Coach’s Corner Tip
Playing Short Sport Patterns
(from February 2008, updated Jun 2022)
Short patterns give people a lot of trouble the first time they bowl on them – they often get confused and frustrated. Many people get confused as to where to play the pattern or how to play it. Let’s remove some of that confusion.
A short lane condition (36 feet or less) has a lot of dry at the back end of the lane when play starts. This large amount of dry at the back of the lane creates a lot of fricition. The ball needs room to hook to the pocket, so you need to have the ball much farther right (RH) on the lane at your breakpoint than you do on longer sport patterns. The rule of thumb for determining the best starting breakpoint on a sport pattern is:
Length_of_Pattern – 31 = Starting_Breakpoint
For example, the Cheetah pattern is 35 feet, so the optimal starting breakpoint is at the 4-board. You can generalize that slightly to around 3-4-5 at the end of the oil pattern. If you can begin to think about projecting the ball to this area, it will simplify playing this pattern. So, now that we know where we’re going, how do we get there?
The launch angle you set with the angle your shoulders make is critical on this pattern. Since you have to project the ball to 3-4-5 at 35′ you often feel like your shoulders are angle right to the channel at 45′ or so. You have to practice getting your shoulders open enough to correctly project the ball on this pattern. It will feel very open compared to longer patterns.
If the pattern has a high volume of oil, or after it carries down, you may need stronger equipment. If the pattern is low volume, and tends to hook early, you will need to project the ball toward the channel even more. Getting to that spot effectively is the name of the game on short patterns, and contrary to what most people believe, you need to get the ball to slow down and change direction very early on these patterns.
Speed is the next concern on this pattern. You will need to generate higher ball speed to make the ball get through the front of the lane and to control the back-end reaction, particularly if the oil volume is a little lower. If you don’t naturally generate higher ball speed you will want to work with a coach on this area. You can generate more speed with a shorter swing, longer approach and a quick tempo to the ball start move.
Roll is also important, and getting the right amount of axis rotation to smooth out the change of direction is critical. The general rule for this pattern is to forward roll the ball as much as your game will allow. This generally involves using your ring finger more than your middle finger, so getting that finger to the bottom of the ball in your setup will help. Another popular technique on short patterns is to combine your roll with a weaker hand position, to help the ball get down the lane. If you have a high rev rate, you may need to back it off for this pattern, as the lane and the angle of entry from the far outside of the lane already creates more hitting power.
The most common equipment choice for sport patterns is a urethane ball or a ball with a short pin to PAP (positive axis point) distance. Urethane tends to hook early and then go straight, as do balls with a shorter pin to PAP distance. The other option is to use a strong ball and let the dynamics of the ball make it change direction and then “quit”, coming into the roll phase where it will go straight very quickly. This ball motion can be very effective if the ball will still drive through the pins.
Once the lanes go into transition, you will need to generate a little more roll, a little less speed, and perhaps move to the outside of the lane a bit. The short patterns tend to change more than longer patterns in transition, so be ready for it! This can still be a high score opportunity if you make the adjustment quickly and stay on top of it.
As the lanes open up, you will be able to “bump” the outside boards and create some area. You will want to move inside a little and move your breakpoint in a little. This is when the scores can go way up on these patterns, or at least be more playable if it is a very tough short pattern.
If the competition is long enough, this pattern can get either very easy or very tough. When this pattern totally burns up, anything goes. You may be starting the ball at 15-20 getting it out to 5-6-7 at the end of a longer block of competition.
On very low volume short patterns, you also have the option to use a plastic or weak urethane ball and play at near or outside the first arrow. The pocket angle is very good, and you can sometimes get a much better reaction with great carry doing this, so it is a valid option!
In summary, the keys to short patterns are getting the ball out to the right as far as the pattern allows, getting your shoulders at the right angle to do this, having a couple balls that will change direction very slowly, using a minimum amount of axis rotation (staying “up the back” of the ball), and ball speed. Practicing on these patterns will help you develop confidence in playing them!