Boomer's Winter Season

[Aslan]

You picked up two, moderately to seriously difficult to pick up.

Just seems like you had one of those 'bad carry' nights.

[boomer]

oh EVERYONE had that. Haven't seen that many flat corner pins and weird leaves. Just goofy - I'm kinda ready for some dry weather! LOL - got outdoor stuff to do. . .

[boomer]

Bowled just well enough to lose

Sigh - this was NOT the way I was supposed to finish. NO idea why I tanked in the ends but . . . and this was on the "cheater" lanes (39-40) which get huge scores.

OK, here we go:

Practice - started with Mr. Teal. He got to the pocket but told me his buddy, the Master of Zen, would hit harder. Yep - he hit HARD off the same line, with some room outside. Cool - get adjustment and GO>
Game 1 - Great start. couple of 10s and a 2, but in the pocket all the way . . . until the 10th when I rolled a 2-4-10. Seriously? 213. We lost the point.
Game 2 - great start - again. Stone 9 and a left-side hit 6. Then a pocket 6-10 and a 1-2-8-10. Seriously again? 214. We won this point and have some room for total . . .
Game 3 - still hitting the pocket. Small adjustment to get a harder hit again, left a 2-8 (and whiffed) in 5, another 6-10. Crapola - 179. We lost the point and, but just a touch, lost total. If I'd struck in the 10th, we MIGHT have gotten total, but WOW the other team started to hit - like the 3 regulars EACH rolled a 4-bagger in the last 5 frames of the game. JUUUUUUUST enough to win. Even though my wife bowled great (won women's side pot, game 2 and 3) our lead-off lady bowled well (juuuuust lost to my wife in game 3 sidepot) and my son-in-law bowled well (+30 to his average), we lost the point. That one's on me - although my son-in-law's +30 should have canceled my own -30.

So that's another week of 1 point - that's 2 points out of 12 now. Not much time left . . .

(oops, put the wrong one up . . .)

[Aslan]

Looked great. Just some trouble in the 10th...which is a killer.

[boomer]

yep - and then next time I got to the 10th, it was in the back of my mind. . . grrr.

[boomer]

Good Day, Bad Day, New Shoes

Got some Pyramids for my birthday. Interchangeable soles on both shoes, interchangeable heels on both shoes - AND they're wide enough (close, anyway) for my feet and are nicely balanced. NICE! BUT - with all the rain, I was NOT ready for how they were. Right foot - awesomely sticky (which my SST-5's just never had) but the slide was not good, and the brake heel was more like a STOP NOW heel . . . swiped the heel from my SST, and grabbed a spare sole and I was OK. A bit woggly, but OK. I really should have practiced first, I guess. But with all my spare soles and such, I was able to make it work.

Practice - what practice! I was swapping soles and such. Bah.

Game 1 - I DID get it sorted. Left my nemesis, 3-6-10 in the second, but otherwise good. 223. We took the point.
Game 2 - fought the right lane for a few frames. NO idea why but swapping from Teal to Zen actually helped a lot. Pretty much sheeted from 7th frame. (OK, rang-10 in the 12th. . .) for 199 - we took this point too.
Game 3 - fell apart. Turkey in first three so felt good - but then left a 6 (and whiffed) and dumped a 10 pin into the gutter . . . had to struggle to get to 189. We lost the point, but we did take total.

Rain is still here today, but should be gone a week or so, until it comes back on Monday 19th. Good thing I moved to sunny SoCal, right? ROFL

[Aslan]

I'm on my second pair of the Pyramid HPXs. The first pair lasted quite awhile, but then the sole of my slide (right) foot started separating from the shoe...which is just caused by me dragging that toe. I HIGHLY recommend the Leading Edge heel (H6?) that you can interchange the front edge with different sole material. It keeps you from having an "abrupt" stop. Currently I think I have a #9 sole and am using a #6 or #8 on the leading edge of the heel. They also stop less abruptly as you break them in.

[boomer]

Thank you - I am using the sole and heel from my old SST-5, which is working but probably not optimal. You like the #9 sole?

And I am swapping between #6 and #8 sole - depending on if it's wet outside. Wet outside, I go a bit slicker; dry outside, I go a bit less slick.

Thanks for your input on the Pyramids. I like them so far. SOOO much more comfortable than my broken-down SSTs, LOL

[Aslan]

You like the #9 sole?

And I am swapping between #6 and #8 sole - depending on if it's wet outside. Wet outside, I go a bit slicker; dry outside, I go a bit less slick.

Most of my bowling career I used #8s and then #9s on more humid days. However, I take a couple practice slides before warm-ups and decide if I need to alter the sole/leading edge. Usually it's a #8 or #9...I used a #10 a very short duration. I change the leading edge more often and have used everything from a #2 to a #8...currently a #8.

[boomer]

Another frustrating night - we drop to 9th.

OK - now I'm missing 10's, which I've been VERY good with for a few months. Now I'm just dumping them in and it's not making me at all happy.

Game 1 - 172. SHOULD have been better, was in the pocket the ENTIRE game, but ring-10s, a 7-10 and missing TWO 10s killed me. We lost the game by 6, and I could have won it with a flippin MARK.
Game 2 - far better. FAR better. Still in the pocket. two misses - one in the first frame, and one split (4-9) but otherwise good. 224 - we still lost the point. Kills me.
Game 3 - now I'm frustrated and that's hurting me. Trying to focus on my form, wait on my steps, long low swing. Meh - still bad. 161 and we lose all four.

Position week coming up.

We're changing the team for summer - getting with another couple. He's VERY good and I'm hoping we feed off each other. She's consistent and I'm hoping that my wife and she feed off each other in the same way.