Baker 2016-2017

[baker]

Week 14

Ball: motiv forza redline, hammer rebel last game

Game 1: 200 - clean game, I was throwing the ball inexplicably bad. Missing badly inside, arm swing was all over the place.

Game 2: 222 - Started to incorporate more of a crossover step that really helped me get lined up. This helped loosen up my swing and throw some good shots. One missed 9 pin and a missed 3,6,10 cost me a good game. My alignment and spare shooting is way off with this new crossover step. No time to practice over this next week though.

Game 3: 193 - I wanted to try and get some more speed to get some more miss room. This worked but threw off my approach and added muscle to the spring. I started leaving 9 pins and split in the 10th. I wanted to salvage some of the night so I switched balls and moved lines to an area where I'd have more miss room.

Game 4: 243 - Right area and right ball in hand, really shows me how difficult it is to out bowl a bad ball reaction and how important it is in tournaments not to try and force a ball to work. I didn't throw the ball great, but I helped the team by sweeping my points.

Total: 858 (615 for 3) - 214.5 Avg
Season avg: 226 (-1)

Officially feel like I'm in a slump, I'm learning about a lot of things not to do. I was missing over 5 boards at the arrows during practice and was 1 for 5 of 7 pins. I'm really having trouble getting lined up for spares with the large crossover step, but I love the leverage position is helps get me in to. It's likely something I just need to work on and get used to, but in the mean time my already bad spare game is getting worse. I might have to rethink an end of the year tournament that I had planned on bowling until I get things straightened out.

[baker]

Ball: motiv redline games 1-3, hammer rebel game 4

Game 1: 221 - Badly missed 3-6-10 that ruined an otherwise OK game.

Game 2: 200 - missed 9 pin, 7-9 split and Greek church in the middle of the game.

Game 3: 205 - struggled to string strikes with a split thrown in. Made a change to keep my spine angle more consistent through the release which help my accuracy.

Game 4: 299 - switched balls to give myself a little more area and better angle. 11th strike was a bit outside followed by a ball that was on target, but came in behind the head pin for a wrap 10.

Series: 924 (626 for 3) - 231 avg
Season avg: 226 (no change)

After the first two games of some badly missed spares and errant shots something had to change. I focused on maintaining my spine tilt through release to improve my accuracy. This results in less revs and a ball rolling that I'm not quite accustomed to, but when I'm missing single pins by 5 boards something needs to change.

The 299 was a nice saver for the night and won me some money. My misses were much smaller and carry was excellent. There were a number of shots where I thought it was a 10 pin off my hand, but luckily I made it to the final ball. Last ball was a good shot which is all I wanted to do. All in all I learned a lot and I feel my game is starting to improve.

[baker]

Ball: Mission Unknown all games

Game 1: 229 - Clean game, didn't throw the ball great, but made my spares.

Game 2: 259 - Front 7 before a ring 10 pin in the 8th. Left a 2-8 first ball in the 10th on what seemed like a good shot.

Game 3: 193 - Carry issues and bad spare shooting missing a 7 pin and 9 pin. Left lane had a bit of a hang spot as I moved in making it difficult to string strikes.

Game 4: 290 - I needed to either move my breakpoint in or out to combat the over under I was seeing. I moved in on the first ball and rung a 10 pin so I decided to go the other way and bank it off the dry boards.

Series: 971 (681 for 3) - 242 avg
Season Avg: 228 (+2)

Overall a pretty good night, I ended up switching back to the mission unknown instead of trying to fight my ball reaction with the redline. I changed my spare shooting to kill all rotation and it seems to be helping except for the 3rd game. I'll continue to work on it over the next few weeks. My strike shot felt really good tonight, I've settled into the fact that I can't let my aim get in the way of throwing a good shot if that makes sense. When I try too hard to hit my target I end up forcing things and muscling my swing. Everything is starting to fall in place, I have a tournament this weekend that will be a good test.

[baker]

Had a tournament this weekend. This is a monthly series that I try to attend, but I've only had time to get to one so far this year. 6 games of qualifying on a 41 ft 5:1 ratio pattern. This pattern played very easy for me, but my spare game was a struggle:

Game 1: 183 (-17)
Game 2: 269 (+52)
Game 3: 247 (+99)
Game 4: 236 (+135)
Game 5: 225 (+160)
Game 6: 279 (+239)

240 Avg. today

Qualified first with 2nd place almost 80 pins behind. The mission unknown gave me a ton of area and my roll allowed me to get through the heads without overreacting. I ended up getting bye rounds through the semi's which was good and bad. I waited 1.5 hrs after my last game of qualifying before I had to bowl. The lanes transitioned a ton and I had to move 10 boards left of where I ended. I couldn't find a good line to string strikes and lost 225-174. Ended up taking 3rd and got a nice check and won a couple high game pots. Things are looking up, if I can improve my spare shooting I'll feel better about my up coming tournaments. I need to find time to get out and practice.

[JasonNJ]

Had a tournament this weekend. This is a monthly series that I try to attend, but I've only had time to get to one so far this year. 6 games of qualifying on a 41 ft 5:1 ratio pattern. This pattern played very easy for me, but my spare game was a struggle:

Game 1: 183 (-17)
Game 2: 269 (+52)
Game 3: 247 (+99)
Game 4: 236 (+135)
Game 5: 225 (+160)
Game 6: 279 (+239)

240 Avg. today

Qualified first with 2nd place almost 80 pins behind. The mission unknown gave me a ton of area and my roll allowed me to get through the heads without overreacting. I ended up getting bye rounds through the semi's which was good and bad. I waited 1.5 hrs after my last game of qualifying before I had to bowl. The lanes transitioned a ton and I had to move 10 boards left of where I ended. I couldn't find a good line to string strikes and lost 225-174. Ended up taking 3rd and got a nice check and won a couple high game pots. Things are looking up, if I can improve my spare shooting I'll feel better about my up coming tournaments. I need to find time to get out and practice.

Nice shooting. Congrats on a great tournament.

[baker]

Thanks! After the first game I was expecting more of a struggle, but things came around nicely.

[baker]

Ball: mission unknown games 1-3. Hammer rebel last game

game 1: 239
game 2: 235
game 3: 230
game 4: 250

series: 954 (704 for 3) - 238.5 avg

Really solid night, I made all makeable spares and made good moves. I was able to get out Sunday and practice spare shooting. Strike ball felt good as well, but I'm still leaking one right every so often. This cost me the final game. All in all I'm feeling good about the upcoming tournament season. I'll probably try to find something to bowl this weekend.

[baker]

Used the mission unknown all night.

Game 1: 222 - missed 10 pin, I never really felt comfortable the whole game.

Game 2: 256 - Left the 7-10 2nd ball in the 10th. The 7 pin bounced off the wall and rolled in front of the 10 pin and I lost by 1. Ouch

Game 3: 257 - clean game, just had a little trouble with carry. There was a bit of a hang spot on the left lane. My teammate shot 300 to help us win the game.

Game 4: 268 - front 7, I threw the ball well but couldn't get the 8th to carry. That little hang spot caused the ball to push too far and come in a. It behind the head pin for a ringing 10.

Total: 1003 (735 for 3) - 251 avg
Season Avg: 229
Strike %: 78.3%
Spare %: 70.3%
Single pin%: 85.7% (6 of 7)

It felt good to get my second 1000 series of the year. The lanes transitioned very odd, but I did a good job of staying on top of the moves. The guy I was bowling had 540 after 2 games and never hit 200 the final two games. It was like that for most the people on our pair. Once their look went away it went downhill fast.

One pattern I'm noticing is that it seems to take me a game before I get comfortable and remember what everything should feel like. It might be because I'm only bowling once a week, but it's definitely impacting my first game average.

[baker]

Mission unknown all night

Game 1: 244
Game 2: 202
Game 3: 246
Game 4: 255

Total: 947 (692 for 3) - 237 avg
Season Avg: 230

Strike: 59.1%
Spare: 81%
Single pin: 80% (8 of 10)


What a weird night, my scores don't reflect how I felt. My ball had no reaction down lane and I couldn't get it to face up to the pocket the way I wanted. I carried a lot of light hits, yet I was hitting my mark down lane where I wanted. After 3/4 of a league season I think it's time to de-oil my mission.

I was able to get out this week and practice a bit. I'm starting to feel more confident in my spare game. Although I missed two 10 pins in game 2 it was due to a lack of focus and a distraction a couple lanes over.

All in all a good night execution and scoring wise, but I was not seeing the transition or reading the lanes well.

[baker]

Mission unknown all games

Game 1: 227
Game 2: 255
Game 3: 257
Game 4: 204

Series: 943 (739 for 3) - 235 avg
Season Avg: 231

Strike: 68.9%
Spare: 76.9%
Single pin: 70% (7 of 10)

I've been traveling lately and haven't had a chance to bowl in a few weeks so I was excited to get out again. I threw the ball very well tonight, but was a little off on my spare shooting which cost me all my points.

The lanes were a bit tighter than normal which prevented me from having a monster night. There were basically two shots a game that I couldn't get to carry the first 3 games and then the last game I didn't have the right angle to get the 10 out.

I have a few tournaments coming up over the next few weeks that I feel good about. Despite missing three single pins I'm more confident in my spare game and my release is feeling good.