Not sure WHAT to think!

[DLP]

The pro I work with approached me this evening about joining the league he is going to run in the fall. It's a 32 wk Petersen Points (no idea what that is). What will be interesting is its not going to be on house pattern but on several different Kegel patterns that he is picking and choosing (none of them will be PBA or sport) so the game will literally change every few weeks to be something completely new.

I am both flattered and extremely confused as he knows what my average is but knows I am extremely enthusiastic about the sport. I love talking with him about all of the new balls that are coming in, the different cover stocks, what he thinks about certain matches, etc. Then again, making a special trip to the other end of the lanes just to sniff the Storm Hy-Road Pearl may have something to do with it. :)

Despite that he is very enthusiastic about me being part of the league to the point that if I am on-call with work he offered up his shop's wi-fi if I need to login if I get paged.

Like I said - not sure WHAT to think about this one!!!!

[Josch]

Kegel has quite a few patterns that are essentially house patterns but they vary in length. If the league isn't using sport it will probably use these. Here's a link to where they can be found (http://www.kegel.net/V3/PatternLibrarySearchResults.aspx?Group=9). Kegal also has a group of challenge patterns, which are between their recreational and sport patterns in difficulty, but closer to sport. These can be found here (http://www.kegel.net/V3/PatternLibrarySearchResults.aspx?Group=10). Even if he uses the more difficult patterns I'm assuming this is a handicap league and you'll be able to compete with the better bowlers without a problem.

Joining the league would be great experience. It would teach you how to bowl on varying lane conditions and you'd learn how the ball reacts to these conditions. I wouldn't worry at all about having a low average.

The Peterson point system is explained on this thread (http://www.bowlingboards.com/threads/9188-Point-Systems-in-Bowling).

[DLP]

Thank you! Those would be it. Main Street was mentioned, as was the Red, White, and Blue patterns. And yes, handicap, points, sanctioned, the whole 9 yards (or 9 pins so to speak).

[Josch]

The Red (http://bowl.com/Red_White_Blue/RWB_Featured_Patterns/USBC_Red_Pattern/), White (http://bowl.com/Red_White_Blue/RWB_Featured_Patterns/USBC_White_Pattern/), and Blue (http://bowl.com/Red_White_Blue/RWB_Featured_Patterns/USBC_Blue_Pattern/) are all house shot like patterns, similar to the recreational Kegel series. The advantage to bowling on these is that they're easy like a house shot and you know what you're bowling on so you have some idea of where the oil is and how to play it.

[billf]

Do it. It will increase your learning of the game immensely.

[Tampabaybob]

Where you are in average right now, I would say to try it. However, I wouldn't want to see you get disillusioned because the shots are going to be harder than just a regular house shot. Besides shooting this league, if you backed it up by another "regular" league on a THS, that would give you a better understanding of your improvement goals. The kegel patterns won't do that for you, especially when he'll be changing them from week to week. Again, I wouldn't want to see you get frustrated. He's trying to fill the league, so from a business stand point he's looking to add bowlers. I'd ask around and see what types of bowlers will be bowling in that league (higher averages??) before jumping in. I'd recommend a regular league first. You do need to learn to walk before you learn to run. Know what I mean?

[DLP]

Signed up to start an 8 week league on the 7th of July so we'll see how it goes, but I can COMPLETELY get where you are coming from.

[Tampabaybob]

Let me know how you are doing. I'm very interested to see what your reaction to and comments are regarding those patterns. In this case I'd say go for it, and try it.. Good luck, let me know

[DLP]

My name's on the list :) League starts the end of August. The Pro and I had a chat and he is excited to see how I do with it as well.

[Perrin]

Sounds like a great opportunity and I applaud you for doing something on the edge of your comfort level to advance your game.

I wish there was something like this in my area. It seems that most of the leagues jump from Beer league to Scratch league without much falling in between.