This past monday i was bowling in my league and this one bowler left the strangest pickup ever. He left the 2 pin, 3 pin and the 5 pin standing. How is this possible? He picked up the spare but wow it takes some talent to leave that after the first ball. So what is the strangest leave by a bowler anyone has seen?

I would have to say that the one you just described would have to rank right up there.  I don't think I would have ever thought of that as a possibility.

beckowith, easily the strangest spare I ever witnessed was in a bowldown for a tv show where a bowler left the 4-7-8-9-10-6-3.  The ball hit the headpin,  bounced straight up and stayed on the lane surface.  There was nothing to be found that could have caused it, the ball hitting the rack when it bounced up and made a very loud noise.  He missed that spare then went on to win the game anyway.

Don Gates

Don't know if it is the strangest leave I ever saw, but the way the shot was made certainly was.  Don is a flame throwing straight hook right hander.  He left a 1-7-10.  Made it by hitting the left side of the head pin(rolling a 16 pound ball).  Almost simultaneously, the 1 takes out the ten and the ball actually deflected and knocked squarely the 7 pin over.  Still don't believe I saw that!  Anything can happen in Bowling!!!!!!! 

The split that Beck03 describes (2-3-5) has to be one of the most-unusual leaves.

But some years back, I witnessed the same conversion (1-7-10) as guyp described, and it was converted in almost the same manner.

W*rked 8+ years at a bowling alley ... whoops center . One day saw someone leave the back row. Yes the 7-8-9-10 . Granted it was a kid with a slow rolling 8lbs ball but I called everyone over could find. It was freaky looking.

Today one of our bumper bowlers left the 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The kid never hit the bumbers but, with the speed of his ball it hit the head and bounced to the side as the pin fell right back into the 5 pin. Almost made the spare with the 7, 9, and 10 left. If I was not out giving a lesson at the time I would of thought it was a joke.

OK, I'll play along -- 1981, in a Sunday afternoon beer league, I, a lefty, managed to leave a 5-6-7.  I was still trying (and AM still trying) to figure out how I left it in the first place when lo and behold I picked it up (fitting in between the 5 and 6, with the 5 sliding to the 7). 

One that was even more unusual (and more annoying) happened three times in one night -- a 1-3-4-9 leave.  How does one take out the 2 from between the 1 and 4 with the ball and take the 5 without taking the 9? 

a competitor in a classic league, many years ago,  with a nothing special hook left the 5-7-10 split and with his 16 lb ball somehow hit the 5 pin on the left which slid over to make the 10 and his ball somehow or other hit the 7 pin; kind of hard to even leave the 5-7-10 or any pocket split, except the blow out 7-10 in the game of today.

Don Gates

atl10pnr wrote:

W*rked 8+ years at a bowling alley ... whoops center . One day saw someone leave the back row. Yes the 7-8-9-10 . Granted it was a kid with a slow rolling 8lbs ball but I called everyone over could find. It was freaky looking.

i've witnessed a leave like the one you mentioned. this was also done by a kid. she almost picked it up. the ball went inbetween the 7-8, 8 pin fell over and picked up the 9 pin and the 9 almost hit the 10 pin. i wouldn't have believed it if i wasn't there to see it myself.

i also saw, a few weeks ago, the 5,7,10 that was left by a left handed bowler. he almost picked it up. shot the ball on the right side of the 5 pin just barely hitting it. the 5 shot over against the side wall, bounced back down in the gutter and rolled into the 7 pin taking it out. the ball hit the 10 pin to rock it a little bit but not hard enough to knock it over.

Strangest Pickup Ever!

I remember this one guy...Oops....You're talking about bowling!  LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cicada49 wrote:

Strangest Pickup Ever! I remember this one guy...Oops....You're talking about bowling!  LOL One question  -  Did this guy have a butterfly???   LMAO Glenn C.

no pickup but pretty strange and worth mentioning..last night in our mixed league we were bowling next to Kathy Brazeau ( a very good bowler and wife of Brian who is  a well known wolf on national levels,  his wolf pack feeding well on the sheep at nationals just about every year).

Kathy leaves the 4-7-6-10 then slides the six pin over in front of the 4-7 and into the channel leaving both pins standing.  On the very next frame she has what looks like a solid pocket hit and leaves the 4-10 split which she does not make.  It didn't even look like a 4-pin leave possibility when it hit the pocket.  I'll leave it to your imagination on her reaction to those two frames.

Don Gates 

ok - this is not a a pick-up, but i saw a guy leave the 1-2-3-4-5-7-8-10

right hander that throws a big hook - ball almost went in the gutter, actually kind of hung on the gutter and at the last moment, hooked between the 3 - 10  - kicked the 6 - 9 straight back and none of the other pins even wiggled