Ten Minutes of Practice

[billf]

My first ball usually goes in the gutter and is accompanied my lots of snapping, popping and cracking. If it's my home center I just care about getting loose. I already know how the lanes will play.
Visiting center or PBA league, I try to find my margin of error and will often start with my strongest ball and go down from there.

[Greenday]

For the two leagues I'm doing right now, I just mainly throw strike shots. I know how these lanes play. They oil the alley from right to left. So if I'm on a pair all the way on the right, I start with the Sync. If I'm more towards the middle-right, I start with the IQ Pearl. If I'm on the left, I use my Frantic. I'd say I'm able to predict which ball is right the first time about 95% of the time. Practice time is all about just loosening up for me. Then once we get down to 3 minutes left, I'll shoot a couple ten pins.

Other than that, I rarely if ever practice my spare shots. I don't see the point during league practice time. I slow roll the ball for the 4 and 7 pins. I cross-lane for the 10-9-6 pins. All other single pin spares (1-2-3-5-8) just involve small moves with the feet and hitting my regular strike target with a normal strike ball. Those take no effort and I'm not going to waste practice time when I could be practicing finding a more efficient move to the pocket that won't require a spare shot. Anything complicated as far as spare shots go and I waste too much practice time figuring out how to make it.

[dnhoffman]

Honestly, I usually get to the lanes about 30 minutes early and bowl a game on a lane that's just gotten oil and loosen up.

I like to get my release loose (my first 2 shots i always loft...) shoot a 7 and a 10 one frame, strike shot a few times, and then when practice comes I'm ready for the important part: watching everyone else.

This has been the hardest part for me, watching the lane transitions, and other players lines. I bowl once on each lane and then just watch the others so I know who's going to be throwing a similar line and who to watch during the game.

[billf]

Honestly, I usually get to the lanes about 30 minutes early and bowl a game on a lane that's just gotten oil and loosen up.

My center doesn't allow any bowling on oiled lanes before league starts. They shut down the lanes 30 minutes prior and oil. Being a small 12 lane house all the leagues take up all the lanes. They even re-oil after the morning and after the afternoon leagues. It's nice always having fresh oil to start with. Being 60 year old wood though it transitions real fast.

[noeymc]

i throw one ball at the ten one at the 7 the rest all over the lane trying to look for different angels i can play i know where i can strike from the first game later in the night is what i am looking for

[vdubtx]

I just throw strike balls. I typically only get 4 shots total so it is mainly just to loosen up. First 2 are to get loose if possible and read the way the ball reacts. Then the next 2 are using what I saw to find a quick line. Usually works out pretty well.

I liked how we got our practice in at Nationals. Our team would throw one ball and whether it stuck or not, you would go to back of the line. That way all get a chance to throw at full racks and spares on tough shot.

[dnhoffman]

My center doesn't allow any bowling on oiled lanes before league starts. They shut down the lanes 30 minutes prior and oil. Being a small 12 lane house all the leagues take up all the lanes. They even re-oil after the morning and after the afternoon leagues. It's nice always having fresh oil to start with. Being 60 year old wood though it transitions real fast.

Bummer! Our house is 24 lanes, and I've not started there this summer... I wonder if during fall leagues ill have the same issue (because we have a lot more bowlers and leagues going simultaneously)

I know the original intent of this thread was probably the 10 minutes during tourneys, but ya... I guess I don't really need a game of warm up on house shot anymore... I know within a board where my feet and target need to be on almost all Kane's there (wood too.. So a few of them play much different)

[J Anderson]

i throw one ball at the ten one at the 7 the rest all over the lane trying to look for different angels i can play i know where i can strike from the first game later in the night is what i am looking for

I know that bowling has some religious roots But I didn't know that angels were directly involved. Maybe that's my problem. I've been trying to figure out which angle to play

[dnhoffman]

Angels are what get you X's, without angels you're lucky to get a diagonal

[noeymc]

its a common word in the lanes i bowl in so =P


67 degreees is the best way to go btw