Expert: Susie Minshew - 9/7/2009

Question
Hi Susie. I'm a full roller using a cell ball. Where should I put my ball when rolling on the Kegel Main Street oil pattern? Thanks
Bev

Answer
Hi, Beverley!

It's pretty unusual to be a full roller these days. It's actually not a very effective release when it comes to hookability, entry angle into the pocket, and carry. Having said that, it is what it is, so we move on...

Regardless of whether you roll a three-quarter roller, a spinner, or whatever, you have to read your ball reaction. You don't get to be the boss. The lane is always the boss. If you don't play where the lane wants you to play, you won't be successful. Oh, you can throw the ball over the second arrow all you want but if that is not the shot on that lane that day, you won't score as well as you would have if you had been playing the shot the lane demanded. Now, how do you know what the lane wants? Well, that's what your ball does for you. You just have to be astute enough to know what it's telling you!

Watching the ball all the way down the lane is the key. You look at the pins before you ever step on the approach to see if they are all there and all lined up properly. After that, you don't see them again until the ball hits them. If you learn to do this, you will see the rolling pattern of your ball, where it is at all times on the lane, and when it changes direction.

If it changes direction too early and goes Brooklyn or worse, you need to move your feet and your eyes in the direction of the miss. If it doesn't change direction soon enough and hits the pocket too light or misses the headpin altogether, you need to move you and your eyes in the direction of the miss. If you aren't paying attention to the message, your moves will come too late, if at all.

Roll your first ball between the third and fourth arrows going slightly out. Roll your second ball between the second and third arrows going slightly out. Roll your third ball down the first arrow. One of these three shots (and you must do all three), will tell you what zone of the lane to play. Then you can fine tune as the game progresses. It doesn't matter if all of them strike or none of them do. You are only looking for the place on the lane where you can get a consistent, non-violent, controllable move of the ball. Stay there until it changes and then move with the changes. Have a good time!

Susie