Teammates are great but I'm letting them down

[boatman37]

Man. Had league tonight but it was my turn to sit out (2 man team with 3 bowlers). I ended the fall league at 173. Still sucks but after a 15 year layoff I guess I can't expect much. So far in this summer league I'm averaging 154. Up until this week I have been using my 173 average so really hurting us. Went down tonight to watch. My teammates (father and son) are at 201 and 199. Tonight they averaged 223 and 218 and won all 4 games (10 points). My best game in the 12 I have bowled has been a 180. There are 40 teams in our league and we were about 35th or so before tonight and there were only 2 in our league (out of about 100) with a lower average than me. Really hurting them but I'll keep my head up and figure it out. The good thing is next week we go off my 154 average instead of the 173.

[Florida Bowler]

Sandbagger! Just kidding. I hope you figure it out and get back up to where you want to be.

[boatman37]

Sandbagger! Just kidding. I hope you figure it out and get back up to where you want to be.

I'm sure I will. Just have to start having fun and not overthink it

[TCJ]

Someone has to let the team down. This past year I pretty much lost our 16 point first place lead all by myself by bowling 25 pins under average per game for about ten straight weeks. Fortunately we still won by about three points, but it did come down to the last week. Fortunately for my team I had to work that day and they just got my average minus ten pins which was a bonus compared to the way I was bowling. They still asked me to come back next year.

[santos314]

There you go, if it isn't fun then it doesn't matter!!!

[Phonetek]

First off, it's a summer league man I wouldn't sweat it. Summer leagues are organized practice to get you geared up before fall and really nothing more. Take the time to work on your game not your score. You have your whole team to help you out so you can improve before fall. Don't worry if you bowl like crap as long as you did it while working on something. By the second half of the summer league you should notice your scores going up. I say that provided you are still practicing not on league too. You aren't going to change much if you're merely bowling 3 games a week.

[HowDoIHookAgain]

That's why its a team. If one person screws up, you got others guys to pick that guy up and help them. Going through a rough patch, we've all been there done that. I started my senior year off with a 175 the first month, brought it up to 193 at the end, and got to states. Trust me man you'll figure it out. Until then, keep plugging away, and buy your mates a couple beers if you really feel bad about it ;)

[boatman37]

First off, it's a summer league man I wouldn't sweat it. Summer leagues are organized practice to get you geared up before fall and really nothing more. Take the time to work on your game not your score. You have your whole team to help you out so you can improve before fall. Don't worry if you bowl like crap as long as you did it while working on something. By the second half of the summer league you should notice your scores going up. I say that provided you are still practicing not on league too. You aren't going to change much if you're merely bowling 3 games a week.

Other teammates? It's a 2 man team...lol. We have 3 on our team but only 2 bowl each week so we rotate. And it is a cutthroat league. We have 40 teams (40 lanes so we fill the place). There is also a waiting list every year. The first week we bowled against a team that was from about 30 miles away and had never been there. I asked why they came that far when there are quality centers closer and they said they heard our summer league had the best around. My teammates won it a couple years ago ($1500 for 1st then).

I think my biggest issue is the pace with the 2 man teams. I'm out of shape and out of breath and sweating after about 3 or 4 frames (and we bowl 4 games). Alot of that is because I need to slow down. I think mentally I get in this fast pace and think I have to move that fast too. But I will figure it out.

[mc_runner]

Are you in my summer league? ha! Different centers/states of course, but the number of teams, style of league, bowlers coming from around, even the payouts are an exact match.

Not all summer leagues are casual. hang in there though, with the handicap reset you'll be good to go.

[boatman37]

Are you in my summer league? ha! Different centers/states of course, but the number of teams, style of league, bowlers coming from around, even the payouts are an exact match.

Not all summer leagues are casual. hang in there though, with the handicap reset you'll be good to go.

That's my hope. Last week was my turn to sit but I went down to cheer my teammates on. They killed it last week and we got all 10 points. Tomorrow and next week are my turns again and will be the first using my 154 average so hopefully I can figure this out and bowl my normal (since my return anyway) 170s. If that happens then we have a good shot at getting 10 points again.

[boatman37]

Well did a little better but think I might have hit on something at the end of the night. When I bowled before I threw at the first arrow 99% of the time. When I came back in January I tried that and kept pulling my shots. I found that if I moved in to the 2nd arrow I was less likely to pull my shots. I think I was sub-consciously pulling my shots because of how close I was to the gutter and a lack of confidence. I noticed in the fall league my ball wouldn't show a drop of oil but in this summer league I have a noticeable oil streak. If I hit the pocket I would be lucky to get a strike. Seemed like the only time I could get a strike was brooklyn. I tried moving in to the 3rd arrow and occasionally that would help but tried it tonight and couldn't hit my mark. In the 4th game tonight 5th frame I tried the first arrow again to try to get away from the oil and threw 4 pocket strikes in a row. The 9th frame was a pocket hit but left the 7-10....ugh. Got the 10 and it actually bounced out of the pit and back on the lane and rolled around the middle but didn't hit the 7. The 10th frame I yanked the shot and got the 6, 9, and 10 then left the 7 on the next ball.
So seems like I need to start trying that 1st arrow again. I was averaging in the 190's with that line 15 years ago. Funny thing is when I made that move tonight my speed slowed a little and it wasn't as hard on my knee.

So finished the fall league with a 173 but only averaging 154 in this summer league. Tonight my average was 176. My high game in this league was only 180.

Game 1: 161
Game 2: 180
Game 3: 173 (3 splits but covered the 2-7 twice)
Game 4: 190 (opened in the 9th and 10th (7-10 in the 9th))

And we won all 4 games! Hopefully I can get some consistency back and start throwing more strikes. We will see how next week goes.

[vdubtx]

I know the feeling you have boatman. I started a sport shot league this week and I absolutely sucked. Making wrong ball changes and adjustments the whole night. The league is a draft league, so going into it, you have no idea who you will bowl with. Needless to say I absolutely embarrassed myself and was the proverbial "boat anchor" for our team on the first week.

[Florida Bowler]

Glad to see the improvement. Keep at it and you'll be back to your 190s in no time.

[boatman37]

Just checked the results. I am now 4th from the bottom average wise so moved ahead of one other person...lol. I went from 154 to 160 after last night. Our team went from 24th to 14th in the standings (out of 40).

[Albundy]

I've seen leagues like this. Don't get it. I'd rather stay home if I don't get to bowl

[boatman37]

Much better night. Went back to my 'normal' line at the first arrow at the end of last week. My high game in this league was 180 until game 4 last week when I had a 190. Tonight had a 189, 177, 213, and 205. My first ball average had been around 8.5. Tonight it was 9.23. Strikes were 25/44 (56%). I had only been throwing about 13 or so strikes a night in this league. Definite improvement and feel much more comfortable. If I would have picked up those few easy spares I missed it would have been much better.

Really weird thing happened. Threw a ball and left the 6 and 8 but another pin bounced and landed on its head the flipped and stood upright right beside the 6 (where the 10 was but almost touching the 6). Not sure which pin it was. I couldn't believe it and turned around and one of the guys on the other team saw it too. He said he had never saw it before either.

[boatman37]

Struggled tonight but still beat my average. Rolled 185, 161, 189, and 148. Struggled with spares but was 3/3 on my 7 pins. We won all 4 games so thats what matters. My average coming in was 167. Averaged 170 tonight. We were in 15th (40 teams) before tonight and got all 10 points so should move up at least a few spots. Tonight was position round for the first 1/2.

EDIT: Looks like they updated the sheet already. We moved from 15th to 7th after tonight. We are only 3 games out of first. We are 49-31 and first place is 52-28. Can't help but think how bad those first few weeks were when my average was 173 and I was bowling 150's before our averages reset. We went 2-8 each of those first 2 weeks. If I would have just bowled my average we would probably be in first right now. Oh well. Still time and we aren't far back.

[mc_runner]

If you had bowled your average the first 3 weeks, you may not have won all 10 points last night, because you'd have been under average :cool: It's probably going to be working out in your benefit for the rest of the season... keep getting those points!

[boatman37]

If you had bowled your average the first 3 weeks, you may not have won all 10 points last night, because you'd have been under average :cool: It's probably going to be working out in your benefit for the rest of the season... keep getting those points!

True...lol. About 3 weeks ago we were in about 35th out of 40 so we have come a long way. Our last 4 weeks were 10-0, 10-0, 5-5, and 10-0. We have a real good chance at winning it all but I need to work on my spares. Before I left 15 years ago I rarely missed spares. My teammates won this league 2 years ago with a different 3rd member. My teammate last night rolled 214, 244, 171 and 238. For some reason his 3rd game is always his worst. His average is 210. Luckily I had my high game in game 3 but in all games our opponents struggled. We won game 1 by 77, game 2 by 20, game 3 by 64, and game 4 by 51. The other teammate is averaging 198. Next week I am sitting out so it's on them...lol. Pretty impressive with such a strong league. 55 out of 110 are averaging over 200 so that's 1/2 the league. And with 80% handicap that makes it even harder. We take both teams averages then 80% of the difference. Our winter league is 90% based off 230. With my average we are one of the lower average teams in the league so we are usually getting pins. There are only 5 others lower than me...lol.

[taxexpert2]

You are right that using the old average probably hurt - if it is a handicapped league. Hard to say how many ppl thing the higher the average the better it is for the team but sometimes someone with a bit of a handicap is not a handicap to the team. Keep trying and it will come back to you. Of course equipment has changed a lot in 15 years too so that might be playing a bit of a part in recapturing the "old" magic.

[Hammer]

Man. Had league tonight but it was my turn to sit out (2 man team with 3 bowlers). I ended the fall league at 173. Still sucks but after a 15 year layoff I guess I can't expect much. So far in this summer league I'm averaging 154. Up until this week I have been using my 173 average so really hurting us. Went down tonight to watch. My teammates (father and son) are at 201 and 199. Tonight they averaged 223 and 218 and won all 4 games (10 points). My best game in the 12 I have bowled has been a 180. There are 40 teams in our league and we were about 35th or so before tonight and there were only 2 in our league (out of about 100) with a lower average than me. Really hurting them but I'll keep my head up and figure it out. The good thing is next week we go off my 154 average instead of the 173.

Just always remember that there is no I in the word team. I have had times where I couldn't match up to the lanes and sucked that night. I never put that on my shoulders because there are four of us on our team. Sometimes I suck and sometimes one of them suck on a league night. Sometimes someone will pick me up on a bad night and sometimes I pick up my teammates on a bad night. Stuff just happens to all of us. I have always been the anchor man on our team. I have done some clutch bowling in the last few frames to pull out a win for us when my teammates were struggling. I never get nervous in the last frame. I just try to do the best I can on every shot and accept whatever I get good or bad. Don't put the burden on yourself ever. We all have a disappointing night at times, you just accept it and keep going.

[boatman37]

Well tonight started out pretty good. Started with a 201 (current average is 167). Second game dropped to 176. Third and fourth got worse (159 and 148). Last game I had 0 spares (6 opens). Really struggled with my spares all night. We went 5-5 tonight so not bad considering how I bowled.

A couple weeks ago a kid shot a 300 then did it again tonight. Another kid bowling next to us tonight shot a 300 also. The first kid said this is his 4th 300. He started bowling 6 years ago and his average is 230. He started out as a 1 handed bowler and had a 195 average his first year then hurt his shoulder so switched to 2 hand. He told us last week that he bowled some sort of Pro-Am and won the amateur side and Pete Weber won the pro side then Shayne beat Pete.
The other kid that shot a 300 tonight was a fill in and this was his first time in this league.

[Phonetek]

Well tonight started out pretty good. Started with a 201 (current average is 167). Second game dropped to 176. Third and fourth got worse (159 and 148). Last game I had 0 spares (6 opens). Really struggled with my spares all night. We went 5-5 tonight so not bad considering how I bowled.

A couple weeks ago a kid shot a 300 then did it again tonight. Another kid bowling next to us tonight shot a 300 also. The first kid said this is his 4th 300. He started bowling 6 years ago and his average is 230. He started out as a 1 handed bowler and had a 195 average his first year then hurt his shoulder so switched to 2 hand. He told us last week that he bowled some sort of Pro-Am and won the amateur side and Pete Weber won the pro side then Shayne beat Pete.
The other kid that shot a 300 tonight was a fill in and this was his first time in this league.

There seems to be quite a large number of 300's in your house. That either speaks for the caliber of bowlers you have there or the shot they are laying down. Where I work there hasn't been one in over a decade which I find amusing. That completely is a result in the skills of our clientele that comes to our center not because the lanes are that hard. They literally have us announce over the PA when someone gets a turkey in our leagues. I guess that is an accomplishment after you've chugged down 8 beers. I wish we had the caliber of bowlers that could shoot a 300 or 800+. I haven't even seen anyone shoot 600+ yet!

[boatman37]

There seems to be quite a large number of 300's in your house. That either speaks for the caliber of bowlers you have there or the shot they are laying down. Where I work there hasn't been one in over a decade which I find amusing. That completely is a result in the skills of our clientele that comes to our center not because the lanes are that hard. They literally have us announce over the PA when someone gets a turkey in our leagues. I guess that is an accomplishment after you've chugged down 8 beers. I wish we had the caliber of bowlers that could shoot a 300 or 800+. I haven't even seen anyone shoot 600+ yet!

wow. yeah, in all my years of bowling i had only seen 1 300. since january i have now seen 5 or so. also, when i left 25 years ago i had a 193 average and was in the top 5 in our league. in our winter league we had about 8 over 220 and about 35 or so over 200. my teammate who i bowled with since the 80's was about 190 when i left 15 years ago. now he is about 200 so gained about 10 pins. i attributed it to threr balls since he said his average started going up after he got his new ball. he had used the same ball for about 20 years and has had this one about 4 years. he has never cleaned it or even wiped it off...lol

[boatman37]

Definite improvement tonight. Got a new Brunswick Kingpin tonight. Ball worked good. Still missing easy spares but had a 195.75 average tonight with 5 splits. The new ball has a smoother arc right to the pocket. My BWG is more skid/flip. Looking forward to the rest of this season with this ball. Really like it. Alot like my old Brunswick Cobalt Rhino I used in the 90's.

New league average 171.65

[Phonetek]

Definite improvement tonight. Got a new Brunswick Kingpin tonight. Ball worked good. Still missing easy spares but had a 195.75 average tonight with 5 splits. The new ball has a smoother arc right to the pocket. My BWG is more skid/flip. Looking forward to the rest of this season with this ball. Really like it. Alot like my old Brunswick Cobalt Rhino I used in the 90's.

New league average 171.65

Cool the new ball is working. I have to say I haven't seen too many people list their average with the numbers including the right of a decimal before. LOL Just kidding man. A 20ish pin increase is nice to see. Pick up those easy spares and 195 could be your normal average.

[GrumpyCatFace]

I had the honor to watch a guy bowl 2 consecutive 300 games a few months ago. 25 straight strikes!

[Eddy]

There seems to be quite a large number of 300's in your house. That either speaks for the caliber of bowlers you have there or the shot they are laying down. Where I work there hasn't been one in over a decade which I find amusing. That completely is a result in the skills of our clientele that comes to our center not because the lanes are that hard. They literally have us announce over the PA when someone gets a turkey in our leagues. I guess that is an accomplishment after you've chugged down 8 beers. I wish we had the caliber of bowlers that could shoot a 300 or 800+. I haven't even seen anyone shoot 600+ yet!

WOW!!!

I guess some of us are spoiled... High 700's and low 800 are not uncommon at AMF Woodstock Georgia. But I wouldn't call it an easy shot. This area of georgia has some really good bowlers.

[boatman37]

I'm not experienced enough in the oiling patterns to know what is an easy shot or not. As far as I know I have only ever bowled on normal house shots but never got into that. I just found my line and bowled...lol.

I will say that the other night we had several high games (290, 269, my 233, and a bunch of others) but one of our highest average bowlers (PSO) only averaged about 190's so. Not sure what that means.

[Phonetek]

WOW!!!

I guess some of us are spoiled... High 700's and low 800 are not uncommon at AMF Woodstock Georgia. But I wouldn't call it an easy shot. This area of georgia has some really good bowlers.

Apparently LOL Like I said, there is no good reason why we shouldn't have a one or more 300's a month where I work. In my opinion the shot couldn't get any easier, it's a complete ditch in comparison to anywhere I've ever bowled. It's a stroker / tweener house. If you can hit the 7 board + or - 5 boards either way you are NOT missing the headpin. Why it's been 10 years I cannot figure out.

Like I've said many times, over 95% of the league bowlers don't own their own ball. Very few of them are reactive balls. One regular still throws a hard rubber ball which the ball return hates, it always get stuck by the pulley's by the approach. Fewer have their own shoes. Of the ones who have their own stuff either throw a helicopter or are thumbless. Everyone else just throws it straight and hard. That's just the clientele we have.

[GrumpyCatFace]

Apparently LOL Like I said, there is no good reason why we shouldn't have a one or more 300's a month where I work. In my opinion the shot couldn't get any easier, it's a complete ditch in comparison to anywhere I've ever bowled. It's a stroker / tweener house. If you can hit the 7 board + or - 5 boards either way you are NOT missing the headpin. Why it's been 10 years I cannot figure out.

Like I've said many times, over 95% of the league bowlers don't own their own ball. Very few of them are reactive balls. One regular still throws a hard rubber ball which the ball return hates, it always get stuck by the pulley's by the approach. Fewer have their own shoes. Of the ones who have their own stuff either throw a helicopter or are thumbless. Everyone else just throws it straight and hard. That's just the clientele we have.

Wow.. sounds like some easy league winnings...

[boatman37]

Well not happy that my teammate struggled but tonight I was carrying the weight for a change. Bought a new Brunswick Kingpin last week and averaging 194.50 with it since then (8 games). Teammate got a new DV8 Rumor tonight and struggled with it. It is way stronger than his old ball and it seemed if he hit a little high he got a split, a little low and he left the 10. We only got 3/10 points tonight. I got 200, 188, 218, and 171. My 4th game has consistently been my worst. Not sure if I'm getting tired or what. Tonight the 4th game the first 5 or 6 frames I kept pulling the ball and hitting high. Finally started hitting my mark the 2nd half of that game. According to my app if I converted all of my single pin spares I would be at 204.**. Really need to get better at my spares but definitely going in the right direction.

[boatman37]

Well the young kid in our league that beat Pete Weber in the Pro-Am thing bowled another 300 tonight. That's the 3rd one in about 2 months. His average is 229 now. We had another guy bowl a 300 last week too. Just saw another guy rolled a 300 tonight too. His average is 226. I think this is his 2nd in this league this year. So we have had 4 people roll 300's in our summer league and the one has had 3 of them in this league.

I had a 188.5 average tonight and my overall average is up to 175.60 now. This is the highest it has been since I came back so that's a good sign. There are now 12 under me on the average chart so I'm moving up...lol. Finally had a decent night picking up spares. We have next week then the following week is the position round. The new Kingpin is working great!

[boatman37]

Well definitely improving. The last 4 weeks with my new ball I have rolled a 779, 777, 754, and 772 (4 game series). My average since getting this ball is 192.63. My average before this ball was 168. My current average is now 177.18 so it has came up 9 pins since I got this ball but has been about 24 higher with this ball. I am now keeping pace with my teammates pretty good. Tonight my teammate had a 799 to my 772 and his average was 195 before tonight so been hanging with them pretty good. But with my handicap being higher it is really helping us out. Next week is the position round but it's my turn to sit out. The following week is the championship so should be me and my teammate with a 208 average. Looking forward to the fall league with this ball and my gained confidence. My goal is to be over 200 in that league.

[Phonetek]

From the way it sounds you need to start a new post. I don't think you're letting your teammates down anymore. =)

[boatman37]

Tonight was my night to sit out and was the last night of the regular season. We started the night in 11th (of 40 teams) and went 7-3 tonight and finished in 10th. Tonight was double position round so the first set we bowled the 12th place team then the 2nd set we bowled the 9th place team (they reset the standings between the 2 sets). My one teammate struggled but the other one was on target. We finished the season with the following averages: 205, 197, and me at 177 (but I averaged 192.5 the last 4 weeks I bowled). Next week is the bracket tourney. The 1st 4 teams get byes so 5 bowls 20, 6 bowls 19, etc. We bowl the 15th place team. I guess we could bowl up to 8 games next week depending on how far in the bracket we get. My teammates won it 2 years ago. 1st place is $2000. 2nd is $1200, 3rd and 4th is $1000. 5th-8th is $800, 9th-12th is $600, 13th-20th is $300 and 21st-40th is $200. There are 3 on our team and we all bowled 44 games so we would split the prize $ 3 ways.

Our fall league also starts next Tuesday night so we will have both leagues going at the same time. Me and 2 of my teammates will have to pre-bowl for the first week of that league. 2 of us are bowling in the bracket on my summer team and a 3rd is on another team in the summer league. The one sitting out next week will be able to bowl in the fall league that night. So will be a busy night...lol.

[boatman37]

Pre-bowled tonight due to a conflict next Tuesday. It's the last night of our summer league and the first night of the fall league. I bought some CTD pads the other day and surface the BWG and the Brunswick Rhino with 2000. The lanes were drier than normal due to it not being a regular league night. The BWG was about 3 boards stronger than normal. I didn't touch the Kingpin but it was still about 1-1.5 boards stronger due to lane conditions. Had 2 splits in the 2nd game including in the 10th.
Had a 200, 167, and 192 (559 series). 186.33 average tonight. My average in that league ended at 173 so a good start.

[boatman37]

Well wish I could say I didn't let them down tonight but I did. It was a bracket style tourney to determine the champs. We lost in the first round. I had a 173 and 160 (177 average). My teammate had a 183 and 279 (205 average). Total pins is what mattered and we lost total by 23. Our scratch series was 795 while theirs was 834 (208.5 average). Their averages were 207 and 186.We walked away with $300 (split it 3 ways). First place was $2000

On a positive note our fall league started tonight. I pre-bowled the other night and had a200, 167, and 192. We won all 3 games plus total tonight.

[Phonetek]

You can't win them all bud, that's the way it goes sometimes.

[Eddy]

You can't win them all bud, that's the way it goes sometimes.

Very true.

[boatman37]

Well had a pretty good night overall but still struggling in game 2. Had a 214 (high game on the team that game), a 150 (low game...lol), and a 205. We won 2/3 games (4/7 points tonight) against one of the top teams in the league. We were getting about 80 pins per game. Game 2 they crushed us. Not much we could have done. They had 254, 278, 257, 217, and 191. Pretty hard to beat that.

As for our team averages I'm doing much better this year. After 2 weeks our averages are 202.5, 199.33, 189.16, 180, and mine is 188.00 so far. So I'm not far off. If I wouldn't have been so bad in game 2 tonight I'd be closer to the top. Definitely feel I'm getting it back. Starting to get better with my spares and getting more strikes than I used to.

[boatman37]

Just saw the updated standings. It's only week 2 but we are in 1st place in our division. We have 2 divisions with 8 teams in each.

As far as my game 2 lulls I think it is more a mental thing. I was really into game 1 because we were up by about 160 about the 5th frame of game 1 but were down about 30 going into the 10th. They came storming back. I was #4 in the lineup and we were close. I struck out in the 10th and our anchor threw a 9 (lefty and left the 7). He picked it up and needed a 9 count for a tie and strike to win. He got the strike. We won by 1 (1143-1142). I could feel a mental drain after that game. Going to start trying to focus more during the 2nd game.

I started with the Kingpin but shortly into game 2 I started leaving pins with good shots. Seemed like I lost some of my angle into the pocket so I switched to the Black Widow Gold that I had surfaced with the 2000 CTD pad (no polish). Had to move about 2 boards right to get the pocket (I'm a lefty). Had some good hits but part way into game 3 started seeing a change in the BWG so went back to the Kingpin for the last 4 or 5 frames.

When I left in 2002 I was at about a 193 average. I didn't get tons of strikes but was very good at covering my spares. Now it's the opposite. Getting more strikes but missing too many spares. My current average is 188.00 in this league (only 6 games in) but my average since getting the Kingpin in mid July is 189.29 so just about back to where I left off. If I can start getting more consistent with my spares I'm confident I can carry a 200+ average. My best season ever was that 193 so definitely on track here. My goal is to be over 200 by X-Mas and hopefully 210 by the end of the season. If I get my game 2 issue fixed and convert 1 extra spare per game I should be there.

[boatman37]

Really let myself down tonight. We won all 3 games so can't say I let my teammates down. They were all on. They rolled 620, 637, 643, and 672. I had a 461...lol. The approaches were very tacky at the start. I could hear lanes beside us all complaining about it. I tweaked my knee in warmups. The approaches got better but I had that mental block and was trying to protect my knee. First game I had 2 strikes and 1 spare. Really bad night for me but we are still in first at 18-3. I kept pulling the ball and when I did hit my mark it reacted different from frame to frame. I switched balls, changed lines, etc., but in the end if I can't hit my mark consistently and convert spares it doesn't matter which ball or line I use.

So had a 136, 169, and 156. My average has been around 190 the last 6 or 8 weeks. I was 0 for 4 on 7 pins tonight. Hopefully next week is better but like I said, at least we won all 3 games.

On another note, our PSO had a 300 going until the 10th frame. Not sure what he ended up with and one of the guys on our opposing team had a 280/742. One of the guys on our team had a 279/672

[fordman1]

I just had a thought about:D

[boatman37]

Just ordered new shoes with interchangeable soles after last nights fiasco. I know it wo't fix my mechanics but when I can't slide at all and have a mental block on hurting my knee worse then the new shoes can't hurt. It was very humid but cool last night so they didn't have the AC on and likely to be that way the next several weeks. Can't go that long with these conditions with a shoe that won't slide. Hopefully they are here before next Tuesday night. They come with an S6, S8, and S10

[Eddy]

Really let myself down tonight. We won all 3 games so can't say I let my teammates down. They were all on. They rolled 620, 637, 643, and 672. I had a 461...lol. The approaches were very tacky at the start. I could hear lanes beside us all complaining about it. I tweaked my knee in warmups. The approaches got better but I had that mental block and was trying to protect my knee. First game I had 2 strikes and 1 spare. Really bad night for me but we are still in first at 18-3. I kept pulling the ball and when I did hit my mark it reacted different from frame to frame. I switched balls, changed lines, etc., but in the end if I can't hit my mark consistently and convert spares it doesn't matter which ball or line I use.

So had a 136, 169, and 156. My average has been around 190 the last 6 or 8 weeks. I was 0 for 4 on 7 pins tonight. Hopefully next week is better but like I said, at least we won all 3 games.

On another note, our PSO had a 300 going until the 10th frame. Not sure what he ended up with and one of the guys on our opposing team had a 280/742. One of the guys on our team had a 279/672

Sounds like me tonight. Had a slightly better series with a 493, but still felt embarrassed. I'm the anchor on a not so good team, so I expect at least 190. Sometimes I feel like giving up bowling and taking up knitting.

I can't wait to get rid of this wrist brace that I have to wear for a while because of a bowling injury. (my stupidity) The brace gives me too much lift and I find the ball hard to control at only 13mph. Even a plastic ball can get tricky to control for me. I want a naked wrist so I can "deaden" my release and just go straight down between 1st and 2nd arrow with a little hook. Now, my ball is hooking WAY too much, and it's bugging the heck out of me. I tend to bowl on dry-ish lanes, so I think I'm going to take a chance and remove the wrist brace Friday and see what happens.

[boatman37]

Sounds like me tonight. Had a slightly better series with a 493, but still felt embarrassed. I'm the anchor on a not so good team, so I expect at least 190. Sometimes I feel like giving up bowling and taking up knitting.

I can't wait to get rid of this wrist brace that I have to wear for a while because of a bowling injury. (my stupidity) The brace gives me too much lift and I find the ball hard to control at only 13mph. Even a plastic ball can get tricky to control for me. I want a naked wrist so I can "deaden" my release and just go straight down between 1st and 2nd arrow with a little hook. Now, my ball is hooking WAY too much, and it's bugging the heck out of me. I tend to bowl on dry-ish lanes, so I think I'm going to take a chance and remove the wrist brace Friday and see what happens.

Maybe try playing inside where the oil is a little heavier? I normally throw between the 1st and 2nd arrows too but since I was struggling I moved in to the 3rd arrow for a few frames just for the heck of it. Either way it didn't help my game...lol

[Eddy]

Maybe try playing inside where the oil is a little heavier? I normally throw between the 1st and 2nd arrows too but since I was struggling I moved in to the 3rd arrow for a few frames just for the heck of it. Either way it didn't help my game...lol

Didn't help me either. Oh well. I'm going take this damn wrist brace off and see what happens. I may not have a ton of power without it, but I'll bet my life I can keep it in the pocket more often. A wrist brace has always made my release too strong, because I didn't need the help in the first place to hook the ball.

[boatman37]

Well we all struggled. I couldn't find the pocket all night but my spare game was really on (7/7 on single pin spares). I'm encouraged by my spare shooting tonight. If I had just been able to get a few more strikes it would have been a good night. Other team was on fire and got a lot of lucky breaks. My plant leg was hurting all night and got so bad by the 3rd game I could hardly put weight on it.

Oh, modified my release a little tonight. My normal release is almost completely behind the ball. Very low revs. Tonight I started coming around the ball just a little. Not much but slight. Definite difference in revs. I didn't rotate my wrist at release but more just held it that way on my downswing. I had to move about 1.5-2 boards further right after I did this. But a noticeable difference in revs.

Just looked through my stats. I have only had one night averaging 200 out of 31 nights (600 in regular 3 game series and 800 in summer league 4 game series). Pretty pitiful!

Here are our series with averages in parenthesis

US:
599 (191.58)
524 (176.08) me
649 (208.41)
550 (199.08)
529 (194.66)

THEM:
552 (175)
403 (172)
655 (203)
676 (179)
529 (194)

We were giving them 47 pins each game

[boatman37]

Well we all sucked tonight. So bad that I didn't even look to see what anyones scores were. Mine were 134, 157, 154 (445). Used the S10 sole tonight and it was much better but did fall once. Made the 2-7 once and the 6-8-10 once. We lost the first 2 games then won the 3rd and got total too. Couldn't hit the pocket all night. Couldn't cover spares. Couldn't repeat anything all night. Just very inconsistent. Tried my normal outside line. Moved inside, switched balls. Nothing worked. Hopefully next week is better. Supposed to go bowl Sunday night so hopefully get some practice in. The good thing is no aches or pains tonight.

[boatman37]

Pre-bowled today. 203, 213, and 173. Not sure what was up with the '3's'...lol. Anyway, I have been averaging about 160 the past several weeks. Today I tried a few new things. I used to throw way outside to the first arrow but haven't been able to get out there, likely psychological. Today since there was nobody to laugh at me I forced myself to get out there and the ball went straight to the pocket. I moved my feet about 2 boards left and threw about 4 or 5 boards further left than I have been. My spare shooting was horrible today. Only I think 33% spare conversion. Had a 589 (196.33 average). My app said if I had converted all my single pin spares my average would have been 223.00 today.

[Eddy]

My app said if I had converted all my single pin spares my average would have been 223.00 today.

Yep. Spares, spares, spares. I'm amazed at how many people take spares lightly.

But anyway, instead of starting a new thread, I'll just post here because I was in the same boat as you. Letting my teammates down and bowling like crap. But after a 3 week slump averaging around 167, I finally shot a 638. 225-189-224. Oh and btw, that was my first sanctioned 600 in 22 years. (only my second season back since '96.) And it felt great. Every strike was dead flush perfect. I missed 4 easy spares and had 2 splits. I don't think I've ever had every strike look perfect. I usually have some mixers and high hits that carry. What a confidence booster to get out of a slump, and raise my ave 5 pins. Woo hoo!!! It's nights like that, that keep you coming back.

[boatman37]

Yep. Spares, spares, spares. I'm amazed at how many people take spares lightly.

But anyway, instead of starting a new thread, I'll just post here because I was in the same boat as you. Letting my teammates down and bowling like crap. But after a 3 week slump averaging around 167, I finally shot a 638. 225-189-224. Oh and btw, that was my first sanctioned 600 in 22 years. (only my second season back since '96.) And it felt great. Every strike was dead flush perfect. I missed 4 easy spares and had 2 splits. I don't think I've ever had every strike look perfect. I usually have some mixers and high hits that carry. What a confidence booster to get out of a slump, and raise my ave 5 pins. Woo hoo!!! It's nights like that, that keep you coming back.

Funny you should say that. I had been averaging about 190 for about 6 weeks then the last 3 weeks I had a 461, 524, and 445. Today I got back to my old self after a 3 week slump. I left bowling around 2002 and started back again in January. I have only had 1 600 since coming back and this is my 2nd best series since returning (March 6th I had a 643).

I used to never miss spares and still have nights where I nail them but today was just awful. Missed a 2 pin, 3 pin, and a bunch of others I should have got. Oddly I made like 50% of my multi pin spares but only about 33% of my single pin spares.

[Eddy]

Funny you should say that. I had been averaging about 190 for about 6 weeks then the last 3 weeks I had a 461, 524, and 445. Today I got back to my old self after a 3 week slump. I left bowling around 2002 and started back again in January. I have only had 1 600 since coming back and this is my 2nd best series since returning (March 6th I had a 643).

I used to never miss spares and still have nights where I nail them but today was just awful. Missed a 2 pin, 3 pin, and a bunch of others I should have got. Oddly I made like 50% of my multi pin spares but only about 33% of my single pin spares.

33% of your single pin spares is a major bone of contention.........

[boatman37]

33% of your single pin spares is a major bone of contention.........

yeah really. worse than that actually. i was 4/12 on all spares but 1/8 on single pin spares so 12%...lol. The only single pin spare i made was the 4 pin. pretty bad that i miss the 2, 3, and 6 pins. those should all be gimmes.

2 pin-1 miss
3 pin-1 miss
6 pin-1 miss
7 pin-3 misses
10 pin-1 miss
4 pin-made 1 time

i was 3/4 on multiple pin spares. made the 1-2-3-4-5-7-8. made the 4-7, made the 6-10, and missed the 5-8

so looking at that those were all makeable spares that i shouldn't have missed. the hardest one was the 1-2-3-4-5-7-8 and i made that one

[boatman37]

Teammates had a pretty good night too. They won 2 out of 3 and got total pins so got 5 out of 7 points but we got bumped out of 1st place but only 1 game out

[boatman37]

Rough night. We bowled decent and was close to our average every game but the other team was on fire. We lost the first 2 but won the 3rd so got 2 out of 7 points. I struggled again with a 152, 165, and 192. I think I figured out my issues but just need to fix them now. 3 of our 5 team members had rough nights but the other 3 had pretty good nights so as a team we weren't bad.

[J Anderson]

3 of our 5 team members had rough nights but the other 3 had pretty good nights so as a team we weren't bad.

If this isn’t a typo, I sure hope your job doesn’t require much arithmetic!

[boatman37]

If this isn’t a typo, I sure hope your job doesn’t require much arithmetic!

Good catch. It was late....lol. Turns out 2 of us were under, 2 were over and one was just about right on. Sounds like Goldilocks:)

[boatman37]

Surprisingly even after only getting 2 of 7 points last night we are still in 2nd place in our division. We have 2 divisions with 8 teams each. We were in 1st until last week then was 1 game out of 1st. Apparently the 1st place team went 2-5 also because we are still only 1 game out and still have a 5 game lead over 3rd. Next week we bowl the 1st place team in the other division. Our team average is 961 and theirs is 889 so we will be giving up some pins.
Still very early to be worrying about position but I'd rather be near the top than to be near the bottom fighting at the end to make up ground.

Oh, and teammate used my 1000 CTD pad to surface his DV8 (not sure which ball). But he loved it and said it rolled like a new ball.

[boatman37]

Made bigger strides tonight...literally....lol. Tried a few things that weren't working then the 4th frame of game 1 moved back about 18" on the approach and took longer strides. Felt much better. Didn't bowl great. Spares were still a struggle. Had 7 strikes in game 3 and still only had a 172 (no spares). Teammates were on fire until game 3. Series were 611, 672, 579, 582 and me at a 543. Our whole team struggled in game 3. We were about 100 under our average that game. First game scratch was 1044, game 2 was 1075 and game 3 was 868.

Another thing I did tonight was used the Kingpin for every shot. No jumping back and forth between the 2 balls.

Anyway, felt much better with the new approach so hopefully I can get back to where I used to be.

Oh, teammate ordered a new DV8 Pitbull tonight (he has a 200 average) He has a bunch of older DV8's now. Another teammate has a Nasty Rumor (has a 201 average). Not sure what the others are using.


EDIT:
Just looked at the updated standings and we are back in 1st place by 2 pts. We have the highest scratch pin count in our division and the 5th highest overall (16 teams). We have the 2nd highest handicap pin total overall (highest is only 17 pins ahead of us (30803 to their 30820)

[boatman37]

Big setback in game 1 but much better in the last 2 games. Hit the pocket pretty consistently the last 2 games but couldn't carry strikes. Only had 9 strikes all night and really struggled with spares again the first game but figured it out. Had a 138, 185, 181 (504). Struggled with tugging the ball the first game. Switched to the BWG the 2nd game cause I left the 7, 7, and 4-7 the first 3 frames in game 2 on good pocket hits. Moved in to the 2nd arrow for 4 or 5 frames but I have no room for error when I throw 2nd arrow. If I miss outside it goes straight and inside it goes brooklyn. If I hit perfect it smashes the pins but I'm not that accurate.

First game we struggled. All 5 of us were under our average and lost by about 150 (we were giving them 105). 2nd game we bowled a little above our average but they were on fire and won by about 55. We won game 3 by about 95. They were about 20 over their average in game 1 while we were about 130 under our average. Game 2 they were about 100 over their average and we were about 30 over our average. Game 3 they were about 15 under their average and we were about 60 over ours.

My first game I really struggled with my follow through and kept pulling the ball and hitting high. I have been struggling with this on my spares too no matter which pin it is. If I could fix that I would be a different bowler.

Team averages now:
194.90
201.80
199.63
199.63
172.17 (me)

On another note I picked up 3000 and 4000 CTD pads and will try a 4000 on my Kingpin tomorrow. I hit the Black Widow Gold with the 2000 a few weeks back and it made big difference. Much stronger hook now. Made me afraid to use the 2000 on the Kingpin but now that I have the 3000 and 4000 I will try that. I know that is much smoother than OOB but the 2000 really strengthened the BWG by about 3 boards. I really don't want the Kingpin to be 3 boards stronger.

[TTREX]

Quote :
Moved in to the 2nd arrow for 4 or 5 frames but I have no room for error when I throw 2nd arrow. If I miss outside it goes straight and inside it goes brooklyn. If I hit perfect it smashes the pins but I'm not that accurate.

Sound like you and I are in the same boat boatman....lol

Out side 10 is out of bounds for me, inside brooklyn every time. I can be accurate but on our condition i can only use urethane as reactive only slide past the break point. with the urethane then i get carry down and start leaving the 10 pin. No room for error at all. It is very frustrating for me. in the 1990's on easy house shot i could average 276, on the first PBA patterns that came out I still could average 225, on tougher shots like US open I could still average in the 190's...

Now here i sit in 2018 and struggle to average 190 on a so called house shot....Very very frustrating when i know what i once was able to do, now it seems i am lost and must start all over and re-learn how to bowl.

I am glad to see you are experimenting with abralon pads, they are a must for me. If i did not adjust the surface, my ball would never hook these days the way our lanes are being oiled.

[TTREX]

Due to what I stated above, i also feel that i let my team down. I have been seriously thinking about quitting, i never ever thought i would say this!!! But when the lanes get to where i can no longer hook the ball, then I will hang it up for good!!!!!

It seems history repeats itself, as the old guys who once made money bowling had to give it up as they could not adjust to the new oil/lane machine's and bowling balls!! Now here in 2018 I find myself in there situation and i am sure when these guys read this they will be like....HECK YEAH!!!! HAHAHAAAaaaaa.....But guess what, All they accomplished was doing the same to us as what was done to them.

What i mean by the above statement is that i have read what the old timers have been fussing about over the last 30 plus years or so, i now see how they felt, and as wrong as it was for it to happen to them it is also wrong for it to happen to us.

Where is bowling headed???? If it is going back to ancient times where the ball does not hook then I will go back to drag racing!!!!!! Yes sir %100

The almighty hook ball was what made me excited about bowling!!!!! Take that away and make bowling about throwing a straight ball then i will not waste another penny investing into this sport!!

I would rather go back to drag racing where I can have fun!!!!

[mc_runner]

Quote :
in the 1990's on easy house shot i could average 276, on the first PBA patterns that came out I still could average 225, on tougher shots like US open I could still average in the 190's...


You averaged a 276 on a house shot? Must not have been a sanctioned league ;)
http://usbcongress.http.internapcdn.net/usbcongress/bowl/recordsstats/pdfs/UnofficialRecordsScoring.pdf

[TTREX]

you are correct, it was a fun league not sanctioned. The oil pattern was the old 40ft Christmas tree, and it was a blast.

And by the way I would not be afraid to take on Jeff Carter, that would be a great challenge!!! :)

Put down a shot like the days of old where it allows for skid hook and roll, no over under bs....bring it on baby!!! :)

I actually had a non-sanctioned 900 on that oil pattern, in a for fun doubles event non-sanctioned...but i admit that was only one time and i got lucky :)

[TTREX]

Those days mentioned above are long gone!!! Those centers owners have all passed away, some closed down, ..what is left is owned by an entertainment chain.

So bowling for me is about over i guess, i hate to say that, but like Jeff Retired, I also am thinking about retiring and hanging it up....

When you take the fun out of it then why continue??

A person like me does not care to resort to sandbagging or shooting 160 games, oh hell naw I will hang it up and go back to drag racing :)

[fordman1]

:confused: Are you from North Korea? Have you ever had 18 hole in ones?

[TTREX]

QUOTE: Are you from North Korea? Have you ever had 18 hole in ones?

The answer is no, but a place where i once worked had a day where we played games to win prizes. One game was Golf, where you take a putter and put the ball down and then hit the ball up the ramp and try to get it into the hole on the upper level, and yes first ball i got hole in one and won the first place prize which was a nice wrist watch :)

Do i play golf???? The answer is no, but i did play putt putt as a kid :)

Needless to say the boss's were pissed off just as if they were USBC and thought that it was a hard game...lol

And yes I wore the wrist watch proudly....lol

But if USBC were in charge of Golf they would want to put the hole on the moon and the golfer on planet earth, and when the golfer could not get the ball into the hole on the moon, then the USBC would then say....See we told you it was a hard game to play.

If USBC were in charge of Drag Racing they would want to extend the burnout box all way down track so the Drag tires would never be able to hook and roll or get traction, then when the race car driver cant get the race car to reach 200 mph then USBC would say...see we told you that you were not as good as you thought you were!!! Now that we slicked up the whole track you cannot run 200 mph so you are a bad driver!!!

Yes that is how dumb they are and how they think :)

Truth 100%

[fordman1]

I think I like you. Most on here seem to have a stick up their A$$.
"THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"
Now look up the difference between their and there.:cool:

[TTREX]

Back to the Topic of this post:

Hang in there boatman, don't feel too bad about things beyond your control. Like i said, i'm in the same boat. I'm trying to keep my head up, but it's not easy.

Even though I am not able to bowl to my ability due to the lanes not having any defined break point, and hardly any back end reaction at all, I am still not giving up just yet! What I am having to do is resort back to throwing the ball straight to the pocket from the corner of the lane using a plastic ball, or using a reactive and throwing straight down 15 board slow enough that it hits the head pin at the last 2nd. The problem is that this is not how i like to bowl and am only doing it still because i have good friends who want me to bowl with them really bad. If it were not for them I would hang it up!!

With what the USBC is trying to do, for me it makes the game likened to a game at a carnival where it is a rigged game. Rigged for profit but gives no reward, just like USBC. :)

[TTREX]

Quote: I think I like you. Most on here seem to have a stick up their A$$.
"THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"
Now look up the difference between their and there.

I think i like you as well fordman. Yes i know, i'm old and my eye's are not what they use to be, and my brain is getting slow, and my english has gone to hell....lol

[TTREX]

Their profits are over there ------------------->> $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
and our Prizes have gone down there ↓↓↓↓
.................................................. .↓↓↓↓


it works something like that ;)

[TTREX]

Back to the topic:

Yes teammates are Great!! As long as they like you....lol

[boatman37]

Saw a guy in our league rolled a 299 last night. That has to suck! I didn't start until 1/2 way through the season last year but in those few months I saw 3 or 4 300's. So far this season after 10 weeks still no 300's. But we had a few in the 290's. Somebody will get one soon but looking at the averages it seems everyone is down 5-10 pins this year, some even more. Last year we had about 7 or 8 guys over 220. As of last night we only have 3 and the highest is 223.00. Last year we had a few around the 227-229 mark.

Oddly enough, 2 of my teammates are quite a bit higher than they were last year. One was around 181 and is now at 194 and another was about 185 and is now at 199. I'm still right about where I have been since I came back last January. I finished the fall/winter league at 173 and finished the summer league at 177. Currently I'm at 172. So consistently bad....lol

[TTREX]

Boatman37 that is awesome!!!! I sadly am hanging it up for now as our lane man insist on putting down a shot that does not allow back end reaction at all, the shot favors straight bowlers. You can throw any new or older release reactive and all it will do is slide past the break point every time. No where on the lane will it hook side to side or front to back, every thing goes straight!!! I refuse to bowl on that crap!!! So for me I will hang it up until i can afford to move somewhere else. So have enough fun for me my friend...If i lived close enough I would come visit and watch you guys bowl :)

[fortheloveofbowling]

TTREX,

Did you huff gas fumes regularly when you drag raced or are you just wacked?

[TTREX]

fortheloveofbowling Quote: TTREX,
Did you huff gas fumes regularly when you drag raced or are you just wacked?

The answer is no, and no.

[TTREX]

I think I like you. Most on here seem to have a stick up their A$$.
"THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"
Now look up the difference between their and there.:cool:


Now i know exactly what you mean fordman1, they do have a stick up their A$$.

[boatman37]

Well tonight teammates let me down....lol. Not really but for a change I was top dog. Resurfaced my equipment after last week. Only had 2 opens all night (1 was a split). Ended with a 635. Had high games in 1st and 2nd games (201, 236, 198)

[boatman37]

Tough night for the team. Lost all 3. 4 of the 5 struggled and the other team was hitting good. As a team I'd bet we only had 40-50 strikes total. I had 9. Just no carry all night for us. The other team had no trouble. We were all moving and adjusting all night but no carry anywhere. I had 1 strike in game 1 even though I hit the pocket probably 75% of the time. I tried everything from the 1st arrow to the 3rd arrow and both balls. The last game I finally moved back to about where I started and finished the night with 4 in a row.

Our team:
194 average (had a 629)
200 average (had a 574)
196 average (had a 518)
197 average (had a 523)
175 average (had a 503)

I was decent with my spares tonight and was pretty much on as far as hitting my marks. Probably one of my better nights as far as hitting my marks just couldn't get carries.

[boatman37]

Rough night for me but we bowled the 1st place team (we were in 2nd 2 games back). We won 2/3 (5 of 7 points) so we are now in 1st by ourselves. I was a little inconsistent with my mark tonight. Missed high quite a few times and got too far outside a few times too. Then early in game 3 was hitting slightly light but so close I didn't realize it until I started the game with corner pins the first 3 frames then after leaving a 9 realized I must have been too light. Moved 1/2 board left and was better but started missing to the outside. Switched to the BWG and got dialed in the last few frames until I blew the 10th. 3/4 on 7 pins tonight so an improvement there and the last 3 weeks I'm 8/11 (72.7%) on 7 pins so getting much better there.

I realized tonight my biggest issue is consistency. I hit my mark 2 or 3 frames in a row then miss high a couple then light a couple. I also still catch myself tugging the ball on spares alot, especially anything on the right side (6 and 10 pin). Been missing the 6 and 10 way too much.

[boatman37]

Much better night. Had a little trouble finding the pocket but figured it out early in game 2. Spare shooting was pretty good all night too. We won all 3 games tonight against the highest average team in the league. My teammate rolled his first ever 300 in the 2nd game. I ended with a 170, 200, and 200 again. I am getting more comfortable and more confident in my spare shots and it shows. My struggle tonight was game 1 with only 2 strikes and a few easy spares I missed.

[boatman37]

Talk about a change! When I quit bowling 16 years ago I had a 193 average and was about 7th highest in our league (quite a bit smaller than the league I'm in now though). I just looked and only counting bowlers with more than 21 games (the minimum required to hold a current average) and I am 63rd out of 89. I have a long way to go...lol. But I looked at my stats and I have been around 175 since my return last January and the last 4 weeks I'm averaging 185 and feel like I'm starting to get back on track.

[boatman37]

Well wasn't supposed to bowl tonight but our sub couldn't make it. It was the position round and we were 6 points up on the 2nd place team so only needed to win 1 game tonight. Lost game 1 but won game 2 so we sort of used game 3 as practice and were horrible. Lost that one by over 200....lol. was pretty consistent (184, 177, 172). I hit the pocket the first 9 frames of game 1 but only got 4 strikes. Played the 1st arrow and had no revs on the ball with it being that dry. The ball was just rolling into the pocket. Had better luck with the Black Widow Gold (started with the Kingpin). Tried moving into the 2nd arrow to get some oil but struggled to hit my mark.
I need to get better working the inside in the oil. My biggest issue is not getting the carries and not stringing strikes together. oh, and missing easy spares

[J Anderson]

Well wasn't supposed to bowl tonight but our sub couldn't make it. It was the position round and we were 6 points up on the 2nd place team so only needed to win 1 game tonight. Lost game 1 but won game 2 so we sort of used game 3 as practice and were horrible. Lost that one by over 200....lol. was pretty consistent (184, 177, 172). I hit the pocket the first 9 frames of game 1 but only got 4 strikes. Played the 1st arrow and had no revs on the ball with it being that dry. The ball was just rolling into the pocket. Had better luck with the Black Widow Gold (started with the Kingpin). Tried moving into the 2nd arrow to get some oil but struggled to hit my mark.
I need to get better working the inside in the oil. My biggest issue is not getting the carries and not stringing strikes together. oh, and missing easy spares

Did you jump from 1st arrow to second arrow, or did you just move toward it?

There’s no law (except maybe the law of poor eyesight) that says you have to use an arrow or a dot as a target.

[boatman37]

Did you jump from 1st arrow to second arrow, or did you just move toward it?

There’s no law (except maybe the law of poor eyesight) that says you have to use an arrow or a dot as a target.

I jumped straight to it. Just trying to get some oil and trying different things that I am normally afraid to try during games that count. We only needed to win 1 game last night to lock up 1st place in the first half. I had been hitting the 5-7 board the first game (trying for the 5 board) so had an idea what the 7 board would do already. I wanted to try the 3rd board too but couldn't get my speed down enough to get any bite. I'm a pretty low rev bowler with a pretty high speed so inside is usually pretty much a straight ball. Last night I wasn't getting any skid out on the 5 board so it was just rolling into the pocket. Figured finding some oil might help that. I need to polish my BWG. I hit it with 3000 CTD pad but no polish. It ended up working better but I think if it had been polished the 5 board might have worked better. Need to get a ball spinner...lol

[boatman37]

Sat out tonight to let our sub get some games in so practiced a few games. Wasn't concerned with scores but had a 175ish, 125ish, and a 197. Tried slowing down and according to the sensors I was at about 16.2 average MPH through the 3 games where I am normally about 17.7ish. I also tried different lines more inside. Still not much reaction. I'm a pretty low revver. Tried standing on about 30 and throwing across the middle arrow but the ball just slid right into the ditch. Tried it again with a little less speed and took out the 4-7. Come to the conclusion that just won't work for me...lol. Even tried tucking the pinky and tried not using the ring finger. Got more revs that way but not enough.

What seemed to help most was turning my hand slightly to the outside on release. My normal release I am almost directly behind the ball. Tried turning my hand a little, maybe halfway between straight behind the ball and all the way beside it. I did get more revs this way. I had tried this before but struggled with accuracy. Was a little better with it tonight.This was my 3rd game when I did this.

Tried something different for my target. I had always watched and targeted the arrows. A few times I tried targeting a mark about 3/4 of the way down. Seemed to help my accuracy.