Week #1: Viper

MoRich WMB
Lane#1 Tsunami
Roto Grip Silver Streak SE
Lane#1 XXXL

I didn't want to add on to other's posts, so figured I'd start my own.

This is a singles league.  4 games, moving each game.  Each person moves independently, so not only do you move, you'll probably bowl with and next to different people each game.  This makes it much more difficult to watch the pair you'll be moving to next.

This is a new house for me, so I don't know of it's overall properties.  All I know is that they have synthetic lanes, but don't even know if they are Brunswick or AMF (the return and pin setters are Brunswick, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything).

I felt pretty good during practice.  I had two lines.  A small swing with my Tsunami near the second arrow and a bigger swing closer to the third with my Silver Streak SE.  I didn't have much tug room with either, but the SE game me more recovery if I missed a bit right, so I went with that.  Shot 217 the first game with a few fortunate breaks.  The second game the lanes were much dryer.  I eventually moved 12 boards left.  Shot ~178.  Not too bad considering how long it took me to find the line.  Two big splits kept this from being better.  Third game was pretty bad.  I had to keep creeping a little right, but my release was my big problem.  Several big grabs left me some ugly spares I was unable to convert.  I also missed two 4 pins since I failed to notice that this house has one less set of dots on the approach.  Standing on 12 when you think you're on 17 isn't a good thing.    I think I was around 163 for that game.  The last game took me back to my original pair.  This time I had to move a good arrow right of where I was the first game.  I shot a pretty solid 206 that could have been better without a solid 9 and two 10's that looked pretty good.  760 for 4 isn't too bad plus I won 3 of my 4 points.

I wish I would have brought something for lighter oil.  I have plenty of equipment, so that's no excuse.  I didn't make the practice session, but the practice the week before (unknown pattern) led me to think that a medium oil ball would be the least I would need for Viper.

I was mostly happy with my performance, except for the left side spares (mental) and my excessive grabbing of the ball at release.  What would be a 4 pin on a house shot becomes a run-a-way Brooklyn at best on these patterns.  Unfortunately, when the shot becomes tougher and I feel like I have to hit a smaller area, I grab it even more.  Hopefully, the more I see these patterns, I can learn to control this tendency.

Next week is Shark.  I've bowled on this once or twice at a different house, so I at least know it's tendencies.
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Special thanks to Dynothane, Visionary, and Lane#1 for donations to the Ballreviews Get Together.

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Week #11: Viper

MoRich WMB
Storm Tour Power
Lane#1 Tsunami
Lane#1 XXXL

I forgot to post for last week with the Ballreviews Gathering going on.  The main thing I need to stress is to not play 27 holes of golf the morning of your sport shot league.  I didn't feel overly tired or hurt in any way, but I threw the ball absolutely terrible the entire first game.  I pulled the ball every shot for the first 4-5 frames, then determined to not do it again, picked the 6-9 out of a full rack.  I had plenty of practice, and whether inside or outside, I yanked shot after shot.  Later I threw one in the ditch trying to play way out just to see if I could do that any better.  My last two frames I slung my spare ball in the general direction of the head pin in disgust.  I had already lost my point, but that was still poor sportsmanship on my part.

In an effort to not be a sour puss all night, I got a beer and took off my wrist guard.  The beer might help me relax, and without the wrist guard, I don't have the strength to pull the ball much (I have arthritis).  Surprisingly, I did much better.  I didn't know if I'd be able to go the remaining three games without the guard, but I had no problems.  I did throw 3 games of (regular) league without the brace two weeks before, but my hand was really sore the entire next day.

I used the Tour Power all night.  The first game I tried anything that would let me attempt to hit the right side of the head pin.  A whole bunch of terrible and a lack of caring got me a 114.  Game 2 I shot 211 playing around 12 to 5.  I had to move in to 15 out to 7/8 for game #3 (181).  Game #4 saw me start to tug everything again.  I finally figured out that I was restricting my ball from dropping into my swing, and old problem that hasn't happened in quite a while.  Maybe if I would have recognized that the first game, I might have been much better off.  Once I got that straight, I moved a little outside of where I was in game #2 and had a nice reaction.  The 10th frame I got a little fast or hit some carry down.  I liked the shot, but left an 8-10.  The 2 fell late, or it would have been a more standard split for the delivery.  I still managed a 189 which was fine after my less than ideal start.

I had my worst series (695), but mostly because of my horrible first game.  Mostly disappointing because I did good on this the first time, and this pattern lets you score well from several places.  I did manage to win my last three games.  Going into the night I was in 5th place (47-33), my average was 185.0, and my highs were 244/825.  League highs were 194.6, 259/858.

Next week (tomorrow) is my last shot at Shark.  I'm determined to do better than I have previously.  I think the Track Havoc might go in the bag.  I had a pretty good look with the Silver Streak SE, and the Havoc might be an improvement.  A solid shell with a light coat of 800 grit polish compared to the solid/pearl shell and 1500 grit polish should still get me through the heads, but with more mid lane read, something I was missing last time.
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Penn State Proud

Special thanks to Dynothane, Visionary, and Lane#1 for donations to the Ballreviews Get Together.

Ron Clifton's Bowling Tip Archive