Went last night to my first night of my PBA experience league.  The center has been putting all the shots out in advance, so that we could practice on them and get our stuff right.

  Worked late and just had time to go home and get my stuff.  Called the center and asked what pattern we were on and was told cheetah, so I got my stuff that I had been having success with on that pattern.  In three practice sessions, I was averaging a bit over 200 on this pattern.

  First practice ball I throww goes DEAD STRAIGHT.  No hook, not even an attempt to hook.  This is the most aggressive ball I brought with me and it has been hard to keep it on the right hand side.  Really didn't figure to use it, just was going to check the pattern out with it.

  After the 3rd or 4th attempt, I asked the NEW owner ( that has been putting the shots out for us ) what pattern this was and again was told cheetah.  I said " It's not the same cheetah I practiced on or bought my new equipment to play" and he said " No, it's not.  We ran tapes on that and found we didn't have enough volume, so we added a LOT more volume and ran new tapes.  We should know in a week or so if this is right".

  SO, I was screwed.  Nothing I had with me would even remotely work ( keep in mind, these are balls that worked great on what I was told before was the cheetah pattern).  The most aggressive piece I had with me was a B/G visionary centaur.  I've got balls that would've worked great on what we had, but didn't have then with me because of the stupid circumstances.

  Now I am mad at the center for this crap and sorry I ever joined this crappy league.  If they didn't have this shot right the first time, what makes them think it was right this time?  And, if NONE of the shots we practiced on had the right volume of oil, none of them was right, so, none of the equipment I set up for those shots will be right either.

  I was warned by a friend that, if they couldn't even get a simple house shot down right all the time, there was NO WAY they would be able to get a PBA shot down right.  I should have listened to him.  

  Now, instead of averaging around 190-200, I shoot a 496 and am averaging 165, even after spending all that time and money to practice and get my equipment right, all for nothing, because the center changed what we had practiced on.  

  I'm not crying about the average, didn't really expect to score a lot, but I at least expected the shot to be what I practiced on and set my equipment up for.  The guy who shot best was throwing a Total NV and just barely getting it to hook enough to carry.  He was high series with a 630 something.

  Now, how do I know what to expect?  I mean, if the volumes were off before, none of the shots are going to be the same as we practiced on.
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What did you expect, something PROFOUND?

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The last time I played Cheetah it was one two-month-old AnviLane with Brunswick oil and the Brunswick oil machine. It played just like Juggernaut's story.

There was no free hook near the gutter. There was no breakpoint outside 3 at all. There were, however, a lot of people with a lot of hand throwing a lot of balls in the gutter.

The only thing I could get to work was up 10 with heavy-oil equipment, and even then, it wasn't really "working." I had one double in nine games. But if I'd kept trying to play it "by the book," I wouldn't have broken 100.

Jess

Personally, I think you have to throw out the notion of where you should play each pattern. Too many variables in a PBAX league to rely on what Barnes and Tommy Jones tell you in a little video or what the PBA tells you. In the PBAX league I bowled in last year I pretty much played up 8 or so and just used 3 different balls depending on the pattern. I simply don't have the hand to play deep on Shark and the Cheetah I bowled on did not give you an advantage to play the gutter like you might on another version of Cheetah.

Being a PBA league, definitely bring equipment that covers a wide spectrum in case you run into what you did. Also go in with a clear mind and find a shot that works well for your game and ball for that particular look.