I've been having a great year.  I ended last year at 179, and before this last week I found myself at a 192 average, having already eclipsed last year's high game and series.  I've been feeling really good.

Then along came Tuesday night.  To say I struggled would be an understatement.  The worst part was that I was clueless as to WHY I was struggling.  I normally have some idea of what I'm doing wrong, if it's throwing the ball too hard, missing my mark, etc.  Tuesday, though, I felt like I was throwing it just as I had been.  Sadly, my ball was doing flat out nothing.  I was getting little to no backend, and the only times I really put it in the pocket were squared up shots straight at it.  I know it wasn't a ball issue, as I saw people all over getting a strong backend reaction, if anything more guys were struggling trying to tame it down.  Me?  There was NOTHING!  I hate to admit this, but I bowled a 445 series.  The worst series I've had in QUITE some time.

Today I had the day off so headed over to the lanes.  It's the same house I bowl in, and it was freshly oiled with the same exact shot.  I was getting a similar reaction, too, but then it finally clicked what the heck I was doing wrong.

One of my problems in the past is a tendency to kind of "suitcase" the ball, and dump it off.  I didn't throw a TOTAL spinner, but I was really over-rotating the ball.  One thing I've focused on in the past 6 months or so is trying to correct that and keeping my hand behind the ball.  That's exactly when my scores started to pick up.

So, what happened?  I got TOO GOOD at keeping my hand behind it, and wasn't putting much on the ball at all without realizing it.  I remembered that the straight, heavy rolling shots were the only ones that were working on Tuesday.  The thing is that I've bowled a few tourneys lately with heavier conditions, so I sort of got in the habit of really trying to get the ball into a roll sooner, which on the league shot was killing my backend.

So, once I went back to my normal hand position, around 4-5 O'clock, I proceeded to throw 7 in a row for a 264, followed by a 211.    Yay for fixing something that was broke!  It was only the difference of a small hand position change, but it made ALL the difference.  I could really feel the ball rotate off my hand, and it was once again blowing up the deck on the backend.    I can't wait to get back to Tuesday!
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...nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.--Albert Einstein

Never go with a hippie to a second location. -- Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) 30 Rock