different lane conditions.  Again
"Knowledge is the Key".
 
Jerry
Newsgroups: alt.sport.bowling