Week 20 Recap

Game 1: 181
Game 2: 175
Game 3: 200
Series: 556
Week Avg: 185
Season Avg: 192

Summary


I was looking to bounce back from my abysmal performance last week with at least an average performance on Thursday. I threw five balls in practice, but hit light every time. There was a lot of oil on the lanes this week, the complete opposite problem from the week before.

The first game started with several more light pocket hits. I picked up a few of my spares, but missed a 2-pin and the 1-2-4-10 washout. I found the pocket, but began to leave 7-pins. I missed my mark a few times, and surprisingly struck every time I hit on the Brooklyn side. I realized I was dropping my right shoulder at the foul line, causing me to miss my mark to the left. I spent a few frames trying to correct that issue and picked up my spares. I struck in the tenth frame before leaving a solid 4-9 split on what looked to be a good pocket hit. I finished with a 181.

The second game started with a spare followed by another solid 4-9 split. I tried moving back and left during the first game, so early in the second I decided to slow my ball speed a little bit. I immediately found the pocket with more consistency and the strikes started to come. One high hit left the 3-9-10 split which I chopped, but other than that I kept it clean the rest of the way. Unfortunately, there weren't enough strikes to save this game and I finished with a 175.

The third game went pretty well. I was in the pocket every frame, but started to come in a little high resulting in a few 7-pins. I changed my ball speed back to normal and began to strike a bit more. I kept this game clean and finished with a 200 on the nose and a 556 for the night.

Lesson Learned


I was pretty down about last week, so this week, although under average, was a step in the right direction by comparison. Great bowlers are allowed to have bad days, which is something I need to remind myself of from time to time. This week I saw the best bowler in the league, with a 211 average, throw a 510 series. I could tell he was upset, but he didn't get overly excited about it. Being able to keep your composure during bad days is a great quality to have, because it can allow you to turn a bad day into a learning experience. Another very good bowler in the league also struggled. He throws a big hook, typically playing close to the gutter, but this week the ball slid into the gutter several times because it couldn't get through the oil to grab the lanes. He chose to just blow off this week rather than learn from it, and I imagine someone like him will never improve past their natural bowling ability.

Once again I come back to versatility as being a key quality of a great bowler. Last week the lanes were very dry, and so the ball was hooking a lot in the backend. This week, the lanes were extremely oily, causing the ball to skid further down the lane before finally grabbing in the backend to hook. I purposely purchased a ball meant for medium oil lanes because a) I'm a bowler on a budget and wanted the best bang for my buck, and b) I wanted the ability to throw the same ball on almost any conditions. Typically this house has medium oiled lanes, so I'm not sure why the conditions have been so drastic the past few weeks. But I hope with my versatility and knowledge I will be ready for whatever comes my way in Week 21.