For three weeks in a row, I have felt on Tuesdays in my industrial league that I'm mired in a slump to the point that no matter how much I try to change things up (be it ball selection, angle of entry, hand release, speed, loft or no loft, etc...) nothing seems to be working comfortably. It's a weird kind of slump because in all other aspects of league and tournament bowling this year, I've been averaging much better than at any other time in my career. Yet within the walls of Playaway Lanes, I'm sitting 10 pins below my last year's average with half a season left to go.

I charted my shots this evening to see what I could gain as far as information for things to work on. I threw 7 strikes in 3 games (2 doubles), left 12 single pins (making 11), left 2 splits (making both), missed the head pin 8 shots (which resulted in 3 more opens) and chopped one multi-pin (non-head pin) spare. My father believes that I was struggling due to the fact that with my lower ball speed to get through the oil, I was dropping the ball early on the lane (right at the foul line) and the ball didn't have enough energy when going through the pocket area. I started the night with my Animal, moved to the Rule, then the Barrage for a game and a half before finishing with the Rule. I could hit the pocket decently with the Barrage, but would ring 7 pins and leave a lot of 10 pins...

I have plans to seek out a coach as I haven't had one in my game for at least a decade and would like to see what improvements I can make from there. I think one of the things I'm going to do next week is change up my normal routine of warming up for a couple of games on the pair next to us before our normal 5 minutes of practice begins. Outside of working on a better mental game for this house, what types of recommendations/suggestions would you do if you were in this type of mini-slump?

The high average in this house right now is 193, and I'm currently second high with a 183 if that tells you what this house can be like. Usually triple oiled heads to 15 feet, buffed double from there to 38 feet. Heavier oil outside of 8, medium inside of there...wood lanes, burnt heads, moderate but not overly powerful backends. Poor sidewall action as well...

Maybe I'm just ranting as Charlest did about his Monday league a couple of weeks ago, I just would like to see something work on Tuesdays before the season ends.

Matt

Lets start by looking at the chart you made of your shots.

1. Strikes, you made 7 of 36 possible for 19.4%
2. Single pin leaves 12 making 11 for 91% (good percentage keep it up)
3. Total pocket shots 19 of 36 for 52%

From looking at these numbers you are giving the pocket away to try to carry.

It seems from the brief description of what balls you used, you had the best pocket percentage with your barrage, but couldn't carry so you went back to the rule and left splits.

The kind of leaves you were leaving with the barrage (light 7s and 10s) indicate there may not be enough surface on the barrage to carry those light hits. You might want to put a little more surface to it by lowering the grit of paper one notch from where it is now i.e.. if it is at 1000 with polish try 1000 dull or 600 then polish, then 600 dull and so forth. Or try your barbed wire, if it is too snappy, dull it.

Try staying in the pocket and just making your spares. You need to develop a "Sport Condition" mind set where you don't give the pocket away and leave yourself makable spares and fine tune your equipment each week to carry. You will have to anticipate what you are going to face each week as far as how the shot plays when you start compared to how it plays in the middle and at the end of each block and have your equipment set to deal with each of those phases and adjust to each before waiting too long.

If you are going to seek a coach, you might want to try to set up a weekend clinic with Ron Clifton http://www.bowl4fun.com/.

I think the guys at http://www.buddiesproshop.com/index.htm are from your area and could probably recommend someone local to you if you need it.


Let me know if you need further help.

Jim


Edited on 1/5/2005 5:04 AM

1.  Stop tracking your strike percentage; track your 'hit my mark' percentage instead.
2.  As charlest said: new ball with aggressiveness rating between Barrage and Rule/Animal, quite likely with a different drilling than the others.
3.  Get a coach!
4.  Rinse, repeat.
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