A Dearth of Single Pins
Using Your Visualization Muscles I'll bet you've shot the 10 pin a couple of times in your bowling life and made it. You know where to stand and which ball to roll and what target to use. Still, sometimes you pull it or plunk it in the ditch, that inexplicable miss where you know you screwed up so you act like you don't care or you hurt your hand or the ball stuck on your thumb – sort of like looking for the hole in your glove after the grounder rolls between your legs to the fence. You usually make spares like the 6/10 or the 4/7, but occasionally feel like you've never shot them before or worse, like you could chop it all day long (unless you tried to chop it, of course). One of the best ways I know to stop missing spares is to never shoot one alone. Regardless of what's standing up, you are shooting at something else. Here's how it works: Let's say you leave a 3 pin. Well, don't just shoot that lonely 3 pin. Shoot it as though it were the 3/9 or the 3/10. Let's start with the 3/9. You line up and shoot it and hit the right side of the 3 pin. You've made the spare and now you get to slap everybody's hand and take a card to see if you made your full house. In your heart, though, you know it wasn't good enough. It would have missed the 9 pin. You'll know two wonderful things: if you leave the 3/9, a) you are not lined up to make it and b) you could spare the 3 by itself without moving. So, you earn your slash mark AND get the bonus information of free alignment for other spares. I'd love to say that, since you hit the right side of the 3, you have discovered where to stand and throw for the 3/10, but that wouldn't necessarily be true. A shot that hits the right side of the 3 pin might make the 3/10 and might not. It depends on how much influence the 3 pin had on the ball. You've got to carefully watch that shot at the 3 that missed the imaginary 3/9. Did the ball deflect into the imaginary 10 pin? If not, you have a third piece of information – what not to do for the 3/10. If it did, you're lined up for the 3/10 in case you should leave one. Never turn your back on a shot whether you think you've missed it or made it. You've got to pay close attention to how you hit that 3 pin so you get the maximum benefit from your conversion – the 11 pins on your next shot and how to make a spare you haven't even left, without having to miss it for real. The same approach (pun intended) is true for all single pin spares. You'll shoot the 4 as if it were the 4/9 or 4/10. If you do that and you hit the 4 pin in the face, you'll know you need to move to make those spares, should you leave them. If you make the imaginary 4/9, you'll know how to move to make the 4/10. Shoot the 6/10 as if it were the 6/7 or 6/7/10. This is also a great way to stop chopping the 6/10 spare. You'll notice you almost never miss the 6/10 if the 7 is with it. Then, in the very next frame, chop the 6 off the 10 if the 7 pin isn't there. Just put the 7 there in your imagination and watch your conversion percentage skyrocket! I think you'll be surprised how much easier it is to spare if you exercise your visualization muscles. No matter what pin or combinations of pins you leave, shoot more than you see. The rewards are really high and the method quite painless. Keeping in mind the #1 reason for missed single spares is lack of concentration, you'll really see your conversion percentage increase.