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.