Author Topic: summer time practice? (Read 2818 times)

icewall · « **on:** July 07, 2009, 05:21:21 AM »

is it just me or is it really hard to practice in the summer time due to the centers letting the shot go to crap?

i was bowling last night and it played like a reverse block (but this house never has a good shot even when fresh)

another house has incredible carrydown during open play. i mean i tried plastic, pearl particle, strong hybrid, solid... nothing moves once the ball hits the backend. best i found to do here is to play around second arrow or inside that and come up the back of the ball as best i can so that way im not relying on dry boards since there arent any.

another house is super dry at the middle arrow and then less hook from there.... at times ive had the best success getting the ball thru the heads on the left side of the lane (swinging it) so it could retain energy at the midlane for at least some entry angle.

i like it because it helps me conquer the slop but there are many days when i want to scream because NOTHING will wrinkle! so far this ENTIRE summer ive found 2 days when i lucked out and the lanes had no carrydown.
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tweener
high track with medium-low revs
medium speed
specs and ball layouts in profile

currently throwing
Visionary (O.P. / O. SS.)
Rotogrip (rogue cell)
lanemasters (black pearl)

JS · « **Reply #16 on:** July 07, 2009, 05:42:23 PM »

Didn't mean to derail your thread, sorry about that.

One of the things that I am doing this summer is work with a coach. I had done this on and off throughout the years but in the last 2 years my average has dropped 20 pins in multiple houses. My wife and I are working with Marianne DiRupo and meet with her every 2 weeks. We then work on what we "learned" for the next 2 weeks until we see her again. I am hoping that by the start of the fall leagues that I can start to get my game back up to where it once was and it's not just attributable to getting "older".

In one of my lessons I was able to get my track and pap raised by over an inch which I am hoping will help with the over/under I have been experiencing. It's hard work teaching an old dog but I'm excited and look forward to each session.

Now I just have to stay away from the above house to practice....

charlest · « **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2009, 06:13:05 PM »

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quote:
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Regardless of what you leave if you hit your mark at the arrows and at the breakpoint its a successful summer practice shot.

If you can get your ball to the arrows that would be true

My wife talked me into going to the local AMF house on Sunday afternoon to "practice". She threw the first 2 balls and both went in the left gutter at the arrows (she's RH). I decided to move as left as I could standing around 40 and aiming for 5th arrow. You could literally see the ball grabbing before the arrows and at the arrows it was in the left gutter. We then tried our plastic balls and after both of us having 0 as our score after 2 frames decided that we needed to move or leave. The people that work in this house are all great people but have to live by the manager's rules. He is not a bowler and came from the restaurant business. He figures he can save some money by not oiling. Let's see how those new synthetics they installed last summer last with that kind of mentality.

I'm calling shenanigans, Even belmo could get the ball down past he arrows standing at 40 throwing at 5th arrow. I understand open play can be dry and i understand we all tend to over exagerate a little but really.

Nope, mmcfarland300, sad to say, JS is not BS-ing you. His wife usually loves this house because it is so dry. The manager literally will have the oil guy skip a pair of lanes in the afternoon during the winter if there is no league on that pair for that night.

I stopped bowling at this house 2 years ago when I saw that you had no idea how much oil would be on any pair on any given night or where it would be placed. You might need a Mega-Friction or Blue Dot. I even stopped subbing when friends asked me. I warned JS a number of times that he really shouldn't patronize this place but he ignored me. As a result his bowling has suffered at other places because of all the strange things this place makes you do to try to adapt. He is now struggling to recover and I am not even talking about average. JS used to average 220 to as high as 228.

I won't even step foot into it, until I learn they have some idea what they're doing. The shame of it is AMF finally started refurbishing the place with new synthetics and new LCD 40" monitors.

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"None are so blind as those who will not see."

duvallite · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2009, 07:17:17 PM »

We (wife and me) joined a summer league with a goal of using it to work on improving various things for when our Fall league starts. So far so good. HOWEVER, the shot is very inconsistant, as is the amount of oil they put down. But last night they really outdid themselves. On our pair, one lane was absolutely bone dry, and the other had some oil but had a lot of carrydown and it was spread out from open bowling. I was playing the dry lane standing 25 boards further left than the right lane, playing a big sweeping arc with rollout to the pins. It sucked!!! Shot 128, 172, 210, as I was totally lost the first game (I was averaging 205 before last night. It turns out they are oiling half the lanes one day, and the other half the next day, and our pair must have been the stopping point. Ok, rant off.

DON DRAPER · « **Reply #19 on:** July 07, 2009, 09:40:28 PM »

thus far my summer practice has been interesting to say the least. the house i had planned on doing most of my practice at has installed new pinsetters, kickbacks, sideboards, and ball racks. all this is great. however, they don't oil the lanes except at night for league. this house has laneshield over 50 year old wood lanes. i routinely use a plastic ball and have to play the 4th and 5th arrow because it's that dry. i'm not getting a readable, realistic ball reaction at this house. i'm going to another house starting tomorrow. my mixed league this fall is at this house. there is plenty of oil in a blended pattern across the lane. i can get a readable reaction off this.

note to proprietors..........modern bowling balls require lane oil to be applied appx. 2/3 of the way down the lane. $200 bowling balls become expensive doorstops if the lanes aren't oiled.

NOTHUMB · « **Reply #20 on:** July 08, 2009, 07:39:59 AM »

If it is true practice, I'm not to worried about ball reaction. It's about repetition, consistancy, and shot making.

Poor lane conditions in practice.....I love bowling on that. Nice change of pace from the stand left, throw right conditions for leagues.
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Chris Barnes is not a choker---he is just a great opponent to draw on TV.

DON DRAPER · « **Reply #21 on:** July 08, 2009, 09:01:40 PM »

nothumb, i agree with you in that practice is about repetition, consistency, and shot making. but, several years ago i was speaking with david ozio at a regional tournament and he emphasized that seeing and recognizing a true ball reaction was a fundamental part of practice. if i can't see a readable ball reaction in practice it will be harder for me to see it and adjust for it when it counts.

Jock · « **Reply #22 on:** July 09, 2009, 03:31:51 AM »

In my home center they let the shot go to crap during the summer, too!

I work on my spare shooting, mechanics and accuracy on the first shot.

The thing that really grips me is that I live in the south of France and in the summer it can get VERY hot around here. Our centre owner/manager is so damned tight that he won't put the AC on (to save money). It got so bad last year that, after a while he had NO league players coming in to practice.
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I've upped my average, so up yours!

LaneHammer20 · « **Reply #23 on:** July 09, 2009, 12:26:24 PM »

quote:
The best thing you can do for summer practice, in your case, is just go and work on mechanics. Work on your approach, armswing, timing, release, accuracy, ect. Anything that you had trouble with during the league. A lot of houses don't really bother putting out much of a shot during the summer simply because its not economical to do. So don't worry about what your scores are, if you hit the pocket, if you left a lot of ringing 10s and such if you know the lanes are crap....just work on things and feel a good shot coming off your hand.

I run into the same problem. The house I bowl a summer league in has like 1 or 2 leagues all week....so they oil once and thats it. Its hit and miss when I go to practice, so I just work on something or several things that I felt I wasn't doing well during the league night. Combine that with the fact that the house offers $.50/game of open bowling to league bowlers during the summer.

I am glad this was posted, this is what I need to be doing. It seems as though when I go practicing I am looking for big scores, and not paying attention to what I need to work on. My game is looking a little better from the PBA league though.
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What is sandbagging???

Author Topic: summer time practice? (Read 2818 times)

icewall

summer time practice?

JS

Re: summer time practice?

charlest

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duvallite

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DON DRAPER

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NOTHUMB

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DON DRAPER

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Jock

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LaneHammer20

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