Intermediate Skills
Eliminating corner pins
You just rolled a great shot that hooked into the pocket, but you left a corner pin standing. Sometimes what may have appeared to be a perfect shot didn’t hit quite so perfectly. Let’s take a look at why this happens and what we can do about it.
The most common leave for a right-hander is the 10 pin. On a perfect strike hit, the ball hits the 1-3 pocket before continuing through and hitting the 5 and 9 pins. The 3 pin is driven into the 6 pin and the 6 pin in turn hits 10 pin as shown in Figure 1. If the 10 pin stands, you need to find out where the 6 pin went. Did it get driven straight back to where the 9 pin stands? This would be a high shot. Did the 6 pin go to the side wall as in Figure 2? This indicates a light shot.
The scenario is the same but on the opposite side for a left-hander who leaves a 7 pin standing. The direction of the 4 pin (like the 6 pin for a right-hander) is the key to finding out why the hit wasn’t perfect.
You can make your adjustment once you know whether your ball hit high or light. Remember the general rule of adjustments is to move in the direction on the miss (miss right = move right) with your feet. Just a slight move is all that is needed to get rid of corner pins. For more information on adjustments, see the tips page index.
Understanding the reaction of the pins can help solve the mystery of most spare combinations.
Figure 1: (Strike Pocket. Source, USBC Coaching Level I manual, Chapter 7)
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Figure 2: (Light hit. Source, USBC Coaching Bronze manual, Chapter 8.)
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