Keep Calm and Keep Bowling

On a whim this week I decided to check out the US Open standings. I was pleased to see that a former teammate and competitor from my junior days, Jacqui Reese, was competing. I was even more pleased to see that coming into Friday's match play she was tied for seventh, four spots away from making her first television appearance. After dominating the Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley women's bowling scene for about eight years it is great to see her excel at the highest level.

It was really a pleasure to watch Jacqui's junior career and if you were smart enough to really pay attention you could really learn a lot from how she approached the game. We were in the same Saturday morning and summer doubles league for a few years and I was lucky enough to bowl on her team for the junior team tournament back in 2002/2003. You could never tell how well Jacqui was bowling just by looking at her. Some bowlers wear their performance like a mask: if they are doing well they are all smiles, but if they are doing poorly they look angry or defeated. Jacqui had one look while she was bowling: determined. After every shot you could tell that she was analyzing what she just did and thinking about the next throw. It was very methodical, professional even, and it is the epitome of how a good bowler should concentrate on their game.

It took a long time for this lesson to sink in for me. When I was doing bad I felt even worse. I'd get mad. I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't make adjustments. The whole outing was a bust. I spent a little over two years away from bowling when I started college and when I came back I had a new attitude. I decided to take the Jacqui approach, at least for the most part. I refuse to let my performance get me so upset that I can't concentrate or make adjustments. I've said many times that every game, every outing, is a learning experience and you need to seize that lesson as it is happening rather than reflecting on a poor night of bowling once it is over. A bad week at league can stick with you the rest of the day, which is why leagues take place at night (this is contrary to the popular belief that we bowl at night so we can work during the day), but while you are in the moment keep your calm, remember what you know about how to adjust, and keep trying until you find what works.

I can't argue with the results. I averaged somewhere in the 181 range when I finished juniors. Once I made an effort to keep my composure I jumped into the 190s and have been on a steady increase ever since.

So good luck through the rest of the tournament, Jacqui, and thanks for being a great role model.

Keep calm and keep bowling.

Summer Practice Session #3

This past weekend I decided to hit the lanes for some more practice. I wanted to work on my timing when adjusting ball speed and also getting a few more revs on the ball by rotating or flicking my fingers at the point of release.

After being away from the lanes for four weeks the rust was quick to show. During my warm up in the first game my timing was completely off and I felt a bit uncomfortable. I had a difficult time hitting my mark and a lot of the little things I managed to correct over the last year and a half had returned. It took some time to reteach myself to not dip my shoulder, keep my back straight and follow through my shot, but I got back where I needed to be by the end of the game.

Once I was back in shape I started out by trying to add some more revs on the ball, hoping that this would help me out when the ball seemed to hit a bit flat or there was oil farther down the lane. At the point of release I would pull my middle finger up toward my palm and my ring finger out toward the back of my hand. Its not a dramatic movement, but that quick flick of the fingers at release did add a few more revolutions on the ball. I got the idea from an article that said to practice tossing a tennis ball win the air and make it spin without turning your wrist. One nice attribute of this technique is that it did not affect my accuracy and when I am bowling really well I feel I do this naturally. It is something I need to focus on a bit more, but with time this may become part of my regular release or at least a regular go-to adjustment.

Next I wanted to try increasing ball speed by holding the ball higher at the start of my approach. My problem with increasing speed in the past is that my timing would become erratic and as a result I could not consistently hit my target. I usually hold the ball at about waist level, so I decided to try lifting it up level to my chin. It was awkward at first to be sure, but I eventually got the hang of it. It will definitely take some practice to get used to the change in stance and even more practice to be able to change back and forth between my normal approach and this adjusted one. One thing I like about this bowling center is that it tracks your ball speed. My normal delivery is typically 15.6 mph (I checked back in a post from last summer and it was the exact same speed), but the change in height only increased the speed to just over 16 mph. Is this slight change in speed significant enough to risk feeling uncomfortable and missing my target? At this point I'm going to say "No, it isn't." I have proven that other small adjustments, such as moving my body up/back/left/right, are just as effective and serve the same purpose as changing ball speed. They also do not carry the increased risk associated with not being comfortable with an adjustment. I think this season I will push the speed adjustment further down on my adjustment list, reserving it for situations for when all else has failed.

For my last game I tried one of my new favorite practice methods: throwing over each of the right four arrows for a strike. I struck on each with the C-System and then started to work my way back right with the Python until I ran out of frames. I like this game because it really lets me see what my ball can do on every part of the lane and allows me to see how each ball compares in those areas. Another benefit is that it forces me to play areas I don't usually consider, so if I ever face a particularly challenging lane condition I will be able to play these lines with confidence.

While my scores were a bit lower this session, I think over all it was very beneficial. I learned some things about what adjustments will work and what will not so that I can be prepared for the upcoming season. I think I can get in at least two more sessions before the start of league, so from here on out I plan to play real situation games to fine tune my decision making. I want to start this season throwing as well or better than I was at the end of the last one, and so far I think I have put myself in a good position to do just that.

Summer Practice Session #2

Over the weekend I made a trip to the bowling alley for my second practice session of the summer. This time out I planned to work on different wrist positions. After posting video from my last session and the expert analysis of Matt from Bowling Roller Coaster, I also decided to work on not falling off my shot.

After a few frames to warm up I began to bend my wrist in toward my body at the start of my delivery. This cupping position allowed me to get a few more revs on the ball and generated a stronger reaction when the ball started to hook. While this will be a valuable resource on heavier oil, it does come with the drawback that I was pretty inconsistent at hitting my mark. I think that is something that will go away with more practice, but for now I will have to weigh the pros and cons of making this adjustment during league play.

After shooting a game a piece with each ball using the bent wrist technique I spent another game and a half focusing on holding my position at release. When I am at the top of my game I can do this naturally, but after spending some time away from the lanes once league ended I found myself reverting to some bad habits. I also paid a bit more attention to how far I drift on the approach from where I start my delivery on the second row of dots to where my sliding foot finishes at the foul line after release.  It turns out I consistently drift ten boards right from my first to fourth step. I don't feel this hurts my game at all, but it will be something to consider working on for another session.

Even with all of the different adjustments I am working on I have still managed to average 200 over 7 games. I hope to carry the success from last season right into this fall and I think these practice sessions are a tremendous help so far.

Summer Practice Session #1

As I mentioned before, I have decided to forego a summer league this year to develop a practice regimen focusing on a few weak points in my game. For my first session I wanted to work on playing different lines and areas of the lane.

I started by throwing five frames to warm up and set a baseline, which was my typical line of standing with my left foot on the 24 board and throwing over the 8 board at the arrows. Once this was established I moved my body and mark right so that I would roll over the first arrow and strike consistently. After a couple tries I found a good line and was able to carry pretty well. Then I moved my body left and my mark to the second arrow and tried to strike from there. Even though this line was only two boards different than my baseline I found this to be the hardest to strike with regularity. I eventually threw a few good balls and decided to work further left to shoot over the third arrow. This brought me to a part of the lane I rarely consider, but I was able to manage some success quickly.

In addition to gaining familiarity with what my go-to ball can do on various parts of the lane, this exercise also helped me get a bit more comfortable throwing in areas I seldom use. Throwing at the 4 or 5 board doesn't have to be scary or intimidating because the ball will come back to the pocket. On the other hand, when done correctly, throwing closer to the center of the lane can also be useful on particularly dry lanes on league night. Gaining versatility will allow me to be prepared for varying and changing lane conditions and make me a more difficult bowler to play against.

After playing around with these lines I threw one last game reverting back to my baseline, which still worked best (that's why it was my baseline). I struck the first 7 frames and then left a 10-pin in the eighth. As I was two steps into my delivery in the ninth frame the lights went off in the bowling center and the blacklights came on. It was 11AM, birthday party time. Since there were no accompanying lasers I couldn't see individual boards and my last two frames were a bit off. I still finished with a 244 game, but it could have been a bit better.

Luckily, early in the last game I took a video of my delivery for analysis. The line I'm playing and delivery are typical of what I was throwing in league this past season.

Starting at the footwork I noticed that my first step does come slightly left as recommended, forcing me to walk a straight line to the foul line and allowing a straight arm swing. I start my delivery from a crouched position to compensate for the fact that my sliding knee does not bend much at the point of release. This results in the ball landing about 4 feet out on lane instead of seamlessly from my hand just over the foul line. Also, the toe of my sliding foot points inside rather than straight ahead, which I find offers a bit more balance. Which brings me to my balance leg, which is elevated instead of sliding on the approach. This can be an issue sometimes causing me to fall off my shot to gain balance, but since this is pretty much how I have bowled my entire life I think I have adapted fairly well.

My shoulders stay pretty level and square to the foul line when I am throwing well. If I dip my right shoulder or open up my shoulders then my accuracy tends to suffer. You'll notice that I start with the ball pretty close to my body just under waist level, resulting in a backswing that peaks just even with my head. I also stay behind the ball until the point of release when I rotate my thumb from about 3 o'clock to about 11 or 12 o'clock. I plan to work on ball and wrist positioning over the summer so the backswing and hand position could vary.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts and analysis of my video. I'm far from text book and always looking to improve, but for now it gets results.

Mixed League 2012/13 Recap

After a sub-par performance in the 2011/12 season I sought some valuable experience over the summer by joining a league that bowled on PBA patterns. The league placed an emphasis on accuracy and adjustments and as a result my fall league scores reaped the benefits. In addition, I added a new ball to my arsenal, the Brunswick C-System Alpha Max, which has become my new go to ball. I have been able to strike with more regularity and my spare shooting has greatly increased now that I have a system to determine the number of boards I need to move for each spare shot.

Last season I threw 39 200 games and 7 600 series compared to 53 200 games, four of which were 250 or better, 17 600 series, and two 700 series this season. My high game and series this season, a 279 and 730 respectively, were both personal bests. My low game, a 136, and low series, a 516, both came on the first week of league. This also means that I didn't throw any series under 500 all season, a first for me.

One big problem I managed to correct this year was my difficulty in adjusting to lane transitions. Last season my second game average plummeted while I took several frames to adjust to changing oil conditions. This season I got progressively better from game to game, averaging 196 in game 1, 201 in game 2, and 208 in game 3. By gaining the knowledge and confidence to make quick adjustments I was able to continually improve as the night wore on.

When I started this blog my goal was to achieve a 200 average by the end of the 2013 season. Despite gall bladder surgery which kept me off the lanes for 20 days I was able to reach my goal and then some. My 202.48 average is another personal best and over ten pins better than last year's final average. Once I fully recovered from my surgery and had some experience with my new ball, say from week 11 on, I averaged 208.

While I benefited from the PBA Experience league last summer I have chosen a different course of action for this summer's training. I plan to spend a few days each month at the alley working on a few weak aspects of my game. These include changes in ball speed and hand position, as well as getting comfortable in playing different parts of the lane. I also want to gain familiarity in how each of my balls react under the same conditions so that I can seamlessly transition between the two during league play. In addition I plan to utilize video of my form to identify potential problem areas that can affect the ball's performance on the lane.

I hope to have a productive off season and pick up where I left off when league starts back up in August. How are you spending your summer?

Week 34 & The Pay Out

Despite our team accumulating the most overall points during the season we fell short of winning either half and, therefore, were not competing for the league championship.

For those of us not bowling for first place week 34 was another no-tap fun fest with a 9 count or better earning a strike in the first game, an 8 count or better in the second game and a 7(!) count or better in the third game. I managed to throw only 36 times to earn a 9-pin and 7-pin no tap 300 and an 8-pin no tap 287. It was disappointing that we weren't in the running for the championship, but it was even more disappointing that we didn't have to defend our third place finish in the final week.

We were unable to attend the league banquet the following weekend and so we didn't receive our payout until May 20th, but it was well worth the wait.  Those two no tap 300 games earned me $10 each, which meant that my one bad ball in the second game cost me $10. In addition, I received some money for perfect attendance since I rolled off the few weeks I missed for my surgery. I also won some money for the men's high scratch series.  As a team we earned money for finishing in third place and for throwing the high team handicap game, which held up through the majority of the season.

Now that I know what to expect I prefer this league over the one I bowled in the last two fall seasons. Overall the people are friendlier and there are financial reports issued every quarter, which was an improvement from the other league. On an individual level the competitiveness wasn't really there, only two of us finished with a 200+ average, but I think that is something that can be improved upon. I had a great time and look forward to going back next fall.

Coming up soon I will have a recap of the season's performance and I will start my summer practice regimen.  And I will finally tabulate the SPL results and what they mean for the future of league bowling.

Letter to a 10-Pin

Dear 10-Pin,

I'm not sure if you remember me, but you will be etched into my memory for a long time, defiantly staring me in the face as your nine friends lay in the pit behind you. I really wish you would have joined your friends.

I suppose it was destiny. I predicted it would happen over the course of my bowling career, joking that you would one day ruin my first run at a perfect game. I wasn't really sure when it would happen, but I suppose I should thank you for not waiting until my twelfth shot and putting me out of my misery in the eighth frame.

Actually, I really do want to thank you. You've helped me gain a bit more confidence. I now know that I can throw eleven strikes in a game and make twelve consecutive perfect throws. But I now also realize that there is a good bit of luck that goes into every 300 game; good bowlers just put themselves in better position to be the recipient of that luck more consistently than everyone else. I've worked hard taking each step in getting closer to being one of those bowlers, and you are now the only thing standing between me and perfection.

We have been enemies for some time, but all I could do was shake my head and smile when I saw you standing there. It was meant to be. And I know that one day, hopefully some day soon, you will fall with the others and I will have my moment.

You remain my motivation,

Zach from Bowling in the Burgh