Picking up spares: the forty leaves

Strikes win games, spares save them. These are the forty leaves our spare challenges are built from, rated by simulation.

Shoot across the lane

For a single pin, stand on the opposite side of the lane and roll a straight ball across to it. The ball then crosses the lane at an angle and has the widest margin on both sides of the pin. A corner pin — the 7 on the left or the 10 on the right — is the classic example.

Front pin first

When several pins are left, aim at the one nearest to you. A full hit on the front pin sends it back into the pins behind; a hit on the back pins first usually leaves the front one standing. A pin directly behind another — the 2-8, the 3-9 or the 1-5 — needs a full hit on the front pin so it is driven straight back.

Wide leaves

A leave with pins far apart across the lane cannot be hit with the ball alone. You need to clip the near pin on its side so it slides across into the other. These are the leaves that keep the averages low, so a straight, well-paced ball matters more than power.

How the table was made

Each leave was rolled 48 times by the Hard computer with its usual errors in position, angle, speed and hook. The figure is how many of those 48 balls cleared every pin. It is a simulation, so treat it as a ranking of the leaves rather than a promise.

The forty leaves

Play Bowling