Sunday Night League - 577

I suck, that is all

Sunday Night League - 734

My new highest series ever. I was throwing the ball really well towards the end of the first game, and in the second game i struck, then made a stupid stupid shot and spared then struck out. Then i got the next 4 strikes in the last game. Had 14 in a row over 2 games. One day i will get it.

Sunday Night League - 725

So, i havent blogged in a while, I had a really bad night last sunday night, I shot 556 or something. Heres the thing, the shot at holiday seems "dryer" to me, meaning ball reacts much more than it used to. AND i got a new ultra zone and had this one drilled for length. It hooks so much more than the other ultra. SO i decided to change my release completely. I need to stop trying to turn the ball, just concentrate on it getting off my hand and let the ball do the work.

Well it seems to work. I shot 267, 242, 216. That damn 216, i hit pocket and left a 10 pin, and then missed it like a freaking amateur. I need to stop missing single pins. That is really what is causing me to not shoot a 750+ series.

Either way, I like my new release better. Less effort and more action at the end.

Wednesday Night League - Cheetah Pattern

So both lanes were oiled with the Cheetah, and even though it is the highest scoring pattern in the PBA, i think it is really tough. I was throwing the ultra zone, and started out throwing the 12 to about 5. After I decided that wasnt a good line, I moved way over and was hitting 10 to 5/4. That seemed to be a great shot for me, but i just have a hard time hitting my mark i have found out. i think i avereaged right at 155 for the night. SIGH

State Tournament - Farmington, NM

Made it to Farmington for the state championship this past weekend. The lanes were in pretty good shape, the bowling alley was pretty nice, and the conditions were somewhat challenging in my opinion.
I dont remember the games exactly but I shot 537 in the team event. Yeah.... They oil was weird, you really couldnt swing it out to the 5 or else it wouldnt come back.
In the Doubles event I shot 573. I had one 200+ game but i forget what it was. I felt a little better about the shot, i knew not to swing it out, had to play a tighter line.
Singles event I shot 641. Had a 216, 15o something and a 277. On the last game, I had the front 9 and i was feeling the pressure. I sat by the lanes not near anyone and tried to calm my self down. I got up for the 10th frame, picked up my ball and took a deep breath. As soon as I released the ball, everyone that had gathered behind me started cheering and yelling. I missed my mark by 1 board to the left so even though it hit pocket, it left the good ol 10 pin.
Overall, it was a great experience. I got a bunch of pins that I am proudly displaying on my bowling bag. The best one is the 250 game pin :)

Wednesday Night League - Us Open/Cheetah patterns

So yesterday in the pba experience league, they oiled the left lane in the cheetah pattern, and the right lane using the us open pattern. See my last post about the open pattern for the conditions. The cheetah "has the most friction" of all the patterns. It is only 36 feet and doesnt have all that much oil on the middle part of the lane. It forces you to make your break point right near the gutter(1-5 board) so its really tough because that is almost to close for comfort.
So my first game I was having a really tough time keeping my break point near the gutter on the cheetah. I tried flattening out my ball, throwing it harder, everything. What ended up working for me was just flattening my shot on the open pattern, and throwing my normal release on the cheetah.
So from the second game on, i played straight up the 10 board on the open pattern, and then about 12 to 3/4 on the cheetah. If i could hit my mark, it would strike. On my second game, every ball except for 2 that i threw on the open pattern struck. that was about as good as i got.
I shot 154, 169, 164, 144. I know its not good, but there is some improvement there from last week. About 100 pins total. Next week will be the Cheetah on both sides. I think I will try using the ultra that night and see what happens.

Sunday Night League - 641 Series

Well I started on a Sunday night league to take my mind off of the hell that comes the following day. This league is at holiday also, so I dont think I will be bowling at Silva all summer.
My first game was a 171. I was having a really tough time figuring out what to do. The shot that they laid down was very dry in my opinion, forcing me to the inside right off the bat. I really dont like playing so deep so early. I finally realized that if i just threw it as hard as possible, my ball would hold the line.
Second game was a 213. I missed a 10 pin this game on the inside. Again, so dry that i actually had to completely flatten my spare ball to pick up that crappy pin.
Last game was a 257. I really found the line this game. Pretty much all i was doing was throwing it at the gutter as hard as i could, and just trusting that it would recover.
Ended up shooting a 641 and setting a 214 average. Gonna be tough to maintain...
The cool thing is from the look of it, no one on that league is going to be anywhere near me (i hope) so i can decimate all. Elena is on my team, she set a 13o average. I think by the end of league though, she will be shooting consistent 180's and have had her first 200 game.

Wednesday Night League - US Open Pattern

So if you dont know, i joined a pba experience league. The league takes us through the 5 oil patterns used on the tour plus the us open pattern. This week was the US Open pattern, 40 feet of flat oil. I had no idea what to expect really, the only thing I knew was it was going to be very challenging. Wow...
So I started off by throwing the ultra zone. During practice, i tried throwing straight down the 8 which seemed to hit the pocket ok. that bad part is if i missed by a couple boards right, it would just slide and slide and slide. I really had to take the thought out of my head that if i missed right, it would recover. So i tried 3 different lines that game. i ended up shooting a 92. yep... splits galore. I learned that if i missed by 2 boards left or right, i would miss the head pin.
Second game i picked up the storm t road that michael gave me. It is drilled pin high as opposed to pin low like the ultra. It worked so much better on that pattern. My second game was a 127 :).
We moved pairs and that shot was way burnt out compared to the first pair. i got a 173. then the last game was a 135 or something.
we are bowling the us open pattern on one lane next week, but I never want to bowl on it again. It just makes you realize how much you depend on a league style pattern.

the season of 2nd place

Yep, i sucked it up in the final night of league. 577. 184, 216, 177. We were on lanes 1 and 2, and i just couldnt get anything to carry on 2. I also broke my streak of picking up 10 pins. We lost the 1st game by 150 points, then won the second by 200, then lost the third by 40 or so. The worst part is my team came in second, i came in second in high average, high game, and high series. I guess i shouldnt be complaining since last year i was nothing. Good thing is last year i ended this league with a 192 average, this year was a 209. Pretty good improvement.

I start the PBA experience league on wednesday and i am so excited for that. The first pattern is going to be the US open pattern, 46 ft of flat oil. yeah, thats going to be a fun night. I think that the league will really help me become a better bowler though, it has to right? So I will be bloggin about that come wednesday night or thursday.

I am alos bowling a mixed handicap league on sunday nights. Elena will be bowling in that too. I am pretty sure she will set a 120ish avg but will improve to a 150ish. We'll see....

Friday Night League - 697 Series

DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant believe i was 3 pins short. SIGH

So my first game was a 227, and that was with a open in the second frame (split) and i struck out in the 10th frame. I was releasing the ball good too

Second game was a 225. Pretty much exactly the same as the first, open in the 2nd, and struck out in the 10th.

Third game was a 245. This time i didnt open in the 2nd frame. So, everyone on my team opened in the 10th frame and going up there i had 3 in a row. The anchor on the other team walked up there with me and all i needed to do was strike to shut their team out. 1 Strike. 1 strike would have won the game, got me my 700 series, and beaten larry. So what do i do? Freaking came in high. i picked it up and then struck but he struck out. The pressure really got to me on that one and I am really upset about it. 

Monday Night Practice - 738 Series

Wow, What happened? I was concentrating on getting the ball off my hand good. That really helps me. When i release it right, and i dont have all that forward roll on it, it allows me to miss my mark a bit and it will still recover.  Anyway, the lanes were messing up so a ten pin that shouldve stayed up got knocked over by the machine so in acutallity i shouldve had a series that was 10 - 20 pins less. 

first game was a 235, second was a 266, and third game was a 237. That 266 game, i had the front 8 and i was feeling the pressure too. So, on the 9th i got up and decided to think about throwing the ball slower because i knew i would be a little pumped. Well, I came in high. SIGH

Im pretty happy over all though.

Friday Night League - 669 Series

Again I started off bad. Releasing the ball like an idiot. My first game was a 190. The bad part about that is I had marked all the way till the tenth, then opened. I missed the 6-9-10 like a dumbass for a 190. After that game though, i realized there was something wrong with my release. So I decided to focus of gettting the ball off my hand much cleaner. 

My second game was a 256. I had no idea it was that good either. I even opened on one frame. I threw 2 strikes in the 10th and then came in high and left the 4 pin. When i walked back everyone was telling me good job, then i looked at my score. 256... wow. I had no clue. And that double i threw in the 10th meant we took high handicap game too with 1175.

My third game was a 223. Again, i had a stupid open, but overall i was throwing the ball much better. It was actually driving though the pocket much harder than normal. I guess i just really need to focus on releasing that ball properly because when i do it rewards me with ten pin party in the pit. 

I am most likely gonna buy another ultra zone and have it drilled diferently. I really like the ball. I like the coverstock much more than the VG's cover stock. My current Ultra is drilled to roll early so i think ill get another one and get it drilled to go longer. 

Friday Night League - 604 Series

Just squeeked into the 6's on this series. I dont remember my scores, but I remember what i did wrong. The first 2 games i was throwing the ball way to hard. For some reason i had it in my head that I had to throw it mega hard. On the third game, i slowed it down and shot 231. I cant beleive i didnt do that the first 2 games. oh well

I gave the VG to Aric to throw and see if he liked it. He threw it his 2nd in 3rd game. He got 240 something the second game and a damn 279 the last game. SIGH. Guess its going to work for him.

Monday Night Practice

Well, this was the final chance for the Virtual Gravity. And yes, it failed. I have noticed that the VG completely dies if there is any kind of carry down on the lane. It wouldnt move at all. well, it moved a bit but not enough for me to be happy with it. I am probably just going to sell it, it had a good run, but its over now. 

So i grabbed the ultra zone. The thing about this ball, its it starts hooking so early i have to throw it hard. My first game i shot 256. 

The second game i totally lost focus and shot 189 with an open in the 10th frame. This game i had 2 opens right off the bat too, they were splits because i was tired of throwing it hard. My pin action does seem crazy when i throw it harder though, so it cant be a bad thing. 

Last game was 194. I was tired....

All in all, i really like the ultra zone.

Friday Night League - 654 Series

I knew we were on 1 and 2, and with the current slump i am in, I was expecting another wonderful 500 series. I had some time before league so i went and got my new ball drilled. I decided to go with a layout that was for "early roll with strong back end". I got it drilled at holiday, it just feels like they have the angle of the thumb better or something. Anyway, you should see the weight hol he put in the ball, you could put a gallon of water in it. 

So we got to our lanes for practice, and I decided to throw the ultra zone to see what it would do. Holy crap, I couldnt keep it on the right side. i threw 3 balls and put it away and grabbed the VG.

first game - 177

Sigh, i dont remember much of the game except that i couldnt find the right adjustment on lane 2. I had no trouble on 1. I ended on lane 2, and I marked in the 10th frame, so i decided to throw the ultra since i couldnt do any harm.  I ended up putting the VG away and kept the ultra out.

Second game - 229

So i was just throwing the ultra as hard as i could and man was it coming back. WTF? i wanted it to be a less hooking ball, but thats not going to happen. And it almost seemed like as long as i threw it as hard as possible, it would hit pocket. 

Third game - 248

Ultra zone baby. thats all i have to say.

Larry shot a 668, so even though he will be ahead of me in average, hes not out of reach. I am going to give the VG one more chance. I got a 4000 grit abralon pad to try to return it to its factory finish. It has failed me twice. 

New Ball - Brunswick Ultra Zone

So a few brunswick balls were on bigtime sale at bowlingball.com. I had the choice between a twisted fury, twisted fury solid, smash zone, and a swarm for $89, or the ultra zone for $69. I really really wanted to get one of the twisted furys but michael brought a good point up. Do you ever seen anyone throwing a twisted fury? Nope. I think i saw someone once with a twisted fury destruction sitting in the bag, but not throwing it. Storm really seems to be dominating the market right now. 

Since i have always been a brunswick fan, i didnt mind getting a ball for almost half off. I bowled in a tournament a couple of months ago at ten pins and I saw David Hoffer there. I used to bowl with him in Ruidoso about 10 years ago. He is also a brunswick fan, and he is the one that gave me the Danger Zone HPH that i still have. He was talking up the ultra zone that he had bought. So based on what michael said, and what hoffer said, i ordered the ultra.

It will be here today, an I am debating on if i should get it drilled and throw it for league or wait and practice with it first. I have time tomorrow to get it drilled before league, but the race for high average is SOO tight and I cant afford to be bowling with something i am not comfortable with. Not to mention, we are on 1 and 2 tomorrow.

So i think i will get it drilled saturday and throw it sunday. 

Monday Night Practice

Decided to give the VG one last shot at redemption before i threw it in the dumpster. I guess its good that i didnt. I am thinking I was just getting a good read on the lanes. 

WOW. what happened right? I figured out some issues that i was having with timing and with my release. And i found the line immediatley. 

The best part of this practice session is the number of open frames i had. 2!! they were stupid ones too, i missed them with my spare ball. I forgot to mention that I am on a 15 for 15 ten pin pick up streak from the tournamnet and this practice. I am no longer scared when i see the 10 pin standing there. 

Another interesting thing about this practice is the number of splits i left. NONE. usually thats the majority of my opens. Even though swinging it out to the 1 board looks cool, it doesnt score well because when i do that I am guaranteed a split. 

There were a couple times when i would throw the VG just like every other ball but it would come in harder. Oh well, I think i will just keep it after i get the ultra zone I ordered and use it if the lanes are super slick.

Sunday Scratch Tournament

Even though i have been in a slump lately, I decided to enter the monthly scratch tournament. There were only 12 scratch bowlers taht showed up this time so i thought my odds were actually gonna be pretty good. 

I started the tournament with my virtual gravity. I had some new confidence in it after saturdays practice. Came out shooting a 194. not bad, i could do better. Then the ball just got weird. The next game i left 2 pocket 7 - 10 splits. That was discouraging. So discouragin i shot a 155. SIGH. So I put the VG up and got out the danger zone (ol faithful).

SO the first ball with the zone, i threw in the gutter. haha i picked up the spare though. Then i struck to the 10th frame where i opened like an idiot for a 234. 

After that i shot a 207, 203 and a 200. If only i had started with the zone.

Saturday Practice

After my beating on friday, I decided to soak my ball in hot water mixed with simple green. Surprisingly a lot of crap came out of the ball. Didnt really change things though, but i managed on shooting sorta decent. I just dont know what to do.....

I was playing a very tight line near the gutter though. I really like shooting that. Not only does it look cool, i think i get the best carry that way. I really think playing that line helps my accuracy too because if you miss right playing that line, it really hurts your score. 

Friday night league - 591 series

Yep, i am on the verge of giving up. I just dont know what my problem is. I know that i am throwing it harder but i just cant seem to slow it down. Plus, my virtual gravity has seems to have lost its consistency. Sometimes it will hook, sometimes it will go long. Heres the thing about it though, I have polished it and resurfaced it so many times who knows what is going on with the cover. I ordered a new ball, an ultra zone. Mostly because it was on sale but also because i always rely on "ol faithful", my danger zone hph. Figured i would try another zone. 

I think my first game was a 179. Yeah.

Second was 194 - better but still crappy

third i finally got something going and shot 218. 

Larry and I are tied for average now going into next week with a 207.8. SIGH

2009 USBC Open Championships - Cashman Center, LasVegas, NV

So i made another trip to vegas to bowl again. This time, even thought the oil pattern was going to be much less challenging, I was looking for redemtion. Thats not what i got :(

We stayed at the Monte Carlo this time instead of the freak show circus circus. That place is starting to get pretty dumpy. The monte was nice, but I wasnt to impressed. We were just in vegas a month and a half prior, so it felt like yesterday when we rolled into town. After we got checked in, we went straight to Fat Tuesdays :)

My first day of bowling was the team event with a team i never met. I got there early to see what shot the guys were playing. They were shooting on the burned up shot, and they were mostly playing down and in. Made me think that it was going to be super slick. Went to the back and got my balls weighed and inspected, then met my team. Then we did a march out, my second march out in cashman center. They had just oiled the lanes too

After a couple of practice throws it was pretty obvious that the lanes were not slick at all. I was playing my normal 12/13 to 4 and hooking back into the pocket. I opened up with a 214. i felt pretty good about that. My teamates were really impressed with the reaction i was getting out of my ball for my style of throwing. One guy even said "lot of forward roll on your ball huh?". I never really thought that I had forward roll.

Anyway, I sucked it up the next 2 games and got a 557 series. I remember my last game was a 156 only because i struck out in the 10th. And the reason i struck out in the 10th is because i made a drastice move(5 left with feet/ 3 left with mark). Had i done that a lot sooner, i probably couldve scored higher. Why i still refuse to move when i dont carry is beyond me.

So the second day i had to bowl at 7am. That sucked, i dont do anything good at 7am. We got another fresh shot which was weird. My first game was a 234. That felt great and I had high hopes for a good series. then in the 3rd frame i threw a gutter ball onmy first ball. Then, i guttered the second ball. Out of no where. I dont think i have ever done that. Somehow, i managed a 189 out of that game. I dont remember my third game but it wasnt good, and i got a 581 series.

Then the next set, we moved lanes to where a bunch of straight ball people were throwing. I couldnt figure out the shot at all. I ended up throwning the track hitting the 17 out about the 4. This is the first time i have experienced the "skid flip" ball. It looks really cool going down there, but was so hard to control. i had a 534 series...

Didnt get remption, but i did bowl ok for 2 games. ha.

Friday Night League - 629 Series

So this blog is a little late because I didnt really have time till today. We bowled the old men on Friday, so there was a TON of crap talking going on. I actually like bowling those old guys though, its pretty fun to mess with them about their lack of revs or speed of the ball.

I started off pretty strong, had a strike, then a spare that i missed my mark by 2 boards right, then struck to the 10th. I got up for the 10th frame thinking about how i needed to close the frame out. I missed my mark bad and left a split. SIGH. Opened in the 10th for a 245. 

Thats ok i was thinking, i was throwing it well. Second game i had the front 5, then what do i do? I come in high and leave the 4 ten. Miss it. Come in slightly high and leave the 10, miss it. Then hit pocket and leave the 7 - 10. I went from the front 5 to a 189. 

Last game i just couldnt carry anything. 195. 

Got my usual 6 opens. 4 of those were splits though, not that it makes it any better. I picked up one split but i cant remember which one. 18 strikes. 13 of those were in the first 15 frames. I just dont understand what my problem is. Its all mental i think. And i dont adjust quick enough to keep my scores high. 

Monday Night Practice

The Virtual Gravity is BACK!!!!!!!! it was hooking hard last night. That and I remembered how to release my ball properly. We got a game extra to dedicate to practice last night and i started by throwing my danger zone. It was barely coming back so i thought "great, the VG is gonna be worthless." That couldnt be further from the truth. I was able to throw it out to the gutter again, and it would come back hard. It gave me a lot more confidence in the ball once again. 

I had a few people there last night that normally arent there so i couldnt really concentrate on my game but when i did, i scored pretty high. Shot a 257 one game, and that made me get all confidence in my ball and ability back. 

As you can see in the picture though, I had 9 open frames for 4 games. I was throwing my spare ball at every spare again. I missed two 7 pins.... I also had 5 splits.

I am excited to shoot in league now, i think i will score much better. It seems as if my ball is maybe 1 - 2 mph faster, but i can turn it finally so getting reaction isnt a problem. 

Friday Night League - 533 Series

Wow, Crappy. thats all i have to say. I really dont know what happened. I think 2 things are happening here. 

1: I am still throwing it super hard. Why? I kept trying to slow my shot down but couldnt. WTF? Everytime I went up there I would throw it hard. ARRGGGHHH

2: The fact that my ball isnt reacting is really getting into my head. Add to that my new found speed on the ball and that takes any reaction out of it. 

I did talk to the guy in th pro shop (the one who knows what hes doing in my opinion) and he told me that if you polish the ball a lot with silicon based polish, it eventually fills in the pores of the ball. Then the ball loses all reaction. Sound familiar?

First game - 170

Sigh. I couldnt carry anything, and i was missing stupid spares. I was throwing the virtual gravity, it was not moving. It was at this point I went into the pro shop and talked to the guy about it. He ended up resurfacing it for about 5 minutes to 2000 grit. Came back out and got some good reaction from it but damit i was still throwing it hard.

Second game - 159

Missed two 10 pins this game. And, to this point, i only had one strike in the last game, and this game i got 1. just couldnt carry ANYTHING

Third game - 204

During the second game, i had just given up on the whole night so i decided to get drunk instead. What a difference that made. Slowed my ball down, i started carrying, and i was getting strikes. Of course I missed some stupid spares but what ever. 

I am going to practice tonight since i missed yesterdays practice. If i dont bowl a 600 or better(and that sounds sad), i am going to freak out.

Bowling Ball Maintenance

On a whim, I decided to wash my Danger Zone with dish soap and water to try to get all the oil off of it. OMG. You should seen the blackness that came off of it. I just scrubbed it with a really soapy brush, let that soak a bit, rinsed and repeated. The ball went from shiney to a dull look, almost like it had been wet sanded. Also, all the little scuffs and nicks are visable now. It makes me realize how old the ball really is. It really has been through a lot. From the look of it now, i think it will bite a lot more than before, which is huge. So this got me thinking, why dont i wash the Virtual Gravity?

So did the same wash technique to the VG, it didnt make it as dull as the DZ, but it made it duller. So I let both balls sit for a while to dry. When i came back to the VG, it was all oily on the top, like the oil had seeped out. hmmmmm. So i took some 409 and wiped it clean again. Weird. The VG still looks polished though, but I hope some of the reaction is restored to it. I guess I'll see friday.

Speaking of Friday, regardless of what my ball does, I need to perform well. I cant believe how I have been bowling lately. I dont know what my deal is. I will admit is is hard maintaining my average, and its not even that high. Right now I have to shoot 627 just to hit my average. Its sort of a bit of pressure. 

Monday Night Practice

Decided to bowl another 5 games today to get back into my regular practice schedule. I was tired coming off of Sundays 5 games but i didnt want to slack on practice time like i did last week. The first game was sort of a warm up for me and a tool for finding the line that I wanted to play. Man, the lanes were slick. The virtual gravity was not moving at all, making me lose even more faith in it. so about the middle of the first game i switched to the danger zone and was throwing it straight down the 7/8 board. That worked pretty well for the second game, then the 3rd game i started leaving 10 pins(5 actually) like crazy. So i started moving around and didnt really find a good line till the last game. 

I only had 9 open frames this time, 5 of which were splits. I remember missing one 10 pin too. This was throwing my spare ball at everything too. 30 strikes for 5 games is decent, but i would like to see 35 at least. That first game really killed my stats on this one. 

I really like throwing the danger zone on slick lanes. Its familiar and comfortable to me, i wish i could find another ball like that. 

Sunday Practice on Sport pattern

Not really sure what pattern was out there yesterday. It wasnt the Shark, but it was a pba pattern because i know the league there is an experience league. I decided its time to get back to how i used to practice and bowl 5 games.  Elena and Michael were also there.

The pattern seemed to give me a lot more reaction in the back, especially with the danger zone. Also, You could swing it out and it would just slide into the gutter. It had the same miss by a board and not carry characteristic as the other pro patterns i have bowled on. I was throwing my spare ball at all the spares again, so i managed on getting 14 open frames for the 5 games. I realized that throwing the spare ball at all spares only helps make me more accurate. 

So on the right is a picture of my stats for the 5 games. The thing to notice is the 14 under the header "total". Thats open frames. Below that is the number of spares, below that the number of strikes, and below that the number of splits. Yes, 15 splits. That 134 game i had 4 splits, none of which i picked up. 

First couple of games i was throwing the virtual gravity. It was working farily well for me, then it j

ust stopped driving. it seems like carry down really effects the way that ball reacts. I was wondering if it was the polish, so i had them resurface the ball to the factory 4000 grit finish. i threw it once after and then just put it away. 

Last games I threw the danger zone. man that ball hooks. Its amazing that even though it is 12 years old, it still reacts with the strongest balls on the market today. I like it, its easy to control and i know what to expect from it. When i bowl on the pro patterns, i tend to lean more towards my danger zone. 

Elena bowled really well today. Shes getting much better at picking up spares. Heres her stats

Friday Night League - 619 Series

Sigh. I dont know what happened. Was it because i didnt practice on monday? I started out pretty strong, made a couple mistakes and then just could never really recovered after that. I felt myself throwing the ball harder than normal, couldve been left over from the tournament on sunday.

I was throwing my Virtual Gravity, and the lanes seemed like they were oiled pretty well. I started out playing my normal 12 to 5 shot. 

First game - 223

I had a great game going, made 3 stupid mistakes and got spares but the rest of the frames were strikes. Then i get up to the 10th frame, left a ten pin then missed it. I opened for a 223. What an idiot. How am I still missing ten pins. I was so upset about it that i had to walk off.  I had a 240/250 game going

Second game - 193

I couldnt carry ANYTHING this game. the thing that sucks when you dont carry is you get spares and then that one split that you cant pick up totally ruins any hope of getting a 200+ game. I dont remember the frames but I remember opening in the 8th and having a 133. I had to strike out for a 193. I really focused on doing that and got the 4 strikes. Talk about saving a game. 

Third game - 203

Yet another game where I couldnt carry. I decided to move and throw 10 to 5 since i was throwing it hard and couldnt seem to control it. I got a couple strikes but still sucked. Again, I had to strike out for the 203 and I did. One time in the tenth, i started my approach up there to throw and as I let the ball down I hit my leg. I managed on stopping myself while sliding up to the foul line. Walked back to the ball return, put my ball down, recollected myself and then threw a strike. Its a great feeling to know I have the control to stop in mid swing if i sense something wrong.

All in all i am pretty disappointed in myself. i wouldve had to shoot a 628 just to maintain my average. My average was 209.44 last night and I suspect it will drop to 209.2. Sigh. I wont say what Aric shot(it was bad) but his average is gonna drop to 202. Larry shot a 720, his will prolly go up a pin and he will now be at 206. A little close for comfort.

The team we bowled against needed a sub so Elena subbed for them. She didnt have her shoes or her ball, but she still bowled. She was using the "Yoly" ball that we found a couple months ago. Her first game was a 99 and her second was a 102. Then she figured out what she was doing wrong and shot the best game of her life - a 155. 

Sunday Tournament at Ten Pins in Rio Rancho

Today Aric, Michael and I went to Ten Pins in rio rancho today for a tournament. Aric and I bowled in the scratch division, and Michael bowled in the handicap. There were 20 scratch bowlers today. The format for the scratch is: bowl 6 game qualifier, then the top 25% would go on to match play based on rank.
Ten Pins is a all wood house. the lanes and approaches are real wood. I really hate bowling on wood lanes because I never know what to expect from them. When i bowled the tournament at leisure, the lanes broke down so badly that i had a hard time keeping the ball on the right side. 

During practice i couldnt keep my ball on the right side. I tried with both the danger zone and the virtual gravity. I decided just to throw the virtual gravity and adjust. 

The first game i was swinging it wide and it was coming back way to high. Aric suggested i throw it harder. I did, and i could hit pocket that way, but my accuracy went down the tubes. The second game I was shooting straight down the 5 board and i was hitting pocket much easier but i lost one in the gutter which scared me out of that area. The 3rd game i finally just was throwing it hard, hitting 12 to about 8. I kept that shot for the rest of the day. 

We made or way to lanes 1 and 2 on the 5th game. 1 was SOOO much dryer than lane 2. Took me half of the game to figure out where to stand on 1. I had the high game of the 4 i was bowling with on that pair with a 172. 

For the whole 6 games i shot 1204. not bad but definitely not good. I think it was mostly that i was out of my comfort zone throwing the ball so hard. I missed the cut by 80 pins. I just couldnt get into the grove over there. All i had to do was average 215 and i couldnt even do that. I dont remember my scores really, but my low game was 172 and high was 225. 

Next time

Edit: Man i was sore the last 2 days. I guess I was really throwing the ball hard. Something that I am not used to. Yet another thing i need to work on in my quest of going pro. 

Friday night league - 707 series

Yes!! I shot another 7 in league. Back to back 7's. that feels good. I forgot to snap a picture of the recap because i was talking smack to Roland but ill go over it from the best of my memory. I was throwing my virtual gravity and the lanes seemed "dryer" than usual.
first game - 206
I really struggled this game. I had one open because I was throwing my spare ball at every spare. I missed an easy 4-7. i stopped throwing it in order to score high. I was shooting pretty straight right up the 12 board, actually it was more like 12 to 10, then back to pocket. i dont know how i squeaked a 206 out of it.
second game - 265
This game really was upsetting for me. I finally moved over and was swinging the ball out, playing my normal 12 to 5 shot. I was doing my mental clearing technique and got the front 6. on the 7th shot, i thought about how it would be the 7th strike in a row and couldnt get that out of my head. I hit pocket but left a 10. damit. all because i lost focus. shot after that i hit high and left a 4. I then struck in the 9th and the first 2 balls in the 10th. The last one i went way high and left the 3-6-10.
thrid game - 236
This game was really saved by me. I feel really good about it because i had a spare the first frame, then came in high and had the 4-9 split. didnt pick that up and i was already discouraged. I ended up stringing 5 in a row after that. i dont remember the 8th and 9th frames but going into the 10th i KNEW that i had to strike out for the 7. I struck out in the 10th for the 236 and for a 707. :)
I found out later that Michael wanted to tell me the first game to move but held it back to see how long it would take me to. It took a full game. I just need to realize that if i am doing everything good and not carrying, its not me, its time to move. Either way, i am really happy about how i bowled. Since I got back from vegas, i have shot 670, 559, 727, 707. Not really consistent but thats a 221.9 average for those 12 games.
I wont be bowling on the shark pattern Sunday, i am entering a tournament at ten pins in rio rancho. I have never set foot in that bowling alleyso it should be pretty interesting to see how well i score. From what i have heard, they have wooden lanes and lay down a lot of oil

Pro Oil Pattern vs League Oil Pattern

Someone commented on my entry from Monday asking if bowling on a league is helping or hurting me. I really think that any bowling i can get under my belt will help me. Before I had bowled on a pro pattern, i didnt really know what to expect. I was amazed at how precise you have to be in order to score high. Even shooting at spares is different.

So now, when i miss my mark on a league pattern, i really know it. Even in that 280 game i had last week, i missed my mark by more than 2 boards to the right, yet, it still caught and hooked back into the pocket. They call that "bumper bowling". At the masters tournament, 2 boards to the right meant gutter. 

But, the more accurate i get in league, the higher my scores will be and my average will reflect it. Last year I finished the friday night league with a 192 average. Already this year i am at a 208. Almost 20 pins a year improvement is great and I hope i continue that way until my average is 230. 

The question of will I enter another pro tournament was asked. Yes. As long as I can get sponsored again, I will enter as many as  I can. I actually got invited to go back to vegas to compete in the USBC Open Championships. A team that a friend of mine knows needed a bowler so i got picked up. This means I will get to bowl in the team event, Doubles and Singles. The oil pattern there will be challenging but nothing like the Masters. 

Here is a link to the Masters pattern:

http://www.bowl.com/Downloads/pdf/tournaments/Masters/2009_usbc_masters_las_vegas.pdf

Here is the Open Pattern:

http://www.bowl.com/Downloads/pdf/2009%20USBC_open_championships_lane_condition.pdf

The open pattern is 40 feet long, where the masters was 39 feet. Seems to me that the backends wont react like they did in the masters, but the open shot will be a little more forgiving. If you look at both patterns, the open has more oil in the middle and less on the outsides compared to the masters. To me, that means you can miss right or left a little more and still hold pocket. Ill never know until i get there though...

Another thing is I think i need a specific tournament ball. Idealy I would want a ball for each pattern, but until i get a major sponsorship, i will have to settle for one. I am thinking of going to holiday bowl and telling them i want a ball drilled for the shark or chameleon pattern. Ball choice is another big thing. I have always wanted a Cell or Cell pearl just because of Wes Malott.

 

I found this gif of his release though, and i think that has a little to do with how bad ass his ball is. Can you believe that? Look at how contorted his wrist is until the last second. 

I have always been partial to Brunswick balls. The Virtual gravity is the only non bruswick ball i have had other than the Ti-boss i gave Nathan. Theres really nothing on the market from brunswick that impresses me. Michael bought Hammers "the sauce" and it was a lot of ball, but i really wasnt 

that impressed with it either. The cell has caught my eye, the pearl mostly. I will probably end up getting that. 

Monday Night Practice - 665 Series

It feels good to get back into my normal practice schedule. It was an added bonus that bowling was on special tonight for 2 dollars a game :).
I got my number one comp Aric to come practice with me tonight. I always get nervous when I bowl against Aric. Check out the picture and I will explain what happened.
The 221 is my average for the 3 games, below that are the actual scores and below that is the total pinfall for the 3 games. The 9.3 is my first ball average and the 29.05 is the average number of seconds it takes me to bowl a frame.
First Game - 234
Didnt get a warm up game today, so i just tried my normal line for friday night. It came in light and left a split. Oh well, it was the first ball. I made a 3 board foot adjustment to the right, and struck to the 7th frame. So my left foot was 2 baords right of the far left dot, and i was throwing 13 to about 5. i had noticed on strike 5 that my ball was coming in light. I moved and the result was a 10 pin. picked it up and then in frame 8 left another 10 pin. this time i missed it. moved back to my original line and struck out. why i moved when i was carrying is beyond me.
Second Game - 213
Had three opens in the first 3 frames of this game. 2 of the opens were because i was throwing my spare ball at the spares which I'm not 100% comfortable with. For some reason i had migrated my shot to the outside, playing about 10 to 5. Finally moved myself back over and somehow saved the game.
Third Game - 218
I had a Dutch 200 going until the 6th frame when i finally got a double. I had another stupid open in the 8th frame but ended up striking out for the 218.
Under the header "Total" in the picture, the 5 is the number of open frames. 5. yes 5. As I mentioned, I am still learning to throw the spare ball at every spare, but that is just unacceptable. the 7 is the number of spares. the 22 is the number of strikes, the 3 is the number of splits and the 1 is the number of splits that were converted. Not completely horrible, but not all that great either. I would like to see an average of 8 strikes a game, so only 2 more total. I guess i cant complain about that.
The good ol league pattern saved my ball from going in the gutter a couple times. Its just amazing to me that the league pattern is that forgiving. I almost feel like i am cheating. I was doing my "mental clearing" thing that i was doing on friday. i really think it helps me. I threw the Virtual Gravity all night.
Aric had a 594. This was his first time trying to shoot at every spare with a plastic ball. He did pretty good for his first time.
Michael did really well, he had 588. Why he cant do that in league remains a mystery. He seems to get freaked out if he gets more than 4 strikes in a row. :)

Elena is getting much better. She had a 120, 122, and 130. She even had 2 strikes in the tenth frame of one game.

Sunday PBA shark pattern

Finally got back into the normal routine of watching bowling then going bowling after on sundays. We found out that there is a pba experience league on sundays that takes up 12 lanes. They usually oil 4 extra lanes with the pba pattern and if you get there at a good time, you can get a pair. This weeks pattern was the shark.
Man this pattern is tough. Its tougher than the USBC Masters shot by far. Miss your mark by one board and forget it. Even if it does hit pocket, it wont carry. The shot that seems to score the best for me is down the 10 board. Depending on where my feet are, straight down the 8 works too. I did pretty well hitting my mark today, couldnt carry anything though. I like bowling on the shark to test how well i can hit my mark. Last time i bowled on the shark i did horrible. I also convinced myself that my balls really arent drilled for that type of oil pattern. There is a lot of oil on the lane.
I am also trying to make the switch to picking up all spares with my spare ball. Got the 7 pin area nailed down today, and I think i may even do it in league this friday. I am gonna bowl tomorrow night so ill practice it more there. I also picked up a washout with the spareball too. Eric Espina told me to draw an imaginary line from where you want to hit to your shoulder. Where the line crosses the arrows, thats your mark. Seems to work well for me, great advice Eric.

On a sidenote, Elena is getting a lot better at bowling now that she has her own equipment. I think its a comfort factor for her. She had a 140 today, pretty good.

Friday night league - 727 series

w00t! I finally bowled good since the Vegas beating. Good ol League oil pattern.
Walked into the bowling alley only to be let down greatly. We were bowling on lanes 1 and 2, the crappiest pair in the house to bowl on. I was really wanting to bowl good too, and just knowing that I had a night of being on 1 and 2 ahead of me made me want to just go home. Went into this night with a 207.00 avg which was .18 above Aric.
First couple of balls in practice reacted well. 1 and 2 are always a little dry for me, and they are inconsistent. At the end of practice, I had the line on 1 but was still struggling on 2. I was throwing my Virtual Gravity as usual.
First Game -225
I was struggling with lane 2. Kept leaving single pins and hitting light. Finally in the 5th frame, i made a drastic move and came in high leaving a split. Made another adjustment and struck out for a 225. My feet were 3 boards right on lane 2 and my mark was 3 boards right. this pair is always this different.
Second Game - 280
After gettng 5 in a row to finish the first game, I was sure that this was going to be the game where i get my 300. First ball on lane 1 nails the pocket for a strike. Get to lane 2, miss my mark horribly and hit brooklyn but leave a 10 pin. ARGH. Picked it up and struck out for a 280. Missed my mark twice in the tenth frame but gool ol league pattern is forgiving enough to hook me up with strikes.
Third Game - 222
FIrst ball came in way high. Funny how quickly the oil changed. moved a bit on the second ball and came in high again, leaving the big four. yay. another 280 game backed up by a 170. Michael suggested i move my entire shot. I moved the entire shot left about 3 boards on both lanes. Thank you Michael. Struck to the 8th frame where i had a pocket 7 - 10. Sigh. Tried to shake it off in the 9th but i slowed my ball to much and left a 10. picked it up though. Got up in the 10th frame, got a solid strike. Tom came over and told me that I had just secured a 700 series. Wow. on 1 and 2. Thats a huge accomplishment in my book. Ended up striking out in the 10th for the 222.

Aric did horible, i think he shot a 520 or something. I am starting to pull away from him as far as average goes. I noticed Larry is creeping up slowly but surely and could take the high avereage spot from me if im not carefull. 
727 is the highest series I have ever thrown. I was trying some new tactics to clear my head and calm myself before every shot. Im not sure if this is why i scored high, but i think it helped greatly. my average going into next week is now 208.42 :). I will finish the year with a 215 or better.

USBC Masters - Las Vegas, NV

After almost being pushed into it, I decided to enter the USBC Masters tournament. In my head i was thinking that I wasn't really ready for a tournament mainly dominated by pro bowlers, but what the hell. I had no clue what was in store for me. I also got the good people at Heel to do a partial sponspor, and my good friends at Camtuning.com gave me a partial sponsorship too. 
Sunday - practice:
This was the optional practice session that I thought was a good idea to attend. In hindsight, it really didnt help anything. I brought a track Kinetic Energy, Storm Virtual Gravity, Brunswick Danger Zone HPH, and my Target Zone. I was early to the practice, so i picked a pair where there was someone waiting and stuck with it. The guy was from wisonsin, and he claimed he averaged 23o back home. They all avereage 230. He had all AMF equipment, which I thought was weird. When is the last time they made a ball? Anyway, he played the normal lefty down and in shot.
The lanes were snappy on the back, and had a decent amount of oil. The approaches were so sticky, i had to change my heel to the felt heel. After some warm up throws, i started trying to figure out a line to hit pocket. i was basically playing my normal league shot, standing on the far left dot, throwing over the 15 with the ball breaking around 7. At one point, I had thrown 6 in a row. Also, i could miss my mark by 2-3 boards and still hit pocket. This filled me with confidence.
Monday - Practice
Overflowing with confidence, i found out what pair i was starting the tourney on and went there to practice. Guess who showed up on my pair. Chris Barnes. I was pretty excited to see him, and it was cool to watch him bowl. He said a few words to us other guys that were there and i didnt really care for him much. He had 3 momentum swings and 2 power swings, all drilled differently. And, they looked like they had just been drilled.
The shot was much "tighter". I only had 1 board to miss and still hit pocket. This was about the point where i realized that i wasnt as accurate as i thought. I found out that the normal league shot i was used to allowed for a less accurate shot, more forgiving i guess i would call it. This was a much tougher shot than the first practice session. which started to get me thinking about being able to score high.
Tuesday - First Qualifying Session
Yes! My squads first practice session was at 8 am. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am NOT a morning person. I downed a 5 hour energy and an egg mcmuffin and hoped for the best.
Got to my pair, guess who was on my lane. Tommy Jones. Yeah, I got to bowl 2 days and 10 games with Tommy Jones. Awesome.
Wow, the lanes were MUCH tighter. If i missed 2 boards right, it would go in the gutter. 2 boards left, it would hook past brooklyn. You had to be SUPER accurate and, as I stated before, i wasnt. I remember the first game vividly. I felt like i got beat up. Right underneath Tommy's score was mine, bright red for eveyone to see. 138. Ouch. wow. thats embarrasing. I never really recovered from that...
Tommy was having a tough time too but he was doing much better than me. He had 7 different ebonite the ones. Watching this guy thr0w at single pin spares was amazing. He would throw so hard. One time I thought he broke the pinsetter.
Over all it was a very rough first day. I was so upset about my performance i almost cried on the lanes.
Wednesday - Second Qualifying Session
I spent most of tuesday night trying to figure out what the hell happened. Michael and Elena both said that it didnt look like me out there. I went into wednesday with the goal of having fun. I also decided to just pick one ball and stick with it. I chose the Virtual Gravity.
wow, they were right. First game was 188, second was 225. That glory didnt last and i started sucking again but at least I had some decent games. 1 out of 10 isnt bad right? Elena and Michael did a great job of rooting for me. thanks. Even though i sucked BAD, they still believed in me. It meant a lot.
Ovbiously i didnt make the first cut. It was a great learning experience for me, and it was very humbling. I was fresh off of a 289 game and a 705 series on friday. I thought i was going to do very well. I guess theres always next time.....
by the way, Tommy made it to the telecast but lost his match. I was rooting for him. He was really cool to bowl with, he was trying to get me poumped up and stuff. Bowling with him was a great experience.