Week 12 Recap

Game 1: 166
Game 2: 214
Game 3: 256
Series: 636
Week Avg: 212
Season Avg: 193

First, I wanted to apologize for not updating the SPL page in a while.  We'll be hosting Thanksgiving at my house and so I've been trying to get some cleaning and things done before our families come over Wednesday night. Hopefully I will have a few weeks' worth of updates on the page after this weekend followed by a recap of the first quarter of the SPL.

Secondly, the charity bowling tournament went really well on Sunday.  There were at least 40 bowlers, in addition to a 50/50 and Chinese auction, which all raised money for my teammate's co-worker who is currently battling cancer. I bowled pretty well, scoring a 213, 183, and 215 for the day. During the first game I played a little further left than usual, creating a bigger arch into the pocket. After the first game I lost that line and went to my typical line of standing at the 25 board and throwing at the 8. My teammate, his aunt and I were the only league bowlers there and we swept the awards with ease. I took home top series honors by about 150 pins.

Now, onto my league recap. I decided to start the night with the Python rather than the C-System since it has been performing really well lately. One of our bowlers had pre-bowled and another was a no show so we knew it would be a quick night.  After practice we found out that four of the opposing team's members had also rolled off and their fifth bowler never showed, so there were only three of us on our pair.  As my wife remarked, it felt like we were the ones doing the pre-bowling. That worked for me, I usually do better in that situation any way.

Everything looked great in practice, but the first few frames of the first game were disastrous. I had a couple of spares and a couple of opens to start the evening. I kept missing my mark and realized about halfway through the game that I was dropping my right shoulder. Once I made a conscious effort to stay upright at the foul line everything came together. I finished the game with a 166 and barely squeaked out a win for the team.

The second game started much better than the first. I was striking regularly, but a few mistakes caused me to leave a 3-10 split and I opened on a 3-6-10. I was not making very good decisions on how to play multi-pin leaves. I threw four in a row late in the game and finished out with a spare and a strike in the tenth for a 214 and another big win for the team.

The last game was glorious, but also a case of "what might have been." My first ball fell off my hand early and left the 1-2-4-7, which I converted. I doubled and then left my buddy the 8-10 split on a solid pocket shot for an open.  I adjusted a few inches up on the approach for that lane only and made no adjustments on the other lane, remembering my misstep from last week. The last eight balls were strikes. No iffy strikes either, these were beautiful. It was a ten strike 256 game, probably the most strikes I've ever thrown in one game and a tie for my personal record for the most strikes in a row in one game. The team swept the night and continues its way up the standings.

I wish I could have kept going to see if I could have thrown four more strikes. This was the best I have ever felt bowling. Everything felt easy. The ball came off my hand perfectly, generating a little more revs than usual for me. My form was above average for me, as I held my position at the foul line after releasing the ball more often than not. I don't know how I looked up there, but I felt like a pro that last game. And it felt good.

As I mentioned, my spare shooting was less than stellar.  In addition to the 8-10, 3-10 and 2-7 splits I left, I chopped a 3-6-10, 2-4-5 and 6-9 and outright missed an 8-pin. I've been perfect on 10-pins lately though, which has been a huge help.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everyone. May your turkeys be plentiful, both on the table and on the lanes.