Two-Handed Spare Shooting
By: bowlingball.com 3/3/2017
Every bowler has to be versatile in today’s game. Whether playing all areas of the lane or just rolling your favorite house shot, there will always be the utmost of importance to be an excellent spare shooter. Without spares in your game, your scores will suffer drastically. Two-handed bowlers line up very similarly to our one-handed counterparts.
The system that most all bowlers use nowadays is the 3-6-9 system. This is the method that they would go about for making their spares. As a two-handed bowler, this method will most of the time not work. For example, in the 3-6-9 system, to shoot a 10 pin you would move 12 boards to the left to shoot the 10. For a two-handed bowler, we are already so deep on the lane that moving 12 boards to the left is not possible for us. Therefore, this conversion system will rarely work.
So, if the 3-6-9 conversions don’t work, then what will? The reverse 3-6-9 system can work for all bowlers, especially two-handers who are looking for a method of their own to make sure that they make their spares. As stated in previous articles, every two-handed bowler is different as we all have our own methods of getting to the foul line as well as have our own methods of shooting spares. I’ll use myself for example. For 10 pins I stand on the 39th board and make sure that my ball crosses the 3rd and 4th arrows to convert the 10. For 6 pins I stand on the same board and look the same place. However, on my 3 and 9 pins, I move approximately 10 boards to the right and still have my ball cross the 3rd and 4th arrows. This keeps that tight line for me to make my spares. Typically, once we pick a specific spot that is comfortable to make our spares, we then add in the reversal 3-6-9 method and move three to the right for the 6 pin and six right for the 9 pin. But as I have said, every two-handed bowler is different and you have to adapt the style best for each bowlers’ game.
When shooting spares like the head pin or the 5 pin (pins at the center of the deck) you will want to stand the same place and throw a strike shot to cover your spare. For 2 pins, you’ll want to move 3 boards to the right. Move another 3 boards to the right for the 4 pin and yet another 3 boards right to cover the 7 pin off of your strike shots.
With the premium on spare shooting being accuracy, logic would dictate that the straighter the ball path, the greater the chance for success. There are several ways to decrease hook potential and achieve a straighter ball path. This includes using a plastic ball or a highly polished ball with a weaker core that will help the ball go straighter as it encounters the friction on the backend of the lane. Using a relaxed wrist position will reduce the revs imparted on the bowling ball. Positioning your hand behind the ball to change the rotational direction of the ball to northbound.
Hello everyone and greetings from the Bowling Mecca of the World, also known as Las Vegas! My name is Nick Pollak. I am 18 years old and I’m a two-handed bowler as well as a USBC Bronze level coach. I am thankful to have been invited to join the bowlingball.com team to write about the sport I love. I look forward to sharing many articles with you and hope to interact with many of you to get feedback and topic ideas you would like to see.
Did I mention I am a two hander? I wasn't always but that all changed in January of 2015 when my one-handed mechanics became a tremendous liability. For each and every one of my fellow two-handers, it should be noted that we are all different in our styles of approach, rev rate, speed and release. I look forward to sharing my perspective of the sport I love, as a competitive bowler and as a two-hander.
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