are you hooking at them or going straight? if you are going straight, pivot on your target 3 ,6,9 etc..

straight at spares is the only way. you never have to worry about carry down crossing the track etc..

I just to miss 7 out of 10 left side spares when I hooked at them. now I miss 1 out of 10 ( on most nights )

You have to close your stance for left side spares. feet hips and shoulder.

then find the target that you can consistently hit the 7 pin from. I base mine on 3rd arrow. from there it's 3 boards left for the 4 and so on. split the board count on multi pins.

4/7 = 1.5 board adjustment.


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"deserves got nothing to do with it."
-- William Munny

More than likely your problem is with body alignment. Because we hook the ball we tend to face the cetner of our body in the direction we are hooking the ball. The problem becomes when not hooking the ball our bodies are facing away from our targets. You need to face the pin/target in your stance and maintain that position through your entire approach and finish. When you learn to be comfortable with this, you will see that you are making the vast majority of your spares.

 Additionally, you should try to be smart about choosing your starting and spotting targets for different spares.  For example, I am comfortable with shoot the 9,3,6 and 10 pins from a single target 24th board.  If I draw a line through that target straight to in inside of the tenpin, the ball is wide enough to contact all the pins listed. Because of this I move only a few boards on my starting positon to cover all the spares and or combinations of these spares. The real exeception is the double wood cobination of the 3,9 which requires some hook to get the back pin.  I use 26the board to  shoot the 7,2,4,8 pins except for the 2,8 combination where I utilize my strike line to hook into it.  Again drawing a straight line I only have to move a few boards with my feet to cover all these spares and I am not faced with going through the thickest oil in the center of the lane.  The real benifit for me with the right side spares is that it helps me to face the pins correctly because it is not so exterme as when I am trying to face them from the third arrow.

I hope this helps
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Getting all the pins I can.

I Stand on 25 to shoot the 4 pin (looking at 26), but that accounts for my drift.
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Getting all the pins I can.

i stand on the fifth board with my right foot and throw over the center arrow for 7 pins
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stanski

Any more ideas would be great for me, too!!  I've been having the exact same problem.  I rarely miss the corners with the straight ball -- it's those stinkin' "other" pins that are giving me fits.  I think my spare % has dropped to 25%!!  At least my strike % is going through the roof with the X-Factor....

Edited on 3/16/2004 12:22 PM

Pin chaser offered the best advice - you have to square up for the left side spares.  Suggestion - when you shoot the left side, pull your left foot back and exaggerate pointing your shoulders and hips to the left.  Most of us have developed a stance with the right foot back and shoulders open to allow for some swing.  If you swing at the left side with plastic you are in trouble.

As for where you stand, that's up to you to figure out, because your starting point and your target will vary depending on your approach, if you fade or walk straight.  It doesn't matter what you look at, although the trend among pros seems to be to shoot the left side using the 4th, 5th or even 6th arrow rather than going the old-fashioned "cross lane" by using the 3rd or 2nd arrow.

OR there is no rule that you have to use your plastic ball on the left.  I only use plastic for the 10 pin, 6-10 and 3-6-10 on a house shot.  If the shot is flat I do use plastic everywhere because you never know if the ball will hook or not.

Good luck!

Thanks MCM I used to pick spares like that but sometimes on carrydown or finding others lines my spares overhooked, thats why I am changing to straight... But your post was complete and useful for a lot of us here

THANKS!!!
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Gendou Ikari... Bowl to Win!!!