Collect more spares in bowling by aiming at the destination pins

May 18, 2022 0 Comments

It doesn’t matter if you’re a really good bowler, you won’t knock down all ten pins every time. Therefore, it is very important to learn how to pick up spare parts. Yet despite this, a surprisingly high percentage of bowlers are completely ignorant of this side of the game!

The main reason for this is the fact that people think that working with spare parts is not very fun. But they would be doing themselves a huge favor by doing so, as leaving too many frames open will absolutely screw up your score. A few chained spares will actually lead to a much higher score than getting a couple hits but leaving open spaces in between.

Some bowlers see picking up spares as a big part of the game, but they usually don’t use any real strategy, opting instead to bowl the ball and wait. Instead of doing this, you must employ the destination pin method.

Aiming at the target pins

The target pin method dictates that it will choose a pin as its target based on the array left standing. You then line up to hit just that pin.

No matter what the situation, you’ll aim your spare shot at one of the 7 pins that make up the outside of the bowling triangle: either the 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 or 10 pin. (For those of you who don’t know the pin numbering system, start with the pin closest to you as #1 and then work your way from left to right for each row behind it.)

Basically, with the target pin method, you identify the pin that is closest to you and make it your target.

Here are some examples that will help you understand what we are saying:

  • If you shoot down all but pins 3, 5, and 6, it will target pin 3 directly. The logic behind this strategy is that if you hit this target, you will shoot them all down.
  • If only pins 5 and 6 are left standing, which is a hard spare, you’ll still be aiming for pin 3’s point, even though it’s not there anymore!
  • If pins 2 and 4 remain, it will point to pin 2 because it is closer to you.
  • If you’re facing pin 8 in the back row, you’ll be aiming for the point closest to you, pin 2. The same goes for pin 9 (points to pin 3) and even center pin 5 (points to pin 1, the head pin).
  • If you have a tricky little split, like pin 9 and pin 10, fear not and make your target pin the pin 6 spot.

Some bowlers may not think they need to use the target pin method to pick up spares. But if you just go for feel and throw where you think is best, your success is down to sheer luck. Bringing a calculated,

You must keep your stroke consistent

For this method to work, you need to make sure your delivery and focus are consistent so that you can hit your target pin.

Also, many factors, including the type of ball you throw, the amount of hook (if any) you throw, and even the oil pattern in the rail will dictate which exact arrow to aim for and which board to stand on. The best thing you can do is take the basics presented in this article and hit the rails and practice!

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