Coach’s Corner Tip
The Speed of the Game
(from February 2010)
This month the PBA Tour will be in town, and I hope all of you will take the opportunity to watch the best men and women in the sport compete. I’d like to give you a few things to watch when you’re there. First, on the fresh conditions, the players will use more surface than you might expect. This will allow them to create a smoother move off the breakpoint and have more control of the pocket on the fresh condition. However, this also has the effect of making the initial transition happen a lot faster than it might in a PBA Regional or in a local scratch tournament. When players with higher rev rates start using surface, the pattern changes very quickly!
In local scratch tournaments this initial move might be 3-1 (3 with feet and 1 with target) and a slightly stronger ball. On tour this initial move will be more like 7-3 all the way up to about 12-7, depending upon how quickly the initial play zone blows up and how far they need to move to get to the next play zone. Once that initial move happens and the lanes begin to transition, the moves keep on happening. These moves will be ½ arrow to 1 arrow at a time throughout the rest of the block. The deeper you get the more you need a ball that will provide stronger recovery off the breakpoint, which sometimes prevents the players from going to weaker equipment, particularly when getting past the 4th arrow.
The thing to watch for as a spectator is how much the initial move is for the players. If you follow a couple of players through the first 2 games, really watch for what they’re throwing, where they start, and where they end up after those first 2 games or so. This will give you a good indication of how fast the shot is going to break down. Many times the players will be moving up to a slightly stronger ball in this part of the block – watch for this also.
Tour players, due to their generally higher rev rates, also play steeper angles to the breakpoint much faster than anything you will see in a regional or a local scratch tournament. Since they often start farther inside using the same breakpoint as players with less “hand” do, the initial “hole” burned into the oil pattern starts much farther left. This will dictate that the players move to this trajectory to get an optimum ball reaction. So, the angles start a little steeper and get more exaggerated as play continues. I call this turning the lane sideways.
This is how a shot where the players start out playing 12 to 7 ends up with them playing 25 to 11 in only about 7 games. If you start with steeper angles and stronger equipment, the optimum path to the pocket forms in that direction, and the players open up that target line at the steeper angles. Remember to also watch the same players you watched at the beginning of the block towards the end of the block. How far have they moved? What equipment are they using now compared to the beginning of the block? How much has their breakpoint down the lane changed?
Scorpion tends to be a tighter pattern that will force the players in once the pattern starts to break down. The tour oils are designed to hold up for a long time, and when you see the players start to move quickly, either the surface hooks or the players are using stronger equipment to burn up the track area. Watch for players starting in the 15 to 10 area, perhaps even ½ arrow farther right, and then jumping in between 15 and 20 as the next move, and then migrating more slowly left from there.
Remember, watching tour players on these lane conditions can help you in your competitions. Not only can you watch their tactics in playing the patterns, but you can watch the consistency of their physical games as they keep their bodies in great position to play the steeper angles by keeping the “launch angle” of their shoulders at the release point going down their intended ball path. You can also watch how patient the best players are, as they allow the ball to close their body back into position, rather than grabbing the ball on the way down to force the position.
This year we can also watch the women bowl on the same pattern. When the women are playing the pattern separately, you will see them break the lanes down in a completely different way. Since their angles won’t be as steep initially, they will actually make the pattern much easier than it will be for the men at the end of the block.
When we get to match play, the men and the women will be looking for angles that they can both play to best take advantage of a lane breakdown that will be much slower but not as clear cut as either group saw during qualifying. The men will be looking to bump the ball off the friction created by the ball paths of the women, and the women will be looking to take advantage of a drier breakpoint the men are creating. This, of course, depends completely on the rev rates of the individual men and the women.
What about the left-handers? They will tend to burn a spot in the pattern, and then move right as the pattern breaks down. Once the right-handers get past about 25 at the arrows, the left-handers begin moving back to the left to catch fresher oil in the front part of the lane.
I can’t end this article without congratulating Kelly Kulick on her tremendous performance at the TOC. What a tremendous sports history accomplishment for someone who has worked hard, has tremendous talent, and is a really good person. Congratulations, Kelly!