It's less nerve racking to get close and carry, than it is to smash and get "tapped"  You can't always be perfect.  find the carry spot and be as precise to that spot as you can.

If it was possible to hit one exact board and make adjustments to strike with any ball then everyone would only own one ball.

It's possible, just very improbable that anyone has the talent to adjust their game/hand/speed to make this happen.

For the rest of us, we have a big roller full of toys.

 

When I am feeling sharp, I can control the pocket and carry.  When my game is off I don't score - there is a direct correlation between execution and scoring.

Biggest challenge in bowling for good players is to recognize when you made poor shot, and when you need to make an adjustment or ball change.   Here is something that has happened to me, and I have seen it happen to a lot of guys.  You are throwing the ball great, and have a nice string going. 
suddenly you go through the beak, but you know you didn't make as good a shot, so you try to make a better one on the next shot.  More often than not, you do make a good shot and still go through the beak again.  What happens is that the shot is transitioning a bit on every ball during your string, but you don't get feedback from the lane until you make a less than perfect shot.  You have to make a move, and make sure you execute in such a situation.   

My first year of bowling left handed I had a chance to be around some incredible bowlers.  They do call me Lucky.

One currently has the high average in a hot bowling county I believe if not 250 for a season real close.  The year I met him he averaged 236 with one pair of shoes and an old Sapphire zone every week.  He had been busy building a very successful business for almost 10 years and had hardly bowled.

He told me "when I feel like I can hit this(he held his fingers 3 inches apart) at the arrows and strike, I can hit this"(he held his fingers 1/2 inch apart).

The second bowler was a multiple time regional winner picking up all his spares and averaging 219 and bragging about splicing boards and not being rewarded for it!  His body position  was all over the place to be one of the "most accurate bowlers in America"  As we talked about creating area on league conditions and the goal of balancing revs and speed over the next few years he posted averages of right near 240.  He has also gone on to being a nationally known performer on the Senior tour and capable of now throwing more 300s and 800s than ever before in his bowling career.  He no longer worries about splicing on a league shot.

The third bowler was one of the best league bowlers I ever saw.  He said if you find the right spot and match up with the right ball you almost have 3 boards at the arrows if not 4 if you focus on timing and balance at the foul line.
When big money non sanctioned tournaments came around I can't count the number of 780s to 820s I saw him throw.

Recently I came in contact with whom I believe is one of the best bowlers in the world and he was excited as he talked about miss area and how he enjoyed finding it on both sides of his intended lines.   Of course he noted the amount of miss area is dramatically less on the Pro Tour and sport shots than league.

To me this validated a few things.

1. There are no machines (except Earl and that Brunswick Robot guy).
2.  Free swings are inhibited if one focuses on 1/2 boards and the like
3.  Finding and using miss area is done at all levels of the game by high scorers!

Regards,

Luckylefty

Practice is the time to practice and when the arrows are on it's time to do whatever it is to make the score the highest.  Bowling is only measured by score.

Rolling honor scores is great, however the true objective is to bowl better than your opponent(s)...that's how tournaments are won.  Although I would all like to average 250+, realistically I want to bowl well at the right time to beat my opponent(s) in league play or a tournament.  Winning is the goal !!!

Piggy backing on all of that: I bowl in a league that has a drier, lite oil THS. I know this and I also know the transition usually is in blocks of 4 frames. So if I throw four strikes in a row, I am already anticipating a move in my fifth frame. This is almost a lock, from my observations. I can't tell you how many front five games I've had in this league, only to shoot 198, or 205 because I didn't read the change.

Also, a good buddy of mine always says, "it's not what you shoot, it's when you shoot it!!"

Case in point......last Monday another buddy of mine shot 299!! Great score! But didn't win diddly because another guy shot 300!!!

Whereas in the third game of that same set, a 258 high game took all the money after the lanes had transitioned.