I don't think league is for me..

[Ball99999]

Ok maybe I'm just anti social but a lot of stuff they do makes me..uncomfortable. But it's expensive and I always suck on league days.

Does anyone just do tournaments?

[AngeloPD]

tournaments will be much more expensive (i think.) you just need to practice and apply all you learn and read from hear and other articles that had been posted. be patient and never give up! keep practicing and you'll get wherever you want to be. what are the stuffs that makes you uncomfortable during league?

[martinezsam2495]

Looks like you're not good with pressure,
but League helps you become a better bowler.

[Ball99999]

It's part pressure, part a weird oil pattern I think.

But $15 a week bleh. How much do tournaments usually run?

[Keithalw]

Usually more than $15. Also some of them use differnt oil patterns way the guy who coached me some told me that bowling on all lane conditions will only make u a better bowler cause you never know wha conditions differnt house may be or your case tournements maybe

[Ball99999]

Usually more than $15. Also some of them use differnt oil patterns way the guy who coached me some told me that bowling on all lane conditions will only make u a better bowler cause you never know wha conditions differnt house may be or your case tournements maybe

Yes more than $15 but not once a week. How many games minimum usually?
I actually am more interested in different oil patterns.

[Zothen]

Tournaments usually run anywhere fron $25-$150 depending who runs it. You would not fair well in tournaments if your having problems in leagues. I would suggest a practice league($10-$15 week) plus they usually give you practice tickets that range from 99 cent a game to 3 free games per ticket a week,so you could get practice games for practically nothing.

Zothen

[Ball99999]

It's not really about doing well, I really don't care if I win. That's the kind of league I'm in right now I don't like it.

[Keithalw]

Maybe you need to get into a league that will be a little more competitive for ya

[Ball99999]

I just always feel like that the oil is never fresh or how they make it sound on the PBA. There is no consistency, no predictability etc. I never see oil tracks on my ball yet when it hits the back it never feels like there is friction. It's so weird.

[Keithalw]

Maybe they arent oiling the lanes right talk to alley manager or move houses

[Ball99999]

Yeah it's really weird. One alley I can really get reaction and I can repeat shots. The other the ball just goes straight...

[bowl1820]

Ok maybe I'm just anti social but a lot of stuff they do makes me..uncomfortable. But it's expensive and I always suck on league days.

Does anyone just do tournaments?

What do they make you do in league, that makes you uncomfortable?

If league is too much, a tournament won't be any easier.

And if you think a league has a weird oil pattern, just wait till you bowl a tournament were you have to move a pair lanes every game.

You start on a hard fresh tournament pattern and by the end of the day your bowling on a pair of lanes. That have been tore up by 40 other guys already. You sure better know how to adjust.

[AZBowla]

League was a shock to the system the first time I tried it. I was a fairly confident (and somewhat cocky) bowler who was averaging around 160 or so on open bowling so I thought league would be easy. My first league night, I threw 6 strikes in a row in practice which made me REALLY think I was invincible, followed by probably the worst game I've thrown in my adult life and two others that sucked just as badly. To this day I still suck at reading the lane, but in open bowling there's not much to read because they're so dry. In league, not so much since they just oiled 'em. Being a lefty I've got a bit of an advantage in that not everyone else is going to be tearing up my line but that's still not enough to make up for suddenly having to figure out what's going on on TWO lanes instead of one, plus keeping track of when it's your turn, which lane you're on, what the oil is doing, what the ball is doing, what YOU'RE doing, etc. It really kicked my butt the first time I tried it and I ended up quitting a couple weeks later because I too didn't like it, mainly because I was sucking at it and felt like I was embarrassing myself for $15 a week.

Now that's I'm getting back into the sport again, I'm going to approach league night with a whole different attitude. I'm going to be there to have fun, make some new friends and hopefully improve my game. I'm not going to go in there with the mindset that I'm going to score the highest or win something, that way I won't be disappointed when I don't. I'd say stick with it, especially if you want to do tournaments. Open bowling makes for lousy tournament practice because you're bowling on dry lanes and your ball will react totally different than it will in a tournament where the lanes have been freshly oiled with some god awful sport pattern that we open bowlers will fail miserably at. At least with leagues you can get used to bowling in fresh oil which can only help you in tournament play.

[Zothen]

Are you in a 9p or 6p league? 6p leagues should have oil where as the 9p leagues you usually have 0-very little. Also they may put you on lanes that have been used by people during open bowling. You will not have oil like the PBA unless you join a sport league.

You can try 1 of 3 things! Try standing on the 15 board and throw your ball up the 5 board and see if their is oil on your ball or you could try slowing everything from your approach to your armswing down,giving your ball time to build up friction. You could always change the surface of your coverstock. Talk to your pro shop and see if he can recommend surface change that might help you.

Zothen

[panbanger]

What do they do that makes you uncomfortable?

I'm not sure that strictly doing open bowling and tournaments is a good idea. Many tournaments require you to have an average from a sanctioned league in order to compete in it.

[J Anderson]

It's part pressure, part a weird oil pattern I think.

But $15 a week bleh. How much do tournaments usually run?

We're coming up to our local USBC annual tournament. Cost is $30 per bowler per event. Events are 5 person team, doubles, and singles. Anyone who wants to bowl doubles must also enter the singles event and likewise anyone entering the singles must also find a doubles partner. You can bowl in just the team event, but if you're not in a league where do you find four teammates? Many tournaments, if you do not have a sanctioned average, will make you bowl scratch.

[Ball99999]

Are you in a 9p or 6p league? 6p leagues should have oil where as the 9p leagues you usually have 0-very little. Also they may put you on lanes that have been used by people during open bowling. You will not have oil like the PBA unless you join a sport league.

You can try 1 of 3 things! Try standing on the 15 board and throw your ball up the 5 board and see if their is oil on your ball or you could try slowing everything from your approach to your armswing down,giving your ball time to build up friction. You could always change the surface of your coverstock. Talk to your pro shop and see if he can recommend surface change that might help you.

Zothen

What's 9p/6p?

[bowl1820]

What's 9p/6p?

Do you bowl at 6 o'clock or 9 o'clock at night. 6PM or 9PM

[Ball99999]

Do you bowl at 6 o'clock or 9 o'clock at night. 6PM or 9PM

Ohhh
6

[EboniteKid299]

Yeah, tournaments are tougher in all aspects. I usually bowl better in tournaments but that's just because they are always different from, oil patterns, houses, carry, etc. League bores me from the constant 250s+ that every one shoots tournaments make you think more and is more interesting to me.

[billf]

I'm with EboniteKid on this one.
I would be willing to bet a year's salary that the house that has the ball reaction is really the dry lane and the one where it goes straight is the one with the oil. The issue is you haven't had to learn how to bowl with a decent amount of oil yet. It's normal and you will learn. Doing tournaments without an average you would have to bowl scratch. If it's a USBC sanctioned tournament, you would still have to pay your annual sanction fee.
Send me a PM about what the issues are that are making you so uncomfortable and I will give you my uncensored, unbiased opinion of what type of league might suit you better.

[Zothen]

I had suggested a couple posts back he should join a practice league.

Zothen

[Ball99999]

I had suggested a couple posts back he should join a practice league.

Zothen

What do you mean a practice league?

[Zothen]

A practice league is a league where everyone is either just learning to bowl,coming back to bowling and need to rehone their skills,practicing the skills they learned before transitioning to a sanctioned league,etc. Most practice leagues give you coupons for open bowling either 99cent per game or 3 games free. The leagues are usually $10-$15 a week. I joined a practice league in 2010 when I came back to bowling after a 13yr hiatus. Helped me get my groove back plus could'nt pass up all the free practice games I got out of it. I highly recommend it!

Zothen

[Tampabaybob]

If you're shooting on a 6pm league, I've got to believe that you're shooting on fresh oil. With that said, IF, you're feeling one lane is tracking different than the other I'd bet that their machine is screwed up. I've see this happen many times, and the guys that usually run the machines, aren't bowling on that league (if they're bowlers at all!) and have no way to know what's happening with the shot. It means a lot if the guy that maintains the machine knows what the lanes are doing.

Bob

[MisterSinister]

I find your logic a little strange. You don't do well in leagues, because of the pressure, and wierd oil, and too exspensive, so you want to tournaments. Tournaments are more pressure packed, the oil is harder, and tournaments are more exspensive. Good luck bro.