Two-Handed Bowling: Early in the Block Short Pattern Lane Transition

In previous videos, we’ve discussed the lane sheet, adjusted the surface of the bowling ball’s coverstocks that we are going to use and have bowled with during practice time.

In this premium video, Scott Pohl, owner of On Track Pro Shop, explains what Jackson Hellen is going through as competition starts and the lanes begin to transition.

Pitch Black

Hellen chose to start the block with his Pitch Black that he applied 1000 grit surface to the coversock. He’s been lined up for quite a while with that urethane ball as he has thrown a couple of games with it. The reaction was really nice and then, all of a sudden, that reaction started to go away.

The back-end motion became just a little bit weak, not making the turn hard enough at the breakpoint. So what’s the move? Hellen’s got a couple choices. He can either use that same ball and slow down the ball speed or he can change balls.

Idle

After weighing his options, Hellen felt the best decision was to go to a reactive ball. The Idle allows him to throw a very similar line that he was previously playing with the Pitch Black. The reactive ball has more overall hook on the lane than the Pitch Black so he actually had to move a little bit to the left with his feet and his target.

He wanted to keep the break point about the same, but moving left with the feet and target was needed to accomplish this. Another adjustment that Hellen could have done at this point in the block is to stay where he was while playing with the Pitch Black and throw the Idle a little bit faster.

He could have also stayed with the Pitch Black and kept the line he had and adjusted his ball speed slower. Both of these are good options but he liked the look he saw in practice time with the Idle and expects to go deeper into the block with more strike potential.”