Last month (January 2006) we talked about “Head Belly” and the importance of knowing what type of game you have. It is extremely important to know what your “style” or “type of game” that you have is, in order to advance to this month’s tip that we are going to be talking about.

One of the most important ingredients in: “The Keys To Success” is: “Lining-Up”.

All Top Level (Elite) bowlers have enough talent to hit the pocket. They have honed their physical games to have this innate ability. The difference between the “Good” bowlers and the “Great” bowlers is in their abilities to “Line-Up” and “Adjust” properly when the lanes and/or environment changes, which we all know regularly does.

Lining-Up properly will result in above average pin-carry. Keep in mind that it is NOT “how often” that you hit the pocket; IT IS “HOW” you hit the pocket. You must always remember what creates good pin-carry:

A). Being Lined-Up properly.
B). Good execution.
C). Using the right ball.

YOU MUST ALWAYS “LINE-UP” ACCORDING TO YOUR PARTICULAR GAME !!!

Being properly lined-up WILL result in pin-carry of better than 60% striking percentage.

NOT being properly lined-up will result in less than 60% striking percentage. It’s just that simple.

THE REASON??

Even though your pocket percentage may be the same as those ahead of you on the leader board, your strike percentage will be lower because of “Correction Shots” that you made at the Foul-Line from NOT being properly lined up.

Bowling lanes (and that entire environment) are very unstable due to lane surface wear and the extremely thin coating (millionths of an inch) of lane conditioner (oil). Oil is simply a liquid that will move as the ball continues to roll through it. ADJUSTMENTS ARE NECESSARY.

When making adjustments, YOU MUST STAY IN “YOUR” OWN GAME.

For instance, if you are a “tweener” with a 2-3 board “head belly”, it is NOT WISE to suddenly think that you can “open-up” the lane and become a “cranker” (unless you are a SUPER STAR that is in the Hall of Fame).

ALWAYS STAY IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE. Make parallel moves - even if that means changing balls. Changing balls, and knowing how ALL of your equipment reacts, is important.

ALWAYS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING. ALWAYS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE LANES ARE DOING. STAY FOCUSED.

YOU MUST KNOW IF IT IS THE “LANES”, OR IF IT IS “YOU”. ONCE YOU KNOW, “THEN” YOU CAN MAKE THE PROPER ADJUSTMENTS.