Well dont feel so bad, i dont think your the only one around who cant bowl on a wall shot lol.  

I am that way too after bowling on a sport shot, when my weds league is done, i seem to be going right down the crapper.  On the sport shot, i am shooting 200's like its cake, because i have a dry backend to work with, and actually know what the ball will do lol.  

I dont hafta put a million revs on the ball to make it move.  And wonder what it will do down the lane.  

But there is one place i can bowl that has heavy oil, and i actually enjoy bowling thier, cuz it is a tough shot, and the carry is tough too.  Its basically a river of oil from gutter to gutter, with lil backend.  

when i do bowl here i use my Reloaded and play about 15-10 and put a ton of revs on the ball because thats about the only way to make the ball move lol.  But i also throw the ball slower too.

But yes, i know a couple guys who are in the same position, they cant bowl on a wall shot, but give them a tough shot, and they can shoot the lights out, and i think my proshop buddy said it best,

He said its because on a tougher shot you will try harder to make a better shot and when you have a WALL, you know you have tons of room for error so you loosen up and end up going BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
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" Lift Your Skirt Grab Your Balls and Learn How to Bowl "

BrianN hit it on the head. Tweener hell.

I always geared myself as tournament player. always trying to throw power.
I used to struggle to keep it on the pocket side with shiny weak equipment when I saw other THB's running up the scores with dull hook monsters.
you can really suffer in league conditions. I have done two different things so far to get me over that hump.

solution #1. more exotic drillings. 135 deg w/ neg cg placement. 105 deg w/ neg cg placement. 120 deg with pin high and cg on grip line. all to take the backend out of the ball and still hit. this worked ok. I was climbing in league average.

solution #2. a weaker release with less forward roll, but not to much axis rotation. I don't have access to a cats so it's just my eye judgement.
No hitting on the ball. no fingers whatsoever. no cupped wrist. almost a suitcase but not. I still have a strong hitting ball.
I also use Particles to tone down the backend. even though I'm fluffing buy my standards, it's still more ball than most THB.(typical house bowlers)
this makes it easier on drilling. I don't need much of anything exotic for control.

Since changing away from a Tweener. I'm between a stroker and a tweener now.
Lane play and adjustments have become simpler and more complicated at same time. i will explain as I walk through the way to take the tweener out.

1. set up. test for squeeze. get an assistant. setup with out a ball. have someone squeeze your biceps. there is no tension. now setup with the ball in your hand like your going to bowl. have the person squeeze your biceps. you both can tell how much tension to have. you should have very little . if not your loading up your muscles early. I good fix is Sharp bevels on your thumb hole and fingers. this will give you leverage with out gripping.also use you balance hand to hold the ball and push off. see ron'c tips on this. It's a good one. although I pretty much hold the entire ball with my left hand now instead of his grip. you just have to find what's comfortable.

2. the release.It must be free and easy but accelerated after the downswing through the ball. this helps with projection but don't squeeze the ball.
you still have to firm to carry but not muscled. don't over rotate and don't come up the back to much. you will have to find what works and doesn't at your house. but be prepared to alter the hand position at a different house/ oil pattern

3.Lane play is crucial. you have to play straight up the oil line. so if it's 10 then the ball has to set down around 10 and cross 10 about midlane or so when they are fresh.

4. adjustments. they become smaller and less noticeable. but you have many more. these are the ones I know how to do. Finger dancing but Ron C. second is the small shoulder adjustment. when the oil line drys you need to to get it off the nose. line up then open your shoulders but not your hips or feet. this will send the ball a little wider and longer. if you get good at this weak release you may find a fresh oil line is a tad to much. so line up and close the shoulder a little but not the hips or feet.

other adjustments envolve the balance arm and finger pressure. I'm not ready for those yet, but I can't wait until I have mastered this to learn those because that will make the difference from 200 to 210/220 +.

I have been averaging about 210 for the fist 2 games for the last 6 weeks.
I'm struggling with last game because I run out of adjustments to play the line/track area and I have to move deeper. when I do that I loose carry because I don't know how to put just a little back on the ball with any consistency. if I get behind it it grabs early and takes off. so there is still a lot to learn to become a THB and still retain enough to be a tournament player.


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"deserves got nothing to do with it."
-- William Munny

HamEgo, cant bowl on a wall? I thought you were "all that"......
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CURLY-
"Oh, and Elaine.....feel free to throw yourself into the mix.......!"

Correction, I WAS all that.  My hand is still part of it, I can't keep my wrist locked, my fingers tight, and my thumb straight on the downswing consistently, but when I do, I won't miss.  And before that, I've gotta remember to keep my elbow straight, push the ball forward instead of dropping it down, and to delay my backswing so that I don't get to my release point before I'm done sliding, cause that really causes problems.  I averaged 190 in the sport league we had this summer, and I bowled terribly all but one week, I shot 894 (four games) and I believe that was high in the league.  It wasn't that tough of a shot, but in a house that doesn't carry well, that was a factor.  Sport patterns are just more predictable.  You miss right, it's gone, you miss left it's gone, unlike house patterns where these same misses result in exact opposite results.  You miss right, it goes left, you miss left, it slides forever.  If you're a good bowler, you shouldn't miss that badly, but I LOVE playing down 4 or 5 with a small angle to the pocket or playing 5th arrow to 12-14.  Thanks guys, I'm going to do a little practicing today, and I suppose I ought to try to figure the shot out again, or try to figure out how to get my hand to cooperate first.  Mike Haugen stopped by to practice between Omaha and KC, and it even had him scratching his head a couple times.  Throw a shot, leave a 10, move a board right, leave a 4.  You've either gotta crank it, or move right and throw hard and hope you carry.  Carry is really the only factor in scoring here, hitting the pocket is NOT hard.
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The weekly signature series, by Hamster.

The local grocery store has an aisle for which the overhead display of the items it contains reads:

Baby Food
Baby Care
Beer

Makes sense to me . .

I've been fighting everything in my game lately too.  I've recently started playing a real tight line (for me) throwing from 17 targeting 13 breakpoint about 10 with a pearl urethane Scout.  This is actually making me repeat shots, and keep my release more consistent.  The trick to playing here (there is more oil here where I'm at) is less spin and more forward roll to help trip the 10.  If your release is off, you will know it - the 10 pin will tell you.  I wouldn't call it a fluff shot, as I still stay under the ball, but rather than turn it from the side, I try to spin it more forward with just little tilt to get some angle into the pocket.

I did this more because my mechanics were so far off, I had no business throwing anything aggressive as they just magnified my mistakes.  This is helping me focus on repeating good shots, and I don't get burned as bad on the not so good ones.

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9~

Well, if it was channeled to the pocket, it'd be kinda hard to miss . .  I shot 894 (four games) on a sport pattern this summer, that wasn't really a funnel.
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The weekly signature series, by Hamster.

The local grocery store has an aisle for which the overhead display of the items it contains reads:

Baby Food
Baby Care
Beer

Makes sense to me . .