The trick to getting that first 600 series........

[Hammer]

Well, it is not really a trick. What you have to do is keep in mind to bowl one frame at a time through all three games on league night. Before each shot play it in your mind how you want the ball to go down the alley. Then do it how your mind saw it. As you play each frame don't ever look at your score until the game is over. That way you won't be thinking stuff like well if I can get three or four strikes in a row. Do this for all three games and then when it is all over see what your series was. And tell your teammates not to say stuff like if you bowl just a 176 game you will have a 600 series.
That won't help you at all. Too much thinking about what you need during play will keep you adrift in a sea of series in the 500s. The ones that will hurt are the ones in the 590s. Remember, EYES OFF THE SCOREBOARD UNTIL THE GAMES ARE DONE. Good luck to those still searching for their first 600 series.

[Greenday]

My 575 hurt the other day. I was doing great, but a couple splits in my third game killed my 600.

[Zothen]

Don't forget that you also have to find your line within the first 2-3 frames as wellas make the necessary adjustments(Change balls or move your line)when your not getting strikes or spares. Also remember that spares are just as important as strikes! 1 strike and all spares after will get you to 200!

Good luck on your quest for that 600 series!

Zothen

[Hammer]

Don't get discouraged by an open. If you let it bother you it will bomb your game. I started a first game on league night once with three
open frames. A little trouble finding my line and bad spare shooting. I got a grip on myself and strung three strikes together with a spare in the 7th then a strike and a spare and three strikes in the 10th frame for a 195. You can never give up. If you start out with a couple opens don't say to yourself well, I can see how this night is going to go. There are more then one or two frames to a game.

[J Anderson]

1 strike and all spares after will get you to 200!
Zothen

No it will not. X 9/ 9/ 9/ 9/ 9/ 9/ 9/ 9/ 9/ 9 = 191
20, 39, 58, 77, 96, 115, 134, 153, 172, 191

A double followed by all spares should get you to 200.

[Zothen]

Ok my math was a little off! I was thinking that an all spare game(9/)gets you 190 so I added a strike,forgot it only added 1 pin.

Zothen

[J Anderson]

That's okay. Its probably been a while since either of us was in school, and, not counting the few times I've bowled Duckpins, almost 20 years since I had to keep score manually.

[Greenday]

Ok my math was a little off! I was thinking that an all spare game(9/)gets you 190 so I added a strike,forgot it only added 1 pin.

Zothen

Perhaps you were thinking of a dutch 200 where you get alternate getting a strike and a spare every other frame?

[billf]

Great post Hammer. 600, 700 or whatever number it is, if it's on your mind you're doomed. It's human nature to try harder but bowling is funny like that; the harder you try to do anything in bowling the less of it you will get. Why? Tension. Any tension will cause a tense arm swing. Even being upset about a previous shot can cause your blood pressure to rise, muscles to tense up slightly and there goes another frame.

[Rdmonster]

I sure notice that when the team is loose and starts laughing a bunch our scores really start to go up. A few beers help.

[RoccoRock]

I have a friend, and this week he was looking for his first ever 600 series after 4 years of bowling. He needed a 188 last game, and he knew it. I was done with my night (ugly 530 series) and came over to root him on in the 6th frame. Before every ball, he was calculating. He can't help it, he's a math teacher. He needed a double, 9th, first ball of the tenth. He got the 9th, but the first ball in the 10th was nearly a 7-10 split, the 7 fell late. In the end, he missed the spare, and only went 570. That's not even his best series of the year.

Last week I was in a similar spot. I needed a 197 to get my first 600 of the season. I didn't care about the number, I just wanted to bowl well. I missed a spare in the second, but I didn't start calculating numbers, and didn't let it get to me. I settled down, then I ran 6 in a row, damn near 9 in a row, and went 230. When I threw number 4 I knew I had it already, and that was the first time in that game I had even thought about numbers. From there it was easy, pressure was off, and I was throwing bombs. Just make one good shot at a time, and your golden.

[75lockwood]

Bowling a milestone is awesome, when you miss it by mere pins it sucks, this is something i am an expert at, i have 1 600 so far, but at least a half dozen 580-599's lol, just remember your there to have fun, don't focus so much on getting those honor scores as much as bowling consistently, focus on your mark not the Scores!

[Hammer]

Instead of thinking about my score I only think about keeping my wrist straight or a little cupped and my hand behind the ball until my release. I have to do this because sometimes later in league night I will have a tendency to turn my hand a little early. Not too bad but bad enough. And I can feel it as soon as I let the ball go. When that happens I say to myself OH NO! To be honest I cleaned that up a bit. LOL.

[SouthpawTRK]

I bowled my first ever 600 series on my Wednesday night league; I had the biggest grin on my face with driving home :)

I attribute being hyper focused on hitting my mark, making adjustments, knowing when to make an adjustment, picking up spares and having some loud good music. I was watching the scoreboard way too much and probably put a little too much pressure on myself after the finish of the second game (I bowled a 203; followed by a 196).

I think that the music really helped me stay relaxed and kept my mind from thinking too much about shooting a 200+ third game to get my first 600 series. After all the dust cleared, I ended up shooting a 202, which put me at 601 :)

[RoccoRock]

I have a friend, and this week he was looking for his first ever 600 series after 4 years of bowling. He needed a 188 last game, and he knew it. I was done with my night (ugly 530 series) and came over to root him on in the 6th frame. Before every ball, he was calculating. He can't help it, he's a math teacher. He needed a double, 9th, first ball of the tenth. He got the 9th, but the first ball in the 10th was nearly a 7-10 split, the 7 fell late. In the end, he missed the spare, and only went 570. That's not even his best series of the year.

Last week I was in a similar spot. I needed a 197 to get my first 600 of the season. I didn't care about the number, I just wanted to bowl well. I missed a spare in the second, but I didn't start calculating numbers, and didn't let it get to me. I settled down, then I ran 6 in a row, damn near 9 in a row, and went 230. When I threw number 4 I knew I had it already, and that was the first time in that game I had even thought about numbers. From there it was easy, pressure was off, and I was throwing bombs. Just make one good shot at a time, and your golden.


I can't help but feel bad for my friend after thinking more about it. I do relish the fact that this is the one thing I am better at than he is. We both race RC cars, and he is better. We both play video games, and he is better. He has a better job, makes more money, and has a nicer house. Still, even with all that said, I wanted him to get that 600. I wish I could have helped him more. I tried, but there's only so much I can tell him. He's been bowling for 4 years, and plays it off like he doesn't care, and he only bowls cause his girlfriend liked to bowl, but I know better. He is competitive, and if he's doing anything he wants to win. He enjoys bowling more than he lets on. He, and my 3 teammates share something. If any of them ever listened to me, they would be so much better.

[Greenday]

My first 600 series, I was upset because I kept thinking I should have bowled a 700 series. I had bowled a 149, 241, and 265. If I didn't bowl like total crap that first game, I could have definitely bowled a 700 series.

[vikingbowler88]

Great Advice!! My goals for this year is to bring the average up to 200+ and bowl my first 600 series.

[75lockwood]

My first 600 series, I was upset because I kept thinking I should have bowled a 700 series. I had bowled a 149, 241, and 265. If I didn't bowl like total crap that first game, I could have definitely bowled a 700 series.

When that happens you bowl a 4th game and pretend the first didn't happen LOL

[scottymoney]

My biggest issue is scoreboard watching. I can't help it, I get so anxious for my turn that I watch like a hawk. Figures my best game ever I was bowling with my family and chasing my son around. People were telling me when it was my turn as my 20 month old roamed the alley looking to get into trouble. I will work on keeping myself distracted tonight at league to see if it helps.

[Greenday]

My biggest issue is scoreboard watching. I can't help it, I get so anxious for my turn that I watch like a hawk. Figures my best game ever I was bowling with my family and chasing my son around. People were telling me when it was my turn as my 20 month old roamed the alley looking to get into trouble. I will work on keeping myself distracted tonight at league to see if it helps.

I look at the scoreboard too, but I usually don't do it just to check my score. I do it to check my team's score because I'm the anchor and the games a lot of the time come down to what I need to do.

[Hammer]

I am the anchor on our team and I don't watch the score. The way I look at it when I get on the approach I am always trying to throw a strike. So if I get it I get it. Looking at the score and seeing that maybe I need to get two strikes for us to win isn't going to make me get two strikes. It will put pressure on me to get two strikes and that can start tension and steering of the shot instead of just setting up and throwing the shot more relaxed. I even told my teammates to never tell me what we need as I am going on the approach. Thinking about what your team needs to win as an anchor can be a bad thing. But going up there without thinking about what your team needs and just thinking about throwing a good shot is easier on the nerves. Then after I am done I look at the scoreboard and see if we won or lost and what my game was. After 26 years on this league I always bowl one frame at a time and don't worry about the next frames coming up. It is too hard to bowl ten frames at once. I have been the anchorman for 26 years. I wish I would get put first at least one time and let someone else take the burden of anchor. What a bunch of chickens.

[scottymoney]

The anchor on my team got up and needed 2 strikes and a 9 in the 10th for us to win. He got 2 strikes and an 8 and we tied. I then asked him if he knew he needed a 9 to win. And he said no why didn't you tell me I would made sure to get it. I almost punched him then. Seriously you didn't go up there to throw your best ball?

[billf]

He did his best. Good bowlers usually believe that they can get whatever number they need. It's partially true but what they don't understand is they will over-focus and tense up and ruin the shot.

[scottymoney]

Last night I came close to that 600....... 586, I stopped watching the board and just focused on congratulating teammates and not thinking about it. I stopped trying different things and just stayed consistent.
The 600 is coming soon. Our entire team had a crappy 2nd game and I would have had that 600 is I didn't struggle with a 140. We all rebounded nicely and had a 1007 last game with handicap to win by 212 pins.

[Big Nick]

There's some really good advice in this thread for those that are still looking for their first 600 series. I've managed to squeeze out two 600s and they each came under entirely different circumstances. When I threw my first 600, I started the night off with a 256. I was amped up thinking that a 600 would be a breeze, and I wound up shooting two sub par games due to fixating on score. Luckily I pulled out a 602 that night, but only had one game over 200 all night.

The second 600 started out with a 187 that was one frame away from being clean. After that I quit paying attention to score... in fact, a 600 wasn't even on my mind. The second game was a hustling 200 that took three strikes in the tenth to get there. The final game, I was totally relaxed and focused, and I was throwing absolute bombs and wound up with a 240. After the game was over, I knew that I had gotten a 600 but I had to look at the score re-cap to know for sure. I was quite surprised with the scratch total. 23 more pins and I would have gotten a 650. :D

[BrandonKR]

My friend bowled his first 600 last night, 621! He's been working really hard over these holidays and I've been practicing with him every week, so glad to see him get there :)