Starting at week 10 (and still trying to figure out what's wrong with me), I asked to be moved from 4th to 1st in the line-up...which worked since I'm not nearly as anxious now, but I still had a problem with weak ball reactions. So last week (week 12), I spared in the 10th and decided to try something after watching someone else. I moved 6 boards right on the approach and moved my target 6 boards right as well to see how much oil was out there. Instead of the shot I've been throwing for years (20 out to 7 or 8 and back), this line was 7 out to 4 or 5 and back (much tighter than I'm used to throwing). Anyway, I tried that for the last ball in game 1. My Violet Gargoyle made a huge left turn and went through the head pin. Not exactly the result I wanted, but definitely the ball reaction I was looking for. So I moved left on the approach and stayed out there for the rest of the night.
The back ends became dry as the 3rd game progressed, so I switched from my Violet to my Green Gargoyle for 2 frames, then started alternating between the Green on the left lane and my urethane Blue Gargoyle on the right...ended with 4-in-a-row and a spare for 202...which I was happy with. :)
I'll stay out around the 5 board this week and see what happens. :)
I had to go out of town for week 5, which after week 4's 440 was a welcome break so I could have another week to rethink the game plan.
During that week, I decided to set 6 goals for week 6 after realizing a few things about approach speeds and ball reactions:
Speed up everything so I wouldn't have much of a chance to think it through during the approach.
Decrease the distance the ball goes forward when I push it away.
Keep my wrist locked with my index finger pointing parallel to my approach.
Don't be afraid to change balls if they start diving into the head pin.
Move left or right on the approach in 1 board increments instead of 1/2. Fine-tune location on the approach with 1/2 and 1/4 board adjustments if necessary.
Don't be afraid to stay aggressive if strike ball doesn't come back.
At the end of the night, I met all 6 goals...and it showed in games 1 and 3. During game 2, I started going away from goals 2 and 3 but made the adjustment between games 2 and 3.
Wow...what a difference they made. For the first time in months, the pins seemed to explode when the ball got there. The strike balls were back up to my usual number of revolutions, zero pulled shots in games 1 and 3 (although a few were pushed), and everything felt great. I wound up changing balls twice on lane 17, eventually going from my Violet Gargoyle down to the Blue...but lane 18 didn't break down so after a 1-board move to the left, I stuck with the Violet Gargoyle. It was definately a far cry from a 440. :)
I ended with 224-160-214/598. It was the first time since last December I threw a pair of 200s, and the first time since the move I struck out the 10th (and that felt GREAT!). It's also the first time that I've alternated strike balls between lanes and break 200. I guess that means I'm more comfortable with it than I thought.
I'll carry the same 6 goals into this week, and hope this is where things start coming back together. :)
Nothing was working right. Timing was way off, and because of other things my head just wasn't there. It was a terrible night, 7 strikes, 11 spares, the rest showed up as dashes on the scoreboard. I was also lucky enough to throw 8 splits (4 of them in game 1).
I don't remember the last time I was happy to leave the bowling alley. :)
The scores: 133-166-141/440. That'll put a nice dent in the 180 average I had going into it. :)
I wound up taking 6 balls to week 3, but never needed the AMB or G3. I started with my Violet Gargoyle with things seeming to be fine until the line went away during game 2. I switched to my Green Gargoyle for 2 frames, then pulled out the Blue Gargoyle to finish the night. Once again, timing problems were obvious throughout the night and several pulled shots came out of it.
My scores were 216-150-181/547. On a good note, changing balls mid-game is starting to get more comfortable. I'll keep working on everything and see how it goes. :)
Monday, September 17, 2007, 02:18 PM CST [Leagues]
Okay...it's a little late, but at least it's here. :)
It was definately an off night. There was a lot of oil down which made my already uncomfortble tight line even tighter and more uncomfortable. I wound up leaving 5 splits (4 of them were the 4-6-7-10) and missing 3 spare shots that I usually make in route to 166-168-183/517. There were timing issues as well, caused by the combination of me dragging my heel on the slide and using SSTs with #6 up front and #7 on the back. On several shots I wound up sliding right on the slick heel, throwing off everything while I hit the panic button to stop the slide before going over the line.
When the shots were good, the carry just wasn't there. My Violet Gargoyle couldn't generate any power before hitting the pins. For week 3, I'll bring my Centaur AMB (stronger ball) and play around with moving my stance and target at least 3 boards right and try a completely different line....most likely playing between 5-10 where there shouldn't be as much oil. Of course, the downside is that if I push the ball too much, she'll wind up in the gutter.
Over the summer, I've tried experimenting with the heel/sole combinations of 6/5, 8/5, and 4/7 to see if I could slide better. None of them worked, and I wound up either stopping dead or sliding just a couple of inches. I'm guessing that finding a way to combine soles 4 and 6 is the answer, unless there's either a sole #5 or heel #6 that I'm not aware of. Does anyone know how to go about trying to combine these soles or be able to tell me how to make heel #5 slicker?
