Amyers Scores

[Tony]

Monday Night Businessmen's League 10/26/15 Synthetic Lanes

I was asked to sub on this league for a friend of mine that is out for a while. I bowl in this house occasionally so I am somewhat familiar with their patterns but apparently they use a shorter version in this league.

Game 1- 159- Yuck this is really sucking I started off with the Mastermind Einstein but I just couldn't control it on this pattern unfortunately I spent the first game trying to adjust instead of just changing balls.

Game 2-190- Switched to the Arson low flare was still having control issues but not nearly as bad. Spare shooting was good.

Game 3-192- Score wasn't higher but actually bowled much better put all of my shots in the pocket just zip on the carry.

I'm beginning to think trying to bowl with the Mastermind is destroying my bowling game. The ball refuses to hold the pocket unless I throw it across the 3rd arrow and get it out to 6-7 area which is farther right than I typically throw. I thought maybe the ball was starting to tone down a little but now I'm thinking not. I'm going to talk to my PSO about it today and see what he suggests because it's just not working out for me.

The mastermind was one of the balls they had at a demo day a short time back and It seemed to play in a similar way for me, If I played 25 over 2nd arrow it was way too long and I had to move way left. One of the Brunswick reps watched and suggested I move out to 30-35 and throw over 3rd arrow aiming at the 10 pin, the ball would end up out around 5 before it turned back in toward the pocket. I tried it a several times and I think once or twice it zoomed back into the pocket for a strike but the other times left some splits and ugly spare shots. I didn't like playing that deep at all. Have you changed the surface on the ball yet?

[Amyers]

The mastermind was one of the balls they had at a demo day a short time back and It seemed to play in a similar way for me, If I played 25 over 2nd arrow it was way too long and I had to move way left. One of the Brunswick reps watched and suggested I move out to 30-35 and throw over 3rd arrow aiming at the 10 pin, the ball would end up out around 5 before it turned back in toward the pocket. I tried it a several times and I think once or twice it zoomed back into the pocket for a strike but the other times left some splits and ugly spare shots. I didn't like playing that deep at all. Have you changed the surface on the ball yet?

Well part of the problem is me being an idiot as usual. I bowl in four different houses 2 with wood lanes and 2 with synthetics. In two of the houses I was having difficulty generating enough angle to strike on the fresh consistently as I wanted 1 wood 1 synthetic. The synthetic house puts out a rather heavy pattern and the Mastermind Einstein is performing pretty well there. On the wood house I've decided it just isn't going to work the house puts out a relatively high amount of oil but the back ends just fly with aggressive equipment.. My Virtual Gravity Pearl would work but it is very skid/flip for me and when it works it works but when it doesn't it's a disaster waiting to happen. My idea was to get a medium ball that was stronger than my Arson Low Flare but a step below the VG and a little more even on the back. Then I threw the Einstein and fell in love with it at a different house but the one I threw probably had 40-50 games on it so I'm sure it has toned down a little. What I ended up with is a ball that is more aggressive than the Virtual Gravity although it is more even which I like.

I haven't changed the surface yet I was going to talk to the PSO about it last week but he was out while I was there. I'm just don't think it's going to help much. If I would add surface take it 2k it's just going to reduce the back end some but that's just going to make the ball hook more total boards and I'm not sure that would really help. If I take it to 4k or polish it I think I'm just going to make it even closer to the VG. I'm still going to talk with him about it and get his opinion but I don't see an easy fix there and the ball is working in the 1 house.

I tried to kill two birds with one stone but ended up finding out that in this case it was two different issues. The wood house requires a lot of angle to score but that ball is just too much for that one. I do feel a little better about it my teammate who is a 220+ average guy basically did the same thing a week after I got my Mastermind he bought a 900 Global Respect and we've both been trying to make it work and both finally came to the conclusion that they are just too much ball for that house (should have been obvious to us 2 weeks ago) so even very good bowlers make mistakes and think they'll adjust themselves to it and can't. Eventually I may pick something else up for that house but I'm just going to live with the Arson Low Flare there for now.

[Tony]

Well part of the problem is me being an idiot as usual. I bowl in four different houses 2 with wood lanes and 2 with synthetics. In two of the houses I was having difficulty generating enough angle to strike on the fresh consistently as I wanted 1 wood 1 synthetic. The synthetic house puts out a rather heavy pattern and the Mastermind Einstein is performing pretty well there. On the wood house I've decided it just isn't going to work the house puts out a relatively high amount of oil but the back ends just fly with aggressive equipment.. My Virtual Gravity Pearl would work but it is very skid/flip for me and when it works it works but when it doesn't it's a disaster waiting to happen. My idea was to get a medium ball that was stronger than my Arson Low Flare but a step below the VG and a little more even on the back. Then I threw the Einstein and fell in love with it at a different house but the one I threw probably had 40-50 games on it so I'm sure it has toned down a little. What I ended up with is a ball that is more aggressive than the Virtual Gravity although it is more even which I like.

I haven't changed the surface yet I was going to talk to the PSO about it last week but he was out while I was there. I'm just don't think it's going to help much. If I would add surface take it 2k it's just going to reduce the back end some but that's just going to make the ball hook more total boards and I'm not sure that would really help. If I take it to 4k or polish it I think I'm just going to make it even closer to the VG. I'm still going to talk with him about it and get his opinion but I don't see an easy fix there and the ball is working in the 1 house.

I tried to kill two birds with one stone but ended up finding out that in this case it was two different issues. The wood house requires a lot of angle to score but that ball is just too much for that one. I do feel a little better about it my teammate who is a 220+ average guy basically did the same thing a week after I got my Mastermind he bought a 900 Global Respect and we've both been trying to make it work and both finally came to the conclusion that they are just too much ball for that house (should have been obvious to us 2 weeks ago) so even very good bowlers make mistakes and think they'll adjust themselves to it and can't. Eventually I may pick something else up for that house but I'm just going to live with the Arson Low Flare there for now.

I can certainly understand , every ball can't be tuned to give you what you need at every house, sometimes the conditions are just too different. The surface modifications you suggested certainly have helped with balls we have talked about and I notice that you mention going to 2000 reducing the back end and giving more total boards. Somewhere I read it and it bears out with the gold rhino ball, they said changing the surface wouldn't change the number of boards of hook for a given ball with same conditions / delivery but would only change when and how the hook takes place. Of course that doesn't make a strong ball any weaker so I can see where their might be no adjustment that would help. I can't help but think you will find a surface and use for the ball even if it doesn't fill the spots you were hoping to fill.

[Amyers]

I can certainly understand , every ball can't be tuned to give you what you need at every house, sometimes the conditions are just too different. The surface modifications you suggested certainly have helped with balls we have talked about and I notice that you mention going to 2000 reducing the back end and giving more total boards. Somewhere I read it and it bears out with the gold rhino ball, they said changing the surface wouldn't change the number of boards of hook for a given ball with same conditions / delivery but would only change when and how the hook takes place. Of course that doesn't make a strong ball any weaker so I can see where their might be no adjustment that would help. I can't help but think you will find a surface and use for the ball even if it doesn't fill the spots you were hoping to fill.

Oh I will use it still I think it's going to be my main ball at one house. I may try it at 2k usually that low of a grit with my ball speed doesn't make for a good match. It depends on how you think about it and how your measuring hook if there is a change or not. In my humble opinion more surface equals more total hook less backend less surface less total hook greater backend. Think of it this way move right with a surfaced ball say 1000 grit just until it hits the 7 pin thrown down 2 or 3 board polish the same ball stand in the same place and try to get it to hit the 7 again. I've tried this the ball will end up right of the 7 pin every time. The earlier a ball hooks the more boards it's going to cover because the angle is set earlier and has longer time to move.

[Amyers]

Sunday All-Star League Scratch 11/22/15 Synthetic Lanes and Wood Approaches Challenge Pattern

We started off the day in 3d place with two weeks left in the first half of the season. Again for the second week we drew the home team again.

Game 1- 159 Started off terrible. Was working with the ball higher in my stance as I had worked with my coach on but as usual things that work in practice seem to fail in execution at show time. I've found that with the ball higher in the stance it does increase ball speed some but it also tends for me have less wrist cup and my hand in a poorer position to rev the ball. No matter where I moved the ball came in weak. Would have most likely lost this match anyway as my opponent shot 279.

Game 2- 189 Went back to my normal stance and it improved. Was pissed at myself for this one I should have shot 200+ but threw a terrible shot that went Brooklyn in the 10th that would have given me a chance to take the point lost 189-205

Game 3- 212 Won this point easily. 178-212

Match#2

Our luck improved instead of drawing the home team we drew the #1 team in the league. This team consists of 1 PWBA bowler and two guys who are staffers for Radical and Brunswick

Game 1- 178- I think my opponent was trying to make some changes that didn't work he got off to a slow start. Won 178-156

Game 2- 203- Threw the ball well in this match but two splits kept the score down still won the point 203-187

Game 3- 228- My opponent started on fire starting with a turkey and I knew I was going to have to kick it up a notch. I struck out to win the match 228-221

So first series over 600 in a while and took all three points can't beat that

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the scoring sheets at the end so I'm not sure exact numbers but the team didn't fare well in either match.

[Aslan]

but as usual things that work in practice seem to fail in execution at show time.

Yup. Been there, done that.

I got a lesson tonight...I'm sure I'll leave thinking, "Eureka! My bowling game is fixed!!" I will then proceed to throw a sub-600 series Wednesday on lanes that a blind monkey should be able to shoot 150.

[Amyers]

Update before my latest coaching session

I had my first lesson with a coach about three weeks ago. The main thing I took from it was changing my stance a little to hold the ball up higher. The purpose was to help increase ball speed. It may have helped some not the transformation I would like but has added about 1/2 mile per hour. It has also had the effect of limiting the cup on my wrist some which has helped the ball not start so early and opened the lanes up for me. I haven't had any spectacular series a few low 600's, more 580+ and I don't think I've had any sub 550 since my lesson. So maybe at the least it has put a floor under my game.

One of my pet peeves with him is that he wants me to determine what we work on for the lesson. Unfortunately I kind of fell like if I knew what was wrong I would have fixed it myself lol. I still feel my ball speed is an issue sub 12 mph, I still have trouble carrying corner pins as much as I feel like I should, and my release still feels inconsistent at times. So lesson 2 tonight still not sure what to try and fix.

[Aslan]

One of my pet peeves with him is that he wants me to determine what we work on for the lesson. Unfortunately I kind of fell like if I knew what was wrong I would have fixed it myself lol. I still feel my ball speed is an issue sub 12 mph, I still have trouble carrying corner pins as much as I feel like I should, and my release still feels inconsistent at times. So lesson 2 tonight still not sure what to try and fix.

It's important with coaching that you are aware of your game and specific issues you're struggling with. I know you're more aware than most, but many bowlers go to a lesson expecting the coach to make them better...but when asked about their weaknesses, they can't answer because they don't believe they have any. And if they don't, why get coached?

For example, two lessons ago (Coach A), I talked about how my single-pin spare shooting was below average and I was having trouble reading the pattern and knowing what ball to use when. For my lesson on Saturday (Coach B), I mentioned that I was having trouble knowing how LOW to get in my stance and was still struggling to keep that first step smaller.

Now, is that all we worked on at the lessons? Nope. With Coach A, we worked on the spare shooting and talked about ball progression issues, but much of the lesson was looking at spine tilt and my tendency to "pop up" at the end (I blame years of watching and trying to emulate WRW). With Coach B we ended up talking about the "getting low" issue but moved on to talk about release issues he noticed.

So, long story long, I try to stay aware of my game and where I'm struggling so that I can at least start the conversation with some issues I've been having...and then from watching me roll, I expect the coach will help fix those items while at the same time looking out for other potential issues.

But, I'm spoiled because between my two regular coaches and my one "occasional coach" (a.k.a. RobM), I'm dealing with 3 coaches that are silver certified and have made the Bowling Journal Top 100 coaches list at least once in the last 3 years. If I was just getting lessons from less credentialed coaches, I might lower my expectations accordingly.

[Amyers]

Went bowling for my Thursday night youth/adult league and threw a couple of practice games with the wife before league.

Practice games:

219 and 225 everything looked great 20 clean frames not sure if I've ever done that before.

League:

158,155,177 How does this happen? everything looked great in practice was on different lanes but same general oil (at least as close as it ever gets in this house). Couldn't find a line with the Mastermind Einstein to save my life. Light hit adjust comes high. Wanted to try the Virtual gravity but had the thumb adjusted couldn't find the tape I just bought and this league is doubles so I was at the end of the 2nd game before I found the tape and got it in the ball. It was some better but same general issue I should have moved right with the arson low flare much earlier. Who knows sometimes I hate this game.

To top it off had a flat tire on the way home

[JasonNJ]

158,155,177 How does this happen? everything looked great in practice was on different lanes but same general oil (at least as close as it ever gets in this house). Couldn't find a line with the Mastermind Einstein to save my life. Light hit adjust comes high. Wanted to try the Virtual gravity but had the thumb adjusted couldn't find the tape I just bought and this league is doubles so I was at the end of the 2nd game before I found the tape and got it in the ball. It was some better but same general issue I should have moved right with the arson low flare much earlier. Who knows sometimes I hate this game.

To top it off had a flat tire on the way home

Sorry about the tough night but I guess this is a perfect example of the lanes will tell you how to play. May I suggest for practice before league is that you concentrate of form and timing instead of score. So maybe with the full rack shoot just for the 10 pin, then on the 2nd ball you throw your strike ball. That way you get to practice both your line and your spare shooting.