Biting the bullet.

[aussiedave]

I have had a long dry spell of mediocre scores and finally got fed up with it enough to try something foreign to my style.
I used to like standing on the middle dot and throw it over the 2nd arrow, or if it was a bit dryer, stand on 25 and toss it over 13.
However, it was just too inconsistent for my style as I only threw about 11 - 12 mph range. I hate it when I throw it a couple boards to wide and it goes in the gutter.
So after a lot of thought, I came up with a new formula and bit the bullet to commit to it.
I now stand on the 25 board and shoot over 17 with an almost completely flat under the ball grip.
I found more oil down the middle and if I do drift a little wide, it gets into the dryer part of the lane and comes back up into the pocket anyway! I also find I get about another 3 mph on the ball with the emphasis on the more end over end release. It's not completely end over end, as there is a slight bit of axis, and if there is more oil early on, as there usually is, you can use more axis - the trick is to find the right adjustment as the conditions change.
Last night in league I broke my 600 drought (been about 3 months) with 214 - 170 - 245 = 629. Very pleasing as I only left two open in the second and one was 4-7-10 split.
It takes either courage or desperation to try something that takes one out of their comfort zone but I love my bowling too much to be unhappy with it for too long.
ad.

[Judy clemons]

788Wow! It takes a lot of knowledge to know how & where to make those types of moves,
I imagine you were extremely desperate to have tried and pulled something like that
off in the league. Just want to say it worked beautifully for you though and add my
CONGRATULATIONS!

[got_a_300]

Congrats on having a good night!!!!

yep it pays to be a more versatile bowler and not just
play in your comfort zone all of the time. You have to
be brave and move and experment with different hand
positions, axis, RPM's, ball speed, etc. etc. then you can
play any lane, any condition, anywhere.

[aussiedave]

Congrats on having a good night!!!!

yep it pays to be a more versatile bowler and not just
play in your comfort zone all of the time. You have to
be brave and move and experment with different hand
positions, axis, RPM's, ball speed, etc. etc. then you can
play any lane, any condition, anywhere.
Thanks Judy and got a 300 - I should have mentioned it was about 100 more than I have been getting.
It seemed to give me a more consistent and predictable roll as well.
ad.

[aussiedave]

I have had a long dry spell of mediocre scores and finally got fed up with it enough to try something foreign to my style.
I used to like standing on the middle dot and throw it over the 2nd arrow, or if it was a bit dryer, stand on 25 and toss it over 13.
However, it was just too inconsistent for my style as I only threw about 11 - 12 mph range. I hate it when I throw it a couple boards to wide and it goes in the gutter.
So after a lot of thought, I came up with a new formula and bit the bullet to commit to it.
I now stand on the 25 board and shoot over 17 with an almost completely flat under the ball grip.
I found more oil down the middle and if I do drift a little wide, it gets into the dryer part of the lane and comes back up into the pocket anyway! I also find I get about another 3 mph on the ball with the emphasis on the more end over end release. It's not completely end over end, as there is a slight bit of axis, and if there is more oil early on, as there usually is, you can use more axis - the trick is to find the right adjustment as the conditions change.
Last night in league I broke my 600 drought (been about 3 months) with 214 - 170 - 245 = 629. Very pleasing as I only left two open in the second and one was 4-7-10 split.
It takes either courage or desperation to try something that takes one out of their comfort zone but I love my bowling too much to be unhappy with it for too long.
ad.
Had a patchy night last night with all the "luck" happening in the second game although I had two solid pocket 10's in that one too.
168 - 242 - 154 = 564 is a good bit under last week's score but 188 average on the night is still good for me. In the last game I didn't handle the rapidly drying lanes too well. Had 7 solid ten pins overall so the score could have been better so the new style is still definitely worth sticking with.
ad.

[aussiedave]

Still enjoying some decent form - 197 - 224 - 174 = 597.
Was picking my spares up nicely all night then strangely left two single pin ones open in the last.
Had three hot ringing tens in the first too.
Averaged a fraction over 197 the last three weeks - not bad for a 170 average!
ad.

[ghetto24]

I have been known to start doing off the wall adjustments when nothing I try is working. its usually the beer making the decision, but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. by that point, I couldn't care less, anyway

[aussiedave]

I have been known to start doing off the wall adjustments when nothing I try is working. its usually the beer making the decision, but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. by that point, I couldn't care less, anyway
If all else fails, sometimes it's off the wall that works. For me, it was something as basic as keeping the hand a bit more under the ball and throwing it a bit harder.
I have also thrown it harder at the spares too - something I was a bit loathe to do thinking I would sacrifice accuracy but it has worked very nicely for me.
ad.

[GeoLes]

Last time i bit the bullet, I almost broke a tooth. I will never try that again. :)

[Greenday]

Lately, I've been playing what feels more natural to me. Hit the 12-13 boards (arrows), break around 7-8. And during practice, it works really well. But when the game finally starts, for some reason it doesn't seem to work as well anymore. Gonna try tonight going back outside and throwing straight down the 7 board. I was getting more consistent striking and a lot less spares when I did that.

[aussiedave]

Lately, I've been playing what feels more natural to me. Hit the 12-13 boards (arrows), break around 7-8. And during practice, it works really well. But when the game finally starts, for some reason it doesn't seem to work as well anymore. Gonna try tonight going back outside and throwing straight down the 7 board. I was getting more consistent striking and a lot less spares when I did that.
Try a bit more pace if you can if it comes too far up the pocket.
ad.

[aussiedave]

Last time i bit the bullet, I almost broke a tooth. I will never try that again. :)
You're supposed to remove the gunpowder first...8^)
ad.

[Greenday]

Try a bit more pace if you can if it comes too far up the pocket.
ad.

Figures. Turned out to be super dry on the outside tonight. I moved in and was throwing about 29-15-5 (Laydown-arrows-breakpoint). That worked great. The middle allowed me to get down the lane, but the real dry boards outside let it grab and rip in.

[aussiedave]

After enjoying some of the best form of my life over the last few weeks, my mojo made a mysterious exit for me last night after averaging 197+, I only managed a modest 170 - 157 - 168 = 495 last night. We won the first game (this is the position round after finishing .5 behind second place in 22 team league) then lost the second by 4 pins when I as anchor missed a 10 pin spare - after a nice pocket shot of course. What really sucked is we lost the 3rd too and the series by a lousy 6 pins...sigh.
I don't think I was doing anything different to previous weeks, but did come up high several times getting nasty splits - certainly makes a huge dent in ones score eh?
Can't see any adjustments so will just have to see what happens next week.
ad.

[TCJ]

Sometimes these slumps make you learn new angles to play, or other techniques like a different release, etc. Just the other day, I was throwing in the pocket and leaving ten pin after ten pin (something I rarely do, the ten pin, that is) so I finally decided I need to make an adjustment. My original angle was basically start five boards left of center and throw just inside the second arrow to hit the pocket. I adjusted to move my feet to one board left of center and my aim went to the five board. I altered my release angle and slowed my ball speed down. The result was a 231 after I had been shooting 190's the games before. Playing the five board is NOT something I do very often (in fact, it's been many years since I've done so) so it was a rather drastic change on my part. However, it's something I did know how to do because over the years I've developed various methods of bowling and I can (usually) go back to them when I need to.

Just keep adjusting and when you make those adjustments, REMEMBER THEM so you can go back to them when necessary.