Another new experience...pin dropping and bowled anyways...

[Aslan]

One unique thing that happened to me Tuesday, that I had never experienced before, was I got up on the approach, got my left foot on my mark, looked up at the arrows and couted my boards to the target, went over in my head the 4 things I needed to focus on...then...

...I started my approach...trying to stay focused on the arrows/target...and as the ball was in the downswing...I got a "glimpse" of the pins out of the top of my eyes...and noticed that the pinsetter had dropped the headpin.

So I threw the ball anyways given I was already in the swing motion. I came back towards the sitting area and the lady on the other team came up to fix the score and reset the pins. I left either a 4 or a 6 but it didn't count.

What was weird about it was:
1) Normally I would notice that...but as people have commented on...inside and outside of this website...sometimes my level of focus/conentration/over-thinking is so high that I don't always remember to do certain things. Thats why I keep notes of where I'm standing/targeting and what ball I'm using on each lane...because otherwise I'll actually forget.
2) The teams really didn't STOP me. Usually if a person is going to bowl on the wrong lane or a pin gets dropped...your team and/or the other team are yelling to you...but I think in this case...since it was so obvious....they figured I'd notice it before I bowled.

Just thought I'd share that since it's never happened to me before where a pin got dropped and I didn't realize it before entering my approach.

[Shaneshu87]

something similar happened to me last week in my league, except it was a missing 5 pin which is a little harder to spot. but i didn't notice it till after the release, i almost always to a quick glance at the pins to make sure the bar is not down and that i have pins up before i start my approach, and i honestly didn't see the missing 5 pin. i went up and buried the pocket flush, (this was my 9th strike in a row, 300 pace) but i didn't realize the missing 5 pin untill it was too late. and i don't think anyone else noticed it from either team. but i spoke up and said to a member of the other team that it was missing and i was going to rerack and shoot again, in which case he agreed, but some of his teammates said not to worry about it "it's pretty hard to strike with out the 5" was what they all agreed upon. but out of good sportsman ship i reracked anyway and shot again for a 9/ and cleaned house for a 279... kicked myself for that one lol

[rv driver]

something similar happened to me last week in my league, except it was a missing 5 pin which is a little harder to spot. but i didn't notice it till after the release, i almost always to a quick glance at the pins to make sure the bar is not down and that i have pins up before i start my approach, and i honestly didn't see the missing 5 pin. i went up and buried the pocket flush, (this was my 9th strike in a row, 300 pace) but i didn't realize the missing 5 pin untill it was too late. and i don't think anyone else noticed it from either team. but i spoke up and said to a member of the other team that it was missing and i was going to rerack and shoot again, in which case he agreed, but some of his teammates said not to worry about it "it's pretty hard to strike with out the 5" was what they all agreed upon. but out of good sportsman ship i reracked anyway and shot again for a 9/ and cleaned house for a 279... kicked myself for that one lol

Yeah, but if you hadn't mentioned it and thrown a 300, it would have haunted you forever that it wasn't *really* a 300. Better to throw an honest 279 and shoot a real 300 at some point.

[mc_runner]

I've gone up and nearly bowled on an empty rack. I've seen teammates do that too - I barely glance at the pins when I get up there, I'm focusing on my mark and setup. Odd that no one called you back though, that's usually what saves it from happening.

[J Anderson]

I had a teammate who hit the sweep because he only looked at his spot and didn't notice that the sweep hadn't gone back up.

[vgw]

I yelled over to another pair of lanes that the 5 pin was missing. The guy stopped, looked at me, then went on to bowl. Nobody did anything. I think he had about 7-8 strikes in a row counting that shot.

I would rather get a real strike instead of a freebie any day. Congrats on making a great decision.

[Aslan]

Yeah, but if you hadn't mentioned it and thrown a 300, it would have haunted you forever that it wasn't *really* a 300. Better to throw an honest 279 and shoot a real 300 at some point.

THIS

It's really annoying but happens on league night a LOT where there's a pin that fell but rather than correct the score or call the desk to re-set a certain pin everyone just says "it's okay". It's annoying because I've seen far too many games and series decided by 1-30 pins.

[Mike White]

THIS

It's really annoying but happens on league night a LOT where there's a pin that fell but rather than correct the score or call the desk to re-set a certain pin everyone just says "it's okay". It's annoying because I've seen far too many games and series decided by 1-30 pins.

You mean like at Temecula when you threw a gutter ball and it took out the 10 pin, then you decided not to correct the score, or call the desk to re-set the pin.... Yeah it is annoying

[zdawg]

You mean like at Temecula when you threw a gutter ball and it took out the 10 pin, then you decided not to correct the score, or call the desk to re-set the pin.... Yeah it is annoying

I seem to recall that as well although I can't blame my awful performance on that

[Aslan]

You mean like at Temecula when you threw a gutter ball and it took out the 10 pin, then you decided not to correct the score, or call the desk to re-set the pin.... Yeah it is annoying

Actually, if you play back the footage…which can be done by clicking on my USBC number and going to watch the 1st Annual Billy Hardwick Memorial Southern California Aslan vs. Zdaw Invitational…I offered to have them re-set the rack but was told my Mr. White not to worry about it. It wasn't until I then struck/spared (and went on to dominate the tournament and humiliate my opponents with my truly awesome victory) that I then heard the "rumblings".

It should also be noted…that KEY to that decision…was the fact that we were playing on a Saturday and the counter staff had virtually no idea what they were doing. It took over 5 minutes just to explain to them that we wanted two lanes alternating like league play. To which they responded, "I don't know how to do that." That is NOT a good sign!