Increasing Your Carry Percentage

In May I wrote about several different programs you can undertake to help raise your average. In order of increasing complexity, they were increasing your spare shooting ability and learning to avoid spares with little chance of conversion like splits and washouts. Once you are where you want to be in terms of these two important areas, the only thing left to do is to increase your strike percentage. This is where the going gets tough, so the tough have to get going!

The first statistic you need to know in trying to raise your strike percentage is the average first ball pinfall per game. If your average first ball pinfall is over 9.2, then you are probably getting a majority of your shots to the pocket. If you are doing that, making most of your spare conversions and avoiding too many splits and washouts, then the only thing left for you to do is throw more strikes. Easier said than done!

Stop leaving single pins

If you are constantly pounding the pocket and leaving single pins, there are three potential reasons for your lack of carry:

1. You are playing the wrong part of the lane in terms of friction.

For righthanders, failure to carry the 10 pin is the predominant reason for lower strike percentages. If 10 pins are the bane of your existence, first you have to determine why the 10 pin isn’t falling. If you are bowling on a typical house shot, most of your 10 pin leaves are probably the result of the 6 pin going into the channel without the requisite power to bounce up and knock out the 10 pin. This “weak 10” is indicative of the ball going into the 1-3 pocket without enough power to carry straight back through the pin ...