Practice summary, 12/17/07

Not much to “write home about” today, but I did stay around my average for two games. I was having a pulling problem in the third game, which led to the weak 10 (where the 6 pin settles into the gutter instead of taking out the 10 pin) mocking me on the left lane, and I kept missing it with my pulling problem.

Result: 177-161-134=472

Running average (36 games): 164 Last 9 average: 169

Notes:

With Christmas Eve falling next Monday and my sister usually picking me up for a late afternoon church service on that day, I will not be practicing next week.
The Northeast Amateur Tournament was ready to go yesterday, but nobody showed up due to the nor’easter that was pounding the region, so the tournament was canceled. NAT’s next visit to Westgate Lanes will be in April.
Being my last visit to the lanes before Christmas, I left a card for the management and staff with Marcia in the office. She told me it was appreciated. 😀
Also, this likely being my last blog entry before Christmas, I’d like to wish my readers a happy holiday. 😀

Getting there

In the regular practice today, I posted a 202 first game, thus starting off with a game over 200 for the first time since my return. I still had a fall-off in the second game, but it wasn’t that bad, as I still came within a few pins of my practice average with a 157. Then I just missed having a series with 2 games of 200 or better by 5 pins, posting a 195 final game for a 554 series, my best series post-heel fractures to this point. I continued to make progress with my spare shooting as well, as, after failing to convert it in previous attempts, I converted the baby split (the 3-10 leave for right-handers, one of the easier split leaves) twice today.

I’ve so far proven that I can start off hot, have a good game in the middle, and finish strong. All I have to do now is put it all together. 😀

Running average (33 games): 164 Last 9 average: 177

A Sunday morning at the lanes

With “The People’s Tournament” in town today, I wanted to head to the lanes this morning with hopes that I would be able to bowl in one of the qualifying squads as a pacer (pacers are used in tournaments sometimes when a pair of lanes has less than the full complement of bowlers assigned to it). The part of the morning I could blog about actually got started when I left the house, as Simon Rosenthal (I call him Si), another old bowling friend, was driving the taxi I called for to get there. I mentioned I wanted to return to the game, and he told me he was actually taking the year off from bowling after averaging only in the 140s the previous season when he’s usually somewhere in the 180s.

When I got to the lanes, I told Junior about my intentions, but he replied that the tournament officials may not let me pace. I was OK with this, but I proceeded into the party room (which is used as the check-in room for tournaments) to meet the tournament director for TPT, Sherm Cowan. I let him know that I was considering bowling TPT in the future, and that I had linked his site on this blog. He thanked me for the link and wished me well.

I also stopped in the pro shop to talk with Ray about the previous week. Si had mentioned in the cab that reactive balls wear out quickly, and I asked Ray about this. Ray replied that those balls don’t wear out, but rather soak up oil, and said the pro shop has something called “The Rejuvenator” that will help restore the ball. He recommended that I do this every 60 games, and since a run in the Rejuvenator is only $5, I won’t mind the occasional additional expense.

Getting coffee at the snack bar, I ran into Sean Richard, who was warming up for the tournament on one of the lanes. He recognized me as the new blogger and we exchanged pleasantries. I finished my coffee, then headed back to the control desk to set up a two-hour rental (Westgate Lanes runs a lane rental special on Sunday mornings.).

There was nothing special in the practice session, but I did make my spares consistently, which helped my games stay around 180 for the most part (I had a 144 middle game, as I’ll recap below.) What I learned is that I definitely prefer a drier lane, as that is usually the condition in my Monday afternoon practices, and will probably bowl in late squads in tournaments rather than early ones. Despite doing fairly well, I wasn’t up to practicing for more than 3 games, so I asked Junior for a $10 credit (I had originally paid $20 for the two hours.). The printer at the control desk was also having problems, so I had to write the scores down on the business card Sherm Cowan gave me. I wished Sean luck in today’s tournament on the way out.

Result: 180-144-179=503

Running average (30 games): 163 Last 9 average: 164

Mark Roth, Part Deux

I didn’t think there would be a Part Two to my Mark Roth story, but as I walked into the building on my way to the control desk for today’s practice session, there he was giving someone a lesson (Why didn’t you tell me he was sticking around, Junior & Marcia?!). I waited until he had a moment, then said hello, shook his hand, and complimented him on the show he put on with Sean Richard the other day. If I had known he was sticking around, I might’ve thought twice about skipping the opportunity to get pointers from him, but I wanted to conserve my cash for the holidays.

As for the practice session itself, I definitely feel better about it than I did last week’s session. I started the session with a 189, easily my best starting game so far. I had a let-down the second game and only shot a 139 (three different splits didn’t help matters), but I recovered in the last game, getting 5 in a row from the 7th frame to the 2nd ball in the 10th. I wanted to repeat the “half-perfect” feat from an earlier practice, but I missed my target well right on the last ball and only fell 6 pins to finish with a 212 and a 540 total for the three games. I caught Ray from the pro shop on my way out, so I had to brag a little bit to him. 😀

Running average (27 games): 162 Last 9 average: 165

EDIT: A quick check of the New England Bowling Association site (see sidebar for link) finds that Mark Roth also competed in, and won, the NEBA tournament @ Westgate Lanes this past weekend. Congrats Mark! 😀

Practice summary, 11/26/07

Today was my first practice on a pair of lanes instead of a single lane, and I was really geared up for it. However, I found myself disappointed with my effort by the end of the session. I was like a pitcher struggling with his release point today, dropping many shots before reaching the bottom of my downswing, and ending up pulling those so that I would either cross over or come in through the nose. I was also struggling making spares on top of that, missing a total of 8 single-pin spares, mostly 6 pins and 10 pins (right side). I did manage to recover enough at the end to salvage an over-average third game, but not by much, so my averages actually went down this week.

Result: 131-138-166=435

Running average (24 games): 160 Last 9 average: 165

Practice summary, 11/19/07

There was nothing really spectacular about this week’s practice (141-188-182=511), though I’m making more progress in my overall game. The lane seemed to have less of a hold area this week, and I initially moved left a half-board to a board to try to compensate, but when even that adjustment left me with high hits, I decided to make a slight ball speed adjustment to kill the hook a bit. I had a couple of solid hits after the adjustment, but I couldn’t really string the strikes together this week, never getting more than a double in any of my games.

Running average (21 games): 162 Last 9 average: 177

Notes:

As I get closer to actual competition, I will be practicing on a pair of lanes instead of just one lane starting with next week’s practice. For those of you not familiar with competitive bowling, leagues and tournaments require games to be bowled across a pair of lanes, so practicing on a pair of lanes will get me back into thinking about making the proper adjustments on two different lanes, just as I’ll be expected to do in actual competition.
In connection with the New England Bowling Association tournament on the weekend of December 1st and 2nd, Westgate Lanes has announced that PBA legend Mark Roth will make an appearance that Saturday. He will be offering lessons ($50/person) and will also bowl an exhibition match against local bowler Sean Richard. The program will get started at 11:30 AM Eastern time immediately after the junior leagues finish.

Into the groove

I seem to have settled into a groove in practice where I have a pedestrian first game, a great second game, and a good third game. The great second game this week was a game where I shot a turkey twice (3rd through 5th, and 8th through first ball in 10th) en route to a 221, my best single game so far. The first game has been what’s holding my average down, so I need to learn how to start better. Another good sign, but which came out of something bad, was that I intentionally shot @ the 10-pin with my new ball after leaving the “Woolworth” split (5-10) in the third game and made it. Since the “Woolworth” is a tough split for a right-hander to make, I decided to use my second ball to work on a weakness rather than try to convert the split. It may be something that pays dividends down the line, as I won’t be as afraid to use my new ball to shoot at spares on the right side. Summary of the session: 140-221-179=540.

Running average (18 games): 161 Last 9 average: 172

Half perfect

In the 2nd game of today’s practice session (152-204-187=543), I had a split and missed 2 other spares and was only on a 164 pace through 6 frames, but ended the game with 6 strikes in a row for a 204 when I found the correct line to play on the lane, setting up between the 12 and 13 boards. I also had a turkey in the 3rd through 5th frames of the 3rd game, but that was the extent of the run, getting mostly spares the rest of the way for a 187. Also in that game, I just missed converting the 3-7 split when the 3 pin wrapped around the 7 pin off of the side wall. The 543 matches my best series so far, and comes on a day when I might’ve had less sleep than usual because of the celebration of the Boston Red Sox’ World Series win the night before.

Running average (15 games): 157 Last 9 average: 172

Practice summary, 10/22/07

Nothing really stellar this week (122-176-168=466), but it was a decent practice session for the first one with a new ball. I didn’t get many breaks in the first game, but I was coming in high, so I wasn’t expecting many breaks, including leaving the 4-6-7-9-10 split. I had a turkey in the 3rd through 5th frames of the second game, but the best thing I took out of today’s practice was that I was making my single 7-pin more consistently, getting the spare 3 times out of 4, and only missing one because my thumb stuck in the ball. My main problem today seemed to be making my right-hand corner pins, so hopefully, I’ll get that back on track next time.

Running average (12 games): 151 Last 9 average: 162

Another old friend: It turns out that the bowler I didn’t face in the finals when I won the LBT tournament back in October of 1989 (I was the third seed, and he lost the first stepladder match), Bob Hamilton, now works at Westgate Lanes as the lane maintenance person. I reintroduced myself, let him know I was on my way back, and asked him to let his brother George (who I also knew) know I asked about him.

I’m back!

Well, not back in a league yet, but I took a major step forward today. I had thought from the start of my return that I’d be fully back to form when I had a game over 200. It has happened, and sooner than I expected. In my third game of practice today, I started out with a double, left a 1-2-9 leave that I picked up, shot another double, picked up another spare (this time the 2-4), then had a turkey before leaving the 6-9-10. I had a brain cramp and only knocked down the 9 pin from that leave, but that was really my only big mistake of the game. 218!!! 😀

An earlier sign that I was back to form came in the 6th frame of the second game. In that frame, I left the 5-7 split, but I converted it, my first split conversion since coming back. Summary of the practice: 157-168-218=543

From this point on, with 9 games under my belt since I started practicing regularly, I’ll also be tracking my practice average, both running average for the league season and the last 9 games:

Running average: 150 Last 9 average: 150

Talking shop: The pro shop is usually closed when I am practicing, but the pro shop owner, Ray DiSanto, was in to do some things when I arrived, so I stopped before practice to chat him up a bit while the shop was open. I had told him that I was using my old U-Dot, and he said that ball wouldn’t really cut it on today’s lanes, which he told me were now a synthetic surface instead of the wood I had been used to bowling on. He said a reactive resin ball would be good on the lanes now, and that one can be had for around $100, but that he would have to watch me bowl and look at the track on my current ball before recommending one. I also priced bowling gloves, which are running around $30.

League update: I found the standings sheet for the Friday night TNBA league, but I was dismayed to learn that all of the current teams have a full compliment of 4 persons. My search for a league to bowl in after the holidays continues, but I will definitely join the TNBA league next season.

Final note: Looking at the score sheet I took home, I calculated that if I took it off the sheet in that third game instead of having the open frame in the 10th, it would’ve been a 255, which would’ve been my second-best game ever.

Turkey shoot

I had what I thought was my best overall practice session since my return to bowling today, posting a 135-142-173=450, which was only 6 pins off my best series since my return, and the 173 represents my best game in that time. My spare shooting continues to improve slowly, but the highlight of this practice session was closing out the last game with a turkey (three strikes in a row), my longest string of strikes in quite a while. That’s what I call finishing with a flourish! 😀

After practice, I caught up with an old bowling friend, Ron Lawson, who had been my doubles partner in the city championship tournament many years ago, who was practicing on another pair of lanes. I told him it was my intent to return to leagues, about the adjustments I had to make due to my heel fractures, and that I was blogging all of my bowling stuff. I hope to see him again frequently in the near future.

Other notes:

I have been set up with a locker at the lanes, which means I won’t have to lug my gear around on the bus, and also that I can take my bicycle to the lanes when the weather is good, thus getting in my aerobic exercise.
Next Monday is the Columbus Day holiday, and Westgate Lanes does not offer half-price bowling on holiday Mondays; therefore, I will not practice next Monday.

Getting serious

With a goal of returning to a league after the holidays, I began practicing in earnest today. The first 2 games saw me taking a few steps back (a layoff of a few weeks was what did it), staying around 100 (and actually failing to break 100 in the second game), but in the third game, I made an adjustment. I decided to line up normally, but instead of keeping my eyes on the spot I want to roll it on, I focused on another spot well to the left of the second arrow and kept my eyes on that as I went through my approach. I figured that the more I concentrated on keeping to the left, the better my chance of hitting my spot, figuring if all went well in my approach, hitting my spot should be automatic. While I didn’t necessarily get more strikes, it did result in more reasonable leaves, most of which I made, and I ended up with a 164. Another thing that I got sorted out was how to make my left-hand corner pins, which was a good sign.

Locker inquiry: After I was done with my bowling, I inquired with the management about renting a locker on the premises, as I used to have one when I was in leagues. As they know I wish to return, they will see if they have any available, and I’ll know if I’ll be able to rent one next week.