I was looking forward to my first lesson with Ray in over three years, hoping to get a baseline on what I can improve on.
During warm-ups, I noted to Ray about my problems making my single 10, and he gave me a hint I hadn’t thought of: He said that if I draw a line between the third arrow and the reflection of the 10 pin on the lane and throw to that line, I should be more consistent with it. Indeed, I made both 10s that I shot at during the session.
What mattered more was the video analysis of my game, and the first thing Ray noticed that was “off” was my drift of 10 boards to the right in my approach. Part of what we worked on after was walking straight down the approach, fine-tuning my line with how my ball was reacting. As a result, I will now be trying to stand on 30 to start and going over the third arrow.
Another thing we had to work on was a problem that has lingered: It seems I am thinking turn before the ball gets to my feet in my downswing, preventing my fingers from remaining in the 6 o’clock position and causing the all-too-familiar double-dribble. I also needed to try to keep my elbow tucked in, keeping my swing close to my feet at the end. We had more success correcting this latter problem than the former, but we did end with a shot that seemed close to what Ray wanted to see. More work will be required in practice, of course.
I have another lesson scheduled in about 4 weeks.
The Tenth Board 
It should be noted that I was worried about taking this lesson on the day after a league night, but I made the realization that my feet feel better the morning after bowling if I give my feet a good hot water soak after I get home, so I’m happy to say I can manage my old injuries better now. 😀