Floppers, gutsers, budgies and jiggles... the names from the game:
Aiming for the front pin to get a flopper is the aim of the game for most of the match, but if that fails, or when a player nears the out shot, a more varied range of shots becomes necessary. Consequently, many other varieties of shot exist, and many have their own names, or use the names of skittles in aiming for them or describing them.
The front pin is self-explanatory. Often it’s just called ‘the front’, as in ‘go off the front’. The back pin is too! The pin behind the front pin and to the left is called the quarter pin. A quarter shot aims for this skittle, usually to hit five or six pins down. The outside pin is the pin at the far right, and the inside pin is the one nearest the left side of the board. If the middle pin is knocked out and the rest of the pins remain, this is called ‘knocking the budgie out the cage’. Pins left after the first shot has failed to take (or knock) them all down, are called the odd pins. ‘Get those odd pins!’ your team mates shout if you miss them. The back three are the row from the outside pin to the back pin. The inside three go from the inside pin to the back pin. A round five is a shot which takes all bar the inside pin and the row from the front pin to the outside pin in one shot. Six off the quarter takes those five plus the inside pin in one shot.
Sometimes a poor shot will hit the front and back pins and some of the middle pins out, leaving groups of pins on either side. This is called ‘hitting (or knocking) the guts out'. To ‘guts it’ is a bad thing! To throw too heavily or too heavy-handedly is also called ‘overcooking it’. The player then has two choices. First, to get as many as they can by targeting first one side’s left over skittles and then the other’s: to try to ‘make nine’ altogether from the three throws. This is also called ‘clearing them up’ or ‘clearing it up’.
The other option is to try a side shot (also known as a cross shot). This means throwing the ball out sideways as if the inside pin were the front pin and hoping to knock down the skittles that are left in a sideways direction. Sometimes the ball hangs lower than the side of the board when it is swinging, and to throw it directly sideway results in it bouncing back off the side of the table. If it doesn’t go over in this way, the shot can be taken again. If however, it passes the side of the table, perhaps hitting the table on the way, but doesn’t reach any of the skittles, then the shot counts – scoring nothing. An experienced player will bounce the ball a little when throwing it in these circumstances to help it go over the table edge, and many players play all their side shots with such a jiggle.
There are no rules about how a player stands when he or she throws. Many different stances exist. Left and right handed players thrive, and a few players play with either hand. A player may take as long as they like within reason to throw. A player may even catch a ball already thrown as long as the ball has not gone past the post (ie further forward than the pole) when it is caught.
Learning how to change your shot – to adjust the direction, speed and aim of your throw –on a new or unfamiliar board is crucial to a player’s success. If you really can’t find the shot you might just throw a barely aimed, quite hard shot just to see what happens and maybe to change your luck. This is called chucking a rough ‘un or throwing a haymaker.
Many skittling phrases add ‘un to words or phrases above, like front ‘un, back ‘un, side ‘un. The first two refer to the skittles at the front and the back, but the last usually means a side shot.
Good luck!
Aiming for the front pin to get a flopper is the aim of the game for most of the match, but if that fails, or when a player nears the out shot, a more varied range of shots becomes necessary. Consequently, many other varieties of shot exist, and many have their own names, or use the names of skittles in aiming for them or describing them.
The front pin is self-explanatory. Often it’s just called ‘the front’, as in ‘go off the front’. The back pin is too! The pin behind the front pin and to the left is called the quarter pin. A quarter shot aims for this skittle, usually to hit five or six pins down. The outside pin is the pin at the far right, and the inside pin is the one nearest the left side of the board. If the middle pin is knocked out and the rest of the pins remain, this is called ‘knocking the budgie out the cage’. Pins left after the first shot has failed to take (or knock) them all down, are called the odd pins. ‘Get those odd pins!’ your team mates shout if you miss them. The back three are the row from the outside pin to the back pin. The inside three go from the inside pin to the back pin. A round five is a shot which takes all bar the inside pin and the row from the front pin to the outside pin in one shot. Six off the quarter takes those five plus the inside pin in one shot.
Sometimes a poor shot will hit the front and back pins and some of the middle pins out, leaving groups of pins on either side. This is called ‘hitting (or knocking) the guts out'. To ‘guts it’ is a bad thing! To throw too heavily or too heavy-handedly is also called ‘overcooking it’. The player then has two choices. First, to get as many as they can by targeting first one side’s left over skittles and then the other’s: to try to ‘make nine’ altogether from the three throws. This is also called ‘clearing them up’ or ‘clearing it up’.
The other option is to try a side shot (also known as a cross shot). This means throwing the ball out sideways as if the inside pin were the front pin and hoping to knock down the skittles that are left in a sideways direction. Sometimes the ball hangs lower than the side of the board when it is swinging, and to throw it directly sideway results in it bouncing back off the side of the table. If it doesn’t go over in this way, the shot can be taken again. If however, it passes the side of the table, perhaps hitting the table on the way, but doesn’t reach any of the skittles, then the shot counts – scoring nothing. An experienced player will bounce the ball a little when throwing it in these circumstances to help it go over the table edge, and many players play all their side shots with such a jiggle.
There are no rules about how a player stands when he or she throws. Many different stances exist. Left and right handed players thrive, and a few players play with either hand. A player may take as long as they like within reason to throw. A player may even catch a ball already thrown as long as the ball has not gone past the post (ie further forward than the pole) when it is caught.
Learning how to change your shot – to adjust the direction, speed and aim of your throw –on a new or unfamiliar board is crucial to a player’s success. If you really can’t find the shot you might just throw a barely aimed, quite hard shot just to see what happens and maybe to change your luck. This is called chucking a rough ‘un or throwing a haymaker.
Many skittling phrases add ‘un to words or phrases above, like front ‘un, back ‘un, side ‘un. The first two refer to the skittles at the front and the back, but the last usually means a side shot.
Good luck!