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

[J Anderson]

Thank you all. I thought about it some and while I don't think I crossed any lines, all my comments were positive, and I tried to highlight the performances throughout the season (many I saw in person as an avid watcher of PBA XTra Frame and a PWBA fan)...I also understand the point of view by Bowl1820 and the others. As I stated in the first sentence....it's one of those threads where I knew it was going to possibly go South quickly...so I wasn't surprised.

Yes, the site is a little quick on the trigger sometimes...but maybe thats why this place hasn't devolved into Yahoo chat or Xbox Live where Bowl1820 spends the majority of his time trying to clean up fake viagra ads and booting the countless 11-year olds that love to use the n-word. My only real hope is that the list didn't offend any of the actual people on the list...that was certainly not the intent. The fact that it made the prudes yell in unison "oh my!"...well...thats to be expected. But I certainly didn't mean to imply that the ladies are just there for our visual enjoyment any more than People magazine implies that actors and other people in their " Annual Most Beautiful People" list aren't serious about their profession and only exist for our visual amusement.

Not to mention...I DID put a fairly lengthy disclaimer at the bottom....so legally...if you got offended it's technically on you.

But, ya swing and sometimes get a hit and sometimes strike out. I've gotten threads locked for less....I've gotten away with more...ya just roll with the punches. But don't aggravate Bowl1820 too much about it...I may not agree, but I understand the motivation.

With the disclaimer at the bottom, one has to read through the post to get to it. If one truly finds the post offensive, one would stop reading long before the disclaimer.

[Aslan]

Wednesday League: medium-oil synthetics, easier house shot, a good deal of hold in the middle, a lot of miss room to the outside.

Was playing wide tonight though. I wanted to use my Asylum...but even with a lot of practice time (most of both teams didn't practice)....I couldn't find a good line. So I abandoned that experiment and went back to what usually works (Lethal Revolver). But even the Le. Revolver was struggling to get back to the pocket. It just seemed like the heavy oil volume in the middle was there...but it was playing longer and wider. Not the usual dry 'bounce' on the outside. I moved my feet over 3 boards and my target over from the 6-board to the 5-board...but it was too far outside at that house.

586 Series: 188-176-222

Game 1 I chopped a couple easy spares and threw a first shot gutter in the 5th frame. Just couldn't seem to get back flush into the pocket.

Game 2 I had a couple splits, another first shot gutter, and somehow whiffed on a 1-2-9.

Game 3 I only had one open and that was on a friggin 8-pin.

PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 8.54 pins
Strikes: 51% (1 4-bagger, 3 turkeys, 2 doubles, and 1 single)
Spares: 50% picked up

Single Pin spares: 75% (3/4)
Most common single-pin leave: 10-pin (3x)
Only left the 8-pin and 10-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 41% (5/12)
Most common multi-pin leaves were the 1-2 and a full rack (2x each)

Splits: 0% (0/2).

Average over 3 games: 195.33.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 199.00.

Well, no bracket winnings this week. I managed to win $15 in the poker game. It might be that my solids are working so well there because the pattern is actually a bit longer and wider than what is on Mondays. I definitely couldn't move inside and throw the pearls or even the Asylum...seemed like the dry just wasn't dry enough...or I just don't have the revs/axis rotation to make that shot. Played the whole night straight up the 5-board. That was a tough line to play because a miss by more than 1 board right and you're in the gutter.

Still a lot of work to be done.

[RobLV1]

"It might be that my solids are working so well there because the pattern is actually a bit longer and wider than what is on Mondays."

Bowlers love to attribute everything to the oil pattern, and totally forget about the lanes themselves. Do you remember the last time we bowled together in Vegas? If I had a dollar for every time that I've heard how "they" use reverse oiling so there is less reaction on the back ends, I'd be a rich man! No one takes into account that the center has the oldest lanes around, and that those lanes were less reactive.

I remember a discussion I had with Don McCune several years ago. He commented that so much has been made of reactive bowling balls and easy lane conditions, that most bowlers don't even consider the impact that synthetic lanes have had on the sport.

[vdubtx]

"It might be that my solids are working so well there because the pattern is actually a bit longer and wider than what is on Mondays."

Bowlers love to attribute everything to the oil pattern, and totally forget about the lanes themselves. Do you remember the last time we bowled together in Vegas? If I had a dollar for every time that I've heard how "they" use reverse oiling so there is less reaction on the back ends, I'd be a rich man! No one takes into account that the center has the oldest lanes around, and that those lanes were less reactive.

I remember a discussion I had with Don McCune several years ago. He commented that so much has been made of reactive bowling balls and easy lane conditions, that most bowlers don't even consider the impact that synthetic lanes have had on the sport.

Well said Rob. Reminds me of a coaching tip I read a LONG time ago on the very subject of lane surfaces. Article is by Mike Dias.

LINK

[RobLV1]

Good article! Thanks for the link.

[Aslan]

I don't disagree with the concept and I understand that the lanes are made of different materials...but again, it gets into the discussion of "how can I realistically systemize this information?" If the answer is "you can't, the world of bowling is completely random and therefore the bowler with the most number of balls in their van is going to win because they'll eventually find a ball that will work on a given pair at a given center on a given day, etc..."...then it doesn't really help much. It does, however, further explain why bowlers are so petrified to leave their own cozy centers. If these differences are so pronounced from lane to lane and center to center...it's a wonder how bowlers could ever compete in tournaments or travel leagues.

I used to think you needed just one ball. Then I conceded to the arsenal ideals and bought a spare ball. Then I further embraced the arsenal concept...and bought 1 more strike ball...then another strike ball...then I decided to go with 4 strike balls and a spare ball. And usually it ends up being 5 balls + a spare ball. And my overall feeling (while it has evolved), hasn't totally changed...if I can't win with 5 different strike balls and a spare ball...then whats the point??

Bowling is supposed to be about skill...not finding a "magic ball". If the conditions are so crazily different from place to place...for whatever reason(s)...then the USBC should do something about it. IF THEY DON'T...then I don't think I can honestly support it as an Olympic sport. The standards are just too lax to make scores meaningful anymore. I'm not trying to pull an MWhite and claim that bowling is "easy"...because God knows (see my scores) it's NOT easy. But easy vs hard isn't the issue. Like I said about by old center...I don't mind a tough pattern. I welcome tough patterns...I bowled in a sport league for crying out loud. But the patterns MUST be consistent. Lane variations (lane to lane) tend to be minor...but not putting fresh oil down for league play is ridiculous and leads to amazingly different conditions from lane to lane and there's no reason for that other than greed and laziness. Now I have a center that is "too easy"...and I won't be bowling there next season either. I love to score as much as the next guy...but with a 190 average on bowl.com I am now completely unable to bowl handicap tournaments.

[fortheloveofbowling]

Probably your biggest problem is you try to make bowling a system. The idea of having multiple bowling balls is not to throw 5 in practice but have knowledge of how they work for you. That is unless you are at a pba national or regional event and have a pre-tournament practice. In a normal league situation within a few shots and paying attention to others on your pair you can make a informed decision. Very very rarely do really good bowlers use more than 2 balls even in a 6 or 8 game block after practice. Reading lanes and identifying the correct equipment and lines to use come from experience. This game is not a pre determined system nor is it a game only for the gifted. The more you bowl and identify successes and failures and what caused them the better you will become.

[Mike White]

Bowling is supposed to be about skill...not finding a "magic ball". If the conditions are so crazily different from place to place...for whatever reason(s)...then the USBC should do something about it. IF THEY DON'T...then I don't think I can honestly support it as an Olympic sport. The standards are just too lax to make scores meaningful anymore. I'm not trying to pull an MWhite and claim that bowling is "easy"...because God knows (see my scores) it's NOT easy. But easy vs hard isn't the issue. Like I said about by old center...I don't mind a tough pattern. I welcome tough patterns...I bowled in a sport league for crying out loud. But the patterns MUST be consistent. Lane variations (lane to lane) tend to be minor...but not putting fresh oil down for league play is ridiculous and leads to amazingly different conditions from lane to lane and there's no reason for that other than greed and laziness. Now I have a center that is "too easy"...and I won't be bowling there next season either. I love to score as much as the next guy...but with a 190 average on bowl.com I am now completely unable to bowl handicap tournaments.

Maybe the issue is handicap tournaments aren't really about skill.

[Aslan]

Maybe the issue is handicap tournaments aren't really about skill.

You're just happy because at the 3rd Annual BHMAVZSCI....you'll finally realize the dream of bowling me when I'm not getting spotted any pins. Friggin Carter Lanes. I had MWhite's NUMBER....now I gotta hope he falls down again.

[Aslan]

Saturday Color of Money Tournament: long but dry on the outside, medium-oil synthetics

Small weekly colored-pin tournament. I only participate in this tournament because I want to practice on fresh conditions and this is about the only opportunity. Due to Halloween, the tournament got cancelled so I just practiced 6 games on the fresh conditions.

451 Series: 178-136-137
Was trying to use the Asylum the whole series; trying to get a feel for it and how it might work/not work on these lanes. And the result was miserable. I lost the strike line midway through Game 1 and never found it again. I'd go Brooklyn, move left, then washout, then move back right and go Brooklyn, move back right and hit light, etc... over and over again. I can't blame the ball per se....I think it's that when I had it drilled my release was different...and they drilled it "weak"...and now that my release is better...I'm not getting the true benefit of the ball. But, I tried it at the Wednesday center and it just wouldn't work...now I've tried it at the home center and over 3 games couldn't get it to work...it's just gonna be a ball that maybe I can use when the conditions transition or get beat up...maybe a wood lanes ball or something. It just doesn't have the backend snap of the pearls I throw and it doesn't move soon enough like the solids I throw.

516 Series: 191-146-179
Tried switching to the Lethal Revolver in Game 4. It hit better, but the lanes had transitioned a bit and I couldn't hold my line very long. Game 5 I switched to the Dark Encounter and it performed miserably (as usual) so I tried the Asylum again on lanes with a little more transition on them, but it performed miserably as well. Game 6 I switched to the Melee Jab and it did okay. The only downside to the Jab (and others have said this as well) is that it tends to behave erratically downlane. I had to keep my line kinda tight and it just seemed like sometimes it would strike and other times it would dive through the nose or leave a 4-9 split. So Game 6 was not as bad as it seems...3 splits and only 2 opens

Pinpal Stats:
First Ball Average: 8.55 pins
Strikes: 22% (4 doubles and 6 singles)
Spares: 56% picked up

Single Pin spares: 78% (15/19)
Most common single-pin leaves: 10-pin (7x).
Never left a single 1-pin nor 8-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 40% (11/27)
Most common multi-pin spare leaves: 1-2 (3x).

Splits: 30% (0/10)

Average over 3 games: 161.17.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 168.17.

I think I'll stick with the Pearls on Monday. The Asylum was even worse than the solids. Still not sold on the idea of starting with the pearls...but it's possible the 170s games are the result of the solids burning up on the drier/lower volume outside. It might be that playing further inside and bouncing the pearls off the dry on the outside is the better play. I know that violates the "Preconceived Notions Principle" but I need at least a napkin with a stick figure drawn on it as a game plan...I just don't see enough in practice to give every night and every pair a totally fresh look.

And the practice wasn't all about the arsenal...the release is still a work in progress. A lot of shots seemed to hit light because I wasn't getting much axis tilt. I was coming through the ball...but more up the back due to hand position. And still struggling with the right amount of knee bend and getting my hand under the ball. Also still trying to figure out the ideal spine tilt. Got a lesson Wednesday...much needed at this point.