Sometimes open frames don't ruin a game, what you think about them will....

[Hammer]

None of us like open frames but the way you think or feel about them when they happen will ruin your game if you go into a negative mode of thinking. Tonight I started the second league game with a strike. Second frame an open. Oops! Don't matter. Frames 3, 4, 5 strikes. Frame 6 opened. Big deal. Frames 7, 8, 9 strikes. Alright! Frame 10 strike, strike and spare. Bowled a 232 because the opens didn't put me in a bad mental state. Sure, I could have gotten ticked off but I didn't because I thought instead that opens will happen but don't let them ruin a whole game. Just do the best you can in each frame and sometimes it works out like it did for me.

My first game was a 203. My third game was a 149. Ouch! The excuse I am using is I am 68 years old with a bone on bone left hip and osteoarthritis in both knees and right hip that isn't bad like the left one. Plus I could tell that my stamina in the third game was getting weak. What I just told you is true but the real reason is my line wore out and I didn't make the right adjustment to get strikes and easy spares. Plus for the third game I should have taken out my one piece of thumb tape because my thumb started to hang up. I took it out in the 8th frame and started with a strike with spares in the 9th and 10th frame. Sometimes I find myself being stubborn to make a change I know I should make. As you can see I paid the price. Sixteen pins short of a 600 series.

I don't let it get me down though because I have had quite a few series 600+ since I have been bowling. That's bowling baby. Don't let opens ruin your whole night. Sometimes you can still bowl a good score even with those nasty buggers in there.

[J Anderson]

None of us like open frames but the way you think or feel about them when they happen will ruin your game if you go into a negative mode of thinking. Tonight I started the second league game with a strike. Second frame an open. Oops! Don't matter. Frames 3, 4, 5 strikes. Frame 6 opened. Big deal. Frames 7, 8, 9 strikes. Alright! Frame 10 strike, strike and spare. Bowled a 232 because the opens didn't put me in a bad mental state. Sure, I could have gotten ticked off but I didn't because I thought instead that opens will happen but don't let them ruin a whole game. Just do the best you can in each frame and sometimes it works out like it did for me.

My first game was a 203. My third game was a 149. Ouch! The excuse I am using is I am 68 years old with a bone on bone left hip and osteoarthritis in both knees and right hip that isn't bad like the left one. Plus I could tell that my stamina in the third game was getting weak. What I just told you is true but the real reason is my line wore out and I didn't make the right adjustment to get strikes and easy spares. Plus for the third game I should have taken out my one piece of thumb tape because my thumb started to hang up. I took it out in the 8th frame and started with a strike with spares in the 9th and 10th frame. Sometimes I find myself being stubborn to make a change I know I should make. As you can see I paid the price. Sixteen pins short of a 600 series.

I don't let it get me down though because I have had quite a few series 600+ since I have been bowling. That's bowling baby. Don't let opens ruin your whole night. Sometimes you can still bowl a good score even with those nasty buggers in there.

Stubbornness is a survival trait. It helps us grind through the rough spots in life. There are just some times when you have to put your favorite tool back in the box and use something else.

[Hammer]

I was thinking what I should have done in the third game was put my Raw Hammer Anger ball in the bag and went with my Blue Hammer ball. I was using it in our practice time and it was working pretty good on the conditions of both our lanes also. I stayed with the Anger ball because it was getting strikes easily in the first two games. So I could have done two things in the third game. I should have tried taking the thumb tape out when my thumb started to hang up or made a ball change and went with the Blue Hammer that was working good in practice with good arcing movement to the pocket. Sometimes the brain fights change. DARN BRAIN!

[HowDoIHookAgain]

I'm not the kind of bowler to string together a ton of strikes. I normally can only get to string together 2-4 and then I either open, make spares, or get single strikes. Any open frame is bad for me since I can't string together my strikes, but it's normally when I get 3 or more that my game is low.

[Aslan]

I'm not the kind of bowler to string together a ton of strikes. I normally can only get to string together 2-4 and then I either open, make spares, or get single strikes. Any open frame is bad for me since I can't string together my strikes, but it's normally when I get 3 or more that my game is low.

I'm in the same boat. I've seen high rev thumbless guys average in the 220s over 3 games even though they missed nearly every spare attempt. But if you have a strike rate closer to 30% or 20%...you can't afford even 1-2 open frames per game or you'll be bowling in the 140-170 range if not worse.

[got_a_300]

None of us like open frames but the way you think or feel about them when they happen will ruin your game if you go into a negative mode of thinking.

I couldn't agree more with that statement you can not let an open frame
or two get into your head in the first game or second game or your league
night or tournament is pretty much over.

[Aslan]

I was bummed out last night after a couple open frames...pretty much figured it was a disaster...then the game ended and I looked at the score and it was a 171...about 7 pins over my average in that house. Thats how bad open frames affect me...I was ready to throw in the towel thinking I was gonna bowl in the 120s/130s and it turns out it wasn't near that bad.

[Hammer]

Sometimes on league night you have to be a grinder to bowl a decent game. You just have to fight the best you can with each frame on some nights. There are nights that any of us can have where your ball and lane conditions and your technique all match up well and you feel that night like you have your own personal groove in both alleys and you can bowl with your eyes closed and get a strike. So you either match up for conditions that night or you don't. The ones you don't match up you just have to go frame by frame and throw the best shot you can.

[SRB57]

I don't let missed spares bother me any more. I have had some real good games with a couple open frames. You have to stay positive and don't get down on yourself. Steve

[RobLV1]

Sometimes on league night you have to be a grinder to bowl a decent game. You just have to fight the best you can with each frame on some nights. There are nights that any of us can have where your ball and lane conditions and your technique all match up well and you feel that night like you have your own personal groove in both alleys and you can bowl with your eyes closed and get a strike. So you either match up for conditions that night or you don't. The ones you don't match up you just have to go frame by frame and throw the best shot you can.

Some bowlers say that spares are over-rated. I think they are under-rated. A few weeks ago, in a league that allows open bowling for four hours before league starts, I got to bowl on a pair where twelve games had been bowled on the left lane, and none on the right. The right lane was like shooting fish in a barrel. I threw a grand total of two strikes on the left lane, but was able to salvage a decent set because I could pick up my spares and, more importantly, made sure that I left myself makeable spares. Personally, open frames really make me mad at myself, usually not because I missed the spares, but because I left myself a leave that was very difficult or, worse yet, unmakeable.

[Mark O]

Some bowlers say that spares are over-rated. I think they are under-rated. A few weeks ago, in a league that allows open bowling for four hours before league starts, I got to bowl on a pair where twelve games had been bowled on the left lane, and none on the right. The right lane was like shooting fish in a barrel. I threw a grand total of two strikes on the left lane, but was able to salvage a decent set because I could pick up my spares and, more importantly, made sure that I left myself makeable spares. Personally, open frames really make me mad at myself, usually not because I missed the spares, but because I left myself a leave that was very difficult or, worse yet, unmakeable.

Completely agree! Pairs play differently all the time and some nights it's very hard to string strikes together so your spare game needs to be on point. If you can't double and also can't make spares you're gonna be in for a very long night. I hear it all the time though, "These conditions were terrible tonight, I couldn't strike at all" as they proceed to bowl 60 pins under average and don't even acknowledge the fact that they missed enough makeable spares to reach their average and then some.

It even applies to nights when you are striking a lot as well. Yes you can still have a good game with an open frame or two and it's important to be able to bounce back after throwing them because they are going to happen. With the high scoring conditions they are definitely considered overrated by a lot of bowlers but X 9- X is a loss of 12 pins and those misses can add up quick if you're just throwing spares away and could very well be the difference between winning and losing!

[Aslan]

Some bowlers say that spares are over-rated. I think they are under-rated.
Agreed.


Personally, open frames really make me mad at myself, usually not because I missed the spares, but because I left myself a leave that was very difficult or, worse yet, unmakeable.
50% agree. You can't always control carry...or messengers...or lane conditions. But you CAN almost always control whether you pick up a 1-2 or a 5-9 or a 2-5 or a 4-7 or a 6-10 or a single-pin. But I don't blame myself for leaving a split or a washout. The difference between leaving a 1-2 and a 1-2-10 are relatively nothing more than a good break versus a bad break. And if I'm missing the pocket...there could be a lot of condition related reasons or just inexperience/inconsistency with my release. I won't beat myself up about that at this stage of development. Maybe down the road when I'm at Rob's level.

The problem with trying to leave make-able spares is it messes with your strike rate. Lots of "un-makeable" spares are splits. Splits are "usually" (not always) caused by the ball going through the nose...reacting too aggressively or thrown at too slow a speed, whatever. But if you miss a little right...you probably strike. Missing right...you won't usually have as bad a spare to pick up. Hey...I'm a TON better at picking up the 2-4-8 (even though I hate it above all leaves) than I am the 4-6 split. Big hooks leave splits. Big hooks leave washouts. But big hooks also strike and carry. You can play straighter...stay a little right...and probably average 190-200 if you're a good spare shooter. But a < 40% strike rate makes for a LONG night of bowling...so pick your poison.


I hear it all the time though, "These conditions were terrible tonight, I couldn't strike at all" as they proceed to bowl 60 pins under average and don't even acknowledge the fact that they missed enough makeable spares to reach their average and then some.
Totally agree. And unfortunately, sport bowling is pushing for things like the new world scoring system where spares become virtually irrelevant. They are essentially going towards making sport bowling "no-tap". You leave a 10-pin and the opponent leaves a 6-10...don't worry about picking them up...the 9-count gets the point. and with the equipment getting so strong and rev rates dominating high level play...even plastic balls start to hook way too much...so guys just go out there and hope for strikes.

I have a teammate....great form...a lefty...but he misses that dang 7-pin even more often than I miss the 10-pin. He's got 15-35 pins on me in average and years more of experience...but he will NOT get a plastic ball to shoot that 7-pin.

[vdubtx]

Personally, open frames really make me mad at myself, usually not because I missed the spares, but because I left myself a leave that was very difficult or, worse yet, unmakeable.

This is exactly me when I leave a difficult spare(washout) or a split. I always tell myself when I get back to the table...."Shouldn't have left it in the first place". My team mates know exactly what is coming out of my mount as soon as I sit down. LOL.