Week 18 Recap

Game 1: 204

Game 2: 216

Game 3: 213

Series: 633

Week Avg: 211

Season Avg: 193

Summary

Perhaps it was good fortune that  I had to pre-bowl on Monday night with slightly drier lane conditions because that was exactly what I encountered on Thursday night. Luckily this time fatigue was not a factor. Also, even though five of us threw pretty similar lines, there was not enough oil on the lanes at the beginning of the night to make a significant impact in lane conditions as the night wore on.

The first game started out with a few strikes and spares followed by a few light hits. I missed a 10-pin, the 1-2-10 and another 10-pin consecutively before backing up a few inches to hit higher in the pocket on the right lane. The lane conditions forced me to play a bigger arch than usual, but I was able to still keep control over what the ball was doing on the lane. I got back on track and struck the last five in a row to salvage a 204 game.

At the end of the first game I noticed that I was coming in a little high on the right lane so I moved back up to my original position on the approach. I strung a few strikes together in the second game, with the big difference being that I did not miss any of my spares, including a few 10-pins. I finished with 29 of 30 possible pins in the tenth frame to finish with a 216.

The third game was pretty similar to the second, only I missed one of my 10-pin leaves. The issue during this game was adjusting to the lanes. I moved back up to my original position on the approach on the left lane and moved my body and mark a board left on the right lane as I began to come in a bit high. Once again I got 29 of 30 possible pins in the tenth frame to finish with a 213 and the second win of the night for our team. I had a 633 series for the night.

Lesson Learned

The biggest lesson here was to not fall into the trap of feeling comfortable. I started to feel comfortable in my spare shooting and as a result missed three 10-pins. It is important to concentrate on every shot, no matter how comfortable you might feel. Once I really began to focus on the single pin shots, I picked them up.

On the flip side, I was playing a bit outside of my comfort zone Thursday night. I usually shoot a more direct line with a sharper hook into the pocket (black line). On Thursday the ball traveled farther right before hitting the back end and coming almost half way across the lane to enter the pocket (red line). Versatility is very important to me and I purposely have a ball meant for medium oil so I can adjust for just about any lane condition. This allowed me to avoid the washouts several of the other bowlers suffered, especially during the third game.

One other aspect on Thursday that made it successful was that I didn't second guess any of my adjustments. I read the lane and adjusted accordingly. I was able to do this mainly because I was throwing consistently, with only one ball getting away from me, missing my mark to the right to leave the 1-2-10.

This was a great start to the second half of the season and I am looking forward to continuing this upward trend.