Aslan's Scores (of the non-lady kind)

[Mark O]

Nice bowling man, congrats on your first sanctioned 600!

[RobLV1]

Nice bowling! I knew you could do it.

[vdubtx]

Good bowling Aslan. Congrats on your first sanctioned 600. Once you get that first one out of the way, more are sure to come.

[Aslan]

Nice bowling! I knew you could do it.

Thanks All.

I'm holding off on the confetti until I roll a decent series Tuesday. I hate getting super excited about my progress only to roll a couple 119 games the following Tuesday.

The problem all last year was I knew I needed to fix some things...like timing and my push-away and my approach/footwork. But I knew in the back of my mind...that even IF I fixed all of things...my release was too inconsistent to be successful. The wrist brace seems to alleviate that problem. It doesn't mean I'll execute every time or hit my mark 100% of the time...but at least if I DO execute and hit my mark...the result should be the same (or similar). And that really helps in a lot of ways. For example...it's a lot easier to know how to adjust my target/feet if I'm confident that the lane conditions are the variable in the equation. Simple scientific methodology is to only change one variable in an experiement at a time. With my release being a variable...I never really knew what was working and what wasn't.

So now I gotta try to get the same consistent release withOUT the brace...thats gonna be the goal of practice tonight. But...if it doesn't work...I'll keep wearing the brace until I can get it to work.

[vdubtx]

So now I gotta try to get the same consistent release withOUT the brace...thats gonna be the goal of practice tonight. But...if it doesn't work...I'll keep wearing the brace until I can get it to work.

As you well know, consistency is not going to come over night. Keep working at it. Keep working with the brace and when you are consistent with it, then try without it. Enjoy the highs and the learn from the lows.

[RobLV1]

Thanks All.

I'm holding off on the confetti until I roll a decent series Tuesday. I hate getting super excited about my progress only to roll a couple 119 games the following Tuesday.

The problem all last year was I knew I needed to fix some things...like timing and my push-away and my approach/footwork. But I knew in the back of my mind...that even IF I fixed all of things...my release was too inconsistent to be successful. The wrist brace seems to alleviate that problem. It doesn't mean I'll execute every time or hit my mark 100% of the time...but at least if I DO execute and hit my mark...the result should be the same (or similar). And that really helps in a lot of ways. For example...it's a lot easier to know how to adjust my target/feet if I'm confident that the lane conditions are the variable in the equation. Simple scientific methodology is to only change one variable in an experiement at a time. With my release being a variable...I never really knew what was working and what wasn't.

So now I gotta try to get the same consistent release withOUT the brace...thats gonna be the goal of practice tonight. But...if it doesn't work...I'll keep wearing the brace until I can get it to work.

As I told you, my coach was watching me bowl one day and came up to me and said these exact words: "Close your eyes, hold out your right hand, and don't argue with me." After doing what I was told, he placed a Mongoose on my hand. As promised, I didn't argue, at least until we were on the golf course the next day. When I told him that wearing the brace would prevent me from staying behind the ball the way I wanted to, he replied, "I wear one, and you've seen me bowl." (as have you). The next day I averaged 228 for four games wearing the brace. The only time that I take it off now is when I really want to reduce my rev rate for a specific lane condition.

[Tony]

Nice bowling !

[Aslan]

Thursday Practice: medium oil synthetics

Warm-Up Game: (didn't really keep score; 157 I think)

505 Series: 170-175-160
First 3 games I tried without my wrist brace. Game 1 I had a couple opens.. Game 2 I had a couple opens. Game 3 I had a few opens.

553 Series: 178-184-191
I put the wrist brace back on since it appeared like on about every 3rd shot I was not getting good axis tilt.

Arguably Useful/Non-Useful Statistics:
First Ball Average: 8.50 pins
Strikes: 33% (5 doubles and 12 singles)
Spares: 70% picked up

Single Pin spares: 87% (14/16)
Most common single-pin leave: 7-pin (5x).
Never left a single 1-pin, 5-pin, 8-pin, nor 9-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 60% (15/25)
Most common multi-pin spare leaves: 6-10 (3x).

Splits: 25% (1/4)

Average over 6 games: 176.33.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 180.17.

Strikes just weren't there. I was hoping I could work on my release a bit to maybe alleviate having to wear the brace. But I guess that'll take some time. With the brace on, the scores weren't heads and tails above what they were with it off…but about 50 pins and much better strike rate and first ball average. In the final game I only got less than a 9 count on the first ball once. And if I pull it…it goes brooklyn…if I push it right it'll still likely come back into the pocket…just light.

Still had some thumb issues. The Encounters seem to stick on my hand…not because the holes are too snug with tape…but perhaps it's something like the thumb position. Those two balls (and my Slingshot) are drilled Bill Hall Tri-Grip. From what I remember, that slightly alters the angle of your thumb. Well, that angle may be contributing to the ball getting hung up on my hand. Or it may just be that I no longer throw the tri-grip balls very much (with my new progression system) so I'm just not used to them. And it might be that my thumb is just a bit over-worked. 4 straight days of bowling.

[Aslan]

Tuesday Pre-League Practice: medium oil synthetics

Warm-Up Game: didn't really keep score.

490 Series: 158-161-171
A LOT of single-pin spare problems in all 3 games.

527 Series: 136-214-177
Three 'okay' games. I was kinda rushed since league was about to start.

Arguably Useful/Non-Useful Statistics:
First Ball Average: 8.72 pins
Strikes: 35% (1 turkey, 2 doubles and 16 singles)
Spares: 57% picked up

Single Pin spares: 61% (11/18)
Most common single-pin leave: 10-pin (6x).
Never left a single 1-pin nor 6-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 54% (12/22)
Most common multi-pin spare leaves: 3-10, 1-2-8, and 4-7.

Splits: 42% (3/7)

Average over 6 games: 169.50.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 180.50.

No improvement over last week's practice. Not sure what was 'off'. But single-pin spare shooting was off. I had to change my targets by a board on the quarter pins. Not sure why.

[Aslan]

Tuesday League Night: medium oil synthetics

454 Series: 171-139-144

Game 1 was actually pretty solid; only opened on a 6-7 split in the 5th then a 5-10 split in the 10th.

Game 2 I left back-to-back 4-6 splits in the 2nd and 3rd frames and chopped a 3-6-10 in the 4th and had to ball down on both lanes. And switching to the Encounter on the one lane proved problematic because of thumb fit being too tight. I had to take a bunch of tape out…then it was way too lose. Four open frames in that game; but in fairness, 3 frames were splits.

Game 3 was more of the same. A 5-7 split in the 1st that I picked up and I then proceeded to strike EVERY time on that lane. The more aggressive Encounter with the thumb-hole fixed…I had a perfect line and my release was good. On the OTHER lane, I eventually dropped down to the less aggressive Encounter, but just couldn't find my line. Ended up with 4 opens on 5 shots on that lane including a 2-7-8 split in the 2nd, a chopped 3-6-10 in the 6th, a 4-6-7 split in the 8th, and then my only single-pin miss on a 10-pin in the 10th.

PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 8.35 pins
Strikes: 29% (1 double and 7 singles)
Spares: 47% picked up

Single Pin spares: 83% (5/6)
Most common single-pin leaves: 4-pin and 10-pin (2x each).
Never left a single 1-pin, 2-pin, 3-pin, 5-pin, 8-pin, nor 9-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 33% (8/15)
Most common multi-pin leave: 3-6-10 (4x).

Splits: 12% (1/8)

Average over 3 games: 151.33.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 155.33.

We played the 'dry pair' closest to the facility entrance which are always noticeably drier. As is evident by the 3-6-10 leaves and number of splits…I was having trouble staying right of the headpin. Not a problem I usually experience in this house. My adjustment on single-pins from practice seemed to work.

I predicted a 160s average in this center and a 190s average in my Wednesday night center and currently it's 163/183. Not a 30-point spread just yet…but significant nonetheless.