The new age of bowling began once the Mark Roths of the world came along and started to put some significant spin on the ball, this is when we got to see an 'entry angle'. Nowadays, pin carry is as much about the angle of entry as speed, revs, and accuracy.
Generally speaking, if you expect to average 200 or better, you will need to be generating some kind of an entry angle to carry strikes at a higher percentage than a straight ball. Hitting the pins directly often leaves splits. Leaving corner pins comes from not enough entry angle on the right board at the head pin. So it’s good to hit it at a slight angle, a spot which is known as a pocket, which leads to a maximum pin action and more strikes. A spot where you should aim is between the 1-3 pins from the break point for right-handers, while it's between the 1-2 pins for lefties. The ideal strike would be one where the ball enters the pocket and touches the 1-3-5-9 pins as it rolls off the deck. For a lefty, it would be 1-2-5-8.
A pocket strike most commonly occurs at board 17 to 18 with an entry angle of 4 to 6 degrees. That's your high scoring area. A stronger or weaker angle may leave splits thus reducing pin carry. Between 4 and 6 degrees angle of entry will be ideal on most house conditions for the best pin carry. The optimum angle of entry is about 6 degrees from straight-on. To make it simple, 6 degrees is roughly the equivalent - at the foul line - of standing 6,3 inches to the right of the 18 board.
Learning how to adjust the entry angle is very much a process of trial and error. So watch your ball and make needed changes be it ball release adjustments, target adjustments, breakpoint adjustments, ball change, or a combination of these. That way, you can keep striking both in our game and in real life!
