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The 3-6-9 Spare System
Spare are crucial: at the highest level you simply
cannot miss spares while, if you are new to the
sport, making more spares is the simplest way to
raise your average to the 180 level.
The 3-6-9 is probably the most widely known and
easiest system to learn and use. By moving your
feet three, six or nine boards (thus the "3-6-9"
name) from the spot you stood to shoot your strike
you can easily convert all but the hardest spares.
That's all there is to it. Read on to find out how it
can work for you.
Related Links
Read about the 2-4-6 system, compare it with this
one. Find about the the 5-4-3 system, lane
dimensions, other key adjustments or watch videos
of spares and strikes.
Revised July 14th 2000
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Top Home NITBF Teams Video
How to use the 3-6-9 System
Far-Side* Spares The 3-6-9 System Near-Side*
Spares
Adjust from Strike-Line You have two key lines from
which you'll make adjustments: your strike-line and
your corner-pin line
Different players may have a different "line" but can
still use this system, based off their own lines. The
strike line will be different from the corner-pin line,
too. For simplicity the diagrams here show the two
starting lines (in yellow) using the 2nd or 3rd arrows.
To use the 3-6-9 you keep the same target and
move your feet more to the left or the right. The
lines drawn clearly show how moving more to the
right results in the ball hitting pins left of your
original line. Similarly, moving left with your feet
makes your ball end up further to the right.
Now, all you have to do is decide how far to move
your feet. That's simple: you move in blocks of three
boards. Each three board move with your feet will
cause your ball to hit the next pin down the line.
Left-Handed?
You can use these systems too, just reverse the
principles. You can flip the pictures over too:
Summary
Adjust off of your strike line for far-side spares,
moving your feet 3,6 or 9 boards outside. For
near-side spares adjust off your corner-pin line,
moving 3 or 6 boards inside.
Adjust from corner-pin* Line
* I have avoided using phrases which are biased to
right or left-handed players. By Far-Side I'm
referring to the the 7-pin side for a right-handed
player and Near-Side/Corner-Pin to denote the
10-pin side for a righty.
