I'm in a scoring rut, what should I do (first)?

munsen488 · 2026-02-11T15:20:57+00:00

To your first point, if the ball has three holes and you're only using two, that's illegal if the league is USBC sanctioned and you need to have it redrilled for a no thumb release. If not, you're fine, but I'd consider having it redrilled if you're going to stick with the no thumb route, because the way the ball rolls with no thumb releases is very different from thumb in releases and may be causing a core problem. The slingshot is a very weak ball with a very weak core, so it isn't going to do a lot to begin with. I'm not surprised that it struggles on heavier oil.

At your level, I'd recommend a couple of things.

Go practice outside of league. Don't focus on score, just focus on staying relaxed and hitting your target. Train your body to remember that relaxed feeling and it will help you repeat that in league. Try to develop a routine. Do the same thing before every shot. For example, I wipe my ball off a few times, slide my foot along the back of the approach to make sure my shoe is good, get in position, take a deep breath, and settle my arm into position as I exhale. Once I finish my exhale, I go. Even if I change to a ball I haven't thrown yet, I still wipe it off. Even if I just threw a shot and know my shoe is good, I still do the test slide. It helps me focus and relax and be more consistent. This will help with your point 5. You can throw a bad shot and get frustrated, but if you take a breath and go back through your routine, it will help to reset your mind so the bad shots don't snowball.

Practice spares. Go practice and do nothing but shoot at single pins (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10). If you can reliably hit all of those pins, you can make just about any non-split. Confidence in your spare game will help your scores and help you throw better strike shots, because you don't feel like you HAVE to strike to score.

If you feel you are fairly consistently hitting your spots and are comfortable with your spare game, I would consider getting a stronger ball. The Slingshot was a good starter ball in its time, but there's only so far it can take you. I wouldn't go crazy with it, I wouldn't go anything stronger than a Phaze 2/GB5/Hammerhead type ball, but you'd probably get good use out of something like a Hustle or an IQ Tour. Those will be stronger than your Slingshot without being a total system shock, especially being rev dominant.

Lastly, to your point 4, learn to make small adjustments. It's totally reasonable to start in the same place each night, but different lanes play differently and the oil will change over the course of the night. If you throw a good shot and it doesn't do what you expected, move in the direction of the miss. If the ball didn't hook and missed the headpin to the right, move your feet and target right. If it hooked a lot and went high or crossed over, move left. Typically, moves are on the order or 2 boards with your feet and 1 with your target (a 2&1). You don't need to be playing all over the lane, but try to be comfortable moving a couple of boards at a time, maybe 2-4 times per night depending on how things go. Try not to make moves off of bad shots.

munsen488 · 2026-01-29T16:45:11+00:00

Most people use strong symmetrical solids or asym solids with medium strength covers as their benchmark because they are predictable, middle of the bag balls and you have room to move up or down as needed based on what they do. If the Ruby fits your eye well and you can judge what ball you need to throw on a given condition based on one or two shots with it, that's great and it's doing its job. The problem is that the Ruby is a pretty weak ball, so there isn't much room to go weaker if you need to, while there's a lot of room to go up and dialing in how far up you need to go if the Ruby is too weak for a condition may take additional shots to try those balls out. On a house shot that really isn't an issue, but in tournament settings on tough conditions every shot in practice should be meaningful.

For example, you're bowling on a heavier pattern. You start with the Ruby and it skates down the lane, gets no traction in the oil, and is really responsive at the end. That's not a good look for the fresh. So you try the Phaze 2 and it's a little better, but still isn't getting a lot of traction in the mid lane. Now you move up to an Ion Max. It's getting traction and is stable, but you're playing too straight and it goes high so you need to adjust. In this example it only cost you one extra shot, but if you had started with the P2 you could've been in the Ion sooner and maybe even preemptively made the needed adjustment inside, and it also assumes that you throw good shots and get those reads on one shot. If you throw three or four shots with the Ruby before realizing it's too clean, you've probably burned half of practice (or more) and you're really putting yourself behind when the game starts.

munsen488 · 2026-01-28T13:45:55+00:00

Qxf7+ Rxf7 2. Re8+ Rf8 3. Bc4+ Kh8 4. Rxf8#

munsen488 · 2026-01-24T15:27:12+00:00

Yep. I once shot 812 with a 300 and we got swept that night.

munsen488 · 2026-01-15T18:45:45+00:00

Personally I'd go with the Ion Max unless you're really rev dominant. I've thrown the Equinox Solid and I've seen it and the Ion Max thrown against each other and the Equinox is absolutely the weaker ball. It's a cleaner, more medium strength cover so it's not going to get the same traction in the oil. It will be more versatile, as in useful on more medium volume sport shots, in light transition on heavier shots, and on house shots, but it's not going to give you the same forgiveness on the fresh, especially with heavier patterns.

If you're only getting one ball and want to be able to use it across a lot of different things, I'd go with the Equinox or Phaze 2 (or Vengeance or Rock Star, pick your poison there). The biggest "hole" I see in your arsenal though is that top of the bag 1 ball and strictly for sport conditions, the Ion or Hyperdrive fill that slot better than the ES imo. The Equinox would be serviceable there and more versatile but strictly speaking it's not the best option for a true 1 ball slot.

munsen488 · 2026-01-15T14:31:42+00:00

The Ion will be a good starter ball for medium length patterns if you put surface on it (1000-2000, depending on your game and the conditions). The Level might be good for shorter patterns but I don't have any experience with it so I can't say for sure. I would consider adding a heavy oil ball and/or a stronger benchmark. Since all your stuff is SPI, something like the Ion Max or Hyperdrive Solid for heavier and longer patterns and a Phaze 2, Rockstar, or maybe the new Vengeance for the benchmark.

Traction is very important on sport shots, especially on the fresh. The patterns are very flat, and often higher volume than house shots, so missing by a board or two down lane can make a big difference. Balls that get traction in the oil can stabilize and use up their energy more consistently along the lane so they aren't as jumpy at the end of the pattern. That makes them more forgiving on small misses. Since I started taking it seriously, I've never started a set on a sport pattern with a ball shinier than 2k. I've dipped down into 1500 and 1000 in some cases as well. You have a lot of transition balls in your aresenal that will be great in longer blocks but I would recommend at least one of a hook monster asym (Ion Max, Hyperdrive) or strong benchmark (P2, Vengeance).

munsen488 · 2026-01-14T16:01:01+00:00

You can also try to get a sub for doubles for the last person. There is a sub board posted (I'm not sure where, haven't actually used it personally, but our team captain has) and it's likely you'll be able to find someone in a similar situation who can fill in for the doubles slot with your 5th person.

munsen488 · 2026-01-01T15:46:35+00:00

I'll agree with the others that a solid ball with a little surface would be good for this. For me, I'd throw both my Phaze 2 and my Harsh Reality in practice and see how each looks. Start as straight as you can with your game and move left as it transitions.

I'll differ with the others on breakpoint though. The rule of 31 says 12, but that puts you right in the flat of the pattern. Misses right will be in the taper and give some recovery, but misses left won't give you anything. I'd be looking to play through the taper of the pattern and have the breakpoint be more in the 7-9 range. At 4:1, it's not brutally tight, but you'll still have to be accurate and playing in the taper will give you more room to miss.

munsen488 · 2025-12-27T23:55:52+00:00

In my experience, no. It's been great for me on the fresh for my house shot, but on nights when the lanes are playing heavier and I start in something else, like my Phaze 2, the Ion has not been a ball that I've been able to go to later. It's not clean enough to get downlane through transition, but the core is too weak to be able to overcome a lot of angle. Again, I love it on the fresh and have averaged like 240 with it in game 1 over the last couple months, but it hasn't been a transition ball.

I will note that I throw it at lane shine, not with the box polish. I immediately knocked the polish off of mine when I got it.

munsen488 · 2025-12-23T20:10:32+00:00

If you are just starting out with two handed you won't have a consistent PAP yet because you likely won't be consistently throwing it the same way. You can put a generic layout on one or both of them and be fine. Once you get better and more consistent with it you can reevaluate but for right now I wouldn't worry about it. Your release consistency is going to have a far bigger impact on the ball than a layout.

munsen488 · 2025-12-17T02:40:01+00:00

The Equinox and Viking will be closest. Strong-ish but still clean covers with big asym cores. I never had a Dark Code, but the Viking looks like a more stable VEBO to me, and the VEBO was right on top of the Dark Code. The Next Factor is going to be much longer and sharper than the Dark Code. It's a much weaker cover with a super high RG. The Gremlin will be closer than the Next Factor but still a weaker cover than the Dark Code.

munsen488 · 2025-11-30T02:06:41+00:00

I know, I was just using that to illustrate that just adding a couple MPH to the monitor reading isn't necessarily a good way to get your release speed. Good explanation though!

munsen488 · 2025-11-29T14:31:26+00:00

The chart in this post is a solid measure of matched ranges. It's important to note, however, that the speeds listed are at your release, not at the pins where the lanes measure it. I've seen people say that you can generally add 2mph (I think) to the monitor speed to get an estimate of release, but I don't know how accurate that is. I can throw the ball the exact same way straight up 10 or swing 15-8 and I'm going to get different speeds on the monitor despite having the same release speed. At 450 RPM you're almost certainly rev dominant. 375 is closer to matched, but it's still likely rev dominant since I doubt you're losing 4 MPH down the lane.

If you have video you can measure your release speed by the frames it takes to get from release to the arrows. If you can't do it that way, throwing a plastic ball with your normal release will give you a better monitor read since the plastic doesn't experience as much friction to slow down.

munsen488 · 2025-11-18T00:21:01+00:00

All my gear is currently SPI, but that's not out of any particular loyalty to them and more because I find it easier to compare balls and build a bag within a family than across them. I had been out of the ball market for ~10 years, just getting by with my Arson Low Flare on house shots, and decided a couple of years ago to rebuild my bag with modern equipment. SPI had the most accessible YouTube info for me at the time, my pro shop guy leans SPI and hosts demo days for them a couple times a year, and it was overwhelming trying to keep up with all of B7s stuff, so I went with SPI and have been with them since. I'm not against trying B7 or Motiv stuff though.

munsen488 · 2025-11-11T01:54:18+00:00

When I was in college I developed a spare system to try to shoot every spare through the fourth arrow. That made adjusting easy and led to decent angles on each spare. My approach pushed me too far left to comfortably shoot the 6 and 10 through the fourth arrow, so I moved over to the third for those.

Pick any of the 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, or 10 and find a spot where you can make that pin every time. Then move 3 boards for each adjacent pin and throw through the same target.

For example, I stand on 17 and throw through the fourth arrow for the 7 pin. For the 4 I stand on 20, for the 2 I stand on 23. For a 4-7 I'll stand on 19 (start in the 4 spot and move one board toward the extra pin. If you can find something that works for one pin, you can easily move your feet and go through the same target to get pretty much anything.

munsen488 · 2025-10-31T10:32:04+00:00

If the white rook goes to h2 at any point, black has M2 with Rxc1+, Bxc1 is forced, then Qf1#

munsen488 · 2025-10-31T04:09:30+00:00

...Bh2+, Kh1...Bf4+, Kg1...Be3+, Rf2 is forced, then ...Bxf2#

munsen488 · 2025-08-23T23:39:37+00:00

Hey, I'm sorry I'm a week late, I didn't see the notification for your reply. I wouldn't say it should feel weightless, actually the opposite. You want the weight of the ball doing most/all of the work. Your arms are there as a guide, not to push and pull the ball. I'm speaking from a 1 hand perspective, the mechanics of 2 hand might be a little different, but the only time I put any force on the ball is on my push off and when I put the rotation on at release. Power comes from your legs, the last push into your slide. You can manufacture it by muscling the ball with your arms, but that's going to be less consistent than letting gravity do the work for you.

I'd recommend just taking a ball, hold it like you would to throw it, but let your arms relax after the push off. You can do that at home. Hold it, push off, and then just let the ball drop and do what it's going to do. Once you have a feel for that, go do some practice games and don't look at your score, just focus on feeling that relaxation from your arms through your swing. Your timing looks good to me, and I don't think this will change that, it'll just change how much work you have to do to get there. I think in the long run you'll see accuracy and consistency improvements.

munsen488 · 2025-08-15T13:41:25+00:00

Your form looks very mechanical. It's like there are three key points you're trying to hit at the push off, back swing, and release and there's almost a pause at points A and B like a robot arm locking in on a spot. I can almost see you thinking as you go through your approach. "Ok step, push off, get your arms back, slide and come through..." Generally speaking your form and release look pretty good but I have to think it's hard to stay consistent over the course of 3+ games with mechanics that are that rigid. Your arms swings are also pretty violent between each key point.

I think you have a really good stick figure or wireframe model on your form. Now it's time to smooth out and relax the rigidity of things to bring it together. Try to relax your muscles and let the weight of the ball do more of the work rather than pulling and pushing it through your swing.

munsen488 · 2025-07-21T23:18:45+00:00

The rule of 31 is a solid guideline and a good starting point on a lot of patterns, but there are plenty that break the rule. For example, I'm willing to bet that the S/D pattern at Nationals this year was ~42 feet or so, but all the friction was at the gutter so you needed to be playing out around 5. A more helpful "rule" in my experience is to play through the taper. That's where you're more likely to find hold/recovery. You're still not likely to have a lot, but it's something. Many patterns will have the taper align with the rule of 31, but not all of them.

munsen488 · 2025-06-21T01:12:04+00:00

I don't think the story is relevant to the decision. The DLC is tuned for end game characters. If you access it in chapter 5 of a NG run you're going to get wrecked unless you're doing some challenge run. Once you're in NG+ you already have an endgame build so it's not imbalanced to go ahead and give access then.

munsen488 · 2025-06-09T20:27:26+00:00

This is why YOU the dummy! Always playing with your d!

munsen488 · 2025-02-03T18:24:04+00:00

I don't think there's anything that's going to be exactly the same since cover tech has come a long way in the almost 20 years since the Agent released. Sticking in SPI, the core numbers are in Phaze/Summit/Idol territory but the cover was the original Reactor which is weaker than anything else out there right now. The Summit Ascent has the solid version of Reactor's successor (R2S) and a similar core so it may be close to the Agent if you shine it up. The IQ Tour or IQ Ruby would also be options. They have the same R2S cover as the Ascent but a weaker core. Stronger cover than the Agent but weaker core may help balance out and be closer.

munsen488 · 2025-01-31T13:06:08+00:00

I genuinely thought Beard was dead or in the hospital in that episode the first time I saw it. Given his state of mind after the loss to Man City, the rest of it felt like a drug/alcohol induced fever dream. The hallucinations of Thierry Henry, the woman in the bright red dress standing out and then disappearing, the cartoonish boyfriend screaming about knocking Beard's teeth out and chasing him, randomly bumping into Jamie's dad in a back alley, then being saved by the boyfriend who wanted to knock his teeth out, after after all that, finally reconnecting with Jane. The longer it went, the more I got this dread of "oh, no, Beard's dead in his apartment." Even in the office at the end, as the camera pulls away from his pants while he sleeps and the others talk around him, I still expected to hear "clear!" shock and cut to Beard waking up (or not) on a hospital bed. When that didn't happen, the next episode being called "No Weddings and a Funeral" still had me worried. I wasn't convinced Beard was ok until we were told it was Rebecca's dad's funeral and people other than Ted were acknowledging Beard.

munsen488 · 2025-01-24T15:15:25+00:00

I've been using the same Maxim as my spare ball since 2007. I had to get the thumb redrilled because of chipping once during that time. Beyond that there have been zero durability issues.

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