In between styles but a tournament is coming up Friday

[ursus]

Here is my take, for what it is worth (probably not much). If you don't stick to one style you never going to get any good at it. You will always find an excuse to switch over for a temporary period and then switch back (tourney coming up, we are playing a really good team in league this week, etc.). My advice is, if you really want to play in the tournament, play in the style you just commited to and payed good money for a coach to help you out in and take what that gives you. It may mean you don't get as immediately as high of score as you might have, but it will be some good experience for you to play competively in the style the coach helped you out in and you might just see some marked improvement.

[RoccoRock]

I've taken the advice here, and my ideas, and what I bowled today into consideration, and I came to a desicion. I quit First let me say this, I have heard the stick with one thing line plenty. My friends tell me all the time. My responce is Tom smallwood, Osku Palermaa, and even Tom Daughtery. All bowl either no thumb, or partial thumb for strikes, and put there thumb all the way in for most spares. That's honestly where I think I'm headed. I did do a little of both today, and the results were mixed for no thumb, and horrible for thumb. When I missed with my thumb in, I missed by 5-7 boards, and it was 5's, and 6's. When I missed without my thumb, it was by fractions, maybe a board here ot there, and lots of 9's. Because my spare ball it sort of in between, I missed too many easy spares when I was shooting those without my thumb. I'm going to do one more practice day before Friday, and I am going to bring my other spare ball, and do exaclty what I said, strike ball no thumb, spare ball thumb in, and see what happens. Just keep in mind, I love bowling, I do it for fun, and belive it or not, messing around with different styles during an off season is fun for me. I'm never going to be all that good, I'm never going to be able to compeate at any high levels no matter what style I use, hell I don't even think I'll be good enough to bowl sport patterns. The issue just came up with the tournaments because there's 2 coming up at my favorite lanes, and friends are bowling them and they want me to do it too, and I want to do it. I totaly forgot they were coming up when I "commited" to putting my thumb in. In the end, it doesn't matter, cause the best hour of my day is when I'm at the lanes, during my lunch hour, basicly getting paid to bowl. Hey, does that make me a profesional!

[jimlc2001]

I understand the difficulty to change Rocco. I really started bowling 6-7 years ago, but I threw the back-up style. Two years later I used the summer and switched to a no thumb release. A year or two later, I switched to thumb in with the proper rotation. Every year that I changed my release, I got worse before I improved. It also took me a good 3 months before I felt comfortable adding a wrist brace. Since you say this is more for fun, I would stay with the style that you feel most comfortable throwing for the tournament. Personally, I would have stayed with the no thumb release--tons of revs--but that style tore up my knee and I had to make the switch.

Good luck on your tournaments with whichever style you use.

[RoccoRock]

I do realize there are contradictions in a lot of the things I say, and do, but that's common territory for me. I say I just want to have fun, but I want to bowl well enough to win this tourney. On other posts I have talked about being a two hander, then a few days later I am back to one hand. A few weeks ago, i totally ruled out one hand no thumb, now that's back in play. I guess it's just what kind of mood I wake up in. For instance, this morning I'm thinking of what I am doing wrong with my thumb in, and how to correct it, and thinking of bowling a few games thumb in today. Of course, all night last night I was thinking of what I did wrong with my thumb out, and how to correct that, and I was thinking that's what I want to do today. I'm like, the Bi Polor Bowler. That should have been my screen name!

[RoccoRock]

Did what I said I would do today, bowled no thumb, with the two balls I have drilled just for no thumb bowling. I bowled the best I have in months. 627 in a 3 game series, 798 in a 4. with my handicap, the 4 game series would have been around 1000, and in the history of this tourney, 1000 almost always gets you paid. The first game I threw the plastic spare ball as the strike ball the first 4 frames, then took a few frames to adjust with the reactive ball. As far as I'm concerned, for me, the debate, and identity crisis are over.

[RoccoRock]

[jimlc2001]

Good luck on the tournament! Let us know how you perform.

[RoccoRock]

Thanks, but it looks like, afer all that, I am not doing the tournament. Not only is it going to be on an oil pattern I never bowled, but they don't announce the pattern until just before the tourney, making it impossible to research it. Also it's even more exspensive than I though. Add to that, I called the tournament directer today to get some info on the tourney, left a message on the machine, and no one called me back. I may do a Sunday tourney instead. When I called them for info today, they actualy talked to me, and gave me the info I was looking for. It's on Shark, which I've never bowled on either, but it is much cheaper. No matter what, even if don't do either tourney, at least trying to prep for them has helped my find myself.