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Taps

© Copyright 2002, Jim Loy

When you throw a strike ball (good pocket hit) and you don't get a strike, that is a tap, you are said to have been tapped. Any pocket hit (the ball hitting the 1 and 3 pins, for right-handers) can be a strike. But, too high (heavy) or too light are not usually strikes. Other pocket hits are called solid pocket hits. You can suffer bad luck, and consider yourself tapped on high or light hits, mainly if something weird happens, like a pin stood back up, or a flying pin flew over another pin and didn't knock it down, or something like that.

5 pin: There is a saying, "No drive, no five." On a solid pocket hit, the ball must take out the 5-pin, as it will take a miracle for a pin to hit the 5-pin. That is the main reason that your ball should come from the right side (for right-handers), to take out the 5-pin. And that is the main reason that a light pocket hit (a mixer), as powerful as it can be, is something of a chancy proposition.

8 pin: The 8-pin is one of the most common taps. There is a saying that "The 8-pin is the only real tap in bowling." This is not true, but there is some logic behind that saying. On a solid pocket hit, the 5 must take out the 8. If you think about that, you will see why the 8 must remain standing fairly often.

9 pin: On a solid pocket hit, the ball usually takes out the 9-pin. The 9-pin usually remains standing when your ball drove through the pins with lots of drive, taking out the 8-pin. If you leave 9-pins, you are in good company; all the pros do it fairly often.

10 pin: The 10-pin is perhaps the most common tap. On a solid pocket hit, the 3 goes into the 6, which is supposed to go into the 10, maybe off the wall (out of the gutter). Lots can go wrong with that scenario. The 10 usually falls on a good hit, but you should leave lots of 10-pins.

Other taps: The 7 or the 4 can also be a tap (the result of bad luck). They are rarer than the above taps. If you leave any other pin, then you did not throw a solid pocket hit. With a solid pocket hit, you can leave some back row splits (8-10 or 7-10 are popular). With a light pocket hit, you can easily leave the 5-7, 5-10, 4-5. With a heavy pocket hit, you can leave the 3-10 baby split.

You adjust your approach (left or right) in order to find a good path to the pocket, or to change the angle that the ball comes into the pocket. You just got tapped. Should you adjust? In general, I would say "No." If you are truly unlucky in being tapped, then throw it the same way, and you will probably get a strike. If something was wrong with your hit (no drive, or too high, or too light), then you should maybe adjust. But if you are truly deserved a strike, throw the same way again, unless it has happened several times. You mainly should adjust in order to find a good path to the pocket (see Exploring For Oil).

No matter how good you bowl, you will get tapped. You will suffer from bad luck. That is bowling (and life). Accept the bad luck, and accept the good luck. It does even out, more or less. Don't let the injustice of a tap affect your concentration.

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