Just me and JAnderson holding down the BBoards fort!! Everyone else is golfing or fishing.
Summer League
Won all 4 points last week which moves us up to the middle of the pack. "On paper", we're probably the 4th most talented team out of around 10-14 teams. Lots of low-average teams in this league...teams where a 150 average makes you their anchor.
Week 5
671 Series: 220-215-236 (clean)
X, X, X, X, 9 -, X, X, X, 9 /, 6 2.
Decided to start with the Perfect Mindset (PM) for the rest of the summer. The Zen Master Solid (ZMS) and PM are just too similar in power and too different in symmetry to be able to ball down seamlessly. I actually added some surface to the PM...2000/4000...to see if I couldn't get it to bite just a little bit earlier and maybe carry better. Seemed to work well. Just pulled a shot in the 5th and left a 3-pin (which I pulled the shot trying to convert it...so, insult to injury). I got a stone 8-pin in the 9th. And then I missed way right in the 10th and left a 1-2-4-10 washout that I couldn't convert.
9 /, X, 9 -, X, X, 9 /, 9 /, 9 /, X, XXX.
Started to struggle with carry...probably waited to long to adjust inside.
9 /, X, 9 /, X, X, 7 /, X, X, X, X 9 /.
Struggled with 7-pins early. Pulled a shot in the 6th and then missed right on the first fill shot of the 10th...but I kept things clean. First clean game in awhile and a nice end to the night...so I was happy.
PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 9.48 pins
Strikes: 63%
Spares: 75% picked up
Single Pin spares: 80% (8/10)
Most common single-pin leave: 7-pin (4x).
Never left a single 1-pin, 4-pin, 5-pin, nor 9-pin.
Makeable spares: 75% (9/12)
Multiple Pin spares: 50% (1/2)
Most common multi-pin leave: n/a
Splits: n/a
Average over 3 games: 223.67.
Average had I picked up all single-pin spares: 231.67.
Positives
- Much, much improved over the last two outings.
- Team played well, no unnecessary drama.
- A first ball average and strike rate over 60%...it's gonna be a good night!
- No splits!!!
- The alley is having a summer league promotion where there's a raffle at the end of the season...you get tickets each week based on different things you bowl. Usually I get 3-5 tickets per night...tonight I got 18!
- Highest series I've bowled in the summer league, including all of last season.
- 2nd highest series of 2025.
- 3rd highest series since moving to Kansas (June 2023).
Negatives
- I shouldn't be leaving 7-pins. I picked em all up, but still.
- Just lost my sandbagging edge...average will be 9 pins higher next week.
Gonna leave the ZMS in the bag the rest of the short summer season. Sometimes it works for me, but its been a challenging balling down between the ZMS and PM. First clean game in awhile and a nice end to the night...so I was happy. Should be a pretty decent high handicap series given my average was 179 at the beginning of the night. It'll be 188 next week.![]()
Last edited by Aslan; 06-05-2025 at 01:09 PM.
In Bag: (: .) Zen Master Solid; (: .) Perfect Mindset; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 195; Lifetime Average = 172;
Ball Speed: 14.2mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 201
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
Old guy with power (15.5-16; 325). Current arsenal--Storm Phaze AI, Storm Phaze II, RotoGrip Attention Star, Motiv Lethal Venom, Storm Mix (spare/dry). High sanctioned game - 300 (5). High sanctioned series - 856. A.V. 300-s - 8. Longest string - 25.
2024/2025 YTD highs--High game-288; high series-736
Or shooting...or rioting in the streets...however one chooses to spend their summer leisure time.
Yeah...kinda bummed Game 1 ended the way it did. Probably shoulda been a 245-246 game which woulda left me just shy of a 700 series.
I think I also benefitted from the other team forfeiting. This league has 3-4 really good teams and 8-10 absolutely horrible teams. If we bowl a good team, they suck up the resin on my line. If we bowl a terrible team, they push the oil all over the place. Our team only has 3 bowlers (4-person teams) and one is a lefty...so the pattern didn't push me around as much as it usually does.
In Bag: (: .) Zen Master Solid; (: .) Perfect Mindset; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 195; Lifetime Average = 172;
Ball Speed: 14.2mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 201
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
Summer League
Won all 4 points last week which moves us up to the middle of the pack. "On paper", we're probably the 4th most talented team out of around 10-14 teams. Lots of low-average teams in this league...teams where a 150 average makes you their anchor.
Last week I "made the paper" (league printout) with the 3rd highest scratch series, High handicap game, and High handicap series...with a 671 (scratch).
Week 6
689 Series: 238 (clean)-216-235 (clean)
8 /, X, X, X, X, 9 /, X, X, 9 /, X 7 /.
'Mostly' good shots...some luck...2nd ball in the 10th was WAY right...but I'll take a clean game anyday and twice on Friday/Wednesday.
X, 8 /, X, 8 /, 9 -, 9 /, 9 /, X, X , XX9.
The line was starting to burn up and I adjusted my shot vertically (target), but it was harder to maintain accuracy. Finally made a ball change in the 6th...but was plagued with a couple 7-pin leaves before getting back to striking.
X, X, X, 9 /, X, X, X, 9 /, X, 9 / 7.
A couple 10-pins, pulled a couple shots, but otherwise a sound performance.
PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 9.38 pins
Strikes: 58%
Spares: 91% picked up
Single Pin spares: 87% (7/8)
Most common single-pin leave: 10-pin (5x).
Also left a single 3-pin and 7-pin (2x).
Makeable spares: 91% (11/12)
Multiple Pin spares: 100% (4/4)
Most common multi-pin leave: 6-10 (2x)
Splits: n/a
Average over 3 games: 229.67.
Average had I picked up all single-pin spares: 233.33.
Positives
- Two straight weeks with no splits!!!
- The alley is having a summer league promotion where there's a raffle at the end of the season...you get tickets each week based on different things you bowl. I've now gotten 34 tickets in 2 weeks.
- Highest series I've bowled in the summer league, including all of last season.
- 2nd highest series of 2025.
- 3rd highest series since moving to Kansas (June 2023).
- TWO clean games!!
Negatives
- ONE 10-pin away from my first clean series...
- Average went from 179 two weeks ago to 195 next week. Losing my sandbagging edge rather quickly.
- I think my teammate stole $20 from my wallet.
I was kinda hindered in the first game because my left thigh was really 'tight'. By Game 3 I was loose and better balanced. The lanes played even drier than usual and I had to get the ball out on the lane a little further (sometimes much further) than I'm comfortable with.
Then, I go to pay for my soda during the 3rd game...and there was like $16 in my wallet. I was almost positive that I had a $20 in there. I seem to remember pulling a $20 out to pay lineage/dues and thinking to myself, "Okay, I got a $10, a $20, and some $1s left." Now, normally I wouldn't even think that a teammate would lift a $20 from my bag...but our team captain had to borrow $20 in week 1 (still hasn't paid me back) and is now trying to pay for himself and the prize fund for our vacant position...and there was a post-it on the envelope, from the desk, saying the one guy (who was our 4th for a couple weeks) still owed $40. I don't know. I gotta make sure I arrange for a different team next summer...before this guy comes around asking if I'm bowling with him again. I try to look at it biblically and say to myself...IF he stole it, "Obviously, he needed the $20 more than I did" and all that. But, I won't be bringing my wallet into the alley anymore this summer. I'll just carry my cash and a credit card in my shorts pocket.
Two clean games (now over 200 clean games in my career!!!)...I'll take that over a high score with an open any day.
Last edited by Aslan; 06-12-2025 at 01:09 PM.
In Bag: (: .) Zen Master Solid; (: .) Perfect Mindset; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 195; Lifetime Average = 172;
Ball Speed: 14.2mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 201
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
Two good weeks in a row 👍👍
John
Someone's on a tear!
Old guy with power (15.5-16; 325). Current arsenal--Storm Phaze AI, Storm Phaze II, RotoGrip Attention Star, Motiv Lethal Venom, Storm Mix (spare/dry). High sanctioned game - 300 (5). High sanctioned series - 856. A.V. 300-s - 8. Longest string - 25.
2024/2025 YTD highs--High game-288; high series-736
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