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How to Throw the Perfect Strike

The American Bowling Congress (ABC) did a study recently on how to throw the perfect strike, which pins the ball must hit, and why shots that appear perfect may turn out to leave pins standing.*  The ABC suggests different shots for a left handed bowler and a right handed bowler.  This guide involves where the head pin needs to hit, and with what power in order to hit down all the pins.

Placement

The ball in the perfect strike will hit the 1,3,5,and 9 pins for a right hander, and the 1,2,5, and 8 pins for a left hander.  This strike will be caused by the “domino effect” of the pins knocking into the other pins to be pushed with a great enough force so that the pins will fall.  The placement of the ball is not the only factor in hitting down the pins, as a sufficient amount of velocity is needed to get the ball through all the required pins.  The spin placed on the ball will help this location be achieved by forcing the ball closer to the ideal location and at the proper angle.

Power 

Because the pins have a weight of about 3 to 4 pounds, a sufficient amount of speed is required to knock down all the pins suggested.  For this reason, the shots of a young child will not knock down all the pins often.  The ball needs to hit down four pins, which means that it needs to exert a force to knock down 12 to 16 pounds.  This implies that a bowler should use a ball of at least 14 pounds so that he or she can have the most efficient ability in knocking down the pins.  This positioning is instrumental to eliminating the corner pins so that the second spare shot is much easier to hit, even if there is not sufficient power to knock down all the pins.

One of the more common mishaps in the first shot is leaving the ball “high”, or missing with the ball hitting the 1 pin head on.  This generally leaves a difficult split of  6-7-10

*http://www.bowl.com/coaching/tips/intermediate/cornerpins.aspx