An old saying in bowling is, "make the spares, the strikes will come." This is especially good advice for new bowlers. There are 1,023 potential spare combinations. But don't be alarmed. The vast majority of those spare possibilities you will never face. While there are a couple of dozen "normal" spare combinations, they can be solved by using a minimum of targets and angles. The first rule of spare shooting involves simple geometry. It is the cross-law principle. When pins are on the left side of the lane, the best starting position is on the right-and vice-versa. Practice four separate spare shots or lines using the cross-lane technique. You develop a separate spare line for each of the back row of pins (7, 8, 9 and 10). There is only one other spare fine to choose from. That is the original line used on the first ball. Any spare combination can be negotiated using one of those five lines. For example, the line needed for a right-hander to pick up a 1-2-4 leave mimics the line needed to convert the 8-pin. That's because the 8-pin should be positioned directly behind the 2-pin, if all those pins were standing. The 3-6 spare can be converted by using the 9-pin. Any spare leave in which the 5-pin is the key is best made by throwing the ball as if you were going for a strike. The line for any back row spare shot should do across the third or fourth (middle) arrow or somewhere in between. The stance position varies for each shot. It does not take tricky board counting formulas to become a good spare shooter. Rather, it is the ability to mentally see a cross-lane ball path and execute the shot the way you see it. You'll get better at executing these shots from practice and experience. Picking up splits presents a much greater challenge. The margin for error to get one pin to slide into another is less than a half inch. Yes, making splits takes a very precise shot-and luck! Even though spare shooting may lack glamour, it should not be overlooked. Learning to make spares is the surest way to improve your scores.
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