Time for my third installment, complete with all my dreadful scores.  This year I'm at a third house for PBA leagues.  This one is at Triad Lanes in Greensboro for anyone close by.  So far, I'm amazed at how different the patterns (two so far) play from the previous years.  Different lanes, oils, oil machines, topography make a world of difference.  Last year for example, Cheetah started pretty open, but then had massive carry down.  Scorpion was awful for me last year (very little reaction), but liked my first week here.  I'm also making a big change to my foot work, so it takes me much longer to get lined up and get comfortable with line changes.  I'm also trying to keep a more open mind about where to play on the lanes - not try to force how the PBA tells us how.

Format is a two game match against an opponent on a pair of lanes, then move to another pair for another two game match against a new opponent.  Two points for each game, and a single point for total pins for each two game match.  All scoring is scratch.

Week #1: Cheetah

Like I alluded to earlier, last year I could throw something mild down the outside for the first game, then massive carry down made me use very strong equipment the rest of the night trying to find a look, so I brought:

Creature (box - 2000 grit polish)
BW Bite 2000 Abralon
Tour Power 1000 wet sand
XXXL

What a nightmare.  Outside of 5, the lanes are squirty unless you come up the back of the ball a lot.  Something I'm not terribly good at because of my arthritis and because I throw on house shots the rest of the year where lots of axis rotation gives me more back end with my low tilt.  Moving in a little parallel results in early hook, but it's at least consistent.  Moving much further inside results in even earlier hook.  Even the Creature is stronger than I want.  I try straight down 5 most of the night occasionally fishing for a better look.  A few down the ditch work well, but my execution has to be really sharp.  A different surface on the Creature or something with more flip might have helped.

154 (w) 184 (w), win total
160 (l) 170 (l), lose total

I actually threw the XXXL for strikes the last game and actually had a good look.  I couldn't leak it right at all (playing down 8/9), but at least had some hold.

I think I threw ONE double the entire night, so even with average spare shooting, I pretty much stunk.  The worst was chopping the head pin straight back off a 1-2 throwing my plastic ball from the right corner!  WTH???  Oh well, I completely stunk up the joint and won half of my points.
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Week #3: Shark

Silver Streak SE, 1500 grit polish
Black Widow Bite, 2000 abralon
Weapon Of Mass Bias, 600 grit Scotch Brite
XXXL

I didn't know what to expect.  I never got much of a reaction from Shark in years past.  The WMB handles the thick stuff, but is best when thrown direct and not covering many boards.  The Bite handles a variety of patterns.  The SS SE would be good if the lanes ever broke down.  But since we only have two bowlers on each pair, that never happened.  In practice, I could play inside as long as I kept my speed soft.  Outside would work, but the back ends were actually pretty jumpy.  I opted for inside so I'd be less likely to leave a mess.

Game 1: Threw the WMB 17 at the arrows out to about 12/13.  If I missed a little wide, I left a 2 pin.  A touch inside gave me some hold.  Started off strike spare strike spare for the first 6 frames.  Finally threw a good shot on the left lane for a strike.  Finished off solid for a nice 228.

Game 2: Threw the WMB for the first 4-5 frames, then left a few flat 10's.  Switched to the Bite on the same line and back to success.  Finished with the last 5 for a solid 212.

Game 3: New pair, but only one to my right where I was watching the other bowlers.  One with more hand than me throwing down 7/8, and a low rev player playing off the corner.  Perfect.  No one to bother my line.  WRONG.  I don't know why, but the pair had very little reaction.  Tried inside with the Bite to start.  Missed right a few boards the first few frames (my fault) but still had next to no recovery.  Finally threw one good with no leak to the right.  Barely nicked the head pin for a 2-8 which I covered.  Switched back to the WMB thinking the middles hadn't had any traffic yet.  Still no reaction to speak of.  Tried outside without much luck.  Fumbled my way to a one strike 163.

Game 4: Still fishing.  Started off with a strong wrist position (BW Bite) throwing 10 to 7.  First shot pocket 7-10.  A few more frames around here mostly air mailing the ball right.  Moved in, flattened out my wrist and tried straight down 10.  A strike or two, a few really solid 10's, and a slight pull for a 3-6-10 which I missed. A smoldering 167.

I still have no idea what I could have done better on the pair.  My opponent mostly went hard down the 10 board.  He was more consistent than me, but thanks to his spare making, really didn't out bowl me.  I had nothing inside, not much out side, and I had to be really sharp around the track area.  The trick to these patterns is to find a little area.  I tried every thing I could and never found any.

228 (W) 212 (L) won totals

163 (L) 167 (L) lose totals

14-16 after 3 weeks.

192 average on Shark, 182 composite average.

Two weeks in a row where my second set was much worse than my first.  I was pretty tired tonight, so my execution went down hill, but I still didn't have much reaction on the second pair.
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Week #5: Chameleon

B/G Centaur
Silver Streak SE
BW Bite
XXXL

I was probably most nervous about Chameleon.  It's been my favorite pattern at the other houses I've done PBA leagues at, but it's normally the hardest and this house plays different from the others.  Normally, this plays right up the ditch with the Centaur.  Not here.  Way too slick unless you point it up hill.  Had an OK look with the Centaur pretty straight up the track area, but anything the slightest bit fast or wide didn't sniff the head pin.  I keep thinking I'll find a place for the SS SE, but not so far.  As always, well just about, I turned to my trusty Bite.  The ball reads the PBA patterns really well.

First game starts off really nice.  Playing 10 at the arrows out to 6/7 at the break point.  A little wide has some recovery and in a little is only a 4 pin, so I should be lined up right.  Spare, double, spare, 4 in a row makes anyone feel good.  The only blemish was chopping a spare in the 10th for a 222.

The second game was a disaster.  The lanes transitioned a little, but a comedy of errors killed me.  I wasn't striking at the beginning, but was at least covering the spares.  Then I dump one wide for a 1-2-4 which I chop the 1-2 from the 4 for like the 20th time in a row (have to find a new angle to throw at these), next frame flag a 10 pin, then apparently my thumb suddenly shrinks and I chunk one in the gutter.  A piece of tape for the spare helps immensely, but a solid 7 gives me three opens in a row.  A putrid 152 is the result.

The next pair gives me a chance for redemption.  It's fresh since I'm post bowling from being out of town.  No reason not to move back to where I started since there's been no traffic.  First shot jumps through the face for a Greek Church.  Go ahead and move in 2 and 2 like I did after the first game transition and leave a 2-4-8-10.  Nice start.  I go ahead and move in the 2 and 2 on the first lane and move back right on the second.  Pretty solid after that, but can't really put anything together, but a 180 after open open on a PBA shot is OK.

The last game both lanes start to hook early, so I moved in another 2 and 2.  I chopped a 3-6 and had two pocket 7-10's (one on each lane) from the ball being a little late coming into the pocket.  I finished strong with a 4 bagger for a decent 191.  Without the chops and the 7-10's, it could have been a decent set.

Again, I post bowled, so I don't know the results of the first match.  I bowled the secretary/lane man and he said I beat him both games of the second set.

222 (W) 152 (W) won totals

180 (W) 191 (W) won totals

186 average on Chameleon, still at 182 for the league.

That's once through each of the patterns so far.  Cheetah I'll be more ready for next time.  It plays much shorter than the other houses I've seen it at.  I still have some work left for Viper.  Apparently I didn't read the transitions well at all.  I actually feel good about the longer patterns.  Even though I'm averaging less so far this year, I feel like I'm bowling better.  Last year when I missed a shot, I really missed it, so my counts weren't good, but the spares I left were easier.  This year, I'm in the pocket much more.  Hopefully I can translate that into better scores soon.

Updated standings after getting this week's standing sheet.

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Edited on 6/27/2009 10:06 AM

Week #7: Scorpion

Creature 2000 Abralon
BW Bite 2000 Abralon
Angle Evolution Tour 1000 grit wet sand?
XXXL

I actually had some confidence starting the night for the first time on this PBA league.  I had a good look last time, and some equipment adjustments should give me more options.  First I redid the surface on the Creature.  It was 600 Scotch Brite + 1500 polish.  I hit it with 1000 abralon then 2000 abralon.  What a difference.  The ball read the pattern better than it had on anything before.  I left the Bite where it was because it has been good on just about everything at 2000 abralon.  I flipped a coin and dusted off the AET.  The Weapon of Mass Bias would be too early/rolly for Scorpion, and the Tour Power didn't thrill me last time.

I actually had good looks with all three balls in practice.  The Creature played pretty close to how they show on the PBA web site.  I could move in about an arrow with the Bite, or really move in with the AET.  I decided on the Creature partially because it's my new ball plus I wanted to see how good the surface change was.  If my line went away and I couldn't carry with a relatively low end ball, I had two other balls ready that could be played on a different part of the lane.

It was a pretty simple night.  I didn't really have to do any major adjustments thanks to the limited number of games and the non aggressive cover stock.  The first pair I was against a lower skill player who played far outside of me.  Feet on 30, over 12 at the arrows, out to 6/7 at the break point.  I had three big splits the first game, mostly because my timing stunk.  I made a big effort to delay starting my swing and it made a huge difference.  I struck in frame 9-10-11 to sneak out a victory.  My opponent left a smash 7 (right hander) in the 9th.  He flagged the spare, then had a double in the 10th.  I won by 10, but only because of his bad break.  The second game my timing was solid and I had a nice 235.

The second set was against the average and point leader.  He was beside me the first set and he was right around 500 for two.  He's subbed for our (winter) team in the past and he bowl for a local college.  He's very solid - knows how to play the lanes, doesn't miss spares..., so I knew I had my work cut out for me.  He was also playing the lanes pretty close to where I was, but his rev rate is higher, so I knew he could get inside of me if he wanted.

He had to fight for an ideal ball reaction for the first 5-6 frames, so I managed to win the first game.  224 with an open (2-10) in the 10th.  Early the next game, it was my time to fight the transition.  Took me too many frames to trust the move I made.  I shot 221, but lost the game and the totals.  The split in game 1 really cost me.

179 (W) 235 (W) won totals

224 (W) 221 (L) lost totals

859 was a pretty solid night, especially for a ball I hadn't been too crazy about.

39-31 for the season (9 out of 18 to begin the night)

201 on Scorpion (2 weeks), 186 for the league.
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Week #9: Viper

Lane #1 Tsunami, 1000 grit wet sand
Creature, 2000 grit Abralon
BW Bite, 2000 Abralon
XXXL

I was hoping for some redemption on Viper, but I didn't get it.  In practice I could get to the pocket several different ways, but I had no idea what was the best.  I liked the look of the Creature, but it was causing me some pain in my ring finger.  I took a better look and saw that it cracked from inside the ring finger hole through the pin.  The ball had a very thin cover to begin with but I don't know if that lead to the crack.  The pro shop will contact Global 900 Monday to see if it can be replaced.  The Tsunami was a little jumpy from the outside, so I opted for the Bite inside more or less where I finished last time.

My opponent pre bowled, so I knew the scores I had to beat ahead of time (which surprised me).  He shot 190-200 both games so I knew my work was cut out for me considering I don't care for the pattern, and my preferred ball was out of commission.  I start off decent enough, standing around 34, crossing 16/17 at the arrows to 6/7 at the break point.  I'm all around the pocket, but not really flush.  After 7 frames I'm behind the pace, so I try to move in a few boards hoping to get some better head oil.  Unfortunately, I threw bad shots in the 9th and 10th and missed both spares for a 170.  After opening in the 9th I needed 27 in the 10th, so when the fist one didn't strike, it didn't really matter.  Since my adjustment didn't work, I fished the entire next game knowing where I was wasn't going to cut it.  After opens in four of the first five frames (3 splits) I didn't have a chance.  I really experimented after that hoping to find a magic line, but never did.  After a 129, I felt like packing it in.  

My next two games were against a guy who carried everything that touched the head pin his first match (right next to me).  Great.  I went back to my starting line with the Bite to see how things looked.  Strikes three of the first four balls.  I seriously need to figure this league out.  Too many times I'll shoot great on one pair and terrible on the next.  Do the lanes break down that different, or do I settle down and make much better shots on one pair???  Any way, I have only two opens for the two games (both the second game, and one was a pocket 7-10) and shoot 225-222.  A few minor moves inside, but nothing drastic.

170 (L) 129 (L) 299 (L)

225 (W) 222 (W) 447 (W)

183 average on Viper (2 weeks), 186 for the league.

8th place to start the night (47-33), now 52-38
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Week #10: Chameleon

B/G Centaur 1500 wet sand
Dynothane Thing, 2000 abralon
BW Bite, 2000 abralon
XXXL

I wasn't sure what to think in practice.  My timing wasn't good, plus the shot seemed to play wetter than I remembered from last time.  The B/G Centaur was way too little ball, the Bite looked good, but I kept throwing it through the break point, and the Thing was a question mark.  I didn't find a look for my trusty Tour Power, so I rolled the dice and tried the Thing.  On a similar line to the Bite, it was too little ball.  I did find a shot right up the ditch, hanging a lot of the ball over the channel.  It looked like a good plan "B", but didn't really want to be playing that far out to start the night.

Mt first match was against the 3rd place bowler and one of the higher averages.  Standing 32, throwing the Bite over 12 out to 5/6 at the break point.  I out bowled him through 8 frames, but was about 10-15 down thanks to chopping a 2-4-5 and a pocket 7-10.  I put together a solid 9th and 10th for a win.  I maintained solid shot making for a nice 234 and another win, never having to move.

My second match was against a guy who threw a pair of 140's the first match.  This pair had a good 4-5 boards more back end which helped him immensely.  I struggled trying to get the Bite to face the pocket correctly.  I moved in 5 boards on one lane and 7 on the other, but couldn't put anything together and lost with a 189.  For the second game, I moved back to roughly where I started and switched to the Thing.  Cleaner through the heads and enough back end to carry.  I managed a 200 for a victory.

192 (W) 234 (W) 426 (W)

189 (L) 200 (W) 289 (W)

194 average on Chameleon (two weeks), 188 for the league.

8th place to start the night (52-38), now 60-40.
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Edited on 8/5/2009 9:22 PM