New best series tonight

[boatman37]

So after last weeks 416 series I put my Uppercut on the spinner and hit it with a brand new CTD 3000. Ended up using the Uppercut all 3 games and barely made an adjustment all night. We did have no thumber lefty but we were the only 2 leftys on the pair. I stood on about 22 and targeted 10 at the arrows all night. Made minor speed adjustments and moved back about 1" on the approach when I left a 7 pin in the middle of game 2. The Uppercut was still OOB untouched but had about 27 games on it.

So tonight threw a 256c, 235c, and 234 (725). Missed a 10 pin in game 3 to ruin a clean 30. Hope to keep it up next week

https://i.postimg.cc/28P9KYpV/2020-10-27.png (https://postimages.org/)

[Aslan]

Holy C'Moly Batman!! Well done!

[boatman37]

Standings are up. For this week I had 3rd highest scratch game behind a 267 and 257. Highest scratch series, highest handicap game, highest handicap series and tied for highest handicap series for the season. We have a tournament coming up November 15th that I'm gonna enter. 80% of 220 handicap and my high average the last 3 years is a 188. Been averaging 207 the last 5 weeks or so so if I can keep that up I should have a decent chance. Current average is 193

[Blacksox1]

Amazing bowling, congrats on the high series boatman37.

[bowl1820]

Awesome series!

I got to laugh though every time I see "Beaver Falls", there's a Japanese movie "Prince of Space" and they mention strange electrical disturbances near "Beaver Falls" in it.

its at about the 00:08:50 mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs5LYuSInlU

[boatman37]

Lol. Beaver Falls is the hometown of Joe Namath. His brother Frank is/was an insurance agent there. Met his neice years ago. Donnie Iris also live there. Donnie grew up about a mile from me but he lives in BF now. We all know him pretty well. He wore my grandfathers old police pants on stage at a concert in the 80's and ripped the crotch out...lol. I think he had them on in one of their album covers too. My aunt used to hang out with him back in the early 80's when he was at his prime. Keith Nelson is from there too. He was a founding member and guitarist for Buckcherry. I graduated from high school with him. Now go a little further south to Hopewell and Aliquippa and now we have Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Ty Law, Derrall Revis, and quite a few others. I never met any of them though.

And thanks guys!

[J Anderson]

Lol. Beaver Falls is the hometown of Joe Namath. His brother Frank is/was an insurance agent there. Met his neice years ago. Donnie Iris also live there. Donnie grew up about a mile from me but he lives in BF now. We all know him pretty well. He wore my grandfathers old police pants on stage at a concert in the 80's and ripped the crotch out...lol. I think he had them on in one of their album covers too. My aunt used to hang out with him back in the early 80's when he was at his prime. Keith Nelson is from there too. He was a founding member and guitarist for Buckcherry. I graduated from high school with him. Now go a little further south to Hopewell and Aliquippa and now we have Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Ty Law, Derrall Revis, and quite a few others. I never met any of them though.

And thanks guys!

Wow, do I feel old and out of touch, the only names I recognized were Namath, Ditka, and Dorsett.

[boatman37]

lol. Here is another name. Chuck Knox (former Seahawks coach) grew up near here and used to coach at the school my kids graduated from. This was way back long before my kids were there.

Michael Keaton was from near here too. In the movie Gung Ho there was a scene where they jumped in the river. That was right across the river from our marina but that was long before we had our boat. Oh, and Christina Aguilera grew up in Rochester, PA but then her family moved to Wexford (about 10 miles away). And probably everyone here's favorite part of this story is part of the movie Kingpin was shot here at Rochester Bowl. It's about 5 floors and the alley was on the 3rd floor I think. That building is right around the corner from our marina. I bowled there once was back in the late 80's. IIRC it's only 6 or 8 lanes. And we can throw in that Mark Roth ran our local center for about 6 months back when I was running the youth league about 2002. He got scammed on that deal and the center closed a short time after he left but when he was there they changed the name to 'Mark Roths Hall of Fame Lanes'.

ok...lol

[Aslan]

In addition to all the Japanese people and the Alien invasion.

[boatman37]

Struggled tonight but beat my average. Our team was great but we still only won 2/3 and we bowled the last place team. Typical of our season we bowled the worst team in the league and they were on fire tonight. First game they beat their average by 55. 2nd game they beat their average by 110, 3rd game they beat their average by 34. We beat our average in game 1 by 17, game 2 by 202, and game 3 by 100. We won game 2 and 3 but lost total pins.

Team had a good night though. One teammate has a 183 average and rolled a 715 (233, 267, 215) tonight. His previous best was about a month ago when he rolled 660's 2 weeks in a row. He is a no thumber. His wife has a 147 average and tonight she rolled 461 but had a 182 in the 3rd game. My wife has a 103 average and rolled a 377 and got her best ever 141 in game 3. She finished the night with a 4 bagger. Another teammate has a 217 average and rolled a 690. I had a 193 average and rolled a 596 so I was right there.

I used the Uppercut and just couldn't find the pocket early. Ball just seemed dead when it hit. Even when I had the 7 bagger in game 2 they weren't smashing strikes. Tried the old Squatch a few shots but had thumb issues. Don't have the switch grip in that ball. Just an off night but can't complain about beating my average. I just didn't feel like I was getting around the ball like I needed to.

https://i.postimg.cc/SxCf6yMG/2020-11-03.png (https://postimages.org/)

[boatman37]

Weird night. I was off but still got 17 strike. My first ball average was 9.31 but with all that only rolled a 545. Yeah, my spare shooting was horrible. I was getting great carry on my strike ball but my accuracy wasn't that good. I didn't have a good feeling before I even got there. I was mentally and physically wiped out. It was position round so being in 10th place of 11 teams we bowled the 9th place team. They have a guy that always kills us.His average was 185 and he rolled a 667. We beat our team average all 3 games but lost the 1st and 3rd games and total pins.

I used the Uppercut and started out at the 7 board but after about 5 frames I left a 9 pin and a 7 pin so figure I needed to move. Went in to the 10 board and wasn't very accurate but carry was great. Game 3 started to struggle so grabbed the Igniter but just couldn't get a feel for it. Spare shooting was abysmal.

https://i.postimg.cc/XvvLRz2B/2020-11-10.png (https://postimages.org/)

[boatman37]

Out of curiosity I checked my strike %. So far this season after 33 games I'm averaging 15.8 strikes a night (174 in 11 weeks). In the last 8 weeks I'm averaging 16.8 a night (135 in 8 weeks). That is also including my 5 strike night a few weeks ago. Now if I could cover my spares I'd have a pretty good average. My average over the last 6 weeks is 196.00. My strike % is 52% in that 6 weeks but my single pin spare % is only 57%. Oddly my multi pin spare % is better at 61%.

Really need to work on my spares. Entered tournament this Sunday so will see how it goes. Entrees are capped at 160 and the top 10 make the cut. A few months ago I entered a similar one and was 14th after the 4 game cut. Missed the top 10 by 24. It's 80% of 220 tourney so I figure I need to average about 210 a game to make the cut. Last tourney 10th was 923 and first was 1029. These are with handicap 4 games. No idea what the final round scores were cause I left. My average of record will be 188 so I will get 100 pins handicap so at least 206ish average based on that. Definitely doable if I make my spares

[boatman37]

Just looked at last nights results. Younger kid (about 25ish) rolled a 788 last night (268, 276, 244). He's a 2 hander that told me awhile back he just started bowling a few years ago and was using a ball that somebody gave him. Not sure if he is still using that same ball or not. His average is 208.

Oh, and a guy we bowled against was using a ball that still had a balance hole. I noticed it but didn't say anything. He struggled anyway. His average is 201 and he bowled a 579.

[Ryster]

Out of curiosity I checked my strike %. So far this season after 33 games I'm averaging 15.8 strikes a night (174 in 11 weeks). In the last 8 weeks I'm averaging 16.8 a night (135 in 8 weeks). That is also including my 5 strike night a few weeks ago. Now if I could cover my spares I'd have a pretty good average. My average over the last 6 weeks is 196.00. My strike % is 52% in that 6 weeks but my single pin spare % is only 57%. Oddly my multi pin spare % is better at 61%.

Really need to work on my spares. Entered tournament this Sunday so will see how it goes. Entrees are capped at 160 and the top 10 make the cut. A few months ago I entered a similar one and was 14th after the 4 game cut. Missed the top 10 by 24. It's 80% of 220 tourney so I figure I need to average about 210 a game to make the cut. Last tourney 10th was 923 and first was 1029. These are with handicap 4 games. No idea what the final round scores were cause I left. My average of record will be 188 so I will get 100 pins handicap so at least 206ish average based on that. Definitely doable if I make my spares


Are there actually going to be 160 bowlers in the tournament? That is a lot of people.

Tournament participation around here has been pretty low. Our association tournament starts next weekend, and runs for two weekends. They have really been pushing for people to sign up.

The weekly "run of the mill" local house tournaments have only been seeing 20 or so bowlers. Pre-pandemic would be maybe 30-35 per local house tournament.

[boatman37]

Are there actually going to be 160 bowlers in the tournament? That is a lot of people.

Tournament participation around here has been pretty low. Our association tournament starts next weekend, and runs for two weekends. They have really been pushing for people to sign up.

The weekly "run of the mill" local house tournaments have only been seeing 20 or so bowlers. Pre-pandemic would be maybe 30-35 per local house tournament.

It's the annual Thanksgiving tournament. Last year they had 150 sign up. First place was $1100. This year 1st was guaranteed $750 but they cancelled it today.

I just came back from getting my refund cause I pre-paid. Turns out the guys that run the tournament all tested positive so they don't have the people they need to run it. They have 2 more tournaments coming up in the next few weeks that they are still planning to hold

[J Anderson]

Are there actually going to be 160 bowlers in the tournament? That is a lot of people.

Tournament participation around here has been pretty low. Our association tournament starts next weekend, and runs for two weekends. They have really been pushing for people to sign up.

The weekly "run of the mill" local house tournaments have only been seeing 20 or so bowlers. Pre-pandemic would be maybe 30-35 per local house tournament.

Our local association sent out a survey yesterday to find out if there is enough interest to bother having a tournament this year.

[boatman37]

Our local association sent out a survey yesterday to find out if there is enough interest to bother having a tournament this year.

In the past the Thanksgiving tournament was held Wednesday night (Thanksgiving Eve) starting at 11:00PM and they still got 150 bowlers. I had never bowled it because of our pland the next morning but this year they changed it to Sunday afternoon due to COVID restrictions with operating hours but now cancelled because the heads of it tested positive.

On another note my daughter said a few people in her office aren't feeling good so they all got tested today with the swab up the nostril. She said she should get the results back in a couple of days. Hopefully it's negative.

[boatman37]

Goal tomorrow night...650+.

We are starting the 2nd 3rd so we are now tied for first...lol. We finished the 1st 3rd in last place of 11 teams. We didn't bowl too great but our opponents seemed to have their best night against us each week. We are very inconsistent. 1 teammate has been pretty consistent but he only bowls about every 3rd week (220 average now) cause of work. Even our one teammate with a 205 average will throw a 165 then a 250. I haven't helped either. One week a 416 then a 725. Another teammate with a 190 average had 2 660's in a row then a 450.

Each week I look at the results from each game and we usually either lose all 3 or 2 of 3. But when I looked at every team scores even the games we lose there are many times where our losing score wold have beat 7 of the other 10 teams, we just happened to be up against one of the 3 that we wouldn't have beat. Hopefully we get a little better luck and more consistency. And yeah I know my wife is giving up about 30 pins a game with there being a max handicap of 85. Breakeven on that is about 136 or so and she is at 105 so that doesn't help either. The other girl on our team has a 147 average but has been throwing some 170's lately.

Oh and yeah I am struggling with the transition. Been trying to stay with 1 ball and adjust if I can. The Igniter just doesn't feel right. I have to really slow my speed to get it to bite. I dug out the Squatch the one night but just couldn't find the pocket with it. If I can start making my spares that should put me about 205 average then if I can adjust a little better then I should be able to get to 210 pretty easily. I am averaging 199 the last 8 weeks even with missing so many spares. Wouldn't take much to get me to 210. Just need to get my head together. I think losing so much and being in last doesn't help with my attitude and confidence.

[boatman37]

Well was well on my way to a 650...until game 3. Ended with a 593. We were on our way to having 3 650's tonight. One teammate pre-bowled a 662 then I needed a 210 last game and my other teammate needed a 214 last game. He ended with a 143 last game. He had the same issues I had.

My accuracy wasn't great even in game 1 but my carry was great and had help from a few messengers. Lanes were dry to start and got worse. Moved way right, balled down, sped up, took my hand out, etc. Couldn't keep it on the left side and didn't have a weaker option to go to.
Started with a 253 then a 188 then a 152. Splits killed our team. We won the first 2 games.

We have a strike jackpot that costs $2 per night to enter. Last year it was up to $12,000. I think last time it was won it was about $4000. I guess it was hit tonight but it was only a little over $900. To win that you need to strike in the following frames: Game 1 frames 3, 6, 9, 12. Game 2 frames 1, 4, 7, 10. Game 3 frames 2, 5, 8, 11.

On another note the PSO and owners team crushed it and I think someone on that team won the jackpot. BTW the PSO was one of the ones that tested positive for COVID so he missed the last few weeks. Tonight he had a 771, then the other team members had 780, 779, 628, and 543. Their scratch total was 3501. PSO rolled 247, 267, 257. The 780 was a 243, 258, 279. The 779 was 279, 233, 267. Their averages before tonight were 220, 212, and 226.

So the dry conditions and transition got me tonight. My transition struggles were magnified tonight due to the dry conditions. Under normal conditions I probably would have been good until at least the end of game 2 but I could tell at the end of game 1 that it was going away. I think next week I will put the Rhino back in my bag. Not sure it would have helped tonight but at least I would have had another option to ball down.

I still don't like how that Igniter rolls. Seems to 'roll' and not skid, even with the 3000 on it. Just doesn't seem to come off my hand the same as the Uppercut. Almost got the Black Widow Gold out tonight. It's in another bag in the storage room down there.

[boatman37]

Oh, and wife picked up a 4-7-10 tonight

[Ryster]

Our center also has a strike jackpot that league bowlers can enter. $1 per night. Although in our center anyone with a 215 or greater league average is disqualified from participating.

We have been seeing a lot of dramatic transitions at our center recently as well. Having to move around way more than usual. I heard the bowling center manager telling someone last week that this is by design. They put down a shot that requires bowlers to move left (if right handed) towards the end of game 1, through middle of game 2, and then the pattern will start to carry down, requiring bowlers to move back to the right and end up back where they started by the middle of game 3. Not sure how they "designed" the pattern that way, but what he said mirrors what we have all been doing the past few weeks.

[boatman37]

Did some experimenting tonight. Started off rough but was able to figure it out. Tried the Squatch a few weeks ago and realized the thumbhole was too big but too tight with tape in so left it with the PSO tonight to have him put a switch grip in. I'm comfortable with the 2 inserts I have now so should be good for that ball.

Not much to report tonight other than I'm happy with my adjustments tonight and think I learned a few things on spare shooting.

Rolled a 174, 202, 250 (626)

https://i.postimg.cc/PxqH9PpG/2020-11-24.png (https://postimages.org/)

[boatman37]

Must have been a tough night. I had 3rd highest scratch game of the night with a 250. Typically 3rd highest is over 260. Lanes have seemed dryer the last 2 weeks. The week before they seemed pretty wet. Been having trouble keeping it on the left of the headpin. I try moving way right but have trouble getting it back to the pocket then and am erratic but am going to work on that. I think that is what I need to do to keep up with the transition. 3rd game even my weakest ball crosses over the headpin. Last night I really had to crank up my speed to keep it in the pocket.

[boatman37]

About ready to quit. 2 teammates texted me (husband and wife) and said they weren't coming because of bad roads. Roads weren't bad at all and they are in their 30's. Had they given me more notice (they texted 15 minutes before we left) we might have been able to get one of our other guys to show up. But we had to take a 60 pin per game penalty for 2 blind scores. Yeah, we lost all 3 games. On top of that my spare shooting was so pathetic that I don't deserve to call myself a league bowler.

Used the Uppercut and threw 7 strikes in warmups (every ball I threw). Strikes were easy tonight. Threw 21 strikes yet only rolled a 574. Stuck with the Uppercut all night. 8 strikes in game 1, 8 in game 2, and 5 in game 3. If I had even picked up half of my missed spares I would have had about 620 or so.

Just very frustrated after tonight. We finished the first 3rd in last and are probably in last after 3 weeks into the second 3rd. Even when we do have everyone there we still lose. I rolled 193, 210, 171. One teammate rolled 204, 216, and 147. The inconsistency kills us. My average is 193 and his is 204.

I'm happy I'm striking as good as I am lately but missing stupid spares ruins it. I'm averaging 17.5 strikes a game in the last 10 weeks and 18.6 in the last 6 weeks. Yet my average in the last 10 weeks is only 197.26 and only 203.28 in the last 6 weeks.

I really think my spare issues are psychological. When I'm not striking alot I am pretty consistent with my spares but when I am hitting strikes alot I struggle with my spares. I think I get frustrated or rush my shots or something.

Rant over.

https://i.postimg.cc/bJkgmSMT/2020-12-01.png (https://postimages.org/)

[Ryster]

Keep in mind, some people are not comfortable driving in winter weather. Most of the people I work with are in their 20's and 30's [way younger than me], and panic at the first snowflake and immediately want to get home. Some literally live 1-2 miles from work and start to panic. I have a 25 mile drive to work, and have no problem driving in snow. It is all just a comfort level thing and if they didn't feel safe being out you cannot really hold that against them.

Taking 30 pins off for a blind is pretty extreme, especially for a handicap league. I get that you want to encourage people to show up, but wow. I am on a super competitive scratch league, and even we only take 20 pins off for a blind. Most other handicap leagues in the house are 10 pins off for a blind.

Rolling a 574 with a 193 average is nothing to be upset about. You basically bowled your average. Parker Bohn III was at our house last year, and during the Q&A basically said that any game that is within 10 pins above or below your posted average, he would consider having "made your average". He also reiterated that is why it is called "average". Sometimes you will be below, sometimes you will be above. It is simply an indicator of where you are most often.

I know a lot of seasoned league bowlers who would absolutely love to average 193, bowl a 574, and have 21 strikes on the night.

[ALazySavage]

I think the 30 pin penalty that boatman is referring to is series ( 3 x 10 = 30).

Weather/Road conditions can be in the eye of the beholder; when I drive into the office I have to go on I-70 through the Rocky Mountains - during the winters this can be a very dangerous drive due to conditions. If you were to ask my boss he has made a similar drive (from a different direction but same danger level if not more) and would say that in 40 years there has only been one or two storms that has justified not driving in (10,000 foot elevation in Colorado Rocky Mountains). Not saying the teammates were correct or incorrect, but there is some understanding in opinions.

[Ryster]

Boatman said they had to take "60 pin per game penalty for 2 blind scores." That's why I assumed it was 30 off for a blind per game.

Exactly, everyone has a different comfort level with winter driving which is why I try not to hold it against people. Bosses tend to be overly critical of weather as an excuse. Several years ago I was looking out the window at work while the snow was coming down really heavy. A VP stopped and asked what I was looking at. I made a comment that I was just checking the weather conditions because I lived 25 miles away. He responded "Hmm...I suggest you move closer." and just sauntered away.

[boatman37]

No it is 30 per game per bowler so 180 pin penalty for the series. On top of that I just looked at the results and our opponents had the 3rd highest team scratch series for the night and highest team scratch game for the night. Seems every week the team we go up against has their best night of the year.

[J Anderson]

No it is 30 per game per bowler so 180 pin penalty for the series. On top of that I just looked at the results and our opponents had the 3rd highest team scratch series for the night and highest team scratch game for the night. Seems every week the team we go up against has their best night of the year.

Some seasons seem to be like that. Every week you hit a team that’s hot or at least one or two of their bowlers have a super night. When I bowled in a league that started at 8:00 p.m. ( later after switching centers it became a 9:00 p.m. start ) there were seasons when it seemed like every week we were on the pair where the slowest teams from the early league were stiil bowling after the rest of our league had started practice.

[boatman37]

Seems like every week our opponents hit that hot streak. I know it isn't every week but seems like most weeks since I returned 3 years ago

[boatman37]

I'm not suggesting anyone risk their safety for bowling but just that we are already struggling and a 60 pin per game penalty just makes it nearly impossible. But even if they were there and bowled their average we still probably would have lost all 3, or at least 2 of 3. We lost game 1 by 217, game 2 by 43, and game 3 by 90. Game 1 they rolled 1113 scratch. Their average is 990 so yeah, 123 over average is tough to overtake

[Ryster]

It seems that our team also has an epidemic of teams rolling way above their average when bowling against us. I believe, though, that it is a combination of things in our case. First, our team is consistently in the top 2 on our league which acts as a motivation for opponents to try harder when bowling against us. We have regularly seen opposing team members have season highs when bowling against us. Second, one of our own team members is obsessed with analyzing the standings and will get in their own head all night about how many wins are needed, what the other team is doing, etc. Couple that with some ringing corner pins or carrydown issues and it is a perfect storm for them to tank their own game.

One of the secrets to bowling success is to generally ignore what everyone else is doing and simply bowl against yourself. Only worry about you and your game. You cannot control how the other bowlers are bowling, so there is no point in getting wrapped up in how well [or how bad] they may be bowling. When blocking out all of the nonsense and silly drama going on around you, it lets you concentrate and focus better on your own game. You can still be supportive of your teammates, but don't get involved in discussions about timing, release, rotation, too many corner pins, too many splits, missing this, missing that, blah blah blah. It can really start to mess with your mind and throw off your game.

[boomer]

We get that as well - although we tend to average in the middle of the pack or a bit lower. We attribute it to those trying to bowl against my father-in-law (87, averages 170 but talks a TON of happy crap) and myself (who doesn't talk crap, but for some reason everyone wants to beat me)

You can see that we score mid-pack, but the score AGAINST is quite a bit higher. Go figure. LOL

[boatman37]

Yeah my wife has only been bowling for a few months and has a 105 average. I know that hurts us too as the max handicap is 85 so the breakeven is about 136ish. It is 90% of 230 handicap so we are losing 30 pins a game there too. But she is trying to understand how everything works and keeps asking 'well what if that guy opens' or 'what scores do we need'. I tell her I'm not worried about him or how much we need, I just bowl the highest I can.

But yeah all through my career I have been on competitive teams until this year. Granted we weren't 'great' last year either but we were middle of the road. Up until last year I think every team I have been on has been a contender for the championship (or at least still had a chance near the end). Not that I am great (obviously you guys have seen my struggles...lol) but it's just how it has worked out. This year there are 2 teams that couldn't beat a middle school team and we are one of them.

[Ryster]

Getting on a reliable team can be tough if you don't bring in your own full team. When I join a new league or have to go to another team on a league due to people leaving/quitting, I always go to the center and ask to see the current roster and available open spots so I can see who is on what team. This has saved me a few times from being placed on teams with bowlers that have reputations as either troublemakers, unreliable, or flat-out despised at the center.

You need to work on getting that 30 pin penalty for a blind score changed. That is just overly excessive! Is this a huge prize fund league or something?

[boatman37]

Getting on a reliable team can be tough if you don't bring in your own full team. When I join a new league or have to go to another team on a league due to people leaving/quitting, I always go to the center and ask to see the current roster and available open spots so I can see who is on what team. This has saved me a few times from being placed on teams with bowlers that have reputations as either troublemakers, unreliable, or flat-out despised at the center.

You need to work on getting that 30 pin penalty for a blind score changed. That is just overly excessive! Is this a huge prize fund league or something?

Not sure I'd say huge cause I don't have anything to compare it to. IIRC there was about $17,000 in the prize fund last year but can't remember for sure. It will be lower this year because we have alot less bowlers. I think we had 20 teams (5 man teams) last year and this year we have 11

[Ryster]

That seems like an average prize fund for a handicap league, so nothing crazy there. That 30 pin per game penalty still blows my mind. Never experienced anything like that in 25 years of league bowling.

[boatman37]

That seems like an average prize fund for a handicap league, so nothing crazy there. That 30 pin per game penalty still blows my mind. Never experienced anything like that in 25 years of league bowling.

It has been 30 pins since I started in 2018. Not sure who or why but it's the same for everyone so it is what it is.

[boatman37]

This is getting old. Bowled against a middle of the road team that only had 4 guys so they had to use a blind score which is a 30 pin per game penalty and they still crushed their averages. Not sure if 2 of them haven't been sandbagging or not. I was shocked tonight to see that all 4 that were there were all averaging in the 180's as I knew 2 of them were much better than that. Just checked and in March when we shut down 1 was at 207 and the other at 199. They were at 186 and 183 tonight. Every week our opponents just crush their averages. And I mean I don't think any team has had an off night against us this year. We beat our team average the first 2 games but they crushed theirs, and that is with a 30 pin penalty.

Scratch scores (us and them):
Our team average was 837 and theirs was 900
Game 1: 861 1003
Game 2: 791 992
Game 3: 835 897

First game we beat our average by 24 but they beat theirs by 103 (with a 30 pin penalty). Game 2 we were 46 under our average but they were 92 over theirs. Game 3 we were 2 under our average and they were 3 under theirs.

Just frustrating. I struggled all night. Couldn't string anything together. Spares were so-so but only managed 13 strikes tonight.

I'm thinking we are done for the year after our governor speaks tomorrow. My wife is ready for it to be over. She is frustrated with all the losing. And it's not that we are bowing that bad just that our opponents always seem to have their best night of the year against us. Even if we beat our averages by a reasonable amount we would still lose.

Tonight was my worst strike night in the last 8 weeks.

[boatman37]

so interesting revelation. The team we bowled last night that has a member that was about 210 last year and was 186 last night...well he is listed twice on their roster with different spellings on the name. I'm sure it wasn't on purpose but just the way the software does it. He was listed last night using his lower average so got more handicap. His one average listed was 208 (18 games) and 186 (9 games). When you combine those his average would be roughly 200 so with a 90% of 230 handicap his handicap should have been about 27 where last night they had his lower average on the score sheet giving him a handicap of 39. We lost game 3 by 11 so if that had been accurate we should have won game 3 by 1 pin. I know none of this was intentional and likely nobody realized the handicap error. There is another bowler in our league listed twice also with 2 different averages.

Just the way our luck has been. Yeah we can bring it up and they MIGHT fix it but then they'd have to go back until it happened and change everyones results and i don't think they will do that. and we'd still be in next to last place and just get people mad at us for being crybabies I'm sure

[Ryster]

If there is more than one bowler listed twice with different averages, it really does need to be fixed. It will just continue to cause issues otherwise.

[boatman37]

If there is more than one bowler listed twice with different averages, it really does need to be fixed. It will just continue to cause issues otherwise.

Agreed but I doubt they go back and make retroactive changes. That would be a big task

[Ryster]

Agreed but I doubt they go back and make retroactive changes. That would be a big task

Well, they wanted to be the secretary...:D

[J Anderson]

Well, they wanted to be the secretary...:D

If it's like most leagues I know, when they asked for volunteers to step forward everyone else took a big step backward. Seriously not that many people want to do that much for a league, even though with home computers, the option of paying the alley to post the standings and to bank through the house there isn't nearly as much work for the secretary as there was when I started bowling and the secretary had to calculate the averages manually and run the standings sheet on his church's mimeograph. Keeping track of the money is still a pain and seems to be getting worse with some bowlers apparently thinking that paying every week is optional.

[Ryster]

If it's like most leagues I know, when they asked for volunteers to step forward everyone else took a big step backward. Seriously not that many people want to do that much for a league, even though with home computers, the option of paying the alley to post the standings and to bank through the house there isn't nearly as much work for the secretary as there was when I started bowling and the secretary had to calculate the averages manually and run the standings sheet on his church's mimeograph. Keeping track of the money is still a pain and seems to be getting worse with some bowlers apparently thinking that paying every week is optional.

Our house is both secretary and treasurer of our league, however the secretary and treasurer fees are still charged by the house and they donate the money to the junior league scholarship fund at the end of the season.

There are still some leagues that are "old school" and league members handle the standings and the money. I was league secretary for a league 20 or so years ago and hated every minute of it. It was a total time suck. I vowed to never do it ever again. A family member was also a treasurer several years ago and hated it as well. People tend to put their weekly league bowling at the bottom of their list of monetary obligations and just pay whatever they feel like, whenever they feel like it.

Regardless of who is doing the work, the duplicate entries need to be consolidated and the bowlers' averages corrected to ensure at the very least the handicaps are correct moving forward (if they aren't going to fix it retroactively...which I think would be the right thing to do.) It is also going to need to be fixed so the proper average gets reported to the USBC under the correct name at the end of the season.

[boatman37]

I don't envy them and IIRC they took it just cause nobody else wanted it. But I did text the league President and he said the owner takes care of standings so would have to bring it up to him but the 2nd person I mentioned has 2 entries because he hurt his hand and was bowling left handed so one entry is for left handed. Not sure of rules on that but I assume they did the right thing there. But as far as the first one (the one we bowled last night) his 2 entries have different spellings so guessing a teammate or something entered his name at some point and spelled it wrong, creating a new entry. It probably wasn't caught or was seen but nobody thought of the possible issues caused by it. If we end up getting shut down this week I'll probably just let it go since I was told the league will be considered over at that point but if we aren't cancelled I will get ahold of the owner. I'm willing to even go through and do the backstudying to see if any other teams were affected if they want to fix all that too. Like I said we will probably finish in last anyway at this point so fixing ours isn't a big deal but for future games it should be fixed.

[J Anderson]

I don't envy them and IIRC they took it just cause nobody else wanted it. But I did text the league President and he said the owner takes care of standings so would have to bring it up to him but the 2nd person I mentioned has 2 entries because he hurt his hand and was bowling left handed so one entry is for left handed. Not sure of rules on that but I assume they did the right thing there. But as far as the first one (the one we bowled last night) his 2 entries have different spellings so guessing a teammate or something entered his name at some point and spelled it wrong, creating a new entry. It probably wasn't caught or was seen but nobody thought of the possible issues caused by it. If we end up getting shut down this week I'll probably just let it go since I was told the league will be considered over at that point but if we aren't cancelled I will get ahold of the owner. I'm willing to even go through and do the backstudying to see if any other teams were affected if they want to fix all that too. Like I said we will probably finish in last anyway at this point so fixing ours isn't a big deal but for future games it should be fixed.

I think the USBC rule is that when a bowler switches hands due to an injury, the board of directors must vote to allow him or her to switch back after it heals. When I switched to lefty I just stayed there the whole season. I have switched back and forth in a managed scratch league, so as long as the manager said it was ok I was fine.

As for your situation, a few points one week aren’t going to to change your team’s destiny, but if the other team has this happen more than once they might finish a place or two higher than they deserve. If you point that out you might not sound as much like a bunch of whiny losers. There’s already enough of that going around.

[boatman37]

I think the USBC rule is that when a bowler switches hands due to an injury, the board of directors must vote to allow him or her to switch back after it heals. When I switched to lefty I just stayed there the whole season. I have switched back and forth in a managed scratch league, so as long as the manager said it was ok I was fine.

As for your situation, a few points one week aren’t going to to change your team’s destiny, but if the other team has this happen more than once they might finish a place or two higher than they deserve. If you point that out you might not sound as much like a bunch of whiny losers. There’s already enough of that going around.

Yeah I don't want to rile anyone up over it as I get along with everyone (including the bowler mentioned) but just to prevent it from happening to anyone else. Heck we had a guy a few weeks ago still bowling with a balance hole. I saw it but didn't say anything. He struggled that night anyway...lol

[boatman37]

I think the burglar that stole from our center also took the oil...lol. The lanes were the driest I think I have ever seen. In warmups I think I stayed on the left side of the headpin once. I'm not a big hooker that hooks the lane but tonight I had to. I started out with the Uppercut standing up against the ball return on 13 and targeting 25 and I had to add a little speed even then to keep it on the left side of the headpin. I could hit the pocket but kept leaving 7's. Tried moving in and targeting the 20 board but couldn't get far enough right with the ball return there. Game 2 went to get my Rhino from the back room to try to throw straighter but realized it was at home. The Igniter was the weakest ball I had. Tried a few different lines with it and finally near about the 7th frame of game 2 I settled on standing on 13 and targeting 30. Had to use speed and flatten my hand out. If I came around the ball at all it would cross in front of the head pin. Finished the night with this line.

Did the best I could with it and considering how bad it was I probably shouldn't complain about a 538. I'm not comfortable with hooking the lane but glad I was forced to so I could get more comfortable with it. I had to really come around the ball when I was crossing the lane otherwise when it hit the dry it would just roll out. So even though it sucked tonight I learned a little and got more comfortable standing on the right side of the lane.

https://i.postimg.cc/C52YNT8r/2021-01-05_Beaver_Falls_City.png (https://postimages.org/)

[J Anderson]

I think the burglar that stole from our center also took the oil...lol. The lanes were the driest I think I have ever seen. In warmups I think I stayed on the left side of the headpin once. I'm not a big hooker that hooks the lane but tonight I had to. I started out with the Uppercut standing up against the ball return on 13 and targeting 25 and I had to add a little speed even then to keep it on the left side of the headpin. I could hit the pocket but kept leaving 7's. Tried moving in and targeting the 20 board but couldn't get far enough right with the ball return there. Game 2 went to get my Rhino from the back room to try to throw straighter but realized it was at home. The Igniter was the weakest ball I had. Tried a few different lines with it and finally near about the 7th frame of game 2 I settled on standing on 13 and targeting 30. Had to use speed and flatten my hand out. If I came around the ball at all it would cross in front of the head pin. Finished the night with this line.

Did the best I could with it and considering how bad it was I probably shouldn't complain about a 538. I'm not comfortable with hooking the lane but glad I was forced to so I could get more comfortable with it. I had to really come around the ball when I was crossing the lane otherwise when it hit the dry it would just roll out. So even though it sucked tonight I learned a little and got more comfortable standing on the right side of the lane.

https://i.postimg.cc/C52YNT8r/2021-01-05_Beaver_Falls_City.png (https://postimages.org/)

Two things: as a lefty you should be counting the boards from left to right. If you were really standing on 13 and targeting 30 you would have been lucky to stay on the lane.
Second, I’d be willing to bet that as you move your set up to the right you start to drift back left as you walk the approach. This is pretty common for players who are used to going straight. After all our normal tendency is to walk in the direction that we are looking. Next time you have to make a big move inside, or if you have the luxury of getting some practice in, check where your slide foot winds up compared to where you started.

[boatman37]

Two things: as a lefty you should be counting the boards from left to right. If you were really standing on 13 and targeting 30 you would have been lucky to stay on the lane.
Second, I’d be willing to bet that as you move your set up to the right you start to drift back left as you walk the approach. This is pretty common for players who are used to going straight. After all our normal tendency is to walk in the direction that we are looking. Next time you have to make a big move inside, or if you have the luxury of getting some practice in, check where your slide foot winds up compared to where you started.

yeah I'm sure I was drifting. I try to focus on keeping a straight line with my footwork but I'm sure there is a little drift but I don't think it was anymore than usual.

And I had wondered about the board counting...lol. Being a lefty it gets confusing hearing others talk about it. So I was standing on 27 and targeting 10...lol. I only did that in the first game and maybe the first few frames on game 2. After I switched to the Igniter I moved back left a little and stayed behind the ball more.

Surprisingly I had high series last night for our team and I was about 50 below my average. Rolled a 538. Our 220 average guy rolled about a 486 and our 185 average guy rolled about a 490. Hopefully they fill the machine with oil next week...lol

[J Anderson]

yeah I'm sure I was drifting. I try to focus on keeping a straight line with my footwork but I'm sure there is a little drift but I don't think it was anymore than usual.

And I had wondered about the board counting...lol. Being a lefty it gets confusing hearing others talk about it. So I was standing on 27 and targeting 10...lol. I only did that in the first game and maybe the first few frames on game 2. After I switched to the Igniter I moved back left a little and stayed behind the ball more.

Surprisingly I had high series last night for our team and I was about 50 below my average. Rolled a 538. Our 220 average guy rolled about a 486 and our 185 average guy rolled about a 490. Hopefully they fill the machine with oil next week...lol

Did the other team have as much trouble as your team did?

[boatman37]

Did the other team have as much trouble as your team did?

They were struggling too but not as bad. They don't throw big hooks but they were having to adjust. We were all comparing notes in warmups about how much further we needed to move than normal. I just looked at our stats they just uploaded and many of the higher rev guys struggled. There were some high series but most of those were straighter players.

And I think I messed up when I stated my line earlier. I was standing at 27 and targeting 15 at the arrows. When I moved over with the Igniter I was standing closer to 22 and targeting 10 at the arrows. I was staying behind the ball as much as I could then and throwing as straight as I could. Going to take the Rhino with me next week just in case. Probably would have been much better with it. One time I left a 2-4-7 and used my strike ball and missed by alot to the outside. Normally probably would have only taken out the 7 but it caught and hooked right back in and covered it...lol.

I went down to the girls end to get 50/50 tickets and they were even complaining about how dry they were

[boatman37]

My wife recorded a few of my shots last night so I went back and watched them. In the one I actually drifted right a few boards. Probably cause I was trying to be so conscientious about not drifting left.

My first one was my last ball in warmups. Looks like I was standing about 27 and targeting about 15 but my right foot stopped on about 32. Looks like my set down was about 17. Looks like it broke at about 15-17 but came across the headpin barely skimming the right side of it. That was with the Uppercut.

My 2nd one she just got the end of my release so harder to tell but I was using the Igniter and looks like I was stopped on about 28. She missed the beginning so can't tell where I started but guessing this was when I was starting at about 22 or so. Laydown looked to be about 15 and hit about 10 at the arrows. Harder to tell on that one because she was on the right side trying to record a lefty so I blocked much of the view.

Last one was also the left lane with the Igniter. This one I stood about 23 and I was at about 31 at the line. Set down was about 15 and target at the arrows was 13. Ball broke at about the 10 board down lane and just caught the right side of the 5 pin. This was on a 5-8 spare that I chopped.

BTW- we were on the end pair on 39-40 so that might have made our conditions worse. Hard to say.

[boatman37]

Very frustrated. I bowled decent. My 2nd highest series ever but struggled in game 3. Rolled 266, 225, 180 (671). We beat our average by quite a bit the first 2 games and almost hit it the 3rd game but still got crushed all 3 games. The other team beat their average by over 100 every game. This is getting very frustrating. It seems EVERY week our opponents bowl great. Their lowest guy tonight rolled a 632 and that guy has a 174 average. This guy always does this to us.

Here are the scores (scratch). Our average was 838 and theirs was 993
Us Them
Game 1 942 1095
Game 2: 891 1112
Game 3: 824 1124

Their averages and series:
213 633
216 663
204 696
184 707
176 632

Us
211 551
191 671
184 625
148 474
104 336


Just getting very frustrated over this. I don't think we have won a game in the last 5 or so weeks of bowling. Not a single game. Granted some of those nights are our fault but then when we do have a good night the other teams have a great night. Wife wants to quit. She isn't really a bowler anyway but she leaves mad every night and we come home in bad moods. I'm going to see if we can find a replacement for her. She doesn't care for it to begin with but at this point she is very frustrated to the point she dreads going every week now. Next week we bowl the first place team who was 33-2 this 3rd of the season. Dunno what they did tonight but even if they lost all 3 they are still 33-9. We are about 9-33 right now I think and in last place by a mile. Driving home tonight I was considering just quitting for the year. We are going to finish in last either way so not like it is going to hurt the team.

Dunno, just very frustrating. Wife is convinced they all sandbag then bowl their best against us like it is a conspiracy...lol. I know better than that but it really does seem that way. Don't get me wrong, I like the guys we bowl with, just hate getting slapped in the face every week. We beat our average by 104 the first game and they beat theirs by 102. We beat our average in game 2 by 53 and they beat theirs by 119. Game 3 they beat theirs by 131.

Maybe I will feel better in a few days but right now I'm ready to sit out the rest of this year. At this point I'm just gonna worry about my scores and trying to get my average over 200 and forget about even trying to win a game.

[boatman37]

So just to confirm my thoughts, just looked at the sheet from last night. Our opponent had the highest scratch game and series and also highest handicap game and series last night. Isn't the first time this has happened to us. Additionally, In game 1 there were only 3 teams out of 10 that had a higher score than us. Game 2 there were 6 that were higher than us and game 3 there were 6 that were higher than us.

On a positive note, I had 3rd high scratch game last night (266). A guy we bowled against had 2nd highest at 267. I also had 2nd highest handicap game at 301, and tied for 3rd highest handicap series at 776. A guy we bowled against had high handicap series at 830 and another was tied with me at 776. 2 of our opponents had 2nd and 3rd highest scratch series too (707 and 696).

Looking back at results the last time we won a game was 11/24 when we had a bye and the last win against an opponent was 11/17. That was 16 games ago including our bye week.

Next week we bowl the first place team that is 40-2 in this 3rd. We are in last at 9-33

[J Anderson]

I can sympathize. There have been seasons where it seems like my team has a target on our back, felt like every week some one on the other team would have a personal best.
On the other hand, when your best bowler is 80 pins under that’s a lot to make up. Throw in your league’s maximum handicap that leaves four of you to make up over fifty pins each game just to get to par.
On the bright side, maybe next year every one will underestimate your team.

[boatman37]

I can sympathize. There have been seasons where it seems like my team has a target on our back, felt like every week some one on the other team would have a personal best.
On the other hand, when your best bowler is 80 pins under that’s a lot to make up. Throw in your league’s maximum handicap that leaves four of you to make up over fifty pins each game just to get to par.
On the bright side, maybe next year every one will underestimate your team.

Yeah feels like a conspiracy...lol. We are definitely facing an uphill battle with my wife having a low average with a max handicap of 85 so she is penalized about 30 pins a game right off the top but even then we bowled well above our average as a team and get smacked. Frustrating. On a positive note I might have figured out why I have struggled the past few weeks. Will see if I can keep it going next week

[boatman37]

Here are a few clips from last night. Have had this off balance hop since I came back 3 years ago. Not sure if I did in my previous bowling career but wasn't sure why. After looking at the videos I see the ball is pretty far from my slide foot so I have a bunch of weight and momentum too far away from my body.

Will try to embed the video but if not I will drop the links.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTt-YlmA0vc

[boatman37]

This clip I was playing a little further outside. This was game 1 6th frame. The last of my 6 bagger to start the night. Using the Uppercut and targeting the 7-8 board at the arrows


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY2_6lvcJ9Q

[boatman37]

Game 3 I was still hitting the pocket but kept leaving corner pins, including a pocket 7-10. I did pick up quite a bit of speed in game 3 to try to combat. I was in around the 10-12 board by then. Probably should have dropped down to my Igniter or moved in more

EDIT: Started trying to pay attention to my ball as it exits the deck and it was later in the night but noticed it was dropping at about the 8 pin. Looking at the videos I'm wondering if my ball isn't getting into the roll phase? If that is the case do you think a 2000 surface might have been better? I had a fresh 3000 matte on it last night (wet on the spinner)

[boatman37]

Back to last nights results. I said our opponent had the highest handicap game for the night...well we probably had 4th highest cause 3rd highest was 1195 and we had 1193 in the first game. So even having that good of a game we had it the same game our opponents had the 2nd highest handicap games of the night and later they beat that and had the highest of the night...ugh

[boomer]

I feel your pain - honestly, it feels like that all the time (not now. . . Cali is still closed for bowling)

I think a lot of it is my father-in-law - he is 87, still carries 170-180 avg and TALKS and TALKS and TALKS. :) If you are good, he'll talk smack. If you aren't good, he'll help. If you're right in the middle, he'll tell dirty jokes. Everyone says they love bowling against us - and I think it's true both because they enjoy him (and I'll admit, I tend to join in . . . :) ) but I guess we elevate the competition.

It does get old, though.

[boatman37]

Well I was consistent. Not great. Bowled my average the whole night. Not happy with that because the last month or so I'm averaging about 15 pins higher than my current average so if you look at it from that perspective I struggled. Overall I wasn't happy with my night. I struggled to find that miss room and seemed like I had to be right on to strike. My speed ranged from 13.5 at the pins to 17.5. Started the night slower but as the lanes dried I started throwing 9's and the increased speed helped stay in the pocket and with the carry. Missed some easy spares too.

Now, we bowled the first place team that had only lost 1 game this 3rd, We are in last place by quite a bit. This team is stacked and I think they have like 4 of the top 7 or 8 average bowlers on this team and the top 2 in our league are on this team. Those top 2 didn't bowl tonight. One of the other top ones pre-bowled and was slightly below his average every game. The first game we won by 14 pins. Only the 2nd game they have lost this 3rd. Game 2 they won by 11. I opened in the 10 or we would have won that one. 3rd game we got stomped. They won by 167. We were slightly below our average 3rd game but they were about 100 over theirs. Given all of that I'm happy with the way it went tonight. Just wish I would have bowled a little better. I used the Uppercut all night

https://i.postimg.cc/8zLL3QN9/2021-01-19.png (https://postimages.org/)

[boatman37]

Another frustrating night. Wife is miserable bowling and is at the point she hates it. We all beat our averages tonight individually and we beat our team averages all 3 games but got smoked in 2 of them with the other team crushing their averages. Game 1 we beat our average by 18 but they beat theirs by 76 (we lost by 113). Game 2 we beat our average by 60 and they missed their average by 2 (we won that game by 85). Game 3 we beat our average by 32 and they beat theirs by 96 (we lost by 98). One of their guys rolled a 290 with a 193 average. We are in last by a mile. Tonight I beat my average by 14, teammate beat his by 36, another beat theirs by 6, another beat theirs by 25 and my wife beat hers by 29. So even though none of us had great games we were still over our average every game and still couldn't win.

So for me. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn tonight. The lanes were a little dry from the start. Even inside there wasn't much oil. In warmups I had a nice line up the 10 board but then struggled to hit it once we started and had no miss room at all. I got some good carry in game 1 and ended with a 221 but then game 2 lost the pin action. Tried moving in with no luck then changed to the Igniter early in game 2. I'm not very confident in the Igniter. I can't pinpoint it but it doesn't feel quite the same and I don't get the rotation I do on the Uppercut and don't get the carry. Teammate even commented on that tonight. Early in game3 I switched back to the Uppercut and moved in a little more. At the end I made a small adjustment to come in slightly higher and struck out in the 10th. Another anomaly...a few weeks ago I left a pocket 7-10. I rarely ever leave a 7-10. I have left 7 of them in 466 games since I returned to bowling in early 2018. Well I left another tonight. Slightly light as the 5 pin almost stayed up too but fell at the last second. So now I have left 2 of them in the last 3 weeks. I may leave the Igniter home next week and maybe put the Squatch in it's place. The Squatch is a little more aggressive then the Igniter but it feels good and maybe I will take some surface off it and see how that goes. I have been tracking games on each ball and averages with each and my average is exactly 10 pins lower with the Igniter. I do understand that when I use the Igniter it is after the lanes are a little burned so have to take that into consideration but just the fact that the Igniter just feels different and I can't get near as much rotation on it bothers me.

My average is up to 194 and at this point I'm just trying to get my average to 200 before the end of the season. I averaging 208 the last 8 games on the Uppercut so I can get there. If I can fix my spare shooting it would be much easier.

https://i.postimg.cc/T2zrmTMs/2021-01-26.png (https://postimages.org/)

[boatman37]

Rough night. Lanes were jacked. Both teams struggled. Left lane the headpin was slightly off to the left and right lane rack kept dropping pins. Not sure if that led to bad racks but strikes were very hard to come by tonight on both teams. I played from the 5 board to the 20 board and hit the pocket with no strikes. Tried 3 balls. Best luck I had was near the end of the night using my old Hammer Black Widow Gold on the 5 board with a bunch of speed. BTW-the Igniter felt and looked better with the 3000 on it.

https://i.postimg.cc/vmPd5Bcw/2021-02-02.png (https://postimages.org/)

[boatman37]

Ran into another buzzsaw. Story of our season. A 194 average kid rolled a 740 and they had another 175 average bowler roll a 630 or so. We lost all 3 by a ton

My night started good. Actually hit the pocket most of the night but left 5 7 pins, which is alot for me. I can't complain about my game as my shots looked very good. Left a few 9 pins too. Ball would brush them and they wobbled but wouldn't fall. Game 2 was a real struggle. Hit the pocket but no strikes. I tried moving in but if I missed by a little I left bad leaves.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZRM0sPYb/2021-02-09.png (https://postimages.org/)

[boatman37]

So Tuesday night is position round for the end of our 2nd 3rd. We are in last place in an 11 team league so have a 'bye' and we are far enough back that we can't move up no matter what happens.

I used to only target the 7ish board and when I tried to move in I got pretty erratic with my aim. Now I am good at the 10-12 board but anything inside of that and I get uncomfortable so my plan is to throw all 3 games inside the 12-13 board and even in tighter too. Like I said, scores won't matter because even if we win all 7 points and the 10th place team loses all 7 we will still be pretty far back. Good time for a practice session

[Ryster]

So Tuesday night is position round for the end of our 2nd 3rd. We are in last place in an 11 team league so have a 'bye' and we are far enough back that we can't move up no matter what happens.

I used to only target the 7ish board and when I tried to move in I got pretty erratic with my aim. Now I am good at the 10-12 board but anything inside of that and I get uncomfortable so my plan is to throw all 3 games inside the 12-13 board and even in tighter too. Like I said, scores won't matter because even if we win all 7 points and the 10th place team loses all 7 we will still be pretty far back. Good time for a practice session

Scores matter for average, and winning games is still important for point money at the end of the season. During sanctioned league, a bowler should always bowl to the best of their ability.

Our team already won one of the four quarters on our league earlier this season, so we are ineligible to win another quarter (a team can only win one quarter...this is how they make sure there are four teams in the finals at the end of the season). However, we still work hard to make sure we win as many games as possible for point money. After a very slow start to the third quarter we have worked our way up to the point where we are only 5 games out of first with 3 weeks left in the 3rd quarter. We started the season just trying to win a quarter. Now, it is all about point money until the finals on the last night of the league!

[boatman37]

Scores matter for average, and winning games is still important for point money at the end of the season. During sanctioned league, a bowler should always bowl to the best of their ability.

Our team already won one of the four quarters on our league earlier this season, so we are ineligible to win another quarter (a team can only win one quarter...this is how they make sure there are four teams in the finals at the end of the season). However, we still work hard to make sure we win as many games as possible for point money. After a very slow start to the third quarter we have worked our way up to the point where we are only 5 games out of first with 3 weeks left in the 3rd quarter. We started the season just trying to win a quarter. Now, it is all about point money until the finals on the last night of the league!

Oh I'm competitive and want to get my average to 200 but we have no chance of making it out of last place. I think if we even doubled our points we'd still be in last. And I'm not purposely tanking to raise my handicap. I'm still hoping for a 600 minimum but this would be a good chance to work on my weak areas.

We finished the 1st 3rd 1 point above last place and this 3rd we are so far down I don't think there is any way we could not be in last when we total up the whole season.

For this 3rd here is what we have:
1st - 64-6
2nd - 49-21
3rd - 45-25
4th - 40-30
5th - 40-30
6th - 37-33
7th - 32-38
8th - 31-39
9th - 30-40
10th - 26-44
us - 13-57

We can get 7 points/night. 2 points per game and 1 point for total score. Oddly, in the past 3 seasons my team was always around top 3 or 4 and we had 16 teams then. I have never been on a team that has been beat up this bad. Granted we lost some good bowlers due to COVID and threw some new teammates in there and my wife (106 average) so we weren't expecting to be that good.

But yeah, definitely not sandbagging, just 'practicing'. I had a mental thing about playing way outside and was erratic anywhere inside the 7 or 8 board. Worked on the 10 board and am now comfortable and consistent there but still struggle inside of there. I need to spend a night targeting the 15-20 board to get comfortable with it. I 'try' it at points through the night but throw a good one then the next misses my mark by 3 or 4 boards and we are desperate for wins so I revert back to my comfort zone. So I'm going to work on getting comfortable there and figuring that out.

[Ryster]

On our league we bowl for 15 points per night. Scratch league. 3-man teams. 1 point if you beat the bowler lined up against you head-to-head, then another 2 points if the team wins total for the game. 5 points possible per game x 3 games.

[boomer]

oh you got a match-point league? Oh so jealous! Those are so much fun!

Well, I'm also jealous that you get to BOWL . . . but also, now, for having a match point league. :)

[Ryster]

Hopefully Newsom will let the CA bowling centers reopen soon!

The match point league is really fun. It is a great group of people!

[SRB57]

Both leagues I am in have a 40 point system. 5 point a game team and 1 point per game individual plus totals . You can move a lot in a short time with this system. It is a handicap league and sometimes I will spot 70 pins a game and all it takes is one of them guys to get a little warm and it is tough to win. Scratch leagues are very rare now in my area. I go to have fun but still completive. I do not get upset anymore. Steve

[boatman37]

So 'practiced' tonight. We had a 'bye' for position round but to get the points you have to be within 50 pins of your average each game (team average). We lost the first game and won the next 2 and total pins to go 5-2. I tried to bowl good but my primary concern was working on issues. One issue was my hop, second issue was my inconsistency and uncomfortability playing the inside. Another issue was I stop about 3' before the foul line so tonight I moved my starting point up about 2' to finish closer to the foul line. Hop is still there but seemed to get better with it. Moving closer to the foul line seemed to help with my accuracy and spares.

I targeted the 15 board the first 2 games with an occasional 17 board shot. Got pretty consistent with it but very over/under. If I missed by 1 board inside it went Brooklyn, 1 board outside and it was a very light hit, usually not even getting back to the head pin. But my point was to get comfortable and consistent with it.

So rolled a 463 and didn't even have a double until the 10th frame of the last game. And I was still trying to score good.

Be interested in seeing if this helped. The over/under thing I'm hoping was just cause the lanes weren't burnt enough for that line to work? Sure I could have found a better line but that wasn't my point. And think I'm gonna try to get some help with my hop. I will continue to work on no step drills here at home but might get my wifes co-worker to come work with me. She is certified through Dick Ritger. Oh, and I used the Uppercut all night except a few times I threw the Conspiracy just for comparison. Didn't see much difference.

https://i.postimg.cc/J0Shshf1/2021-02-16.png (https://postimages.org/)

[RobLV1]

Just out of curiosity, why do you post your same scores on two different threads each week? I'm sure 521 is not your new best series! LOL

[boatman37]

Just out of curiosity, why do you post your same scores on two different threads each week? I'm sure 521 is not your new best series! LOL

I thought about that too but what I was doing was just a summarization under the scores topic and more detail here. Things like what I tried or what I struggled with. Adding the scores was just extra but if it is a problem I can quit adding them here

[J Daisy]

So 'practiced' tonight. We had a 'bye' for position round but to get the points you have to be within 50 pins of your average each game (team average). We lost the first game and won the next 2 and total pins to go 5-2. I tried to bowl good but my primary concern was working on issues. One issue was my hop, second issue was my inconsistency and uncomfortability playing the inside. Another issue was I stop about 3' before the foul line so tonight I moved my starting point up about 2' to finish closer to the foul line. Hop is still there but seemed to get better with it. Moving closer to the foul line seemed to help with my accuracy and spares.

I targeted the 15 board the first 2 games with an occasional 17 board shot. Got pretty consistent with it but very over/under. If I missed by 1 board inside it went Brooklyn, 1 board outside and it was a very light hit, usually not even getting back to the head pin. But my point was to get comfortable and consistent with it.

So rolled a 463 and didn't even have a double until the 10th frame of the last game. And I was still trying to score good.

Be interested in seeing if this helped. The over/under thing I'm hoping was just cause the lanes weren't burnt enough for that line to work? Sure I could have found a better line but that wasn't my point. And think I'm gonna try to get some help with my hop. I will continue to work on no step drills here at home but might get my wifes co-worker to come work with me. She is certified through Dick Ritger. Oh, and I used the Uppercut all night except a few times I threw the Conspiracy just for comparison. Didn't see much difference.

Your scores on a bad day are still much better than mine usually, haha.

I'm curious to know what prompted you to move closer to the foul line, and what the usual distance from it is. I usually end up about a foot from it. Is that bad?

[J Anderson]

Your scores on a bad day are still much better than mine usually, haha.

I'm curious to know what prompted you to move closer to the foul line, and what the usual distance from it is. I usually end up about a foot from it. Is that bad?

Boatman37 moved up because he realized he was stopping about 3’ from the foul line.

To stop a foot from the line isn’t horrible but it’s not ideal either. Most coaches will say you should shoot for between 2” and 6” from the line. The farther you stop from the line, the harder it is to clear that first 8”-12” of lane that doesn’t get oiled, the more energy the ball will lose before hitting the pins, and harder it will be to hit your target.

[boatman37]

Boatman37 moved up because he realized he was stopping about 3’ from the foul line.

To stop a foot from the line isn’t horrible but it’s not ideal either. Most coaches will say you should shoot for between 2” and 6” from the line. The farther you stop from the line, the harder it is to clear that first 8”-12” of lane that doesn’t get oiled, the more energy the ball will lose before hitting the pins, and harder it will be to hit your target.

I knew I was stopping short but never thought much of it. Last night I got there early and was doing no-step drills at the line and realized how much more clear and closer everything seemed to be so moved my starting point up a couple of feet. My spare shooting seemed to be better for some reason. Maybe it was psychological but I just felt better and more confident with it. I still probably stopped about 1' away though. My 2nd step is a baby step, basically just right next to my first step then I try to make my last step my longest stride so my 4 step is probably closer in distance to a 3 step. I had been staring at the 2nd set of dots 1/2 way to the foul line. Now I'm about 2' in front of that, maybe 5' from the foul line now

[J Daisy]

That's very interesting, guys. I'll try to pay more attention to my starting and stopping position this weekend, and see what happens if I get to a couple inches of the foul line. Thanks for sharing your insights.

[J Anderson]

That's very interesting, guys. I'll try to pay more attention to my starting and stopping position this weekend, and see what happens if I get to a couple inches of the foul line. Thanks for sharing your insights.

You may also want to any side to side variations. Your slide foot doesn’t necessarily have to end up on the same board it started on, but if for example it winds up two boards left on your first throw it should almost alway wind up about two left.

[J Daisy]

You may also want to any side to side variations. Your slide foot doesn’t necessarily have to end up on the same board it started on, but if for example it winds up two boards left on your first throw it should almost alway wind up about two left.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks. It's so hard for me to draw that line between thinking and overthinking, so we'll see how this goes.

[boatman37]

Much better night. Really didn't feel like going and if I had a fill-in I probably wouldn't have went. Started with the Uppercut and tried focusing on where my ball dropped off the deck. Lanes were a little dry so added some speed. Right lane was a little drier than left so I was a little further inside on that lane. My accuracy wasn't great but I had some miss room with my lines and was getting great carry. Game 2 my accuracy got a little worse and struggled to strike. Luckily I kept it clean the first 2 games. Game 3 started with 2 strikes then missed a 6 pin after tugging it then next frame missed a 7 pin to the inside. Those were my only 2 opens all night. After that I switched to the Igniter and slowed my speed back down a little. First frame with it I stayed on my same line but the ball went pretty straight and deflected but still struck. After that I moved back outside to about the 7 board to increase my angle. Strung together 7 in a row until the 12th frame left a 2-7 baby split. I focused on watching the ball drop off the deck and when I saw it start drifting left too far I made an adjustment or ball change. Pretty happy with how it went. Real happy with my spare shooting other than those 2 opens. Rolled a 691. That is my 2nd highest ever behind my 725 a few months ago.

We had some high scores on our pair tonight so not getting too hyped with my scores.

Our team:
me 190 average rolled 691
teammate 185 average rolled a 635

other team
186 average rolled a 668
197 average rolled a 682
188 average rolled a 620

We won the first game but lost the next 2. We beat our average every game but the other team smoked their averages the 2nd and 3rd games. They beat their averages by about 100 each of those 2 games.

I had high series on our pair so happy with that.

Had 61% strikes (21/34) and 83% spares (6/6 multiple pin and 4/6 single pin).

Rolled 245, 202, 244

On another note a guy threw his first ever 300 tonight.

[boatman37]

Hardest 596 I think I ever bowled. Had to work for every pin. We bowled a pretty good team and won the first game by 84. Lost game 2 by 22 and lost game 3 by 3. We won total pins. My wife killed it. Got a new best. Her previous best was 147. She bowled a 168 tonight and had a 441 (147 average). She threw a 4 bagger in game 3. Her average was 108 at the start of the night.

So I started with the Uppercut but didn't have much miss room but I was pretty consistent so it was working. Game 3 I switched to the Igniter but couldn't hit my mark until about the 4th or 5th frame. Finished that game pretty strong but the damage was done by then. I rolled a 194, 214, and 188 (596). My timing and balance felt a little better tonight but some shots I seemed to get a little more rotation than others so I think that was my biggest issue tonight. Teammate rolled a 670.

Our top average bowler rolled a 300 in the pair next to us tonight. I think it's his 2nd this season in this league. He has about a 231 average.

Overall I'm ok with a 596 tonight. Seemed like I was much worse than that. Felt more like a 550. We have a bye next week. We still need to be within 50 pins of our average to get the points so not a day to sandbag.

Talked to one of the guys in my league that bowled in the same tournament I am planning to bowl in 2 weeks. It's a local tour and he said they are using sport patterns at all of them now. When I bowled it they had been using a house pattern and the one I was in was the first time they used a sport pattern. We were on a 47' Scorpion. So looks like I will be hitting a sport pattern for only my 2nd time ever...lol

[boatman37]

Another tough night. Struggled to hit the pocket. Lanes were a little wetter than usual but not bad. I was on the couch all weekend unable to walk or stand due to back injury. Went to chiropractor yesterday. Back didn't bother me tonight so not blaming my struggles on that. I targeted from the 7 board to the 15 board and even tried a couple across the 20 board in warmups. Nothing worked well. Biggest issue was me, not the ball or lanes. Left 4 splits which is about 3 more than I usually leave.

173, 197, 157 (527)

[boatman37]

Back to league bowling after that tournament. Still sore. Fingertips sore, knee, feet and back all sore. Started with the Uppercut and was standing a little more straight up and down since I was sore. Actually felt better and hit my mark pretty consistently. Didn't seem to have as many revs but was consistent. Unfortunately my spare shooting was horrendous.Didn't help that we were getting smoked and my teammate was drunk and spilled his beer on me and the score sheet. Seems to be a habit. Luckily it didn't get on my shoes.

Early in game 3 Uppercut started grabbing too hard so pulled out the Igniter. Did good with it too. Only had 15 strikes on the night but would have been much better if I ha made spares. It was just hard to focus. The waitress spilled a pitcher of beer when bringing it over to my teammate then he spilled his cup of beer all over the table. On top of that we had to sit at the back table tonight and I usually struggle when we sit that far back because I can't watch whats going on and I like to be focused and watch everyones shots. Told one of the league officers tonight that I'm gonna be a free agent after this years and looking to change teams.

Oh well, on to next week.

[Ryster]

Back to league bowling after that tournament. Still sore. Fingertips sore, knee, feet and back all sore. Started with the Uppercut and was standing a little more straight up and down since I was sore. Actually felt better and hit my mark pretty consistently. Didn't seem to have as many revs but was consistent. Unfortunately my spare shooting was horrendous.Didn't help that we were getting smoked and my teammate was drunk and spilled his beer on me and the score sheet. Seems to be a habit. Luckily it didn't get on my shoes.

Early in game 3 Uppercut started grabbing too hard so pulled out the Igniter. Did good with it too. Only had 15 strikes on the night but would have been much better if I ha made spares. It was just hard to focus. The waitress spilled a pitcher of beer when bringing it over to my teammate then he spilled his cup of beer all over the table. On top of that we had to sit at the back table tonight and I usually struggle when we sit that far back because I can't watch whats going on and I like to be focused and watch everyones shots. Told one of the league officers tonight that I'm gonna be a free agent after this years and looking to change teams.

Oh well, on to next week.

I don't blame you for wanting to join a different team. I probably would have found an excuse to quit long before the end of the season if I had teammates like that. In fact, during the summer leagues I will pre-bowl for weeks where we are bowling other teams that are heavy drinkers and/or slow bowlers.

Sounds like the bar needs to do a better job of cutting people off as well. Our center is guilty of that too. They serve people all night to the point of people getting totally sloshed (stumbling, slurred speech, etc.) When confronted about it, the center simply says there is really "nothing they can do about it." Tell that to the liquor control board and see how much longer you have a liquor license. There is a difference between someone having a couple of bottles over the course of 2.5 hours, as opposed to some people getting 4-5 pitchers of beer delivered in the same time frame. Especially when they are not ordering food along with it.

[boatman37]

Rough one. Lanes were flooded for everyone. Conspiracy at 1500 wouldn't bite so used the Uppercut then early in game 3 grabbed my old Kingpin from the back room (500 grit). It actually worked best of anything I has tried and wished I had pulled it out earlier.

Hard to say about the oil. Mistake or actual sport pattern? Outside the 10 board and it went straight. Balls wouldn't hook until about 5' before the pins. I threw about as slow as I could tonight. Spent most of the night targeting the 15 board and going pretty straight. Once I switched to the Kingpin I moved back to the 10 board and that was working pretty good. Spare shooting was tough because picking up an 8 pin for me usually means I aim towards the 7 and it hooks into it. Tonight you almost had to aim at it. Threw my spare ball at the 7 and it had no hold. We saw quite a few gutters tonight cause if you got too far out it would just slide off.

We won 2 of 3 games tonight so that was good.

[boatman37]

Another struggle. Rolled 576 but not sure how. My accuracy was good on my strike ball but lanes were weird. Speaking of weird...asked the owner what oil pattern they used last week. He said same as always. I told him how wet they were and he said they were the same as always. So not sure what that was about. So tonight found there was miss room to the outside early on. It dried up quick and now if you got too far out it came back in hard. I weakened my release quite a bit tonight and was hitting the pocket pretty consistently but not alot of carry. Spare shooting was a struggle again. I really need to trust myself. I was 4/5 on 7 pins so that was good but a few spares I missed my mark by 5 boards at the arrows. Left a 2-4-7 and my ball rolled over where the 3 pin would have been. Not even close.

Used the Uppercut first 2 games then the Igniter. Usually when I switch to the Igniter it hooks a couple of boards less. Alot of time I can move back outside and hit the pocket nicely but tried that and went Brooklyn both times. Moved in to the 10 board and threw 4 in a row then. I did freshen up the Igniter yesterday but should have been the same as it was. Had about 8 games on it before that. Ball was hooking pretty hard on the backend.

Next week I'm going to focus on trusting myself on my spare shots.

Tonight, 180, 200, 196 (576)

[Ryster]

The GM at our center is also pretty tight-lipped about the pattern. Usually when people inquire about the lanes, especially when they seem really different than usual, the response is "it is always the same shot". Once in a blue moon he will talk about tweaking or experimenting with a new type of oil or length of pattern, but for the most part it is always "the same shot". We are pretty certain that is not the case when we notice a drastic difference, but for some reason the GM will insist it is. Sometimes I wonder if the mechanic forgets to select the correct pattern in the lane machine or something.

[RobLV1]

Bowling proprietors must laugh themselves silly when every time a house bowler doesn't score they come running and start questioning the oil pattern. Back in the days of wooden lanes and plastic or rubber balls, the oil pattern was all there was. Today, with synthetic lanes and overly reactive bowling balls, the oil pattern is just one small part of the equation. The panels that make synthetic lanes are less than 1/2" thick and they are anchored to wooden support beams. Any change in humidity or temperature will cause the lanes to shift causing differences in topography from one lane to another. Once bowlers can learn to recognize lane topography bases on how their balls react on specific parts of the lane, they will free up their thinking and raise their averages. It's as simple as that!

[boatman37]

Bowling proprietors must laugh themselves silly when every time a house bowler doesn't score they come running and start questioning the oil pattern. Back in the days of wooden lanes and plastic or rubber balls, the oil pattern was all there was. Today, with synthetic lanes and overly reactive bowling balls, the oil pattern is just one small part of the equation. The panels that make synthetic lanes are less than 1/2" thick and they are anchored to wooden support beams. Any change in humidity or temperature will cause the lanes to shift causing differences in topography from one lane to another. Once bowlers can learn to recognize lane topography bases on how their balls react on specific parts of the lane, they will free up their thinking and raise their averages. It's as simple as that!

Don't think it was that Rob. I heard 2 of our top bowlers that were in the lane next to us talking about how they were using their strongest balls and slowed their speed and they still wouldn't turn. It wasn't just a few guys, I probably heard 15 guys mention it and it was extreme compared to normal. I went to my strongest ball and moved about 3 boards left and slowed my speed about 2 MPH just to get to the pocket. Last night was much closer to our usual.

[RobLV1]

Last night was much closer to our usual.

If you never THINK that again, you'll be a much better bowler. Your "usual" only exists in your head because it makes you feel comfortable!

[J Anderson]

If you never THINK that again, you'll be a much better bowler. Your "usual" only exists in your head because it makes you feel comfortable!

I like Norm Duke’s saying, “I play where the lane tells me to play.”

[RobLV1]

I like Norm Duke’s saying, “I play where the lane tells me to play.”

Amen to that!

[boatman37]

Heard that before. But about 90% of the time I'm between the 5 and 10 board for our THS. That night to be there I had to be about 3 boards left of where I would normally stand. Doesn't sound like much but being 3 boards left means my ball was pretty much going straight at an angle to the pocket. No hook. I ended up most of the night closer to the 15-17 board and going straight. Me being a lefty and 99% of my bowling in our Tuesday night THS I don't usually have to move much. I do try other lines but usually end up back near the 10 board.

Rob, if you remember a year or 2 ago I was always around the 7 board and you kept saying get closer to the 10 and I said I couldn't because my accuracy suffered? Well I forced myself and now am very comfortable there...lol. I even got comfortable in at the 15 too so have that option if I need it...lol

[boatman37]

Tonight was a disaster all around. I had a throbbing headache but it went away shortly after we got there. We were bowling one of the higher average teams tonight. Lanes were wet in the middle, not bad around the 10-12 board but were very dry outside the 10. Our high series tonight for our team was 546 and he has a 201 average. I was 2nd high at 520. Lanes weren't the issue as the other team rolled 670, 564, 539, 578 and 707. Their worst was barely better than our best.

I feel like a rookie when shooting at spares like I have no idea what I'm doing. Pretty sure at this point it's a confidence thing.

Now on to the other team...ugh. They have 2 guys that are just ridiculous. One guy had about 5 balls up there and has to wipe off at least 2 before and after each shot. Even when it isn't his turn he is standing at the return wiping all of his balls down and getting in the way. He does this every week. And when he wipes them I mean he wipes each one for about a minute. He spends almost the entire night standing at the return wiping balls. Then another guy is very impatient and won't wait. The first ball of game 1 I threw and as I turned around he was at the foul line beside me. He had to have started his approach after I took my 2nd or 3rd step. Then he walked up to grab his ball when my teammate was starting his approach. Teammate told him he would appreciate it if he didn't do that again. Then at a couple of times they had 4 of their 5 guys around the return while we were bowling. Both guys I mentioned spend an excessive amount of time wiping their balls down so as 2 of their guys were bowling those 2 were up there wiping their balls down. I don't think they do it on purpose. Oh and the 2nd guy...after he releases his ball he stands up and watches it but takes about 3 steps right and ends up in the lane next to him so you can't go until he is out of the way. Frustrating enough to bowl bad and lose but to have to deal with this all night just makes it worse

I'm wondering if it is a case of 'playing down to the competition'? Really it's mainly me and my one teammate that are in the higher score range and seems we feed off of each other. So when one of us does good the other does good. My wifes average is 111 and his wifes average is 147. His average is 184 and mine is 190. If he bowls bad I'm wondering if I bowl down to the rest of the team? Partially that and partially that I know if he struggles we will probably lose. With such a low team average we all have to be on point to get a win. We have the lowest team average in the league by quite a bit. Our team average is 833 for 5 of us. Our 5th bowler(s) alternate. The one that bowled tonight has pre-bowled every week because of his job so we haven't seem him all season. The other has a 201 average too but seems to usually roll a 250 then 2 170's.

[Ryster]

Tonight was a disaster all around. I had a throbbing headache but it went away shortly after we got there. We were bowling one of the higher average teams tonight. Lanes were wet in the middle, not bad around the 10-12 board but were very dry outside the 10. Our high series tonight for our team was 546 and he has a 201 average. I was 2nd high at 520. Lanes weren't the issue as the other team rolled 670, 564, 539, 578 and 707. Their worst was barely better than our best.

I feel like a rookie when shooting at spares like I have no idea what I'm doing. Pretty sure at this point it's a confidence thing.

Now on to the other team...ugh. They have 2 guys that are just ridiculous. One guy had about 5 balls up there and has to wipe off at least 2 before and after each shot. Even when it isn't his turn he is standing at the return wiping all of his balls down and getting in the way. He does this every week. And when he wipes them I mean he wipes each one for about a minute. He spends almost the entire night standing at the return wiping balls. Then another guy is very impatient and won't wait. The first ball of game 1 I threw and as I turned around he was at the foul line beside me. He had to have started his approach after I took my 2nd or 3rd step. Then he walked up to grab his ball when my teammate was starting his approach. Teammate told him he would appreciate it if he didn't do that again. Then at a couple of times they had 4 of their 5 guys around the return while we were bowling. Both guys I mentioned spend an excessive amount of time wiping their balls down so as 2 of their guys were bowling those 2 were up there wiping their balls down. I don't think they do it on purpose. Oh and the 2nd guy...after he releases his ball he stands up and watches it but takes about 3 steps right and ends up in the lane next to him so you can't go until he is out of the way. Frustrating enough to bowl bad and lose but to have to deal with this all night just makes it worse

I'm wondering if it is a case of 'playing down to the competition'? Really it's mainly me and my one teammate that are in the higher score range and seems we feed off of each other. So when one of us does good the other does good. My wifes average is 111 and his wifes average is 147. His average is 184 and mine is 190. If he bowls bad I'm wondering if I bowl down to the rest of the team? Partially that and partially that I know if he struggles we will probably lose. With such a low team average we all have to be on point to get a win. We have the lowest team average in the league by quite a bit. Our team average is 833 for 5 of us. Our 5th bowler(s) alternate. The one that bowled tonight has pre-bowled every week because of his job so we haven't seem him all season. The other has a 201 average too but seems to usually roll a 250 then 2 170's.

Unfortunately, dealing with certain characters is half the challenge at bowling anymore. Ideally, it would be great to go in and have everyone follow traditional bowling etiquette and be respectful of everyone else. That isn't the reality anymore at bowling or society in general. There are 2 or 3 teams on our summer league that have absolutely no respect for anyone. Our whole team pre-bowls for those weeks and avoids dealing with it. Whenever confronted by other teams or the bowling center about complaints against their team, the team goes out of their way to behave even worse and brags about the fact that they are engaging in behavior that other teams have requested they tone down. Very mature.

With regards to bowling equipment, we have a guy on one of our leagues that will keep track of how many balls are on the return and will not hesitate to approach the other team and demand that people remove equipment. His usual argument is that "I have had my ball damaged by other people's bowling balls when they slam in to each other on an overloaded ball return. Please make sure you have only one ball on the return because I don't want my ball damaged!" I guess he doesn't think damage ever happens from repeatedly throwing the ball down a 60ft lane, having it crash in to 33lbs worth of pins, slam in to a mat, then get routed through a channel, picked up by a belt and pulley system, and pushed through a chute. This same person also has to inform his opponents that he does not want people walking up along side of him because he was trained by the Army to be keenly aware of his surroundings. This makes him very sensitive to movement in his peripheral field of view and when people walk up on the approach while he is bowling it is highly distracting.

[J Anderson]

. We were bowling one of the higher average teams tonight.

I feel like a rookie when shooting at spares like I have no idea what I'm doing. Pretty sure at this point it's a confidence thing.

Now on to the other team...ugh. They have 2 guys that are just ridiculous. One guy had about 5 balls up there and has to wipe off at least 2 before and after each shot. Even when it isn't his turn he is standing at the return wiping all of his balls down and getting in the way. He does this every week. And when he wipes them I mean he wipes each one for about a minute. He spends almost the entire night standing at the return wiping balls. Then another guy is very impatient and won't wait. The first ball of game 1 I threw and as I turned around he was at the foul line beside me. He had to have started his approach after I took my 2nd or 3rd step. Then he walked up to grab his ball when my teammate was starting his approach. Teammate told him he would appreciate it if he didn't do that again. Then at a couple of times they had 4 of their 5 guys around the return while we were bowling. Both guys I mentioned spend an excessive amount of time wiping their balls down so as 2 of their guys were bowling those 2 were up there wiping their balls down. I don't think they do it on purpose. Oh and the 2nd guy...after he releases his ball he stands up and watches it but takes about 3 steps right and ends up in the lane next to him so you can't go until he is out of the way. Frustrating enough to bowl bad and lose but to have to deal with this all night just makes it worse

I'm wondering if it is a case of 'playing down to the competition'? Really it's mainly me and my one teammate that are in the higher score range and seems we feed off of each other. So when one of us does good the other does good. My wifes average is 111 and his wifes average is 147. His average is 184 and mine is 190. If he bowls bad I'm wondering if I bowl down to the rest of the team? Partially that and partially that I know if he struggles we will probably lose. With such a low team average we all have to be on point to get a win. We have the lowest team average in the league by quite a bit. Our team average is 833 for 5 of us. Our 5th bowler(s) alternate. The one that bowled tonight has pre-bowled every week because of his job so we haven't seem him all season. The other has a 201 average too but seems to usually roll a 250 then 2 170's.

On the spare shooting I agree. Half the battle is figuring out a system that works for you. The other half is practicing enough that it becomes automatic. With some of the kids that I coach it drives me crazy. They will hit 5 or 6 ten pins in a row, dead center, and then completely whiff three or four. Also, with some of us, if we are getting a lot of strikes we start missing easy spares. Other times, like when it feels like you’re shooting your twentieth ten pin of the night and you’re only halfway through the second game you start missing them.

I doubt if you’re playing down to the competition. More likely it’s that the season has ceased being fun.

Sounds like the other team needs a talking to from the league officials. One bowler with 5 balls on the rack? Starting an approach before the other bowler has finished his shot? All five bowlers standing right behind the approach? I hope it’s a case of relative newbies who are more used to open bowling than league bowling. These are all pretty serious violations of lane courtesy. I know that right now both centers and leagues are wary of saying anything that might cause a bowler, or a team to quit, but if these guys act like this every week you’re going to have other teams dropping out because they don’ want to put up with this nonsense.

[boatman37]

On the spare shooting I agree. Half the battle is figuring out a system that works for you. The other half is practicing enough that it becomes automatic. With some of the kids that I coach it drives me crazy. They will hit 5 or 6 ten pins in a row, dead center, and then completely whiff three or four. Also, with some of us, if we are getting a lot of strikes we start missing easy spares. Other times, like when it feels like you’re shooting your twentieth ten pin of the night and you’re only halfway through the second game you start missing them.

I doubt if you’re playing down to the competition. More likely it’s that the season has ceased being fun.

Sounds like the other team needs a talking to from the league officials. One bowler with 5 balls on the rack? Starting an approach before the other bowler has finished his shot? All five bowlers standing right behind the approach? I hope it’s a case of relative newbies who are more used to open bowling than league bowling. These are all pretty serious violations of lane courtesy. I know that right now both centers and leagues are wary of saying anything that might cause a bowler, or a team to quit, but if these guys act like this every week you’re going to have other teams dropping out because they don’ want to put up with this nonsense.

No these guys have been around for awhile. The 2 main culprits are in their 70's and have been league bowlers for years. But the V.P. is on that team. I get along great with him and most of his team. And for clarification, he didn't have all 5 balls on the upper rack. We have lower racks and he had a few there and then a few in ball cups on the floor behind the return. But after every shot it was like musical balls, shuffling them around and constantly wiping each one.

As far as my spares, I used to be a good spare shooter in my previous bowling life. Not so much strikes though. Now my strikes are much better but spares suffer

[boatman37]

A little better but not great. Bowled a top team (PSO and owner are on this team and like 4 of the top 6 or 7 average guys in the league are on this team). First game their scores were from 279 to 221. Yeah, their low game was 221. PSO shot a 752 and their other guys were 656, 657, 706, and 652...lol. We were getting 201 pins each game and they still crushed us all 3 games. Our series were 458, 310, 661, 586 (me), and 551.

So I wanted to focus on spares tonight and I definitely had my chances there since I didn't strike much...lol. Used the Uppercut the first 2.5 games and had issues with consistency. Moved in to about the 12-13 board and liked that line but I kept missing to the inside and going Brooklyn. 7th frame of game 3 switched to the Igniter and moved out to the 7 board and threw 5 of 6 strikes. Overall I was happy with my spare shooting even though I missed a few easy ones. Those were due to my inconsistency and not because I felt lost. Still not happy with my bowling but tonight was a little step in the right direction. Tournament this Sunday so wish me luck.

Tonight: 180, 192, 214 (586). Running average 190.5

[boatman37]

So tonight was a little better. Had a clean game and almost had 2. Strike ball was good too except the 1st game. That one was a struggle. I started with the Uppercut but couldn't hit my mark consistently. 1st game was a 169. 2nd game switched to the Igniter and moved out to the 7 board and that did the trick. 2nd game was 215 and would have been clean if I hadn't just missed the head pin on a 1-3-6. 3rd game was 237 clean. Even though game 1 was a struggle I'm still happy with the end result. Had a 621 and it was my first 600 since 2/23 (691). I did have a couple of 570's, 580's and 590's in there. We won 2 out of 3 against the 3rd place team too.

I think we only have 2 weeks left and I'm not bowling summer league so hope to make the most of the last 2 weeks

[boatman37]

Another decent night. Struggled a little in game 2. Spare shooting definitely getting better. 2 weeks in a row with a clean game and almost had 2 clean ones tonight.
Started with the Igniter playing up the 7 board. That worked for about 1.5 games but the left lane was much wetter than the right. Left lane was coming in light and right started coming in too high. Moved in to the 10 board and that worked for a few frames but still different reactions on each lane. Tried in at the 15 board but in the right lane the ball was still coming in too hard so midway through game 3 started using the Igniter in the right lane and the Uppercut in the left lane. 10th frame went ahead and used the Igniter in the wetter lane too and just adjusted a board left and got 2 strikes to start the 10th. Scores were 199, 167, 221 (587).

We bowled a decent team tonight and won game 1 by 45 pins but lost game 2 by 18 pins. Game 3 was tight but they pulled away in the 10th and won that one by about 40 so we got 2 of 7 points. Next week is position round and our last week. Not sure what all the other teams did yet but don't think we can get out of last place.

One teammate rolled a 620 (202 average). Another had a 513 (184 average). I was just about right on my average. Oddly I had 17 strikes but I had to work for all of them. Never found a good line with miss room. Got quite a few Brooklyns too but those were my fault. Had to keep my speed up on the right lane cause it was pretty dry.

EDIT: just looked at my stats from last night and I had 6 doubles but no turkeys. That just shows how hard strikes were last night

[boatman37]

Well standings are updated and we are 8 points below the next to last place team and we can only get 7 points a night so we are in last this 3rd also. Same as the last 3rd. I think we finished next to last the 1st 3rd. Oh well. Since we have 11 teams and next week is position round we basically have a bye next week and it doesn't matter how we do. But my plan is to try my best to get as high of a score as I can

[boatman37]

Finished the season last night. Went pretty good overall but missed a few spares that I shouldn't have. Happy with my adjustments though but wish I had figured it out a little sooner. Took me until close to the end of game 1 to figure it out. Couldn't find a good line/ball combo in warmups and went 3/3 on 7 pins in warmups. I never use the Uppercut out around the 7 board cause it is typically too dry there but tried that near the end of game 1 and that was the line. Had some miss room and as long as I kept my speed up it was good. But if I hit the 8 or 9 board it was going Brooklyn so needed to be closer the the 6-7 boards.

203, 214, 233 (650)

Spares missed were a couple of 7 pins that I dropped into the gutter 2 washouts, a 5-10 split, a 4 pin I missed to the inside, a 3-5 chop and a 4-7 that I missed into the gutter again. Should have covered at least 1/2 of those for an extra 30 or so pins.

On the adjustment note I started game 2 with the Igniter but it had very little angle to the pocket and left 3 corner pins in a row so I grabbed the Uppercut, which I knew would have a steeper entry angle and that fixed the corner pin issue.

Threw 21 strikes on the night so that was good and it was my best series since 2/23

[boatman37]

Felt good about my adjustments but missed too many easy spares. Strike ball was on point. More detail in the results thread.

198, 233, 191, 220 (842)

Started game 2 with the front 6 then a pocket 7 (covered) then a pocket 4-6-7-8 then a pocket 7-9. Switched back to the Igniter in 5th frame of game 4 after struggling the first 4 frames then threw 6 in a row after that