Hook ball or straight ball?
To get a strike your ball has to hit the right part of the setup and be moving in the right direction.
Hook balls and straight balls (shown here by a Wolf spare ball) do things differently
Click 'Pause', move the progress marker and release it to examine the action frame-by-frame
Look how differently the pins move.
It's because the hook ball contains more energy. It makes the pins spin as they fall so they're more likely to hit other pins
A straight ball has to hit the pins in exactly the right place. Hitting the headpin too full can often just push the middle pins backwards in an upright position and leave a split
Hit light on the headpin and the ball deflects, leaving the pins on the other side still standing.
See the 'Lazy' 4-pin falling last
If a hook ball enters the pocket and hits the 5 pin a strike is almost certain. So it's not so critical to get the ball in exactly the right place. It's said 'the greater the hook, the bigger the pocket'.
In both styles the ball has forward speed from the bowler's approach and armswing
But the hook ball is released with sideways rotation as well and that leads to its accelerating into the pins.
Learn here how to create hook, and control it.
