Coming into this past season my goal was to gain a few pins on my 192 average from the 2010/11 league. While I did not reach that goal, I did achieve some other successes. A practice outing where I shot nothing but 7- and 10-pins greatly improved my accuracy and decision making in using plastic over my strike ball. Also, discovering the four-zone method has greatly improved my overall spare shooting success. While I had some difficulty in hitting my marks, the last few weeks have given me confidence that I am improving in this area. In addition, I was able to successfully implement changes in ball speed to my list of adjustments.
Last season I threw 41 200 games and 11 600 series compared to 39 200 games and 7 600 series this season. On the surface it would appear that I did slightly worse this season; however, my high game was 249 compared to two 247s last year, my low series was 490, the only sub-500 series of the season, compared to 451 being the lowest of 3 total 400 series last year. While my high series was a 667 in each of my last two seasons, my lowest game this year was a 141 compared to a 114 last season. My average after 34 weeks last year was 192.44 and this year a 191.68, an overall difference of less than a pin.
This past season has left me with some mixed emotions. While overall I was more consistent in my bowling, I felt like I struggled through most of the second half of the season. Given the change in the line I had to throw on the heavier oil pattern, I began to have difficulties leaving the 8-10 split, something I hadn't seen in the past. While this ruined a few games this season, I have since learned how to correct the issue and it should not be as significant a problem next season.
Consistency is a step in the right direction and I think that with the knowledge I have gained over the course of this season I should be able to build on my average. Since I managed to lose less than a pin of average on less than ideal lane conditions, I am confident that next season will be an even bigger success.
No comments:
Post a Comment