There are a lot of variables in today’s scoring environment, different lanes surfaces, different kinds of oils, and without question, different lane conditions. It is critical that you identify these variables to score your best. Unless you have the vision of a comic book super hero the only way to see the environmental factors is by your bowling balls reaction to them. Is your ball reacting in the front part of the lane, the middle part or mid lane, or the backend? Where is your breakpoint?  

Breakpoint in bowling terms simply means the point in the trajectory of a bowling ball at which the ball makes its greatest change in direction. This is the point on the lane where your bowling ball will change directions, or snap.

There are three phases of ball motion.  You have skid, then hook, then roll.  Breakpoint means where your bowling ball changes from hook to roll. Got it? No? Yes? Let’s get more in depth.  When you create rotation to a bowling ball you will have these three phases of ball motion.  Your equipment and the lanes condition affect these at different locations on the lane in distance from the foul line. For example, if you have a very early aggressive bowling ball, your skid won’t be as long and your hook and your roll will both start sooner as a result.  By doing this your bowling ball’s breakpoint will be sooner on the lane. However if you have a heavy oil condition then this will happen further down the lane.

So if you watch your bowling ball and what it does on the lane you can determine where your breakpoint is on the given lane. If your breakpoint is too soon then your bowling ball will lose power and hit weak into the pocket.  If your breakpoint is to far down the lane the bowling ball doesn’t have enough time to get into its roll which will create deflection into the pocket leaving you the corner pins. Yes I said it, that’s why you leave corner pins. So how do you change that? The obvious answer is to move to a more aggressive bowling ball, or one that has more surface friction.  The less obvious and cheaper answer is making changes to your shot by moving your feet or your target.  This is not the golden rule of bowling. Trust me there are other factors as well.  This is just one factor to the pesky corner pin.

So let’s recap: Breakpoint means where your ball will change direction to get into the pocket. Having your breakpoint too soon will result in weaker hits. Having your breakpoint to far will result in corner pins, or worse! So remember watch what your bowling ball is telling you. If you keep missing the pocket or coming light into the pocket, then you need to change where your breakpoint is. Move your feet, target, or simply change your bowling ball!

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com