I know many friends who practice a lot, do tournaments, bowl with better bowlers, and work on the mental game. Yet, the years of dedication and sweat never really made them a bowler they wanted to be...ei...being 220 average - or even a good 10 pin shooter. I'm one of these people, but I'm okay with it.

I realized now, after years of trying, I'll never be a house hack at 220. Cash at tournaments, or even be a consistent bowler. I can live with being a low 200 average bowler. I Enjoy my time with friends, and when it's available, do pot games.

A grand master chef from Japan and my mentor once said.."Anybody can put a pan on a stove, heat it up and cook. But, not just anybody can be a chef. They can proclaim to be a chef, but can they really taste and cook the food before cooking?" 

I think we all have limits to somethings and once we realize it, maybe we wouldn't be so disapointed with ourselves. lol

I enjoy bowling in tough leagues. I grew discontent with the scores in a THS league after a while, and choose to support centers that had chosen to put out a shot that was a little tougher, or even a sport shot league. Now, I know that everyone doesn't have that luxury (I live in the greater Chicagoland area), but it's important to WANT to go to league, for whatever reason keeps you bowling. If it was just me, I would go bowl a mixed league for fun with my wife, and bowl on the tough stuff by myself. A mens league nowadays is just full of pompous blowhards that bag a lot. YMMV.

Only reason I go to league on house is to attempt to win the $6K strike pot. Its the only reason I go. I bowl in a sport league to get better and to humble my sometimes over inflated ego.

Funny I just had sort of these discussions with one of our state elite teen bowler father's.  She is very high average on top hats and is a winner of sport shot tournaments.

He went on to lament about house hack high average competitors of hers who can average near 220 on house shots and then struggle on the majority of sport patterns up to 60 pins lower!

I mentioned to him not all bowlers struggle with many sport patterns.

I am not even a house hack.  Averaging universally under 200.  Weak 7 pinning and mediocre carry much of the time all caused by not so perfect mechanics.   At the same time I win or place top 3 in almost all no tap tournaments I enter no matter what level of competition.  Though improving on the easy high friction league shots many others  find so easy, by moving  more behind the ball, increasing speed and loft these qualities are still not my A game.

But surprisingly there are not many slick au jus shots that slow me down.  In fact the number of 670 680s and 650s I have had on slick FTL shots or on the slicker sport shots while right next to me our house high average bowler is throwing 490 are too numerous for me to remember.  Being slow, strong axis rotation and having the ability to point on the left or play near the 4th arrow are my strengths.  (I also recognize that in general I am toast on Cheetah!).

Au Jus Au Jus Au Jus.  But in all reality I would most of the time prefer to be the high speed or matched high speed house hack who plays every time near the 3rd arrow averages 220 + and has bunches of 300s and 800s and throws 490 on sport!

Just recently I went to a house where the backends had gone sloppy this year.  Most of the high speed high rev guys had slumped from the 230 area down to about high teens yet there was a set of bowlers who were having their high average on this lower friction top hat league set up.  They were all soft, pretty good revs, and looked like the ball was feeding to the break point.  I talked to them and they said their carry was up this year!  Less friction increases the energy retention for these guys similar to me in bowling stats rev heavy and soft.  I call us "feeders".  We feed the ball to the breakpoint!

My summary idea is high speed dominant players or High speed matched players dominate many house shots.  Unfortunately it takes a while with this set of skills to be able to play the slick sport shots of today!

REgards,

Luckylefty

But my question for the house hacks, is what do you think the major difference is between house hacks and house hack wannabees (low 200's)?

Is it really the physical game, lack of rev's and speed?   Inability to read lanes?  Or is it something that is obvious to better bowlers but the average guy just can't comprehend?

thanks

First, I want to say the level of honesty in this topic is refreshing. Actually, I think many of you are selling yourselves short. With the right focus, I honestly believe most of us individually, regardless of where we're at, are capable of squeezing out more.


I don't consider myself physically gifted, or possessing exceptional hand/eye coordination. But I've been able to maintain a THS average in the 230's. Years ago, when I was averaging around 200, I decided I wanted to be better, and do whatever was necessary to elevate my game. Many of the step are rather simple and more than easy to comprehend.


First, tighten up your spare game. Most 200 average bowlers miss too many makable spares. My recommendation here is to make plastic your friend. Learn to comfortably and consistently hit all spare combinations except those with double wood. I took me almost a year of practice to get to the point where it was second nature, but the effort was well worth it. I got at least a 10-15 pin per game bump from this alone.


Second, don't be afraid to make minor 2-1 adjustments (2 with the feet, 1 with the target) as the lanes transition. Many 200 average bowlers wait too long before making any adjustments whatsoever. When you sense the ball starting to inch toward the nose, pull the trigger before leaving a split. If it's too soon, you can always adjust back. Once I got better at this, it added a good 10 pins to my average.


Finally, fine tune your mental game. Too many 200 average bowlers go into a mental death spiral when things start to go bad. I just read Rico's new book "Head Games", and it's a good read for helping to keep you focused and able to make necessary corrections.


You can always work on refining the physical aspects of your game, but without paying attention to the things I mentioned above, you'll be limited. Good luck and keep at it.

Glad you mentioned the spare aspect and plastic.  I'm at a 210 average but definitely have some room for improvement in my spare game.  I currently only use plastic for 6 and 10 pins.  I've been thinking about going plastic for all spares, even if my average does suffer a little in the near term. Do most of the "220 plus" type of bowlers use plastic for the entire spare game?

You'll observe a good percentage of 220+ THS bowlers use plastic for all non double wood spares. Especially those who also bowl sport/PBA leagues and tournaments. You find quickly on tougher and unfamiliar patterns that the more you can take the condition out of the equation, the better you'll score.


One of the most difficult things for me to get comfortable with was throwing plastic for combinations to the left of the head pin (right hander), especially the 4 pin and 7 pin. I dedicated weekly practice sessions to doing nothing but shoot at every combination I could encounter. I wasn't very consistent at it for a while. It was probably a year of practice before I got the muscle memory and targeting down with enough confidence to make the transition in league and tournaments.


It's different for everyone, but I recoomend at least trying. It could pay off for you in the long run.

Key to good spare shooting is using a plastic or urethane ball, learning to square up, and not trying to throw 100mph at spares.  Flatten your hand position a little, but make sure you don't lose your timing to the line.  A lot of good young pros would be better spare shooters if they didn't try to throw the ball through the back end while throwing at a 4 pin.

For me, an excellent time to practice is right after league is over.  I am already warmed up.  I can bowl a game or two of just corner pins.  I can also work on whatever I felt was off during league.