How I increased my strike percentage by 5.4%

In my previous post, I discussed how strike percentage is one of the three core statistics that determine how high your average can be. Today, I want to share exactly how I increased my strike percentage by 5.4% with two small but impactful tweaks to my game.

Breaking Down My Strike Percentage

When I analyzed my strike percentage in LaneTalk in early 2023, I noticed something interesting — I was already above average for my skill bracket.

At the time, I had a 170 average at a LaneTalk-enabled bowling alley. Compared to other bowlers in the 166-180 average bracket, my strike percentage was 33.95% while the benchmark for my average bracket was 32.74%.

I personally didn’t feel like I struck often enough, but I wanted concrete ways to improve without completely overhauling my game.

That’s when I came across two small adjustments that made an immediate impact.

Side Note: I don’t have any screenshots of my data from that time. I do, however, have the following two screenshots from Bowlr for my 2023 and 2024 statistics to back up what I’m saying in this post.

Here’s the 2023 and 2024 data:

Tweak #1: Switching to 15-Pound Equipment

I read a fair number of books each year, and one of my favorite bowling books is Bowling Beyond the Basics by James Freeman and Ron Hatfield.

This book takes a scientific approach to bowling and explains why pin carry improves with heavier bowling balls.

The reasoning is simple:

When a ball of heavier weight strikes the pins at the same speed as a ball of lighter weight, more energy is transferred to the pins.
More energy means better pin action, resulting in more strikes on light pocket hits.

At the time, I was throwing 14-pound equipment but had previously thrown 15-pound balls when I was younger. I decided to test it out again. Right away, I felt a difference in my carry on light pocket hits.

With my 14-pound ball → ❌ Solid pocket shots sometimes left corner pins (especially 10-pins).
With the 15-pound ball → ✅ Those same hits carried more often instead of leaving weak corner pins.

It took me a few weeks to fully adjust, but once I saw the results, I switched all my equipment to 15 pounds.

Tweak #2: Adjusting My Pocket Target

While switching to 15-pound equipment improved my carry, I still felt like I could strike even more consistently.

That’s when I learned something surprising — the pocket isn’t where most people think it is. Before reading Bowling Beyond the Basics, I had always mentally pictured the pocket slightly too far right (for a right-hander).

But in reality, the ideal pocket hit is actually slightly higher on the headpin than most people realize, and most 10-pin and 7-pin leaves come from hitting light in the pocket.

This concept is backed by a USBC and International Training and Research Center (ITRC) study, which analyzed thousands of shots to determine how strike percentage changes based on board position and entry angle.

When I left a 10-pin, I had been hitting too light in the pocket. By adjusting slightly higher into the pocket, my strike percentage jumped even more.

The Final Results

After making these two changes, my next full year of bowling stats showed a 5.4% increase in strike percentage:

Before: 33.95% (3.48 strikes per game)

After: 39.34% (4.14 strikes per game)

That’s almost one extra strike per game—which adds up fast over the course of a league night.

But here’s what’s even more interesting:

My average jumped by 9 pins.
My open frame occurance percentage dropped from 31.93% to 28.13%.
My spare frame occurance percentage dropped from 35% to 32.5%!

Since I was throwing more strikes, I wasn’t leaving as many spare attempts in the first place.

Takeaway: Sometimes, it’s not about converting every spare — it’s about avoiding them in the first place.

What You Can Do to Improve Your Strike Percentage

If you’re looking to increase your own strike percentage, here’s what I recommend:

Test a heavier ball (if you’re using 14 lbs or lighter). It may help improve carry on light pocket hits.
Analyze your pocket hits — if you’re consistently leaving 10s or 7s, try hitting a half-board to a full-board higher in the pocket.
Track your progress! Use LaneTalk, Bowlr, or a notebook to track your strike percentage changes over time.

Final Thoughts

Making small, strategic changes to your game can yield big improvements over time. By adjusting my equipment and targeting, I was able to increase my strike percentage by 5.4% — and you can too. 🎳🔥

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