Lining Up Off Everyone Else

This is the time of year you prepare for USBC Championships and The BTM and The 123. It’s important to be mentally “all in” as well as making sure your equipment and physical game are sharp and ready for the challenge (as you read in last month’s Round Table article). There is a lot of information available to you, for free, if you just know where to look. Here are some more ideas to help you get lined up faster with less guesswork.

The concept of lining up off someone else is very interesting. Some people think they can’t line up off anyone else. Some think they can only line up off someone who throws the ball like them. The truth is that not only can you line up off someone else, you can line up off the other-hander!

All you have to do to get this free info is stay awake and let what you see penetrate your awareness. Watch the ball’s rotation and path a) all the way down the lane and b) through the pins (two of the No Matter Whats). The second is to know what to do with the data those No Matter Whats give you. It doesn’t matter if the other person rolls the ball like you or even with the same hand as you. More on this handedness thing in a moment.

It used to be that the breakpoint was given to you by the lane. That’s only partially true today. The oil pattern does usually give you the left-right breakpoint. You, however, can develop the north-south breakpoint. That’s what growing your breakpoint (see Growing Your Breakpoint in the November 2010 BTM) is all about – length, not width. Whatever that point was on the lane for whoever you are watching, all you have to do is figure out how you get there. That’s it. It’s that simple. Yeah, right. So, how do you get that done?

First things first

There are some givens that have nothing to do with the purpose of your bowling event but a great deal to do with how you score in it. For example, how old and what type of lane surface you’re playing on is very ...