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

[Aslan]

Wednesday League Night: low-medium oil synthetics

544 Series: 181-195-168

Game 1 was clean through 5 until I missed a single 10-pin in the 6th. I was then clean through 9 including picking up the 2-10 split in the 9th. All that turned out to be a useless waste of time since I made a bad shot in the 10th, my first non-pocket shot, and left the 1-2-4-7; which I chopped, to open in the 10th and crush my score.

Game 2 I started out with some real bad luck when I left a pocket 8-10 followed by a pocket 7-10. Thats like 4 pocket 8-10s in two weeks…seems like it's something with this center because I rarely leave that at my home center. But, I recovered and was clean the rest of the way; never scoring less than 9 pins on the first ball.

Game 3 I put together a turkey near the end to salvage a decent score…but it was a real disaster of a game. Two missed single 10-pins, a chopped 2-5, a chopped 3-6-10, and a weird 2-4-8-10 split that I can't recall ever leaving before. So only 6 marks that game…but 5 of them were strikes so that helped.

Arguably Significant/Insignificant Stats:
First Ball Average: 9.00 pins
Strikes: 41% (1 turkey, 4 doubles, and 3 singles)
Spares: 50% picked up

Single Pin spares: 72% (8/11)
Most common single-pin leave: 10-pin (7x).

Multiple Pin spares: 14% (1/7)
Most common multi-pin leaves: n/a (all 7 were different).

Splits: 25% (1/4)

Pocket Percentage: 88%
Pocket Carry: 46%
Double Percentage: 42%

Average over 3 games: 181.33.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 190.67.

Even though it was a tiring drive in the middle of the night to Vegas…I gotta admit I was glad to get a positive bowling experience in before sweeps. I found the pocket all night…made very few bad shots…and managed to run some of the strikes together which made up for a sub-par spare shooting performance.

Our team, led by the old guy nearly throwing a 600 series and my strong Game 1 and Game 2 while our anchor finally showed up in Game 3 to bail me out, took all 4 points and are 8-0 thus far early into the season.

[Aslan]

Practice for Sweeps in Las Vegas: synthetic lanes/heavy oil

Warm-Up Game: 137

505 Series: 174-178-153
Game 1 I had a couple opens and a couple splits but struck well. Game 2 I only had a couple opens with no splits (other than the 3-7 I converted in the 5th); but didn't strike worth a damn. Game 3 was only a couple opens and a split…but striking/carry woes continued. Glad to see the series was over 500 though.

519 Series: 189 (clean)-161-169
Game 1 was 3 strikes and the rest spares. Very few people can say they rolled a clean game < 190. But I'll take it. I guess I'd rather be good than lucky. Game 2 had 4 opens and should have been a worse score but I struck out in the 10th to salvage a 160+ game. Game 3 I had a few opens early but was clean in frames 5 through 10. Too little too late though.

492 Series: 209 (clean)-151-132
Game 1 was another spare-fest but I managed to run a few strikes together to get over 200. And then things started falling apart mentally. Game 2 I lost pocket; only hit the pocket twice the entire game. Only had a few open frames…but only struck once. Hard to strike as it is without adding missing the pocket to the equation. Ad that mentally killed me. Game 3 I just started missing right, my timing was off…and the worse I'd do the more pissed I'd get and the more tense I'd get and the worse I'd do. I shoulda just bowled 9 games and went back to the room.

PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 8.39 pins
Strikes: 27% (3 turkeys, 3 doubles, and 16 singles)
Spares: 61% picked up

Single Pin spares: 100% (22/22)
Most common single pin leave: 10-pin (7x)
Never left a single 1-pin, 5-pin, nor 8-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 46% (26/56)
Most common multi-pin leaves: 1-2-8 (5x).

Splits: 30% (3/10)

Pocket Percentage: 41%
Pocket Carry: 69%
Double Percentage: 23%

Average over 10 games: 165.30.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: n/a.

I compared these numbers to the last time I bowled before sweeps in Vegas about a year ago. Obviously, the numbers for everything but strike % improved significantly since last year at this time. So thats a good thing. Unfortunately my expectations have risen at an even faster pace. I need to find a way to be more patient.

The first step/goal in this practice was to fix my current lines. My lines are just too tight. I was starting out with my left foot on 10.5 and my target was the 9-board at the arrows. That meant I was trying to lay the ball down on about the 8-board…targeting the 9-board…which makes me throw it across my body. So I had to fix those lines a bit.

I then tried to avoid the tendency when I missed right…to move right. Otherwise…the lines tighten back up. Instead, I was trying to move my target point (eyes) closer to me than the arrows. I fiddled with the idea of reducing my speed to compensate for the "las vegas style" heavy-oil lanes…but only the pros can honestly change their speeds without screwing up their timing so I abandoned that idea rather quickly.

I balled down to the Encounters and then started having thumb fit issues. The Encounter (A) is a bit big while the Encounter (N) is a little tight. I don't usually throw those balls in league play so I haven't really done a good job on the tape for those balls. At one point the Encounter (N) stuck on my hand and almost carried me down the lane…and of course that messes with you mentally the rest of the night.

The biggest positive for me was the 2 clean games and the 22/22 on singlepin spare shooting. It's rare for me to go 100% on single-pin spares…but to do it on tough lane conditions, otu of my usual comfort zone and over 10 games with 22 opportunities is really quite a feat for me. If single-pin spare shooting becomes "automatic"…that'll really free up my time/efforts to fix the carry/strike rate issue.

The problem right now is I'm thinking of 4 things on the set-up through delivery. I've been trying to keep that at about 1-2 with 4 being the absolute maximum. But…the 4 things are KEY to me having success. If I thought about all 4 and focused…I made good shots and had clean games and even managed to strike. When I left out just ONE (or more)…I made bad shots.

Lesson with Rob tomorrow morning should be fun and helpful. Always look forward to getting that opportunity. Then, assuming the knee is fine and my thumb isn't too beat up…probably 7-10 more practice games tomorrow night to get me ready for sweeps on Saturday. It would be nice to do well in sweeps for a change and actually take home some $$$. Not to mention this league is full of sandbag-a-sauruses that I'd like to stomp on.

[Amyers]

Congrats on the 100% single pin percentage. I'm pretty sure I've never done that over that many games.

[Hampe]

Have a good lesson and good luck with the sweeps!

[vdubtx]

NiCe job on the single pins Aslan. Good luck in Vegas and have fun at your lesson with Rob.

[Aslan]

Practice for Sweeps in Las Vegas: synthetic lanes/moderate-heavy oil

Warm-Up Game: 180

498 Series: 174-178-153
Game 1 I had a couple opens and a couple splits but struck well. Game 2 I only had a couple opens with no splits (other than the 3-7 I converted in the 5th); but didn't strike worth a damn. Game 3 was only a couple opens and a split…but striking/carry woes continued. Glad to see the series was over 500 though.

497 Series: 189 (clean)-161-169
Game 1 was 3 strikes and the rest spares. Very few people can say they rolled a clean game < 190. But I'll take it. I guess I'd rather be good than lucky. Game 2 had 4 opens and should have been a worse score but I struck out in the 10th to salvage a 160+ game. Game 3 I had a few opens early but was clean in frames 5 through 10. Too little too late though.

Assorted Stats:
First Ball Average: 8.40 pins
Strikes: 29% (2 turkeys, 1 double, and 14 singles)
Spares: 65% picked up

Single Pin spares: 70% (12/17)
Most common single pin leave: 10-pin (5x)
Never left a single 1-pin, 6-pin, nor 8-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 62% (22/35)
Most common multi-pin leaves: 6-10 (5x).

Splits: 50% (3/6)

Pocket Percentage: 53%
Pocket Carry: 55%
Double Percentage: 18%

Average over 7 games: 167.86.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 176.00.

So lets see…I ended with a 492 series last night…then shot a 498 and 497 tonight. My total spread for the last 5 series on these lanes ranged from 492-519. Most of the numbers from last night to tonight (like first ball average and strike rate) were virtually identical.

But the ones that were different tell the story. Last night I struck the same amount but was able to string more of them together. Last night I struggled on multi-pin spares and was perfect on single-pin leaves. Tonight I was less than perfect on single-pins (always missing inside) but made some adjustments to pick up the multi-pins. I even improved on the 30% split pick-up rate picking up the 2-4-10 and 4-9 in addition to the baby 3-10.

Because the lanes are so slick, I've had to move my targeting in from the arrows to almost the dots to get the ball on the lane sooner. That seems to be working and is much more preferntial to trying to mess with speeds/timing. The downside is it really throws off any 3-6-9 or 4-8-12 spare adjustment system which I don't use for corner pin leaves but do use for the 2-pin, 3-pin, 5-pin, 8-pin, 9-pin, and most multi-pin spare leaves. So I had to push my target back out a bit for those leaves and that helped the multi-pin spare shooting.

Only worked a little bit on what I learned in my lesson with Rob. I try not to incorporate new things into my game until I've gotten adequate practice time working on the items…but his help on my release may be something I have to incorporate out of necessity. Doesn't matter how early I deliver the ball or how lightly I set it down on the lanes (vs lofting) if I can't get any axis tilt.

De-oiling the Bullet Train in the homemade ball dehydrator I brought with me. Figured I'd type this while waiting and then jump in the shower real quick before going to bed ( a bit later than planned). Thanks for the well wishes. It would be nice to actually win some money in sweeps tomorrow…God knows I ain't gonna win any in Vegas gambling. I played slots a bit last night and was up $30 but gave it back. Then tonight I dropped about $135. I've NEVER won in Vegas. It's so bad I rarely even gamble much…no fun in it. I spent $90 trying to get the little progressive wheel to spin and when it finally did I won $3. *#^%ing Vegas!

[Aslan]

Sweeps in Las Vegas: medium-heavy oil synthetics

591 Series: 223-190-178
Game 1 was 7 strikes in the first 8 frames. Left a 1-2-8-10 washout in the 4th on a bad shot and then fouled trying to pick it up. Started losing pocket in the 8th but made spares to finish clean.

Game 2 I again started out with a turkey and was dialed in to the pocket..but then lost it. Only had two opens but 1 was a 3-10 in the 9th.

Game 3 was probably a better game than Game 2 in that I only had one open in the 3rd; another 3-10 baby split. But I only struck once every 3 frames and ended with a disappointing sub-190 game for my efforts. I tried switching balls on one lane, and that helped get back to the pocket…but the other lane was bad shots, not the ball per se.

PinPal Stats: (compared to my last sweeps on these lanes 1 year ago)
First Ball Average: 8.85 pins
Strikes: 48% (1 4-bagger, 2 turkeys, and 6 singles)
Spares: 75% picked up

Single Pin spares: 100% (6/6)
Most common single pin leave: 2-pin (3x)
Never left a single 1-pin, 4-pin, 5-pin, 6-pin, 8-pin, nor 9-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 60% (6/10)
Most common multi-pin leave: 3-10 (2x).

Splits: 0% (0/2)

Average over 3 games: 197.00.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: n/a.

Our team didn't do that well but I had a pretty good outing. This was the first sweeps (of 3) that I felt like I was in the running to finish top 3 when handicap was factored in. And while the strong strike rate in game 1 was a big factor, it was really the fact that I didn't really miss any make-able spares. I missed a couple weird ones and a couple splits…but that was it.

While it's been a struggle week to week and season to season, it's obvious that when you compare year-to-year; I'm improving. Even if you compare $$$ won at sweeps, 2013/2014 (Vegas) $0, 2014 (Laughlin) $26, 2014/2015 (Vegas) $172. And in terms of the stats above, the items in BOLD I actually did TWICE as well as I did last season.

Ended up finishing 5th place with a 747 handicap. The men's winner was the high average bowler who I know has competed at higher levels but I'm not sure if it was collegiate or PBA regional…but he ended up with a 748 scratch and was around 796 with handicap. The differnce between me and 3rd place was only 20 pins but I'd have had to average about 214 over the 3 games to beat the ringer when he's averaging just shy of 250.

The ringer that won it last year won it this year and the ringer female that won it last year won it again. It kinda makes me mad because when I played the ringer's team…he was dogging it…only really putting any effort into it if he was in line for a 300. And the female ringer when we played against her actually SAID that she doesn't really try that hard during the season because it's all about sweeps. Not really in the "spirit" of handicap…but I digress...

Rather than be bitter that those two scratch level bowlers keep winning the pots, it just further motivates me to get better and BECOME the ringer that everyone else complains about. And it'd be nice to win in the $900-$1000 range so the trip actually doesn't cost anything. Granted this time it cost me more because it was 1/2 bowling and 1/2 mini-family vacation…but still. And now that I'm in two Vegas leagues in different houses…it may be 4x as expensive a habit.

[Amyers]

Congrats man that was a good showing. Keep it up you've definitely started to put some things together.

[NewToBowling]

Good bowling. So is this a national tournament in Vegas? How do you qualify?

[Aslan]

Good bowling. So is this a national tournament in Vegas? How do you qualify?

No. "Sweeps" is just when the league you play in meets to compete for money. A lot of leagues make a trip out of it and go to Vegas or in some cases Laughlin or Reno. But in the midwest and east coast a lot of leagues do similar "sweeps" at locations more local. It's more popular out on the west coast becasue Vegas has a ton of bowling alleys at casinos and Vegas is only 4 hours away. So the vast majority of sanctioned leagues sweep in Vegas.

There ARE national tournaments that also meet in Vegas. I know the ABT does two big tournaments out there with a lot of $$$ at stake. But I look at those tournaments as probably less likely to win than a PBA tournament because not only are you facing elite competition...but you're dealing with sandbaggers and their handicaps as well. I played in a couple local tournaments in the ABTA and the general consensus is that the tournaments are rigged. The same people seem to win each time....and they are usually closely tied to or related to the people actually running the tournament. And unlike USBC tournaments...they really don't do as dilligent a job of checking handicap validity.