Well, the Massachusetts state tournament started today in New Bedford at Wonder Bowl. Nice scenic drive for me (87 miles in 90 minutes) and a cool 40 lane center that has a cool look inside, all synthetic lanes and approaches. I bowled doubles and singles....

The shot was definitely inside of 2nd arrow. The first 5 boards were out of bounds unless you threw the ball on an angle to the pocket. I played 17-12 and kept my ball speed moderate. Only had one split all day (6-8 in the 7th frame of doubles) and made 95% of my spares. I flagged 2 7 pins, chopped a 3-5 combination and stayed clean the rest of the day. Had a ton of 9 counts- if you came in light, expect a 10 pin, but if you packed the whole it was almost always a 7 pin. I shot 574 in singles (202-182-190) and 605 in doubles (205-193-207). People who I saw scoring better were covering 20 boards and had a ton of revs...

I only saw one 800 on the board for the year there and one guy in the 220's in average for a league, so I guess the lanes must be playing similar to the shot during the year.

My legs are killing me- synthetics are so hard to get used to if you all bowl is on wood. It was nice to see a couple of old bowling team mates from my college team bowling the same squad as me...

And even if I don't cash, my father came out over $100 ahead between the win in the 50/50 raffle and winning one of his handicap brackets...

Matt

Chris: I remember facing the same issues when I bowled the nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah. I think I threw 1550 for the 9 game set, as I couldn't get used to the stickiness on the approaches as well as the flying back ends. I've been better prepared since.

My lower back is killing me from the stop/start action I faced on the lanes- hopefully it will feel better by tomorrow. I talked to another individual who posts on the site sometimes and during his 12pm squad he said there wasn't much oil put out and he struggled for a 490 series...so I'm guessing it all depends on what squad you bowl and what the lane man wants to put what you will see for scores.

Matt

And that other individual is none other than myself!!

The lanes really were tough for us. We bowled the team event after the 9 a.m singles/doubles event. The lanse were pretty toasty. No oil coming back on my ball at all. The weakest thing I had was a Crunch Time. I really struggled. Hopefully next Sunday I will bowl better in my singles/doubles event. I bowl first squad next week so there should be oil out there!!

I didnt have as much trouble as you guys with the synthetic approaches but moreso how the ball flies off the dry on synthetics. The move I got from my equipment was much more pronounced!! In any case, as long as you go there for fun then how good/bad you bowl wont affect you that much!! I just brushed it off and look forward to next week now!!
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"I am the most consistent bowler in my house....

I consistently SUCK!!"

Chris: You have described the set up correctly. They are all synthetic though in terms of lanes and approaches- my father and I were quite surprised when we switched pairs and noticed that one pair was even more of a dead stop/start then the previous one...

Ryan: Sorry to hear that you bowled on a toasted lane condition. I thought that they staggered the squad times so that they could re-oil between shifts? Seems unfair to me unless you enjoy bowling on drier conditions...

Matt