Understanding the value of a good spare game

[John_Velo]

Hey Scott,

I think yes that is the case and agree with you, pressure will always play a roll in spare shooting. I also believe that we should not try and be like the pro's. I know that for me I bowl three games a week. Last night I bowled for the first time since Orange, 10 days. Timing was a bit out and blew three single pins and chopped three other spares. It happens. But if your swing and technique is sound the spares should be pretty easy. If you bowl three times a week for example I would expect you to be 95% on spares.

When looking at spare shooting of the pro's I like to watch Norm Duke, Walter Ray these guys probably do it better than any one. I heard a comment once by Norm Duke, he said that he saw Walter Ray miss a ten pin and he had to go out side to see if it was snowing as it was the first one he missed in ten years...!

To be that good would be great, that takes dedication and practice.

 

[becka_girl]

Sure, are we going to simply say that they 'throw it too fast' or are we going to consider maybe they rush other aspects i.e feet too fast? balance at the foul line? Possibly the challenge of keeping adrenaline under control under such experience?
They made the TV appearance by having the 'fast spare shooting' game, i think it has something to to with the pressure and dealing with it.

Sean rash is an example, he simply said hes been trying to keep his tempo under control because hes been getting too fast under the lights.

I cannot understand why people would try throw it fast to be a hero, however i think theres more to it

yeah i agree it can be pressure etc but also some of them sometimes just stand up there and don't even line up, just throw it as fast as possible.

I think it all comes down to practising your spares every single week and trying to keep your speeds the same. Also being smart with how you spare things. I absolutely hate seeing people who are right handed and try to hook the ball the whole lane to spare a 7 pin or 4 pin.

Sparing isnt rocket science, practice makes perfect! I find that my strong point of my game is my sparing and thats because I have put hours and hours into practicing spares and not just your 7 and 10 pins but every single pin on that deck

 

[da_cowman]

Hi Bec,

As said in the video, the plastic will go straight, so no need to change the delivery from your first shot. Just play your shot normally. Change your shot if not throwing a spare ball.

Wanna try that on a Short Oil pattern? If you hook it on a house pattern you find yourself subconsciously taking the small amount of hook the plastic generates into account for your spares. Then, on a short pattern it hooks, and on the longs they do go dead straight. I've struck on short oil patterns with a plastic off the edge. THAT'S 17 BOARDS I'VE COVERED!! Me with my lack of hand, imagine guys that do actually get a handful. Hooking the plastic also opens up the area for chopping 6-10's etc. The ball can only do what you tell it to do. Simple as that. You get what you deserve on every shot. Whether you like it or not. Throw it straight and know that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, what the pattern is, if you stand on x board and hit x board you've made your spare. Every single time. Why take an unnecessary chance?

Cow

 

[da_cowman]

If you bowl three times a week for example I would expect you to be 95% on spares.

Sorry to be picking on you here John, but please clarify spares. If you mean any and all spares then I doubt anyone on the planet is 95%. If you mean non-splits then maybe, MAYBE, Walter is there. 95% is sick good. That's one miss in 20. Think about that... That's not leaving the 9 in the 3-6-9-10, or the 8 in a bucket, it's barely ever chopping, and remember washouts aren't splits... That's a nasty nasty good percentage.

Cow

 

[bomber_comfort]

Sorry to be picking on you here John, but please clarify spares. If you mean any and all spares then I doubt anyone on the planet is 95%. If you mean non-splits then maybe, MAYBE, Walter is there. 95% is sick good. That's one miss in 20. Think about that... That's not leaving the 9 in the 3-6-9-10, or the 8 in a bucket, it's barely ever chopping, and remember washouts aren't splits... That's a nasty nasty good percentage.

Cow

I would assume he means non splits. But include sleepers.

 

[bomber_comfort]

I agree with the 95% comment above. Spares is one of the things that lets me down quite and bit which is why I continue to work on it so much. Have now only just committed to the plastic ball at everything and straight at it with angle and backup at the right hand side spares. No hooking the ball at spares!

This would be my definition of being good at sparing and thus no more need to constantly work on it.

Can you get up and hit any single pin spare 10 times in a row... ie can you spare 10, 10 pins in a row with the lanes on figures?
Can you line up and throw the ball the exact same way at all your spares and stand in the extact same place, no matter what center you are at or the lane conditions.. i.e The board you stand on, the board your finish on, the board you hit at the arrows etc etc are all the same for a 7 pin or 10 pin or 4 pin or 8 pin no matter what center you are at or lane condition (thus you take the lanes out of the spare equation),

Have a look at all the high average bowlers in your centre... yes they strike a lot, but do they miss many makeable spares..... nope!

 

[becka_girl]

No one is perfect at sparing, no matter how good you are a sparing, you should still always practice them constantly, even if it's just for 10-15 mins

 

[da_cowman]

Source is Wikipedia, but I'm sure the references down below would be able to point you in more direct location. From Walter Ray Williams, Jr.'s Wiki page.

"He is known for several PBA achievements:
Record highest season spare percentage (88.16%, 655/743; 2004–05) and single-pin conversion percentage (100%, 475/475; 2005–06)"

That's the record... 88.16. From arguably the greatest spare shooter we know of.

Also, from the PBA's Facebook page regarding ESPN Studies done on the TV Shows. https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150156819162425

ESPN THE MAGAZINE DOCUMENTS PBA SPARE-SHOOTING SUCCESS ON TV

ESPN the Magazine completed more than three months of research into the spare-shooting success of Professional Bowlers Association players on national television in its Feb. 7 issue with a revealing “And Another Thing” feature.

ESPN the Magazine’s researchers reviewed every frame of every nationally-televised match from the 2005-06 season through the 2009-10 season, and came up with the following tidbits (and more):

● Players threw strikes on 4,374 of 7,155 first-ball attempts (a 61.13% success rate), meaning they also had to make 2,781 spare attempts.

● While there was no distinction between attempts by right- or left-handed players, the most common spare was the 10 pin. PBA players converted the 10 pin on 95.9% of 710 attempts. Players who shot at the 7 pin were successful on 95.5% of 333 tries.

● The highest conversion rate for all spares was 98.9% for 88 attempts to convert the 9 pin.

● The lowest conversion rate was zero for 53 shots at 7-10 splits. No one has converted a 7-10 on a PBA telecast since Jess Stayrook did it in Tucson, Ariz., in 1991. Mark Roth (Alameda, Calif., 1980) and John Mazza (Sunrise, Fla., 1991) are the only others who have ever converted the 7-10 on a PBA telecast.

● The second-lowest success rate was 3.3% on “Big Four” splits. When Walter Ray Williams Jr. converted the 4-6-7-10 in Norcross, Ga., in 2005, he not only was the only player among 30 who shot at the split during the magazine’s study period, but the only person in PBA television history to convert it.

● The most surprising statistic was the conversion rate for “baby splits,” which has been less than a 50/50 proposition. The 3-10 was converted only 48.6% of the time (17 of 35 attempts).


● The magazine’s study listed the 20 most common spare attempts. Long-time PBA followers will note that the 5 pin, 8-10 and 5-7 splits no longer rank among the most common spares in PBA competition.

Will try and find the graphs that they had made for it. Quite an interesting read. Fact of the matter is, the guys who we consider the best in world, are barely at 95% on 10 pins. What does this mean? Every single one of us can be better (Walters 05-06 season being the exception), and there is probably a better way to spare them. It would be great to see the ratio of missed spares by those through the same delivery (Mika's US Open comes to mind), hard and fast (Rash in the World Championship play off, and Osku predominately) and those who don't throw it much harder, if at all, (Duke and WRWj come to mind, although WRW still get's a similar RPM, they are very end over end, the ball usually rotating over his thumb). Anyone got enough free time on their hands???

Cheers, Cow

 

[John_Velo]

Hey Cow,

All good here, I am referring to back to the video. So talking singles, doubles, sleepers and clusters. The type of spare that lets most of us down, the get-able stuff we simple blow by. Not talking tournament conditions but again as the video is set out for people like myself, League Hacks wanting to be better their game. So the condition is House Shot League.

Not talking things like 1,2,4,6,10 or Greek church etc. But the clustered spares like buckets, 1,2,4 etc, even the 3-10 I would put in the should get more than miss basket.

I think that there is no rule to sparing, like years ago it was move three left for this pin, four right for that one. That really no longer applies any more due to the puddle in the middle of the lane, heck the lanes are not even as level as they use to be many years ago. So a classic example were the rules of years ago no longer apply, throwing at the 7 or 10 and the ball just never gets over the oil line and goes straight blowing past the 7 by a inches.

We also need to keep in mind one of the comments at the start of the video, Shockley mentions the 185 average league bowler that says "I need a new ball to get to a 200 average." His response is you need to get your spares and stop missing three a game and you will be at 200 average with the ball you already have.

I don't believe that there is a "this way only" way to get your spares, you have to bowl at them the way that feels comfortable and works for the individual. But most of all as Bec has said, practice practice practice.

 

[CHIN]

How often do they hit single pins... (Well Osku at least) Sean Rash rolls it at spares at a moderate +40kph...

Maybe Mika should speed up on his 10 pin spares. Would have won another Major if he had.

 

[John_Velo]

Hey Chin,

But as Norm mentioned, give it 20 yrs and he will not remember a thing.....NOT.

 

[bomber_comfort]

Source is Wikipedia, but I'm sure the references down below would be able to point you in more direct location. From Walter Ray Williams, Jr.'s Wiki page.

"He is known for several PBA achievements:
single-pin conversion percentage (100%, 475/475; 2005–06)"


● PBA players converted the 10 pin on 95.9% of 710 attempts. Players who shot at the 7 pin were successful on 95.5% of 333 tries.

● The highest conversion rate for all spares was 98.9% for 88 attempts to convert the 9 pin.

Cheers, Cow

Those figures in particular say it all to me.... Single pin spares most are very happy to not miss one in a night, he did not miss 1 all year!

Want to be at a pro level.... do that! 99.9% of us would not even come close!

 

[CHIN]

Hey Chin,

But as Norm mentioned, give it 20 yrs and he will not remember a thing.....NOT.

I think that 10 pin will haunt Mika till the day he dies.

 

[Scuzz]

475/475 single pins, that alone is remarkable

 

[CHIN]

Only 1 thing would annoy me more than leaving 475 single pins. That is counting the bloody things all year.

 

[John_Velo]

Ok then, Walter Ray, WTBA event 2012 against Chris Barnes.

He did not spare the 7 - 10 but check out the Greek church spare at the 25:30 minutes mark.

2012 WTBA International Open - Stepladder Finals - YouTube

Mind you he threw a nice two hander strike in the last shot at 31:30.