Our new house pattern is not what I thought it was.......

[Hammer]

wWent to our Brunswick house pro shop to have some work done to my Blue Hammer as far as thumb pitch and to find out about the cost of lessons which I finally am going to take. The guy is a lefty like me, alright. Got a big surprise when I asked him about their oil pattern. He said that they use a 43 foot pattern with flatter oil towards the back end. He said it is closer to a sport pattern. Our AMF house had a 37 foot pattern and was more like the Easy Street pattern. Now I know why my Hammer Anger ball wasn't hooking like it was at AMF. The bad thing was that I had the surface of my Anger ball changed to 4000 Abralon polished when I was still at AMF. The guy at Brunswick said that I could have kept it at OOB finish which was 2000 Abralon dull finish which would have been good for their oil pattern. I will see how it goes with the current surface and make a decision if I should go back to OOB finish.

I am looking forward to taking some lessons with this guy. I asked him about the swing and targeting.I asked when you are on the approach and you pick the target you want to go over do you swing straight as you are walking straight or do you walk straight and swing towards your target with the ball? He said that you swing straight as you are alking straight and as your swing comes down your swing will go to an inside out swing which will let you hit your target. I know that there have been different opinions on this. Personally I have tried both and find that walking straight and swinging straight as I make my approach works best for me. If I walk straight and swing towards my target it seems to mess with my brain. If you are going to have an inside out swing your shoulders have to start in an open position and your bowling shoulder is a little lower then your balance arm shoulder. Plus have some lateral tilt to your ball side with your upper body. Try both and see what feels more comfortable for you.

So after 28 years of bowling I am finally going to take some lessons. I hope this guy doesn't die laughing when he sees my approach and swing. I told him that after I throw my ball I don't want to turn around and see him bent over holding his gut and saying Stanley, your killin' me here. This is going to be very interesting for me. I am looking forward to it.

[foreverincamo]

Have fun with the coaching. I have had coaching at every level I have bowled, from Junior leagues to travelling leagues to adult leagues. Still getting coached now. Tell us how it went.