In between styles but a tournament is coming up Friday

[RoccoRock]

There is a tournament coming up at my local lanes this friday. My problem is I'm in between styles right now. I'm working on a conventional game with my thumb in but the scores are in there just yet. I really want to do this tournament its at my home lanes. Should I shelve my project right now and practice without my thumb in the ball this week to get ready for this tournament, or just take my chances that I will get crushed with my thumb in. If I practice a few games this week without my thumb I think I can compete. What do I do? The best answer is probably skip the tournament but I really want to do it.

[Josch]

Is it a scratch or handicap tournament? I'm fairly sure that you have to have 2 separate averages for 1 handed bowling and 2 according to the USBC.

[bowl1820]

Is it a scratch or handicap tournament? I'm fairly sure that you have to have 2 separate averages for 1 handed bowling and 2 according to the USBC.

That's rule is for when you switch between right handed and left handed.


He's talking about bowling with his thumb in or out.

in a Adult league:
118b/3 A bowler is using the two-handed approach. The bowler’s dominate hand is the right
hand. Can the bowler use the right hand for spares?
Yes, since both deliveries are with the same dominate hand, the bowler did not change
delivery and, therefore, is not in violation of any USBC rules.
118b/4 A player started league bowling right-handed, but later decided to use a two-handed
approach. Is this a change of delivery and in violation of Rule 118b?
No, as long as all deliveries are made with the right hand, this would not be a
violation of Rule 118b.
118b/5 What are the requirements of a delivery for a two-handed approach?
A two-handed bowler is required to use the same dominant hand during their delivery on
both their first and second shots (this refers to the hand in which the bowling ball rests). They
also have the option of utilizing a thumb hole or not—both are acceptable. However, only one
set of gripping holes is allowed.


In a Youth leagues: A bowler using a two-handed delivery will establish an average with two hands.
When the bowler changes to a one-handed delivery, they must establish a new average using
that hand.

[RoccoRock]

It is handicap but I have no baseline for my average with my thumb in.

[Josch]

That's rule is for when you switch between right handed and left handed.


He's talking about bowling with his thumb in or out.

There is a rule about switching from 2 handed to 1 handed for youth bowlers.


Youth leagues:
4 A bowler using a two-handed delivery will establish an average with two hands When the bowler
changes to a one-handed delivery, they must establish a new average using that hand

But I just realized that he wasn't bowling 2 handed, just without using his thumb.

[bowl1820]

There is a rule about switching from 2 handed to 1 handed for youth bowlers.
You beat me before I could add that.

Also since roccorock is 35 I didn't think it applied



But I just realized that he wasn't bowling 2 handed, just without using his thumb.

[Josch]

You beat me before I could add that.

Also since roccorock is 35 I didn't think it applied

I didn't know it was a youth only rule until I found the rule in the rule book. I just remembered about it because it actually does apply to me, not that I bowl two handed though (I've tried it with a house ball and my speed is so low it goes from gutter to gutter without hitting a thing).

[RoccoRock]

Okay forget about the reestablishing let's go buy pure numbers. My league average is 178, that would be the average I take into the tournament. According to the stats I keep on my phone my average with my thumb in right now is 153. The last 10 weeks of the week I had a ball drilled properly for a note from release, my average over those last 10 weeks was 197.

[Josch]

I think the best option for you is to not bowl in the tournament but if you really want to I would say bowl without your thumb if you want to have a chance at doing well. If you don't mind not doing great bowl with your thumb. You have no chance if you can't even bowl your average.

[RoccoRock]

In case my crappy phone and the inability to edit posts while on the mobile site made things strange, and unclear, I will clear them up now. Over the last 10 weeks of my league I bowled without my thumb, and averaged in the mid 190's. I honestly didn't think it was that high over that span. All I remember is a few bad weeks, including the last week off the season when I almost cost my team third place. I think I'm going to go practice today, no thumb and see what happens. I honestly think if I bowl this tournament without my thumb, I can do well, maybe even win it. I've spent a lot of time, and money trying to covert to thumb in, and I want to stick with it, but if I do this tourney no thumb and do well, it may end that experiment much sooner than I planned.

[ursus]

Here is my take, for what it is worth (probably not much). If you don't stick to one style you never going to get any good at it. You will always find an excuse to switch over for a temporary period and then switch back (tourney coming up, we are playing a really good team in league this week, etc.). My advice is, if you really want to play in the tournament, play in the style you just commited to and payed good money for a coach to help you out in and take what that gives you. It may mean you don't get as immediately as high of score as you might have, but it will be some good experience for you to play competively in the style the coach helped you out in and you might just see some marked improvement.

[RoccoRock]

I've taken the advice here, and my ideas, and what I bowled today into consideration, and I came to a desicion. I quit :D First let me say this, I have heard the stick with one thing line plenty. My friends tell me all the time. My responce is Tom smallwood, Osku Palermaa, and even Tom Daughtery. All bowl either no thumb, or partial thumb for strikes, and put there thumb all the way in for most spares. That's honestly where I think I'm headed. I did do a little of both today, and the results were mixed for no thumb, and horrible for thumb. When I missed with my thumb in, I missed by 5-7 boards, and it was 5's, and 6's. When I missed without my thumb, it was by fractions, maybe a board here ot there, and lots of 9's. Because my spare ball it sort of in between, I missed too many easy spares when I was shooting those without my thumb. I'm going to do one more practice day before Friday, and I am going to bring my other spare ball, and do exaclty what I said, strike ball no thumb, spare ball thumb in, and see what happens. Just keep in mind, I love bowling, I do it for fun, and belive it or not, messing around with different styles during an off season is fun for me. I'm never going to be all that good, I'm never going to be able to compeate at any high levels no matter what style I use, hell I don't even think I'll be good enough to bowl sport patterns. The issue just came up with the tournaments because there's 2 coming up at my favorite lanes, and friends are bowling them and they want me to do it too, and I want to do it. I totaly forgot they were coming up when I "commited" to putting my thumb in. In the end, it doesn't matter, cause the best hour of my day is when I'm at the lanes, during my lunch hour, basicly getting paid to bowl. Hey, does that make me a profesional!

[jimlc2001]

I understand the difficulty to change Rocco. I really started bowling 6-7 years ago, but I threw the back-up style. Two years later I used the summer and switched to a no thumb release. A year or two later, I switched to thumb in with the proper rotation. Every year that I changed my release, I got worse before I improved. It also took me a good 3 months before I felt comfortable adding a wrist brace. Since you say this is more for fun, I would stay with the style that you feel most comfortable throwing for the tournament. Personally, I would have stayed with the no thumb release--tons of revs--but that style tore up my knee and I had to make the switch.

Good luck on your tournaments with whichever style you use.

[RoccoRock]

I do realize there are contradictions in a lot of the things I say, and do, but that's common territory for me. I say I just want to have fun, but I want to bowl well enough to win this tourney. On other posts I have talked about being a two hander, then a few days later I am back to one hand. A few weeks ago, i totally ruled out one hand no thumb, now that's back in play. I guess it's just what kind of mood I wake up in. For instance, this morning I'm thinking of what I am doing wrong with my thumb in, and how to correct it, and thinking of bowling a few games thumb in today. Of course, all night last night I was thinking of what I did wrong with my thumb out, and how to correct that, and I was thinking that's what I want to do today. I'm like, the Bi Polor Bowler. That should have been my screen name!

[RoccoRock]

Did what I said I would do today, bowled no thumb, with the two balls I have drilled just for no thumb bowling. I bowled the best I have in months. 627 in a 3 game series, 798 in a 4. with my handicap, the 4 game series would have been around 1000, and in the history of this tourney, 1000 almost always gets you paid. The first game I threw the plastic spare ball as the strike ball the first 4 frames, then took a few frames to adjust with the reactive ball. As far as I'm concerned, for me, the debate, and identity crisis are over.

[RoccoRock]

http://youtu.be/6ROGkOdkgAM

[jimlc2001]

Good luck on the tournament! Let us know how you perform.

[RoccoRock]

Thanks, but it looks like, afer all that, I am not doing the tournament. Not only is it going to be on an oil pattern I never bowled, but they don't announce the pattern until just before the tourney, making it impossible to research it. Also it's even more exspensive than I though. Add to that, I called the tournament directer today to get some info on the tourney, left a message on the machine, and no one called me back. I may do a Sunday tourney instead. When I called them for info today, they actualy talked to me, and gave me the info I was looking for. It's on Shark, which I've never bowled on either, but it is much cheaper. No matter what, even if don't do either tourney, at least trying to prep for them has helped my find myself.