Hitting light in the pocket doesn’t usually result in strikes. Whether from an errant shot or a good shot, if you hit light in the pocket, the various 2-pin combination leaves (for righthanders) aren’t all created equal. In addition to not quite hitting enough of the headpin, the different pin combinations left standing give hints about your ball reaction:

  • 2/4/5: Bucket combinations (with or without the 8 pin), usually occur when the ball is rolling out and losing energy too early.
  • 2/8: When the 5 pin goes down and you leave something like a 2/8, 2/8/10, or 2/4/8, the ball is likely not finishing its hook phase early enough.
  • 2 pin alone: When this pin stands alone, you likely have the right overall reaction shape that was simply thrown off-line or is in need of a small angle change.
    Pay attention to your light-pocket leaves and you won’t need to wait for a better shot, or more information, in order to adjust accordingly and get back to striking.