First off, big ups for hating the 9 pin!
Think of pin up and pin down different then hook and early hook. Think of the pin placement above or below the fingers in terms of controlling the "motion" of the ball. Pin up rocks do typically want to float through the heads and then go pysco on the backs. Like for me, I opt for a pin down ball on the dry to control the motion the ball makes as it travels down the lane.
Don't get caught up on throwing the pin up or down. First, choose a ball that does what you want, i.e. skid/flip, arc, etc. Then focus on the pin to pap relationship and last but not least...surface-surface-surface! I cannot tell you how much the right surface will do for a ball.
Good luck! When all else fails, stare at the 9 when it's laughing back at you...I stare 3-6 times in a 3 game set myself. LOL