"Why Do I Leave So Many 10 pins"?

    There are several problems we can encounter while bowling, and one of them is constantly leaving a ten pin. This can be most frustrating because sometimes I get what looked like a great shot, confidently walk away expecting to have gotten all ten pins down, then turning around and seeing the ten pin staring back at me! UGH, I GOT ROBBED!!

    If you only leave an occasional 10 pin, there's not much to worry about, but if you leave them often then there is a slight error that needs correcting.

    First off, make sure you are hitting your mark before making any adjustments because it could be that you are just missing your intended target slightly. If the target is not the issue, then it may be that your ball is going too long (beginning to hook too late), or going too short (beginning to hook too early).

​    Here are a few things I have figured out over the years after leaving several 10 pins that you can try to help you NOT get ROBBED!!


1.    You need to OBSERVE your ball when it hits the pins. If the 6 pin wraps around the ten pin or goes through the 9 and 10 pins and misses the 10 pin altogether, then your ball is going too LONG, meaning your'e hitting the pocket too LIGHT. The fix is to move your feet at the stance a board or two to the right (to make the ball go more to the left at the pocket and hit it more solidly). Or, you can move back on the lane 3-5 boards which will give the ball more lane to hook on and have time to come up higher onto the headpin. Keep the same target.

Hitting Too Light

2. If you are hitting HEAVY, that means that the ball is going too short, or hooking too early and coming up too high on the headpin. With this shot, the 6 pin is going in front of the 10 pin and not getting a chance to hit it and knock it down.
You will need to move a board or two to the left at the stance and keep the same target. Or you can move forward on the lane 3-5 boards. 

Hitting Too Heavy

    You can try slowing down your walk to give the ball more chance to hook and come into the pocket more solidly, or speed up your walk if the ball is coming up too high on the headpin. Practice changing speed during your practice session because you want your timing to be good-meaning that the arm and leg movements are in sync with each other.


​Join me here again next week when I'll be discussing  "How Do You Rotate Your Hand in Bowling"? I hope to see you then.

Good Luck and High Scoring!!