Yes I’m a lefty and I know how much easier we have it. Just ask any right-hander, they’ll tell ya!
Most of the time I do play the lanes fairly straight or with a very small hook. That’s the way most houses are setup were I play, but this weekend was different. I just finished the Missouri State tournament and both of the houses were polar opposites of each other.
On Saturday the lanes were “tight†to my standards. If you grabbed at the bottom of your swing or tugged it you paid the price. There was an OB outside of 8 so anyone trying the old THS shot would find the gutter or watch the ball slide behind the headpin. Lanes were synthetic. You could instantly tell who the THS players were and the ones who weren’t.
The lanes setup to my style and I shot just above my average with the exception of my second game in singles. Won 3 of 8 brackets and second place in two.
Second day, different house with wood lanes. Bowled the second squad but they re-oiled the lanes in between. Heard the lanes were “dry†from the other bowlers. Thought oh well should be easy, WRONG. We had about ten minutes of practice for 10 players. Everything I threw was going brooklyn, I mean everything. If you tried to go outside of 5 you ran into an OB. Now remember lefty here! My comfort zone is anywhere from 12 – 3 but no matter what I tried or the ball I couldn’t get it to stay on the left-hand side of the rack.
So my first game I struggled and shot a 193. Every strike I had was on the right. I was lost, confused, and embarrassed.
I felt I was letting my team down. Now since there wasn’t any other “wrongsiders†(bones) on the lanes I watched where all of the righties were throwing (the ones scoring). Their shot was 20 or 22 at the arrows out to about 10. So in pure desperation I decided to MOVE INSIDE. What, a lefty playing inside? That’s just unheard of.
So I took my weakest ball (Too Hot) stood on 30 threw across 17 to 10 and Boom! Solid strike. Hmmmm. Second frame same result. Was actually weird watching the ball take its path to the pins. That line is how I normally pickup a 7 pin. Now my brain is fighting my body. It is saying “don’t throw it there, throw it up the boards!†I pulled a shot and was lucky enough to not get a split. Each time I stood on the approach I told myself not to grabbed at the bottom and to “fan†it out to 10. Needless to say I scored very well. Shot a high 6 even with that poor first game.
The point of the story. I made a move I wasn’t used too or even one I practiced and it worked. I fought the lanes the first game trying to stay inside my comfort zone and turned a poor game into a pretty good series and was the high series on my team. Entered 10 brackets and won 9.
So when faced with a difficult shot don’t be afraid to try something new. I did and now my confidence is high because I know I can play that line if the lanes let me. We lefties have it so easy.
Edited on 4/11/2005 3:33 PM
