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

[Hampe]

On the other hand, maybe he just saw that a guy with a 171 average just tanked and figured I did it on purpose.

No doubt that's exactly what he thought. That's another downside of all the sandbagging going on nowadays.....anytime you have a bad night you're going to get accused of it even if you're innocent. At least YOU know you didn't cheat, that's the most important thing.

Not sure why I missed easy spares tonight. I didn't drink too much. I "felt" good. But thats 4 sub-500 series in a row. I know I shouldn't give up…but I think it's time to figure out whats going wrong. Maybe I'll hit the clinic Saturday if it's going on. If not, maybe get a lesson or something.

Don't beat yourself up dude......4 series is a terribly small sample size. There are slumps in bowling just like every other sport. Plus, you're still working on your game....it's going to take a while to get to where you want to be, and the progress to that point won't be linear either .

3 seasons ago I averaged 171 and had my first 2 600 series in league....I thought the next year I'd get up to about 180-185. But I didn't....I only averaged 173 and had ZERO 600 series which really made me worry. I didn't give up, I kept working with my coach, kept practicing the stuff I needed to practice, and this season I averaged 199 and had 11 600 series. The point is, if you keep working it WILL happen....it might not be when you expect or want it to, but it will. Just be patient and don't give up!

[MICHAEL]

[QUOTE=Aslan;110631]Thursday League: medium oil synthetics

457 Series: 163-149-145
Got to the league night too late to practice so I kinda went in blind…lanes were slicker than usual…so first frame I left a 1-2-10 washout. Missed a single 5-pin in the 5th then chopped a 2-5 in the 6th. Game 2, just bad spare shooting. Missed a 6-10, a single 9-pin, and a single 6-pin. Game 3 I felt like I was actually doing better, but I threw a first ball in the gutter in the 4th and only got 9 that frame. Then 3 splits…not much I can do there.

Every dog has its day grasshopper, or should I say LION! Hang-In-There-Buddy,,, Even Iceman has crappie days!! ( Hampe gave some encouraging information about his journey! Maybe I KID you, but I do have confidence in your Gift! Keep at, and prove Iceman right!!

Nice job Hampe!!

[Amyers]

Thursday League: medium oil synthetics

457 Series: 163-149-145
Got to the league night too late to practice so I kinda went in blind…lanes were slicker than usual…so first frame I left a 1-2-10 washout. Missed a single 5-pin in the 5th then chopped a 2-5 in the 6th. Game 2, just bad spare shooting. Missed a 6-10, a single 9-pin, and a single 6-pin. Game 3 I felt like I was actually doing better, but I threw a first ball in the gutter in the 4th and only got 9 that frame. Then 3 splits…not much I can do there.

Hang in there bud we are all up and down especially when working on stuff in our game

[Aslan]

No doubt that's exactly what he thought. That's another downside of all the sandbagging going on nowadays.....anytime you have a bad night you're going to get accused of it even if you're innocent. At least YOU know you didn't cheat, that's the most important thing.

Again, I'm not a tough guy like Iceman nor do I have a quick temper by any stretch of the imagination...but I would think calling someone a cheater...who is twice your size and who you don't know at all...maybe I'm "old skool"...but thats dangerous. 120 years ago, calling someone a cheater usually involved in someone getting shot. All I can "think" is either he didn't mean to be offensive OR he knew that 1 of the 3 other guys on his team (who was built like a linebacker) would back him up...or he just figured I was too much of an "old man" to react badly. AND...it's even more insulting coming from HIM...THEIR team's best bowler (162 average) who ALSO SUCKED that night. Again, I'm not trying to be Mr. Macho or anything...but as a poker player...calling someone a "cheater" is at "best" "frowned upon".

But thanks everyone for the well wishes. Obviously I'm not going to quit over the last 4 weeks...and I did have a couple excuses last night:
1) Arrived late, no practice time to find my strike line.
2) I'm still working on slowing my feet down and it completely (COMPLETELY) screwed up my timing. At one point I almost fell. Another time I twisted my knee. One time I hit the floor with the ball in the downswing...musta got too low. I mean, when you're swinging a 16lb ball...and you're not at the line when it's time to release it...bad things tend to happen.

But thats not much of an excuse for the spare shooting. I can't miss single 5-pins, 6-pins, and 6-10s...I shouldn't be missing those...EVER.

[fortheloveofbowling]

Hang in there, you will find that there will be many times in your bowling lifetime where you hit a wall. It might be now and maybe again when you get to 180 or 190 and maybe again at 200. But this happens to everyone as they try to improve. Good luck.

[Aslan]

Sunday Morning Sport/Scratch League: Brunswick Classic Lanes
Sport Pattern: PBA Shark

568 Series: 137-167-115-149

Ughh!

This was first time playing a true sport pattern. I researched the pattern on the internet and needed to move into the 11-board since anything 1-10 would miss. I started out clean through 4…but not really any room for error. A few misses as much as 1 board right led to gutters and washouts. I eventually moved left 1 board to the 12-board, Game 2 I only had a couple opens. Game 3 I had 2 opens and 4 splits, so that was a lost cause. Game 4 I was clean except for frames 5 and 6.

PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 7.61 pins
Strikes: 25% (1 double and 9 singles)
Spares: 50% picked up

Single Pin spares: 87% (7/8)
Most common single-pin leave: 10-pin (5x).
Never left a single 1-pin, 2-pin, 5-pin, 6-pin, 7-pin, 8-pin, nor 9-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 36% (8/22)
Most common multi-pin leaves: 4-7, 1-2, 1-2-8, and 1-2-4-7 (2x each).

Splits: 20% (1/5)

Average over 4 games: 142.00.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 143.75.

Not horrible" for my first time on a PBA pattern. Disappointed in the strike rate, some of the really bad leaves, and the 2 low scores. But I'm encouraged by the rebound of the single-pin spare shooting. And I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a 6-week thing, just for the experience and fun more than anything. If Bunny hadn't asked me to play and fill out the trio…I'd have probably never even considered trying it. But it was fun…like golf…frustrating but fun!

[Amyers]

Sunday Morning Sport/Scratch League: Brunswick Classic Lanes
Sport Pattern: PBA Shark

568 Series: 137-167-115-149

Ughh!

Not horrible" for my first time on a PBA pattern. Disappointed in the strike rate, some of the really bad leaves, and the 2 low scores. But I'm encouraged by the rebound of the single-pin spare shooting. And I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a 6-week thing, just for the experience and fun more than anything. If Bunny hadn't asked me to play and fill out the trio…I'd have probably never even considered trying it. But it was fun…like golf…frustrating but fun!

I have been going over and bowling the next day after the PBA leagues at my house to try them out I've bowled on cheetah, badger, shark, and viper. From what I can tell you will like the shorter patterns the longer ones not so much.

Best advice I can give you read what it says about how to play the pattern but don't take it as gospel if your game is to play a certain way try your game first if it doesn't work in practice quickly start moving in the direction they said I've found I can out think myself by trying what it says to do instead of playing my A game. Sometimes it work sometimes it doesn't.

[Bunny]

Sunday Morning Sport/Scratch League: Brunswick Classic Lanes
Sport Pattern: PBA Shark

568 Series: 137-167-115-149

Ughh!

This was first time playing a true sport pattern. I researched the pattern on the internet and needed to move into the 11-board since anything 1-10 would miss. I started out clean through 4…but not really any room for error. A few misses as much as 1 board right led to gutters and washouts. I eventually moved left 1 board to the 12-board, Game 2 I only had a couple opens. Game 3 I had 2 opens and 4 splits, so that was a lost cause. Game 4 I was clean except for frames 5 and 6.

PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 7.61 pins
Strikes: 25% (1 double and 9 singles)
Spares: 50% picked up

Single Pin spares: 87% (7/8)
Most common single-pin leave: 10-pin (5x).
Never left a single 1-pin, 2-pin, 5-pin, 6-pin, 7-pin, 8-pin, nor 9-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 36% (8/22)
Most common multi-pin leaves: 4-7, 1-2, 1-2-8, and 1-2-4-7 (2x each).

Splits: 20% (1/5)

Average over 4 games: 142.00.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 143.75.

Not horrible" for my first time on a PBA pattern. Disappointed in the strike rate, some of the really bad leaves, and the 2 low scores. But I'm encouraged by the rebound of the single-pin spare shooting. And I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a 6-week thing, just for the experience and fun more than anything. If Bunny hadn't asked me to play and fill out the trio…I'd have probably never even considered trying it. But it was fun…like golf…frustrating but fun!

You did good. That was a super tough pattern. Even tougher than a couple of weeks ago on the same pattern. Hardly anyone was stringing a bunch of strikes. And there's some really good bowlers there. (Funny how it was pretty empty though. It seemed like 1/2 the teams weren't there. Did Shark scare them away? Dunt, dunt. Dunt, dunt, dunt, dunt. Sissies!)

We enjoyed having you. You completely cracked me up a few times. Hubby liked that you were keeping notes. That's his thing right now too. He was a single digit handicap golfer so knows the importance of the mental game. That's what separates athletes and competitors at higher levels. They all have the strokes, shots and technique (whether it's God given or learned.) It's choosing the right shot with the right equipment at the right time, and executing that shot.

He said the same thing about PBAE league that it's challenging but still fun!

[Aslan]

Hubby liked that you were keeping notes.

Great minds think alike!

My only worry about the notes is sometimes people get annoyed that is "slows things down". I don't write "notes" like a diary or anything. I simply change a "1" to a "2" or something like that. And I HAVE to do that because I can't remember on alternating lanes where I stood and what I was targeting. Usually it's similar....so if I forget to write it down, no bigee. But my memory isn't great and if I don't write stuff down...I'll forget. I'm trying to break the habit of using Pinpal in between shots...and I can usually remember what spare I left (because I just shot at it)...but it's become a "habit"...a "routine" so to speak.

It WAS hard! I was amazed at how many times I saw people leave the 2-4-8!! The ball was just not making it back...and if you tried to go straight at it...a miss a little right could leave the 2-4-8 and a miss a little left would get you a split. We actually were fortunate on a lot of shots because they looked like they were going to be ugly splits...but a messenger would knock over the 7-pin or 10-pin. So much easier shooting at a 6-10 or a 1-2 rather than a 6-7-10 or a 1-2-10!

Shark again next week! (I think) so it'll be interesting!

[Aslan]

Monday Practice: low oil synthetics

574 Series: 179-197-198 (clean)
Game 1 was clean except for a 4-6-7 split in the 7th. Game 2 was clean except for a 2-4-10 washout in the 4th. Game 3 was a spare shooting marathon with spares in every frame 1 through 9 and then I struck out in the 10th.

543 Series: 148-209-186
Game 4, my nemesis returned to mock me as I missed 3 single 10-pins. Game 5 was clean except for a weird 1-2-8-10 leave in the 6th. Game 6 was clean except for a missed single 8-pin.

592 Series: 178-221-193
Game 7 was another spare shooting marathon but I left a 4-10 in the 2nd and a 6-7 in the 7th. Game 8 was clean except for a chopped 3-6-10 in the 7th. And Game 9 I switched to the Frantic and was clean except for a missed single 10-pin in the 9th.

524 Series: 163-196-165
Game 10 was ruined by 4 missed single pins. Game 11 was better, but a couple opens. Game 12 was better, but a split in the 2nd, a missed single 10-pin in the 8th, and I only struck once the entire game.

PinPal Stats:
First Ball Average: 8.89 pins
Strikes: 35% (1 4-bagger, 5 turkeys, 6 doubles and 17 singles)
Spares: 74% picked up

Single Pin spares: 76% (36/47)
Most common single-pin leaves: 10-pin (13x).
Never left a single 1-pin.

Multiple Pin spares: 70% (24/34)
Most common multi-pin spare leaves: 6-10 and 4-7 split (5x each).

Splits: 14% (1/7)

Average over 12 games: 186.08.
Average had I picked up 100% of single pin spare leaves: 195.83.

On the one hand, I was disappointed in the missed single-pin spares. I have been trying very hard to keep that in the 80-100% range. But once the lanes dried out more, the Slingshot started to hook "just a tiny bit" and it was throwing my targeting off a little.

On the other hand, Most of these games were virtually clean. My multiple pin spare shooting was improved. And I did better than last time I practiced.

Didn't work on much…just trying to keep my footwork slower and perfect my release.