Tournament Bowling: Glad to be Back

[jab5325]

I bowled in my first tournament since I was a youth yesterday and had a blast.

It was a doubles tournament, 5 games (best of 4 for team) on the Kegel Route 66 oil pattern. I think the highest game of the tournament ended up being in the 260s.

It was an incredibly tough pattern, having never bowled on such shots before. I'm a lefty, and was standing roughly in the center, targeting between the 2nd/3rd arrows on the left, and it was barely getting back. Miss outside a couple of boards, and I'd be lucky to get a solid hit on the 2-pin. There were a few crankers able to throw a more steep angle, but even they had trouble when they missed.

I went 216, 139 (ouch), 200, 215, 170 (ouch). I had a 6-bagger at one point, and to only get in the low 200s means I need to learn how to make spares. I'm dreadful at the 7-pin and things on the left side, so I really need to hunker down and work--there's no reason, when you throw 6 in a row, that you're not in the 220s/230s. The 139 was just a rough game--don't know what happened. But, in the 170 game, I had a pocket 7-10, and then a 6-7. So, all in all for that game, I can't get too upset. The air blower on our pair was also broken for the game.

But, the best thing of the day was converting a 3-7-9 split! I've never done that before, and it's one of the tougher shots in bowling.

Had a great time and can't wait until the next one.

[J Anderson]

I bowled in my first tournament since I was a youth yesterday and had a blast.

I'm dreadful at the 7-pin and things on the left side, so I really need to hunker down and work--there's no reason, when you throw 6 in a row, that you're not in the 220s/230s.

Yes there is a reason, and you just explained it quite nicely.

Whether it's bias on my part, or just the fact that lefties are such a minority, it seems like lefties have more of a problem with the 7 and the 4-7 than right-handers do with the 10 and 6-10.

[jab5325]

Yes there is a reason, and you just explained it quite nicely.

Whether it's bias on my part, or just the fact that lefties are such a minority, it seems like lefties have more of a problem with the 7 and the 4-7 than right-handers do with the 10 and 6-10.

Agreed with much of what you say. There aren't many lefties around, and a lot I've seen have trouble with corner pins.....although not as much as me. When I get this fixed, I feel like I could average 200+ very easily.

There's a guy in my league that I've befriended who is a lefty--he's in his mid 50s, and has several senior local/regional titles. His average is north of 215, and he's an absolute machine. He's definitely a stroker, Earl Anthony-type: Straight down the second arrow and let it walk to the pocket. He's the best spare shooter I've ever seen--and uses just one ball. The guy simply does not miss 7s, 8s, etc. I'll have to "stalk" him when we bowl his team, which is within the next 2-3 weeks.

As a side note, the above mentioned guy also bowled in yesterday's tournament, and our teams got paired on the same group of lanes. I beat him! Granted, he didn't throw anything as low as 139, but he struggled on the longer oil pattern and had a lot of splits/odd spares. But still.....he was automatic with 7s and 8s.

[Amyers]

Yes there is a reason, and you just explained it quite nicely.

Whether it's bias on my part, or just the fact that lefties are such a minority, it seems like lefties have more of a problem with the 7 and the 4-7 than right-handers do with the 10 and 6-10.

I think it's because lefties don't have to move their feet as often so they get less comfortable when a shot requires them to adjust their foot positioning.