A strange thing happened on Tuesday...1st time in I can't remember how long...

[Aslan]

Might be anti-climactic given the title...but on Tuesday night, I used the same bowling ball for 28 straight frames.

I know, right? Who doesn't!??

Well, I don't. Of matter of fact...I can't recall the last time I used the same ball for that many frames straight.

Usually, I tend to have one of the following scenarios play out:

Scenario 1:
Ball #1 for 5 frames, then switch to Ball #2 and use that for 10-15 frames, then switch to my skid/flip ball.

Scenario 2:
Ball #2 for Game 1, then Ball #3 for about another Game, then my skid/flip ball for the 3rd Game.

Scenario 3:
Ball #2 for Games 1 and 2, then finish off Game #3 with ball #3.

BUT, in NONE of these scenarios...do I use the same ball for more than 2 games. And it's NOT a pre-planned thing. I NEVER go to the lanes saying, "I will switch to this ball here or that ball there." I switch when I leave certain "leaves". For example:

If I move left, and eventually start leaving 2-pin combos or flat 10s or the like...then I know it is time for a ball change. If I can keep moving left without ever leaving those type of leaves...I never make a ball change...because I don't "need" to.

So, the question is, WHY!!? Why didn't I need to? What was so special about this past Tuesday that I was able to last 18 frames with one ball?

I don't actually know for sure. My 'best guesses' are as follows:

A. The opposing team was terrible. At least 3 of the 5 bowlers threw straight balls up the middle. We gave this team about 276 pins of handicap.

B. While I started with my line near my teammates...I think I soon found myself inside of their "up and in" lines. They were playing "up and in" the 6-9 area while I was playing a nice, symmetric hook over 10-11.

So, it 'seemed' that I was further left than anybody I bowling against on my pair...rather than my usual situation where I'm battling it out with 4-6 other bowlers for that same 8-9 board up and in track. Thats all I can think of. Maybe, for the first time, I actually was the furthest player left?

It figures...I get a brand new 4-ball arsenal and only use 1 ball! When I finally did make a ball change in the 9th of Game 3...it was so much later than usual, I made the wrong ball choice. :(

[boatman37]

A few months back I rolled my best ever (725) and used the same ball the whole time and might have moved 1/2 board all night. Why? No idea. I'm a lefty and didn't have much action on my side. There was a no thumber on the other team that whips a high RPM shot. Last night I made it to the middle of game 3 before switching but I wasn't exactly tearing up the lanes either. I was able to hit the pocket and carry then suddenly started going through the nose so switched. Maybe a higher volume that night? Not sure. Usually I have to ball down near the end of game 2. Last night because I was sore from the tournament Sunday I was more upright at the line with less rotation so maybe that's why my line held up longer?

[Ryster]

I take 4 balls to bowling each week (3 performance balls and my spare ball.) We get 15 minutes of warm up/practice and will get lined up with one of my performance balls at that time. Rarely do I switch from that point forward, unless there is a 3 to 4 frame span where I cannot hit the pocket regardless of where I move on the lane. Usually I can keep up with the transition and just keep using the same ball all night. Our lanes start to transition very quickly in the middle of game 2 (breakdown), then by first half of game 3 transition again (noticeable carrydown, lots of hang spots), so we are constantly adjusting our feet and targets. Most bowlers on the league try to stay with the same ball, and there are a handful that change a few times per game and go back and forth between them all night.

[SRB57]

I am like Ryster. I take 4 balls 1 strong pearl asym. 1 weaker pearl Asym. 1 weaker solid Sym. and a plastic spare ball. Lately I have been taking a strong hybrid Asym. with some surface as they have had heavier oil. There are nights I never move and nights I move up to 10 boards. I can typically pick a good ball reaction in the 10 minutes of practice we get. This is a THS and is a matter of getting the ball to go through the pins good. You have to come up with your own process and stick to it and when you switch balls commit to it.

[Timmyb]

I'd say about 90% of the time I bowl with the same ball all night, and follow the transition. Does that make me weird?

[Aslan]

I'd say about 90% of the time I bowl with the same ball all night, and follow the transition. Does that make me weird?

Even if it did, I'd be violating site rules to point it out.

I'm simply pointing out that something "different" happened on Tuesday. I don't know what it was. It could have been the new ball. It could have been the strange competition. Maybe a combination of both. I don't know. It's just strange (for me) when you've bowled literally hundreds of league games and suddenly something happens that you haven't experienced before.

And when it finally happened, it was actually a terrible place for it to happen. I had struck on the right lane in the 3rd, 5th, and 7th frames...and was considering a ball change in the 9th...with only two frames left in the night.

AND...I was going to be switching to a ball I had never thrown on these lanes before...no matter what ball I chose to switch to.

Had I struck in the 8th, it would have been even HARDER to make the switch...because I'd have had to make the switch while on a 4-bagger...which is a gutsy move and one my teammates would not approve of.

[RobLV1]

A piece of advice: stop only looking at where other players are playing at the arrows, and start being aware of everyone's break point. Players may all be using different targets at the arrows, but because of angle differences, they may all be throwing at the same breakpoint. The lanes break down much more at the breakpoint than they do at the arrows just because there is more traffic at the breakpoint. I have a hunch that you never had to change balls because the other team was so bad that they were not hitting the breakpoint consistently.

[Aslan]

I have a hunch that you never had to change balls because the other team was so bad that they were not hitting the breakpoint consistently.

I have a hunch that you are right.

They (the other team) was throwing straight at the headpin...so they really weren't using a "breakpoint" as we would define it as that area 6-8 boards in from the gutter.

Now, to your point...my teammates were hitting the breakpoint...but 3 of them were going more "up and in"...between 6-9. The other guy is the slow-speed player and he was playing a line that was crossing me. I guess he was "inside" my line...but he was throwing weak equipment and really, really struggling. He wasn't really "inside" my line as much as he was "crossing" my line.

MY team seemed to be complaining that the lanes had "more oil" than usual. And, I "think" that what was happening was the other team wasn't breaking down the lanes the way they usually do...which was making it "appear" that the lanes were slick...when actually that wasn't the case.

I'm gonna try and pay more attention to the other player's lines the next 5 weeks. I haven't done that much this season. I also am overdue to check where my speed is at. I like to check my speed from time to time to see if it has moved up or down. I'm usually in the 15-16mph range...but sometimes I can creep down into the 14s or up into the 16s/17s.

[mc_runner]

I have a hunch that you are right.

MY team seemed to be complaining that the lanes had "more oil" than usual. And, I "think" that what was happening was the other team wasn't breaking down the lanes the way they usually do...which was making it "appear" that the lanes were slick...when actually that wasn't the case.

I'm gonna try and pay more attention to the other player's lines the next 5 weeks. I haven't done that much this season. I also am overdue to check where my speed is at. I like to check my speed from time to time to see if it has moved up or down. I'm usually in the 15-16mph range...but sometimes I can creep down into the 14s or up into the 16s/17s.

If they were bowling mostly at the headpin, it may have been a combination (particularly the slower teammate). The other team was probably pushing oil down the middle some depending on what they were throwing, and you guys had less breakdown on the right side breakpoint like Rob was saying. When this happens to me, I end up struggling sometimes hitting a "patch" of oil right before the pins after my ball is rolling off breakpoint...

[RobLV1]

In my league, the center forces us to bowl on one lane against another team bowling to our right or left with one vacant league between us. While initially this was a giant pain, it has ended up being a tremendous learning experience for those of us who view it as such. When three bowlers bowl three games on one lane, we are able to see just how fast the lanes change, and how other bowlers' lines affect our shot. Our team (trios) consists of one lefty, one high speed, high rev righty, and myself (medium rev, low speed, rev dominant). The other righty on the lane and me both have learned to pay attention to where the other is playing both at the arrows and at the break point. We have both become pretty adept at making both lateral moves and ball changes based on what the other is currently doing.

[Aslan]

I did an analysis not too long ago, to see where bowlers "lines" were. I think the problem is that on a 5-man team versus a 5-man team...it's very hard, if not impossible, to avoid playing on another person's line. I may have been able to do it last week...just because the other team didn't know how to bowl and wasn't playing the breakpoint...but in a usual situation, here is what I found:

For the purpose of this discussion/analysis,

"crossing the arrows" is the horizontal line from 1st to 7th arrow.

"releasing at" = foul line

"breakpoint" = back end area near furthest dark marker

Of 10 bowlers;

One bowler was releasing at 9, crossing the arrows at 9, and hitting the breakpoint at 6. He was the furthest right.

One bowler was releasing at 23, crossing the arrows at 18, and hitting the breakpoint at 11. He was the furthest left.

One bowler was releasing at 18, crossing the arrows at 16, and hitting the breakpoint at 10.

The other 7 bowlers were essentially releasing the ball between 12-14, crossing the arrows at 11-13, and hitting the breakpoint at 9-10.

Now, this 'data' was taken over warm-ups and one game...because amateurs don't always make good shots and I can only watch one person's ball movement at a time. And since typical league bowlers have about 2-4 boards of miss room...you're really looking at a sort of funnel shaped track is at it's widest at the approach between 8 and 24...narrows at the arrows to 8-19...then gets rather precise at the breakpoint to about 8-12.

So, while that may 'sound' like a small area when there are 60 boards and a lot of room out there untouched...what are your options to avoid that track?

1. You can go inside. But remember...you already have two rev dominant players around 15-20...so do you have the 'hand' and/or the ball to play the left side of the lane as a righty? I don't. As a speed dominant bowler...I'm dead in the water inside of 16.

2. You can go 1980s style and play the 0-8 boards. It's a gutsy play and I admire anyone who tries it. A forgotten art, in my opinion. No miss room to the right, thats for sure. But, again...do you have the equipment to play out there? In those days...balls weren't designed to start hooking in the pines...so you're gonna need a ball that can get out on the lane, no surface or coverstock that is gonna grab the lanes, and a core/RG that is patient enough to delay it's movement. Oh, and you also no miss room to the left...because 7 bowlers have torched the track. You also can't start at 8...unless you're in the 3rd game...because you're probably gonna need to move left a little as YOU burn up your line.

I "like" the challenge of playing first arrow. I just lack the accuracy and usually end up throwing at LEAST one ball in the gutter on a miss right.

What does all this mean? I don't know.

I'll try to be more observant of bowlers and their lines over the remaining 5 weeks of the season. Maybe I'll gain some insight from it. This was only my first attempt.

[J Anderson]

I don’t think it’s possible to release on board 9, cross the arrows at 9, hit the breakpoint at 6 and make it back to anywhere near the pocket. It would have to be like an Andy Varipapa trick shot where the ball starts to hook one way and then hooks the other. It’s more likely the ball was released at 9, crossed at 8, and then got out to 6.

[Aslan]

I don’t think it’s possible to release on board 9, cross the arrows at 9, hit the breakpoint at 6 and make it back to anywhere near the pocket. It would have to be like an Andy Varipapa trick shot where the ball starts to hook one way and then hooks the other. It’s more likely the ball was released at 9, crossed at 8, and then got out to 6.

Maybe...thats the other problem. I'm trying to see where a ball is moving from about 45 +15 +20 feet away while ducking my head around people who are moving around. Not like I have a drone or anything.