Month: September 2008

I need to get aggressive

I picked up my ball from the pro shop and practiced, and, while the reaction was a little bit better, it was still not what I’m used to. Tony Attardo later told me that they always put down more oil, even on the house shot, in the fall/winter season, so I think it’s time for a more aggressive ball. As I needed one for the Monday night/tournament shot anyway, the decision to get one was just accelerated. I’m looking at the mid-price range, and I’ve had my eye on the Brunswick Copperhead, but the Columbia 300 Noize and the Raw Hammer Anger have also been suggested. In any event, I would have to see if I can get one of the new blue lockers at the lanes, which can fit 3 balls with shelving installed, first.

No reaction

Today’s practice was a continuation of a trend I’ve been noticing for a couple of weeks now…not getting the reaction out of my ball that I normally do, even on the house shot. Noting that to my chat pals, the fact that I’ve had the High-Voltage for about a year now, and that I’ve only recently had it rejuvenated, we agreed it was time to give the ball a resurface. “CoachJim,” however, said he wouldn’t take it to factory finish, however, and that I could experiment, with the gang helping me get the surface to what works for me. A procedure of sanding the ball with 240 abralon sandpaper, rejuvenating, hitting it again w/ the 240 abralon sandpaper, then rough buffing was suggested. I made the rare return to the lanes when the pro shop opened and relayed this to Ray, who said he could have the ball ready when the pro shop opens in the late afternoon tomorrow. It’s not a full resurface, so the procedure will only set me back $20. I plan on practicing again tomorrow just to see the results.

Upcoming tournaments:

  • The Tri-City USBC Women’s Bowling Association will hold their annual city tournament at Westgate Lanes on Nov. 15 and 16, with singles and doubles events. Entries close on Nov. 8. Start looking for flyers this week.
  • The Massachusetts USBC Women’s Bowling Association will hold their annual state seniors (age 50 and over) tournament on Nov. 1 and 2 at Westgate Lanes. It is a handicapped singles tournament, and entries ($35) close on Oct. 17.

What are friends for?

Looking for something to do during the Patriots’ bye week, my best friend Ed and I agreed on a bowling outing with his wife Maria and her sister Karen today, and I told him I was anxious to show my progress since our last outing last year. Those 3 aren’t really great bowlers and they had their moments, but I was hoping to do better than the 150 first game I posted. I thought I got untracked in the second game (albeit with a couple of “Brooklyn” strikes) and had a shot at 200, but we were only renting the lane for an hour, and the lane shut off around the 9th frame of that game. There were opportunities to use my new spare ball, and I made most of my spares when using that ball, even converting a 1-2-4-10 washout throwing straight at the 2, so I guess I’m getting used to that ball. I told Ed afterward that I was disappointed that I didn’t really have a good flush pocket hit, just because I wanted to show him what I looked like when that happened. Oh well, maybe next time.

A ball to spare

A spare ball, usually plastic and drilled to go straight, is considered essential for good bowlers these days, so I decided it was time to add one to my “arsenal” and headed to the pro shop today. I had to wait for Jon to finish a lesson with someone, but when the pro shop officially opened for business, I picked out a 15 lb. red-black-gold (I liked the red and black in the scheme…my high school’s colors) Brunswick Target Zone (my chosen color scheme is the bottom ball on the page). Jon laid out the ball to be drilled like my High-Voltage is currently, except to go straight, and Brian drilled it. I wanted more or less the same feel as my strike ball, so this ball also has finger grips. I like the feel of the slug in my High-Voltage, but I was told they don’t put them in plastic balls, as they have a tendency to crack the ball.

During my free game, I concentrated on shooting my corner pins. I’m pleased to report that I did not miss a single 10 pin in the game, and maybe only one 7 pin (I say maybe because the pin was already down when I shot at it, making it a “shadow” pin). The frame I was most pleased about was the 4th frame, when I picked both the 7 and the 10 (shooting the 10 first) clean out of the rack. Hopefully, the acquisition helps me improve my spare game. As I have no room in my locker currently for three balls, the old wine U-Dot has been “retired” to the house ball rack.

Pro shop notes:

  • USA Bowling Pro Shop will be running “Learn to Bowl” classes at Westgate Lanes on October 12 and November 9 (both Sundays) from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM for 16 bowlers each class. The cost is $25/person for the 3 hours, and includes video analysis. Sign up in the pro shop if you’re interested in a class.
  • Ebonite International will be running a Columbia 300 and Hammer demo day at Westgate Lanes on Oct. 18, with squads beginning from noon to 5 PM. Bowlers will be able to try out the latest Columbia 300 and Hammer balls. The cost is $10/person and bowlers participating will receive $10 off merchandise in the pro shop.

Still inconsistent

My Week 4 bowling (BowlSK)

I’ve yet to put together a really consistent series in this league, but I did have my moments tonight, and even the low 162 was punctuated by a last frame where my team needed a big finish from me to take the point, and I got a double with a spare working in the 10th frame to put my team over the top (for real this time…my scores started really counting for my team tonight). As a highlight from the other team members, Helen was in the 180s in her first game, and that helped spark the night, as we took 3 of the 4 points (first and second games, plus total) from Shawn Coles’ team (Shawn Coles is the league secretary).

Result: 179-162-195=536
Average (12 games): 183 Last 9 games average: 179
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 562

Two sites added to sidebar

I’ve been meaning to add the sites I describe below to the sidebar, but never got around to them until today…

“Bowler’s Paradise” is another online pro shop (and, thus, goes in the sidebar under “Equipment Sites”), but, unlike most others, they do offer a drilling service if you upload your hand measurements to them. I can’t say they’ll be able to drill any ball for a desired reaction, however, so I still recommend getting balls drilled at a brick-and-mortar pro shop.

“My Bowling Coach” is a site run by USBC Gold coaches Fred Borden, Jeri Edwards, and Ron Hatfield on behalf of USBC Coaching that offers lessons (in video, audio, and text format) on all phases of bowling, including physical and mental game, lane play, and equipment. A neat extra feature of the site lets you upload video of yourself bowling and get a customized lesson. I don’t know if the custom lesson feature is extra, but the standard lessons are available for about $60/year, so some of you may consider this a bargain. The link is in the sidebar in the general “Bowling Sites” category.

Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational follow-up

The PBA reported the following pairings of PBA pros and NBA stars for the Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational, held this weekend at AMF Winston-Salem Lanes:

Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets) and Chris Barnes
Dwayne Wade (Miami Heat) and Tommy Jones
LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Jason Couch
Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies) and Doug Kent
Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Mitch Beasley

The event was taped for airing on ESPN on Oct. 19 to kick off the 50th anniversary season of the PBA Tour.

Missed it by that much

With what might have turned out to be the wrong oil pattern being put down in the morning last week, I figured I just wanted an easy practice today, so I bowled all 3 games for score again. Today was a total opposite, as the lanes were hooking out the box, and even a stand-21-target-6 shot, which worked for me for the back end of league play on Wednesday, was missing the pocket high, and I ended up standing around 26 and getting the ball around 9 or 10 at the arrows, letting the oil hold the ball until the break point. I had a mix of good and bad shots, and it turned out I needed 9 pins filling a spare in the 10th frame of the last game for a 183 triplicate (three games with the same score); I left the 4-10 split, however, and missed the triplicate by a pin. Ouch!

Bowler of the Year tournament note: Derick Thibeault was the winner of the Brockton USBC Bowling Association’s “Bowler of the Year” invitational tournament at Westgate Lanes yesterday, defeating his father, Harry Thibeault, Jr., in the final match.

A downer

Before bowling, I checked in with Jon at the pro shop and brought up the suggestions my online friends had about the pro shop’s new web site, foremost of them the fact that since most of the information is in images, search engines (including Google) can’t index the site (and can’t find it, therefore). I thought the online friend would know a trick about search engine optimization for those kind of pages, and I told Jon I’d email him if he did, but I found what I was looking for online after I came home, so I emailed Jon with that when I did.

My Week 3 bowling (BowlSK)

It was a down night. After not hooking much last week, the lanes had returned to pretty much what I was seeing during the summer, and it took me a long while to figure that out (I thought I had just made good shots in the first game), and it took me until the 6th frame of the last game to finally get the line down. I also learned after the second game that my team was taking a 140 score for me during the first three weeks while I established my average (I thought just my handicap would be based on the 140 score), so I was kind of dismayed that I had little or no say in my team’s success (or lack thereof) in the first three weeks. My scores will count for the team next week, so, hopefully, I can recognize that and be energized then.

Result: 182-144-188=514
Average (9 games): 184 Last 9 games average: 184
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 558

I had to wait for Brian to get done in the pro shop before he could give me a ride home tonight, as I learned he had developed something like tendinitis in his right (bowling) wrist and was doing stuff to make the transition to left-handed bowling. Brian told me he does everything else lefty, so I agreed with Tony, Brian’s team captain in the Westgate Mixed League, that he’d probably do better bowling left-handed than right-handed. Good luck in the transition, Brian. 😀

Technical difficulties?

Today’s practice might be one I’d like to forget. I was on a lane that was supposed to have the house shot on it, but there was no “wall” at all, with very little back-end reaction. I moved as far outside as I thought I could comfortably play, and worked on slowing down, but even then, my shots were either missing outside or just barely hitting the pocket light. I mentioned this to Junior, and he thought it strange, as there were some good scores Saturday morning for the junior leagues, which also use the house shot. He surmised that there might have been something wrong with the lane machine, and, with my suggestion, he said he would ask Rob to check the machine out.

Saving the best for last

My league night tonight started with a surprise: Carl, one of my new teammates, was driving the bus I took to get to the lanes. When he told me who he was (I wasn’t expecting him, so I didn’t recognize him), I became worried that he wouldn’t show up for tonight’s session on time. Carl said he’d be there, however, though he did tell me during bowling that he was going back to the morning shift so he wouldn’t have to rush to get to the lanes on Wednesday nights.

The main business before bowling tonight was finding the league’s treasurer and asking how many weeks’ league dues I was responsible for. Getting the answer from her, I was then able to write the league a check for the proper amount, taking into account that I paid the first two weeks last week.

Stopping in the pro shop, I was introduced to the new person working there, Brian Frank. I also learned something I’m going to devote my next post to, which was something I’ve been waiting for.

My bowling for Week #2

I was a bit lost in the first two games when I found I actually had to slow down my ball speed, but I managed to finish every game strong, and, even though I only had a 160 in the second game, I’m a bit proud of my finish to that game, as my team needed the big finish to take the point for that game (this league only gives a single point per game and for total). After being swept last week, my team (which got renamed to simply Team 10) took all 4 points this week.

Result: 177-160-225=562
Average (6 games): 191

In the first game, on one of the adjacent pairs, Eric Nordstrom threatened a 300 game in the first game in my league tonight, but left the 2-10 split in the 10th frame. Great game anyway, Eric! 😀

Back to work

After taking a couple of weeks off from practice (first week to recover from my busy birthday weekend, and the second because of the Labor Day holiday), I hit the practice lanes again today. Since I knew the Coke Classic League would start their bowling for the season tonight, I had to ask Bev (who has returned to full-time duty) which lanes had the house shot and to make sure she knew to give me a lane with the house shot. Bev also informed me that the half-price Monday rate went up to $2/game, so my gift cards are going to be used up a bit quicker.

I just wanted a light-hearted practice, so I was shooting every game for score, and ended up with a game in the 180s, a game in the 190s, and a 205 last game. I got plenty of work on my single 10 pin, as I was leaving a bunch of weak 10s, and made all but one of them, so at least there was progress on that front. I mentioned the plethora of weak 10s to Bobby Hamilton, who was putting down the Coke Classic shot on their lanes, and he told me that, to him, the new pins (just put in for the start of the fall/winter season) seemed heavier than the old set, so scores are going to be relatively low until the pins are broken in. I also brought in a printout of my Wednesday night series as entered on BowlSK to show everyone my “new toy online” (Thanks cg! 😀 ).

August 2008 “People’s Tournament” results

The People’s Tournament site reported that Don Lango (205 avg., AMF Silver Lanes {CT}) was the winner of the August event at Westgate Lanes (which I had participated in). Lango defeated Elliot Miller (170 avg., Westgate Lanes) 263-215 (with handicaps) in the title match. Additionally for the locals, Maya Christie (120 avg.) finished third, while Jim Yost Jr. (194 avg.) and Sean Richard (208 avg.) also made the top eight.

Change of plans

I arrived for the first Wednesday night of the fall/winter season hoping to land on a team in the Westgate Mixed League, and had a check all written out in the expectation of doing so. However, when I was directed to the roster sheet, I could not find my name on any of the teams, and all of the teams were full, save for one team that had a vacancy. The vacancy was filled fairly quickly, leaving me, for the moment, a proverbial “man without a country.”

There is one other five-man mixed league running at Westgate Lanes on Wednesday nights, so during the time my status was still unresolved, I was in touch with the secretary of the Brunswick Mixed League, and I eventually landed on a team in that league, which includes a husband and wife team, Helen and Ted Sprissler, along with Pat Padula and Carl Benson. I got a glimpse of the league by-laws at the meeting just before bowling: handicap is 80% of 1000 (team) and runs for (I believe) 33 weeks, ending at the end of April (with a roll-off in the beginning of May, if needed). Dues for the league are only $15/week (I paid $30 in cash for the first 2 weeks), and the last three weeks of bowling are free, which is a relief for my finances. There will be a banquet where the prizes and awards will be given out in May.

Before bowling started, we elected Helen as our team captain, and named ourselves “The Pin Pals.” I learned that my teammates are fairly low-average bowlers, so it looks like I may be carrying this team through the season. We should have handicap in our favor much of the season, which should make for some interesting matches. I also looked at last year’s standings for the league and learned that high average was only something like 208, so high average in the league is a goal that might be reachable.

As part of the “Administrivia” for this post, I would like to announce that I have joined BowlSK, the scorekeeping and stat tracking site, and will refer to that site for my bowling on each night. There will be a link in the “Author’s Links” section of the sidebar linking my profile, and each night’s session will be linked in the posts as below:

My week 1 bowling

The linked page shows graphically how I did, including notes on such things as stance (where I start on the approach) and target (which board I’m spotting at the arrows). The sheets also give room for notes, and I will be taking advantage of that feature.

One thing about last night’s series that I didn’t include in the notes is that my spare game was scattershot in the first game as I was getting settled in. I still saved a 182 in that game, however. No one was on my line, so I didn’t have to move much during the series, only moving outside in the third game when I thought it would help my carry, and back inside when I sensed the lanes finally broke down. We probably won’t know how my team did for points until after the third week. This league’s standings won’t be online, so I’ll endeavor to keep everyone posted on my team’s progress by posting our position going into the night before posting about each night’s bowling.

Result: 182-201-203=586
Average (3 games): 195

We’ll get out around the same time the other league does, so I’ll likely still be riding home with Brian Shea on most nights. On the ride home, we talked about our respective nights, and he said his team took 6 points.

Sean Richard shoots 299 on Westgate Mixed League opening night: During the night, I had heard that my buddy Sean shot a 299 in the second game in the Westgate Mixed League last night. I didn’t learn what pin he left in the 12th frame, but good shooting still, Sean. 😀

More administrivia: With the new league, there will be a new BowlingTracker.com stat sheet, so I’ll probably get around to editing the stat sheet link in the sidebar sometime today.