One Last Ride?

[RoccoRock]

I've been trying to get away from two handed bowling for the last few weeks. It's just causing too many aches and pains, making it hard to go to work in the morning sometimes. So for a few weeks I've been back to one handed. It's the same old story. I have yet to throw a 600 series one handed. Came close once, but that's it. At one point this season, I bowled 5 out of 6 weeks with a 600+ series, and the one week I was really sick, and have a total of 7 600's two handed this season alone. My hot streak sent us climbing up the standings in my league. We went from next to last, to 3rd out of 20. I even had one of my teammates pick up the slack when I went back to one hand, and keep us in it. Last week we got a gift. I bowled bad, and we should have lost every game, but the best bowler in the league bowled a 153, 161, and a 137 with a 213 average.

So here we sit, in prime position for 3rd, and an outside shot at 2nd. I've been thinking all day, maybe I give two handed one last night. Give my team the best shot at taking 3rd, or even second. Just one lat time, try to send two handed out in a blaze of glory. I'm going to practice tomorrow night, and if I can't figure out how to make easy, single pin spares, this debate will rage in my head for a few days. What do you guys think? End with one hand, and see what happens, or grab my balls with two hands, and try to power my team to a good finish?

[billf]

Two-handed this time then stop. It's not worth losing work time over or your health.

[TCJ]

A couple of times after bowling a lot two-handed, I had soreness. I decided that I was probably lifting too much with my back, so the next few times I went out, I made sure to keep from lifting my back and just pulling up with my arm instead. Excessive soreness disappeared once I tried that. Are you, perhaps, trying to spin the ball with your back instead of your legs and arm?

[RoccoRock]

A couple of times after bowling a lot two-handed, I had soreness. I decided that I was probably lifting too much with my back, so the next few times I went out, I made sure to keep from lifting my back and just pulling up with my arm instead. Excessive soreness disappeared once I tried that. Are you, perhaps, trying to spin the ball with your back instead of your legs and arm?

Nah, It's just that I am old. I lift heavy boxes all day, so the extra strain of bowling two handed doesn't help my back. It's just because with two hands I am leaning over so much. My back is nearly parallel with the ground on release. That's why I believe in the future both Belmo and Osku are going to either fade away, or start bowling one handed more.

[RoccoRock]

I talked to my friend who is also my coach, when I first brought it up he said do what you have to do this week, then we'll get your one handed game straight. I had a bad practice session last night, one handed. Today I made the decision, I will bowl one handed. I figure one spot in the standings of a low level mixed league isn't worth taking steps backwards. The way I am, if I bowl two handed one of two things will happen. I will bowl bad, or about average and think to myself that it was a waste of time to bowl two handed. Or I'll bowl well, and start thinking I should keep bowling two handed and screw myself up again. I brought that up to my coach, and he agreed with that line of thinking better.

Despite the low scores, and too many easy spares missed, I took things from last night that I liked. I found a nice rhythm, and feel. My footwork was very good, and my balance was terrific. The other thing I took from last night, my grip. I pulled out one of the two balls I have left with a Sarge Easter grip. Loved the feel, and when I went back to my fingertip ball, I didn't like the feel of that ball. I think switching all my strike balls to Sarge Easter will help my consistency. The thing that should fix most of my spare issues is buying a 15 pound spare ball, also with a Sarge Easter grip. I also think now that I have a consistent delivery that I need to find all my stats. My coach and his buddy who runs the pro shop where he bowls are going to help me get me PAP, exact rev rate axis rotation and axis tilt. They said finding those and setting up my equipment to those starts is going to help give me a more consistent ball reaction, and better pin carry. As usual I'm rambling, and changing my mind in mid week, but at least in the end I'm sticking with one thing.

[billf]

So what you're saying is your mind is like your bowling game; consistently inconsistent lol sorry, couldn't help myself.
The part about the stats is correct and may help you mentally as your consistency improves. The Sarge Easter spare ball makes sense too and wasn't even a thought in my head. I did think you had all your one-hand strike balls re-drilled to that grip already. With that not being the case, you were actually working on three different styles at once. No wonder you were getting so frustrated!

[RoccoRock]

So I'll give you one guess as to what happened tonight. I didn't get to bowl my usual two warmup games because of a new league starting. I threw the ball like crap in the 15 minute warmup, then continued the turd-fest in the game. Everything felt wrong. The SE grip which felt so good Tuesday night felt horrible. My timing sucked, my delivery sucked, and the results sucked. I made up my mind I wasn't going to bowl two handed, it wasn't worth it. Of course my competitive side took over. I kept thinking how we've worked all season to get here and I can ruin all by myself. So I did what I didn't want to do, I went to two handed. I'm upset with myself, and I'm getting sick and tired of saying one thing then doing the opposite. I absolutely hate being that guy. You can't trust a word I say cause in 15 minutes I'll change my mind. I'm tired of going into the pro shop and declaring "I am done with two handed" only to bowl two handed the next week. I'm tired of saying things like "I love the Sarge Easter grip, I'm going to put it on everything I own" only to realize the next day that it doesn't matter what grip I use, I still suck. Maybe I should just go back to playing with stupid remote control cars.


BTW: I bowled really well two handed, we took third, and I started thinking I should continue bowling two handed. Just like I said I would. Seems like the only thing I can get right is predicting that I am going to change my mind.

[billf]

You should still do both in my opinion. I also believe you're much better than you give yourself credit for, especially one-handed. The thing is, either style, you have something else to fall back on so you do. We all would if only we could.
My A game and B game change all the time too. It's just not as obvious to others as yours.

[RoccoRock]

I have a little over two weeks until my summer league starts. I have some time to practice, so I am going to try and get my one handed game right. I have a new spare ball on the way, and I made a few adjustments to see if I can fix my issues. If I can't get it fixed, I'm going to bowl the summer two handed. I've made a few adjustments to that delivery which should help alleviate some if the aches and pains. I kind of want to just bowl two handed, just to see what I can average for the whole season. If I were to guess, I can probably average around 180 with one hand, and a little over 200 with two. It's just too bad I'm not 10 years younger, then this whole two handed thing might be a little easier on my body.

[TCJ]

As I've been transitioning to two-handed, I still go back to one-handed when I struggle with the other. I find that it's very good to have the option to do both because one works better for me on certain lane conditions and then there are some nights when I just have no consistency two-handed and I have to go back to something with more accuracy. You're the opposite -- you're transitioning to one hand, but I see no reason why the process can't be the same. And, of course, now it's summer so that's the traditional time for really working on something new. It's when I developed my new style.

May I ask why you use a Sarge Easter grip as opposed to a normal fingertip? And are you using separate equipment for two-handed or do you use that grip for two-handed, too (I couldn't imagine doing that)? If you use separate equipment for the two styles, one way to keep your word that you'll do one thing is to just leave the rest of the equipment at home.

[RoccoRock]

I used Sarge Easter for a while because I liked the feel. I only have two balls with the SE grip, and they are older stuff I don't really use anymore. All my newer stuff is fingertip. I did some testing yesterday. I threw 5 games each way. I didn't keep score, but I kept notes on feel, accuracy, consistency. Fingertip was just a little better all the way around.