I don't think league is for me..

**Keithalw** · 11-01-2012, 05:55 AM

Maybe they arent oiling the lanes right talk to alley manager or move houses

**Ball99999** · 11-01-2012, 06:16 AM

Yeah it's really weird. One alley I can really get reaction and I can repeat shots. The other the ball just goes straight...

**bowl1820** · 11-01-2012, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by Ball99999

Ok maybe I'm just anti social but a lot of stuff they do makes me..uncomfortable. But it's expensive and I always suck on league days.

Does anyone just do tournaments?

What do they make you do in league, that makes you uncomfortable?

If league is too much, a tournament won't be any easier.

And if you think a league has a weird oil pattern, just wait till you bowl a tournament were you have to move a pair lanes every game.

You start on a hard fresh tournament pattern and by the end of the day your bowling on a pair of lanes. That have been tore up by 40 other guys already. You sure better know how to adjust.

**AZBowla** · 11-01-2012, 12:52 PM

League was a shock to the system the first time I tried it. I was a fairly confident (and somewhat cocky) bowler who was averaging around 160 or so on open bowling so I thought league would be easy. My first league night, I threw 6 strikes in a row in practice which made me REALLY think I was invincible, followed by probably the worst game I've thrown in my adult life and two others that sucked just as badly. To this day I still suck at reading the lane, but in open bowling there's not much to read because they're so dry. In league, not so much since they just oiled 'em. Being a lefty I've got a bit of an advantage in that not everyone else is going to be tearing up my line but that's still not enough to make up for suddenly having to figure out what's going on on TWO lanes instead of one, plus keeping track of when it's your turn, which lane you're on, what the oil is doing, what the ball is doing, what YOU'RE doing, etc. It really kicked my butt the first time I tried it and I ended up quitting a couple weeks later because I too didn't like it, mainly because I was sucking at it and felt like I was embarrassing myself for $15 a week.

Now that's I'm getting back into the sport again, I'm going to approach league night with a whole different attitude. I'm going to be there to have fun, make some new friends and hopefully improve my game. I'm not going to go in there with the mindset that I'm going to score the highest or win something, that way I won't be disappointed when I don't. I'd say stick with it, especially if you want to do tournaments. Open bowling makes for lousy tournament practice because you're bowling on dry lanes and your ball will react totally different than it will in a tournament where the lanes have been freshly oiled with some god awful sport pattern that we open bowlers will fail miserably at. At least with leagues you can get used to bowling in fresh oil which can only help you in tournament play.

**Zothen** · 11-01-2012, 02:33 PM

Are you in a 9p or 6p league? 6p leagues should have oil where as the 9p leagues you usually have 0-very little. Also they may put you on lanes that have been used by people during open bowling. You will not have oil like the PBA unless you join a sport league.

You can try 1 of 3 things! Try standing on the 15 board and throw your ball up the 5 board and see if their is oil on your ball or you could try slowing everything from your approach to your armswing down,giving your ball time to build up friction. You could always change the surface of your coverstock. Talk to your pro shop and see if he can recommend surface change that might help you.

Zothen

**panbanger** · 11-01-2012, 03:23 PM

What do they do that makes you uncomfortable?

I'm not sure that strictly doing open bowling and tournaments is a good idea. Many tournaments require you to have an average from a sanctioned league in order to compete in it.

**J Anderson** · 11-01-2012, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by Ball99999

It's part pressure, part a weird oil pattern I think.

But $15 a week bleh. How much do tournaments usually run?

We're coming up to our local USBC annual tournament. Cost is $30 per bowler per event. Events are 5 person team, doubles, and singles. Anyone who wants to bowl doubles must also enter the singles event and likewise anyone entering the singles must also find a doubles partner. You can bowl in just the team event, but if you're not in a league where do you find four teammates? Many tournaments, if you do not have a sanctioned average, will make you bowl scratch.

**Ball99999** · 11-01-2012, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Zothen

Are you in a 9p or 6p league? 6p leagues should have oil where as the 9p leagues you usually have 0-very little. Also they may put you on lanes that have been used by people during open bowling. You will not have oil like the PBA unless you join a sport league.

You can try 1 of 3 things! Try standing on the 15 board and throw your ball up the 5 board and see if their is oil on your ball or you could try slowing everything from your approach to your armswing down,giving your ball time to build up friction. You could always change the surface of your coverstock. Talk to your pro shop and see if he can recommend surface change that might help you.

Zothen

What's 9p/6p?