Has one bowling event destroyed your game?

[ELItheICEman]

I've historically been a very consistent bowler. Pretty solid form, never miss an easy spare (occasionally miss a 10-pin), average around 205. Bowled for about ten years now, so I'm not new to the game.

A couple months ago I went out with some friends and bowled on some crazy dry, broken-down lanes. To get the ball to skid far enough I had to jack up my ball speed, and bowled somewhere between 3-5 games that way.

Ever since then my form is shot. I rarely (if ever) throw what I feel is a good ball. No placement, speed or roll consistency like before. Everything's just gone off the deep end. I've thought about video taping myself, but haven't had the opportunity to do so.

Has this happened to anyone else? And if so, what have you done to get back on track?

[Paralipsis]

Yes...with the crap setup my center has for youth league, it's hard as hell for me to stay consistent. It's either uber dry or such a messed up THS that you can't find it out. And the lanes switch from weekend to weekend. My form has been off since I've bowled in this wretched league. My average is trash due to it.

Only way I know how to get back on track, is to join a different league where the THS is consistent every week.

[JMH]

If you plan on traveling to different tournaments you may be thankful for a different shot every week...

[Paralipsis]

If you plan on traveling to different tournaments you may be thankful for a different shot every week...

It's not the fact of different shots, it's the fact that it's the same shot, just screwed all to hell each week.

[Mac2118]

When I start to struggle in leagues, I always say to myself "If I can't be consistant on a house shot, how do I expect to be consistant when I go to another center for a tournament?" The first thing I check is my form, I make sure I can feel my feet moving slowly, feel my arm go back, and stay behind the ball. I have a horrible habbit of coming around the ball; so that is what mainly affects me. I've learned not to be afraid to move. When I think "should I move?" I move. I try not to second guess myself. alot of times I make the mistake of thinking "well, I just did something wrong, I'll give it another try" then keep doing that the rest of the night instead of just trying to play a different line, maybe even moving to a different ball with a different reaction in the backend.

[ELItheICEman]

For the record I only bowl on one shot, one league normally. Just one night of open bowling is what wrecked my form.

Things have been back to normal the past couple weeks. Shot a 707 last week and a 689 before that. I still can't figure out what I was doing wrong before, so I have no idea how to make sure it doesn't happen again. Maybe I'll try video-taping myself now so I know what "good" shots look like. That way I have a baseline for comparison when something inevitibly goes wrong again.