A lot of people worry so much about bowling a strike but not enough about picking up the spares. Do you think the pros just think about bowling strikes? No they don't, they want to make strikes but they know they won't be bowling a strike in every single frame so they think about how to pick up spares too. This is often an overlooked element of bowling, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Picking up spares will beat the competition.

Ok well maybe it wasn't a secret, but it sure is the truth. Here are the necessities to pick up those spares.

1. You should aim directly for a pin square and hit it. Don't think about it, just do it. This one tip alone will help you increase your spare percentages. You're throwing a straight ball to certain areas of the lane. Expert bowlers use a ball especially for picking up spares, called a "spare ball". The ball is made of plastic, because plastic balls go a lot straighter than regular ones. Try to straighten your wrist as much as possible so you can throw the ball at the pin square and as straight as possible.

2. A lot of people take spares for granted, but if there is one thing that I wish I could drill into newbie bowlers' heads it would be, SPARES DO MATTER. If you're in a league or in a tournament, take some balls and shoot at the 7 pin or the 10 pin (if you're a lefty). This will allow you to observe your reaction as you're going across the lane. I don't care how good a bowler you are, you will not always bowl a strike, that's why it's good to learn how to pick up your spares because it'll raise your average.

Take your time when it comes to spares

A large part of bowling is based on spares. Let's be serious, while throwing 7 or 8 strikes is good, when the other frames are spares you missed, that 240 or 250 game that you were smiling about drops to about 200 really quickly.

Remember these tips the next time you're trying to pick up a spare:

1. Take your time and think about it

You should first carefully think about where you want to line up for the spare and then take the shot. Don't rush it, think about where you want to throw the ball.

2. Throw straight balls

This is one of the keys to picking up spares. You need to relax your wrist during release, so the ball can go as straight as possible. You need to minimize the spinning of the ball. A plastic ball is much better to use when trying to pick up spares because a plastic ball goes a lot straighter than the standard ball does.

I'm going to end this lesson by saying again that spares play a huge role in determining whether you bowl a 250 or a 200.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Bowling