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

[Mike White]

GET a knee replacement and a urethane bowling ball for the dry lanes... second thought,,, THINK seriously before you let Anyone cut on you. So many natural supplements that can help! 3 right off the bat that will help. MSM,,, (read about it), magnesium, potassium, and K-2.... that's four, but remarkable! I use to have knee pain 3 years ago,,, but now feel like a 30 year old greek god!

Stay away form sugar!!!!!

use stevia when needed, eat REAL organic foods, and pure water, juice like ICEMAN everyday!!!

seriously try changing your eating habits.... Sugar DOES cause inflammation, the root of most PAIN!!

I actually feel stronger, and in better health now then when we met last September!

Can you wear shoes yet, or do you still bowl in sandals.

30 year old greek gods only wear sandals when they are in Greece.

[Tony]

Can you wear shoes yet, or do you still bowl in sandals.

30 year old greek gods only wear sandals when they are in Greece.

Being that Podunk is a long way from Greece, the normal bowling shoe is the high top biker boot style.

[Aslan]

3 right off the bat that will help. MSM,,, (read about it), magnesium, potassium, and K-2.... that's four, but remarkable! I use to have knee pain 3 years ago,,, but now feel like a 30 year old greek god!

Okay, lets table the sugar issue for now...but lets say I decide to try the MSM and K-2. Where's a good place to get that kinda stuff? Is that like GNC kinda thing?

I'm leary on Potassium and Magnesium because for awhile I was taking in a large amount of Calcium due to a program I heard on the radio claiming that diets extremely high in Calcium tend to promote all kinds of positive health effects and longevity. Unfortunately...that led to kidney stones. Apparently the pretend doctor on the radio left that part out.

[Amyers]

Okay, lets table the sugar issue for now...but lets say I decide to try the MSM and K-2. Where's a good place to get that kinda stuff? Is that like GNC kinda thing?

I'm leary on Potassium and Magnesium because for awhile I was taking in a large amount of Calcium due to a program I heard on the radio claiming that diets extremely high in Calcium tend to promote all kinds of positive health effects and longevity. Unfortunately...that led to kidney stones. Apparently the pretend doctor on the radio left that part out.

Isn't K-2 "synthetic marijuana"? Pretty sure that's even illegal here. I'm pretty sure that if that is what it is should clear your knee pain right up and anything else that hurts. lol

[Aslan]

Isn't K-2 "synthetic marijuana"? Pretty sure that's even illegal here. I'm pretty sure that if that is what it is should clear your knee pain right up and anything else that hurts. lol

I'm well ahead of you on that one. If K-2 is simply marijuana...then I already got that and am taking it regularly. And yes, it's 100% legal...I have a little ID card with my picture on it and everything...given to me by a medical doctor in good standing. Granted, he wore slippers and looked a lot like the comic store owner from the Simpsons cartoon...but lets not go there.



I even tried to "bowl high" thinking it might solve my issues with "being too much inside my own head"...but it really messes with my balance on the approach and at the foul line so I no longer bowl high purposely. I sometimes underestimate how long a high will last...and end up bowling the first game or two high...but that's something I try to avoid.

Funny bowling/pot related story. I recently participated in a Pro Am with the PBA50 and I was really, really nervous being around some of my bowling idols. WRW wasn't there at that event, but PBIII was as well as other PBA50 greats. Well, I got there really, really early so I decided to go out to my car and smoke just a little bit to calm my nerves...and one thing people may or may not know about Pete Weber is; he smokes...a LOT. I think just cigarettes...so don't start a scandal or call TMZ or anything...but nearly every break Pete was outside in the smoking area puffing away. And for a moment...I kinda thought it would be cool/interesting to roll up a joint and go over there and just smoke with Pete. I mean, maybe he'd be totally cool and ask to take a hit. But, I decided while there was a 15% chance Pete would take a hit...and a 55% chance nobody would notice and Pete wouldn't care/mind if I was smoking a J near him....I figured there was a 30% chance it could get me in trouble...and I was too nervous anyways...I didn't want to add to the anxiety by risking it.

The PBA is really cool and interesting because most major sports...you don't have that kind of access to the athletes. I got to bowl with John Burkett and I tried to ask each of them one question...but if I could have asked John B. a second question, it would have been what its like to go from a sport like baseball where there is a line of police and stadium personnel between you and the adoring fans...versus bowling where you're in line with the fans at the snack bar. John B. was probably the quietest of all the Pro-Am guys/gals I bowled with that weekend (I did 2 pro-ams that weekend...the first one I bowled with M. Parkin, Sean Rash, and a few lesser known West Regional PBA guys). I think he's still adjusting to fans being so intimate with him.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Sean Rash...that guy is out of control. My daughter won't admit it..but I think she has a crush him. If I see him again, I'm gonna try and get him to autograph an 8x10 or something for her. Sean was bowling against Action Jackson during warm-ups...taking Action Jackson's money. Then he was goofing around during introductions. When he was bowling with my group, he spent a lot of time talking to my daughter and joking around. By the end of the bowling...and this is 100% truth...he actually was walking around the place with no shirt on because he agreed to auction it off for the charity auction.

[Tony]

Seems like the Asylum is a pretty tough ball to throw on dry lanes, too bad you didn't have something made for med to dry with you. I might even be tempted to throw my spare ball if facing those conditions without a lower powered ball.

I had knee problems and surgery was suggested but my second opinion guy insisted that physical therapy would have a good chance of success, The top exercise was leaning against the wall knee bends. As I worked more and more on them it strengthened the muscles enough that the knee pain was minimized and to this day have never had the surgery. That was over 10 years ago.
If you haven't and are able to see a non surgical physical medicine Dr. ( Physiologist) it could potentially be helpful depending on the type of damage you have.
Since that point I have avoided a couple of other potential surgeries and been more comfortable that the surgeries I have had were truly medically needed.

[Aslan]

@Tony: Agreed Tony. I actually saw a physical therapist and he gave me a handful of exercises to do. I kinda stopped doing them recently but I guess I need to get back to it.

Wednesday League Night: medium-oil synthetics, typical THS.

607 Series: 186-210-211

Struggled out of the gate again...but not as bad as the score would indicate. That would have been a 195 had I not missed a single 10-pin in the 9th.

GAME ANALYSIS: During practice 2 weeks ago, my league night yesterday, and the first game (above)...I've really been struggling with my inside line. I've been trying to play around 11.5-13...essentially trying ride the oil line...and I'm just not getting much movement downlane. If I get lucky, it hits the pocket and collapses the pins...if I miss a board right or a board left...it seems to go through the nose. If the goal of league bowling is to find a ball/line combination that allows you the most miss room...what I was trying to do was NOT working. I also notices that sometimes...most of the time...if I missed more than 1-3 boards right...I actually struck with power.

SO...I moved back outside. I know Rob is a big proponent of playing inside and MikeW almost out of necessity must move inside to counter his rev rate...it just seems to me that with my ball speed....I need to be around 2nd arrow. Am I concerned that playing out there my ball will lose energy and hit light? Absolutely. I don't like shooting endless 10-pins any more than anyone else. But playing around 3rd arrow...it's just not working. Maybe I need MORE angle...rather than playing the line...move more left and try to bowl to the breakpoint...but that's something I can work on with Rob when I'm out in Vegas next month.

Game 2 I left a 1-8 in the first frame...but was clean the rest of the way and struck out in the 10th to take a share of the skins sidepot ($40).

Game 3 that outside line (8.5 board) started to break down a little so I had to make some minor adjustments as Game 3 progressed. The only open frame was a missed 6-10 in the 6th frame.

PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 9.20 pins
Strikes: 48% (1 4-bagger, 1 turkey, 3 doubles, and 4 singles)
Spares: 82% picked up

Single Pin spares: 87% (7/8)
Most common single-pin leaves: 10-pin (4x)
Never left a single 1-pin, 3-pin, 4-pin, 6-pin, 8-pin, nor 9-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 77% (7/9)
Most common multi-pin leaves: 6-10! (4x).

Splits: 100% (1/1)

Average over 3 games: 202.33.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 205.67.

Anytime I can break 600 it's a good night of bowling. Winning $40 on top of it is just icing on the cake. Unfortunately, the rest of my team is God awful...except for one kid that apparently has decided to sandbag as much as possible in the 3 weeks leading up to Vegas. I mean, how can the guy who has thrown a 697 series come in last night and throw a 392? I mean, sure, thumbless bowlers are generally more up and down than traditional bowlers...but 100 point swing per game? Gimme a break.

I plan on practicing tonight. I'd like to do 12 games and work on both spare shooting and experimenting with aiming for a breakpoint rather than the dots...but with my knee being questionable...I think I'll just do 7.

[Amyers]

Aslan maybe you need to adjust that line to get the ball outside of ten earlier from the third arrow so it hits more dry boards and has a chance to hook back. You can have a break point at 7 from 15 just as easily as you can from 10.

[Aslan]

Aslan maybe you need to adjust that line to get the ball outside of ten earlier from the third arrow so it hits more dry boards and has a chance to hook back. You can have a break point at 7 from 15 just as easily as you can from 10.

Yeah. That's one of things I got to look at when I see Rob in a couple weeks. I think my speed is prohibiting me from moving too far left of center. Generally if I get inside of 14...and/or my feet get left of 22...I start to have some real problems getting the ball to come back to the pocket. But, what I want to try in practice...I was hoping tonight but I might skip it and practice this weekend instead so I can watch the Lions game....is to aim for the breakpoint rather than the dots.

Generally on a 35ft pattern, rule of 31, the breakpoint is going to be at the 4 board. If it's more like a 37ft pattern then the 6-board. My current way of aiming at the dots, the ball doesn't seem to ever actually get to that breakpoint.

But at the next practice, assuming the knee is in good shape, I want to spend 1-3 games trying:
1) A 3- step approach, super-simplified, just to see how I bowl when I take out the approach variability.
2) Aiming for the breakpoint rather than the dots/arrows.
3) 2-point targeting for corner pin leaves.

I don't have high hopes for any of those to actually end up being incorporated into my game...but maybe I'll at least learn some things in the process.

[Mike White]

Yeah. That's one of things I got to look at when I see Rob in a couple weeks. I think my speed is prohibiting me from moving too far left of center. Generally if I get inside of 14...and/or my feet get left of 22...I start to have some real problems getting the ball to come back to the pocket. But, what I want to try in practice...I was hoping tonight but I might skip it and practice this weekend instead so I can watch the Lions game....is to aim for the breakpoint rather than the dots.

Generally on a 35ft pattern, rule of 31, the breakpoint is going to be at the 4 board. If it's more like a 37ft pattern then the 6-board. My current way of aiming at the dots, the ball doesn't seem to ever actually get to that breakpoint.

But at the next practice, assuming the knee is in good shape, I want to spend 1-3 games trying:
1) A 3- step approach, super-simplified, just to see how I bowl when I take out the approach variability.
2) Aiming for the breakpoint rather than the dots/arrows.
3) 2-point targeting for corner pin leaves.

I don't have high hopes for any of those to actually end up being incorporated into my game...but maybe I'll at least learn some things in the process.

A 1 step approach is simplified, because you wait for the ball the reach the top of the back swing.

A 2 step, and 3 step are probably the least simplified, there isn't a good feeling to know when to start.

As for having trouble moving in...

If the ball doesn't react well when you move in, you've probably moved in too far.

If the ball isn't going high to begin with, moving in isn't the proper adjustment.

The rule of 31 really doesn't apply to house shots where you want to exit the pattern near the edge of the oil line.

40 foot, 10 to 10, you exit at about 8-9, 37 foot 10 to 10, you exit at about 8-9.

For you, accuracy (by playing the oil line) far out weighs angle of entry on a house shot.