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okfoz
11-22-2016, 11:54 AM
Last night on my league I bowled a 267, 279 and 257 for an official 803, I could hardly sleep last night. All in all I had 29 strikes 4 spares and holy cow, I missed a darn 10 pin spare in my first game, the pin wiggled as the ball went by... The other spares I picked up were 2 10 pins and 2 9 pins.

A little about me... Long story short, I bowled as a youth bowler up until 1991. Back then, my average was 186 with my AMF Cobra, Nonetheless, After high school, I pretty much stopped bowling but for once or twice a year, Every time I would go bowling I would get at least one 200 game and I always felt I had a knack for the sport. In the fall of 2014 my son and me got into a Adult Youth 8 week bowling league, I think I ended up with a 170 average or something for that league. I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed bowling, so in January of 2015 I ended up picking up a spot on a team half way through the 2014/2015 season and I ended up with a 187 average, Then last season 2015/2016 ended up with a 197 average.

I practice A LOT, I am not just a casual bowler that just does the league thing every week. I bowl at least 2 or 3 times each week outside of league, and I usually bowl 3 to 7 games each time. Since January 1 of 2015, I have bowled a total of 1,148 Total games (Practice and League), and knocked down a total of 244,810 pins.

I have never had a 300, unless you count an Andy Veripapa 300 in practice, I have had several 289 games, a 288 game and a handful of games in the 270's all in practice. I did have an official 289 game September 21, 2016, which was my personal best, and I had a (259, 259, 183) 701 series on September 12, 2016 my first week of league.

Sorry, I am quite excited to have done so well, I feel like practice has really paid off.

Amyers
11-22-2016, 12:26 PM
Congrats that's some nice bowling

LOUVIT
11-22-2016, 01:39 PM
wow wish I could post that....lol CONGRATS...now you know you can do it..

I'm waiting for a 600 series after my 25 year layoff.....lol

fortheloveofbowling
11-22-2016, 05:27 PM
Nice bowling and congrats.

okfoz
11-23-2016, 10:15 AM
wow wish I could post that....lol CONGRATS...now you know you can do it..

I'm waiting for a 600 series after my 25 year layoff.....lol

All I have to say is lots and lots of practice. Get yourself a GOOD coach. Don't rely on the USBC Bronze/Silver/Gold Coach levels to expect to be a great coach, it just means they paid money and got certified.

I paid $60 for 2 lessons ($30 Each) with a non certified coach and literally I went from averaging 198 in practice, to 212 in practice, this is over 50 practice sessions... And my League Average was 189 in January, The Last Half of the season I averaged 208. So a good coach can make a world of difference. Personally I would avoid coaches that teach you one way to bowl, rather look for someone that will take the skills you have and how you bowl and work with that and make what you do better. Unless of course you have some crazy style where you bowl it through your legs.

The first lesson he gave me 4 tips (I have a 4 step RH approach)
1) Pushoff & Step at the same time
2) Keep tempo, and control my agression
3) At the slide, Place Right toe on the ground (for balance)
4) No Chicken winging

The Second Lesson
1) WALK to the line, do not Run
2) Tempo Tempo Tempo, do not rush it.

Believe it or not my first official 700 (259, 259, 183) was also this year, was when I was really relaxed, I was just rolling the ball super nice, and same thing for my 800, just relaxed and rolling the ball nice, toward the end the lanes were drying up (to my advantage) and I actually went from tight conditions to being more open. For my 700 series I was watching the transition, and I was moving little by little, but I did not move enough, and the third frame of the 2nd game, I did not move enough, and then it took me a few frames to find my spot. One thing the house has done since my 700 is they added some oil to the pattern, same pattern, but they added a mil or two to the oil and it holds out longer. Where in the beginning of the year, I would have to move my feet 5 boards left by the end of the night, now I am only having to move 2.5 boards or so.

Now to get my 300 and my 900 ;)