So I really worked on my game over the last summer. I ended last season with a 160 average, and really wanted to get better. Some guys come to drink, I come to bowl. Anyhow, I was doing really well over the summer, in a league I was never in before. I was on a team with three guys from my fall league only one of which (my father-in-law [FIL]) is on my fall league team. One of the other guys is my Uncle, and he's a much more avid bowler than my FIL. He's not a great bowler by any stretch, but he at least knows enough about the game to give me tips here and there, and that's just what he did. If I was pulling the shot or if I was popping up at the line, he could tell me. It contributed to me posting a nearly 20 pin improvement on my average by the end of the league, which was on MUCH tougher conditions than my fall league.
Fast Forward to last night..
I look at my league sheet, and there I sit at 163 for the year. I'm POSITIVE my fundamentals are better, I'm releasing the ball as well as I ever have, not muscling it so much, posting at the line AND getting down, all things I never did before. I go into league nights with a good attitude about bowling, and wanting very much to be competitive. So it finally dawned on me that the team I'm on (which is me, my FIL, my brother in law, and one other guy) is actually being bad for my game. None of them know enough to help me out, or to point out the little mistakes that I make as a lower average bowler. My brother in law carries a 190 or so average, but he really only knows HIS game. Looking back, I realized the best nights I've had is when we were bowling a team with a real "student of the game" on it that would give me pointers. I'm not afraid to ask, and I LOVE it when people offer up their advice. Aside from that, both my FIL and BIL are pretty negative, that sure doesn't help.
Now that I've put it together, I'm kind of bummed out. I like bowling with my team, they're relatives, and I have a good time overall. (I never drink, period. Just so ya know.
) What do you think I should do? I really dont' have any recourse now, and it seems to me that our team may be unraveling a bit anyway, as we lost one man (we've been short a man for a month) and the other guys don't seem all that interested in bowling well. I guess I should just tough it out and find myself another league next year, hopefully hooking up with a team of like-minded folks. My aunt and uncle (
http://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?ms=3401&mp=500&s=2004-2005) are serious bowlers, and got me going in the first place, so maybe I can get into their league next year.
Sorry there isn't a real question so much in this post, I just wanted to vent a little and I'm both happy and sad that I figured out what one of my key problems is.
