Am I fooling myself or what??

[looseleftie]

Over the last three weeks Im picking up 200's , which I'm very happy with, and the average is rising, yet Im missing my mark at times getting lucky strikes like brooklyn and through the nose strikes, as well as decent shot strikes. My point is that, I feel that I put a fair bit of effort into that strike ball of mine and take the good with the bad, however, at times Im pulling turkeys together with average to poor first balls... I watch the pins fall, and the  way in which the pins fall back and into others, pick up lucky bounces, I have a basic understanding of the benefits of axis rotation, and how it sends the pins horizontally. But man, the pins are simply dancing everywhere for me!!! LOL.. I feel truthfully, embarrased at times, especially among the better bowlers in my league.

My spare game is getting better, which is good, and I deserve the spares, but missing my target at the arrows anywhere up to 5 boards at times (on first ball), then getting a reward seems a bit much..

I am feeling very confident as present, but is this "fools" confidence, as a bad league night I may well be getting nasty splits everywhere.. Im average over the last 3 weeks around 190, yet my true aver is around in all honesty   170...

Does anybody else suffer this same fate?

Im worried because I know that as I progress as a bowler I simply cannot get away with erratic bowling like my own...
LOVE ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE!!!!

Bowled today, in a phantom league (where u bowl on your own at your own time against one of 30-40 bowlers in that particular league), Im sure most centres around world have something similar, same as usual.. Aver well, missed the target well, picked up the spares well, walked out of centre, thinking have I just been had.. Kids around me today "Gee, Look at that guy hook", what I was thinking was that I would have loved to have relied was "Yes, and its all over the f**king shop!!"
See ya Looseleftie

[looseleftie]

SJ thanks for the reply.. I decided to check out your profile, and your'e a 205-210 av bowler. WOW!! GReat stuff. But at what point during your bowling lifepsan did u truly get to the point where u hit what your'e aiming at, and also when u got rid of a lot of the lucky (ridiculouslly fluky) strikes that bowlers get???

I remeber an old PBA Invitational event that I have on video, I think it was around 1997, and Brad Angelo was bowling brooklyn strikes one after the other, now, he was quite pissed off about it. You could sense he was not happy, yet he won that round!! I figure if it happens to him, then perhaps I shouldn't grizzle about it too much, but still , I want to the best bowler that I can be, that means consistancy!

Again, love to read everybodys take on this.. Where are u in relation to this post, do u get more than one lucky strike like myself!!
See ya Looseleftie

[strike_10_in_the_pit]

Yo dude... it happens... I still get super lucky with my strike shot... I too am a lefty.. You sometimes have to move with your ball to make the shot perfect. Like say you go brooklyn on the left lane 2 shots in a row.. move your feet and mave to the right.. if you go through the nose more than once move forward on the approach.(takes hook space away)This last season I have had to move more than I am accustomed to. I am getting ready to bowl in the US Open in February, so Lucky strikes are strikes just the same. As Long as all 10 fall in the pit.  

Strikes are not the game though.. they are good. but spares are where you earn your money week after week. If say one week I shoot 750 and miss 5+ spares that I would normally pick up.. there goes my 800... now if I shoot 550 and not miss a spare I have no problems... Why the difference.. Becuase as inconsistant as my strike shot was I was consistant in my spare game. To tell you the truth I would love to have your average, becuase mine is strike based.. you dont shoot 230's without striking a whole lot. But then again to get there you MUST pick up all your spares that you do happen to leave. if you have any questions feel free to email me ......   alex_hannon@yahoo.com  and I will answer all questions i can. From One Lefty to another... Good luck and Good Bowling

Strike_10_in_the_Pit
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Hit the Deck like a HURRICANE blows 7-pin to HELL

[Rudedog2]

Hey LL.  I hate to stereotype but your complaint is stereotypical.  I am willing to be that you are not hitting your mark because you are taking your eye off of it right at release.  

Ask yourself this.  Do you have an recollection of seeing your mark BEHIND your ball?  Yes?  You are not letting your eyes wander.  No?  You are letting eyes wander.  

But, why would your eyes wander?  Correcting problems is a matter of identifying the cause, not treating the symptom.  We learn to throw things when we are very young.  More than likely, the thrown object was a baseball, a football, but not a bowling ball.  We learned to throw at a target. Our eyes would follow the object all the way to the destination.

The result of this early training is that we learned some instincts that are exactly the wrong skills needed for bowling.  Our instincts have taught us that the destination and the target are one and the same.  We know this is not true for bowling.  So when we get to the line---right at the moment of release---our instincts want to kick in.  We look for the ball.  Our eyes search for the pocket.  (Others look down at the line, which some think is okay but not me.  Look down after you have seen your ball has passed the target and not before.)  

Most folks unknowingly allow their eyes to look for/at the ball and watch it cruise down the lane into the pocket.  This is a very common cause for folks to spray the lanes.  Another cause for missing your target is a flaw in your swing.  You have not stated what type of bowler you are so I'll leave that issue alone.
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Rudedog

[nd300]

Rudedog,
 Good answer and right on the mark as bowling is inherently different in that by missing your target you can get int otrouble whereas if you throw a baseball or football off target a little it can be saved by your receiver/catcher,etc.
 LL,
 One practice tip that might help you is to go to your center and ask for an end lane( 1 or 20 in my case) and use a dollar bill set lengthwise over your target area and practice not only hitting your target but hold your posture until the ball hits the pins. Pinfall does not matter as this will allow you to get used to nto only a target but help your balance which will help get rid of problems at the line like falling off of your slide foot which can cause pulled or pushed shots.
 I'm not a teacher but this is what a good friend of mine did for me when I was going through the same thing you are.
 I hope this helps. Good luck,high scores and Happy Holidays to you and your family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Chris

[looseleftie]

The bubble has burst, bowled today, nasty splits, ordinary average today and lady luck ran out of me ... I'm not complaining, she had to at some point.. Now back to reality.

Hi Strike, thanks mate, same to you, Ill be watching your name in US open,good luck!!

Rudedog, your post was pretty much to the point, and accurate!! My strike ball and even spare ball at times, suffers from me failing to watch my target (third arrow for strike ball).. I know this, yet wen I'm on the lanes it seems to be the first thing of several things that I seem to forget... Perhaps I'm just not focused enough, perhaps I don't trust my ball enough to keep eyes down. Bottom line, I have to continually keep checking on myself.. I am improving, yet this is a hurdle, that if I don't address, then it will limit me in regards to becoming the best bowler that I can be...

I have read something regarding eye dominance, and notice that I seem to miss generally inside of my target by on average 2-3 boards, aim at 15, bowl over most likey 17-18... Confused a little in that regard..

Man, I wish I started bowling 15-20 years ago....I would of had this sh*t sorted out by then.
Thanks you all feedback.Again love any more thoughts on this topic.
See ya Looseleftie

[Rudedog2]

LL.  What style bowler are you?  Swing can make all of the difference.  You sound like you are new to bowling.  What is your swing like?  One trick I learned that makes it easier for new bowlers to hit their mark is to refine their ball swing.  

I tell them to push the ball straight at their mark.  No muscle.  No helping.  Make sure that you get a pendulum swing.  The ball comes back to the mark.  Every time.  Try this with a one-step approach.  (Hopefully when the house is empty and nobody is looking!)  Then back up to your full approach.  

This will not work if you do not get a good push away with the ball as you start your swing.  The push away---not down and then muscling the swing---is a critical skill.  It is step one to hitting your mark.  It is step one to learning how to control ball speed.  Raise the ball to a higher position for more speed.  Down for less.  But you must push the ball away from your body and do not let it drop until your arm is extended.

The eye dominance thing is true, but it is not always the problem for some people.  More times than not, the instinct thing I described has more influence than the dominant eyeball issue.  Force yourself to stay eyeball to eyeball on your mark.  SEE THE MARK BEHIND THE BALL.  I am willing to bet that you will start hitting it more consistently.
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Rudedog

[looseleftie]

I'm kind of like a stroker,or perhaps if like any other bowler out there, my style is similar to Jess Staybrook. Small swing, plant foot, give the ball a moderate rip on release, typical first ball covers 30 boards or so, stand 32 board throw over 15.. Second ball for spares dead straight. Maintaining consistant balance throughout the approach is my nemesis. I find that if I lean too far over from the waist, I end up over compensating my bringing my slide step over in front of my body sort of like a corkscrew. This effects leverage, and obviously hitting my mark.. Bend from the knees!!

Hit the lanes tommorrow and work at watching mark after ball crossed it Rudedog, just have to keep working on it.

Still early days for me, thanks for advice..
See ya Looseleftie

[Rudedog2]

LL.

Leftsides $.02 is worh a lot more than that.  He's on the mark!
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Rudedog

I don't make waves, break waves, or create them.  I ride them.

Edited on 12/28/2004 9:02 PM

[atreyu9]

hey i for one would love to get more "thru the nose" strikes. instead i get splits. i got about eight 4 7 10 and 4 7 9 splits one day. that sucked, u should consider urself very lucky to be getting strikes as oppossed to splits. but i do see ur point and i agree that i would like to be hitting the pocket more often but u have to take wat u get and try to fix it.

[dizzyfugu]

Patience is important. And hard to endure! I have been going through a slump since January and became very aware of my mistakes (Brookly hits, weak release, timing problems etc. ...). Before that, I averaged about 170, but this dropped to frustrating 150. There were and are several factors (stress on the job, lane got an oil machine problem) - but I found myself being too critical about the things I did, getting negative.

Good thing was advice from bowling companions concerning my approach and release, and I tried to concentrate on one thing at the time, taking on my game step by step. Now I can see and "feel" first results - average is getting better again, my ball has become more powerful and the feeling is simply more confidence-inspiring.

Do not bother too much about good or bad luck - it will even out in the end. There are times when the lane, your style and the ball are just right, and others when you struggle even to make one strike in a game or even a row of spares. Face it. That's bowling (and partly Murphy's law...)

When you make mistakes under tournament condition, try to work on your mental game and expose yourself to tourneys.

Try to find confindence and relaxation. Not every shot will go right. Practice and routine is the key to success, and it takes time.

Another good thing is when you know WHY a shot went wrong. If you know that it was your fault and what you did wrong you will be in a stronger mental position - either knowing that it was just a mistake, and you know how to cope with it.

Good luck, and keep a positive attitude to anything you do!
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DizzyFugu --- Reporting from Germany

"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream..." - Edgar Allen Poe

[SirAshley]

Hey don't get embarrassed at the through the nose strikes... Personally, when I throw one of those I like to watch the ticked off looks on the other teams faces...LOL
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Bowling is 85% mental 10% luck and 5% skill