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In our last column, we talked
about a couple of ways that the pros use to max out their score
and save as many pins as possible. Specifically, we discussed the
importance of throwing straight at your spares and also the practice
of moving left in small increments after each strike shot to stay
on top of the constantly changing oil pattern. This time, I’d like
to give you two more tricks that will help you get the most out
of your score.
First, one of the most common mistakes I see amateurs making is
a reluctance to play the lanes in a place that is outside their
normal comfort zone. Insisting on playing the second arrow, when
it is obvious that the third arrow is the place that provides the
best margin for error is a sure way to sink your score. A perfect
example of this is the PBA’s Cheetah pattern, which is always the
highest-scoring of the five patterns used on Tour. In fact, critics
have said for years that the Cheetah pattern is too easy and produces
a ridiculously high scoring pace. Some have even said that it should
never be used again. But the interesting thing, now that there are
PBA Experience Leagues sanctioned by the USBC, is that the Cheetah
pattern is actually the LOWEST scoring pattern for amateurs. The
reason for this is that most amateurs are not comfortable playing
the extreme outside part of the lane, which is where you must play
in order to take advantage of the Cheetah pattern’s short oil dressing
and extremely dry backends. Consequently, while the pros average
21 pins higher on the Cheetah pattern than the more difficult Shark
pattern, amateurs actually perform better on the Shark because there
is more oil and it allows them to play closer to their comfort zone.
That leads us to my final topic, which is the importance of experiencing
as many new conditions and environments as possible through practice.
The way that most of us pros reached the level we’re at today is
through a constant desire to learn new tricks and new ways to play
lane conditions which we found difficult in the past. We can see
proof of this desire in the ability of some of the players on Tour
to compete equally on widely diverse lane conditions. The best of
the best have learned the most efficient way to play on all of the
five different oil patterns to give them a chance to win any given
week. And they gained this knowledge and experience the old-fashioned
way, through hard work, perseverance and a willingness to keep an
open mind and try new things. An open mind is your biggest asset
in bowling, because the environment is constantly changing from
week to week, game to game and frame to frame. And the more you
practice and experience new environments, the more tools you’ll
be able to access when the time comes to use them.
At the end of the day, bowling is simply a game of trying to knock
down the most pins in the fewest number of shots. The reason the
pros are the pros is because we have this down to an art of throwing
away the fewest pins possible. On Tour, the difference between averaging
225 and 220 for a season can put you tens of thousands of dollars
apart in the standings. For amateurs, the consequences are not nearly
as severe, but the satisfaction of knowing that you’re making strides
toward your own personal goals can be just as satisfying. |
