Bowl868-

Go check out my blog on my myspace- www.myspace.com/strikes4days

I just finished an extensive blog on this very tournament.  I bowled the tour stop in Irving, TX, which was Shark on wood.  Houston Regional was Shark on Pro Anvil Lane, much less friction.  They were in no way whatsover similar.  There was no room in the middle, the guys that played in just kept grinding.  Many, including me, played out, up 1-2 board.  Which shouldn't happen on Shark.  My dullish Fury came off the edge fairly well, but was touchy.  When I really loosened up my swing, I would pure it off my hand and throw it through my break, living 2-10 combos and washouts.  Missing left was not good, washout for sure.  Missing right was in the gutter.  Playing in, played like a reverse block, right of about 13 was OB, just a very tough condition all around.  I shot -103 by the way, split in the 10th the last game, if I strike on the first ball I'm in.  Missed about 5 spares too.  I didn't bowl super well, didn't get many good breaks at all, couldn't get comfortable with the line, as the better I threw it, many times the result was worse, no reward for making a great shot.

There are a number of reasons the scoring pace is lower in the regions.

1) The surfaces are different.  Regionals play on wood much more often, plus Guardian, and wood/synthetic combinations, we bowl in some very old houses.  The wood is often beat up, not smooth, not good finish, they hook more, and transition faster and more.

2) The talent level is much lower.  You have a few exempt players at a regional, not a complete field of them.  The exempt guys play the lanes as a team, all the righties play the same part of the lane, attacking them as a team, breaking them down, opening them up, and the scoring pace can get very high on all the patterns, depending on volume and surface.  In regionals, you have 3-7 exempt players, 15-25 top regional players, and the rest are guests, newbies, and marginal regional players.  The righties will be ALL OVER the lane, breaking them down in no particular order or fashion.  Spares are even MORE important, the marginal guys can't spare for sh....

A good example: This past weekend, we bowled on Cheetah on Pro Anvil Lane in Albuquerque, NM.  93 players, so 31 cashers.  23 cashers came off A squad, 8 off B.  Oh man, were they howling about the lane man screwed them, blah, blah, blah.  If you looked at the roster, A squad was way stacked more than B, there was like 14 champions and two exempts (Both Scroggins) on A, 4 champions and no exempts on B.  The guys that scored well on B, all smoked the crack, as did most all of A squad.  Most of B squad started off playing 3rd arrow, what were they thinking???  Idiots, the pattern is too short to make hold in the middle, if they missed right, it would hang on the carry down from the guys that were playing out, and if you missed left, you would miss the head pin left.  I never got left of 14 with my feet, EVER.  My target was 2-3-4 all the time.  I threw one ball, the whole tournament, box finish Black Widow.  (+103 to cash)

bowl868, your scores will probably fairly low for Shark, maybe not -100 low, but not +150 either.  Keep your head in the game, be prepared for a grind out, make your spares, watch the veterans/exempts in the practice session, watch the leaders while you are bowling, they will probably be at the right part of the lane.

Hope this helps ya!

--------------------
Driller to many "Stars" and Tony Melendez too!

ONLINE and building products:  www.mikeaustinproshop.com
COMING SOON!!!  www.mikeaustinbowling.com

Check out my Ebay Store!   http://stores.ebay.com/mikeaustinproshop

http://www.allbowling.com/journal/public.php?uid=67&leagueid=1270

Thanks for the analysis Mike... we bowled on Shark last weekend in Madison, WI.  Older Pro-anvilane, decent friction, low volume (40ml).  Holy oil Batman, I can't believe it was the low volume.  I sanded up my old V2 Particle with 500 grit abralon and had my Infinite One done with 500 abralon on a spinner.  Used my V2P to start.  Played up 7-8, then switched to the IO the 2nd game same line (I have a high track with lower revs, so I was throwing it straight at the pocket).  Got to +143 after 4.  Ground out 2 games moving in to 2nd arrow to be +141 after 6.  Hit a pair with real early hook and no backend for 168 after trying weaker balls on the same line.  After stewing for a while I watched Dave Traber just inside 3rd arrow.  So, I went back to my 2000 grit Special Agent and threw it slow around 3rd arrow for 233 and +142.  The cut was +141.  I was surprised with the high scores, but carry was pretty good overall and the guys that turn it more got into 4th arrow in the later games and the scores went up.

Sunday... 5 more games, used my V2 most of the time since the oil didn't break down as much.  Only improved a couple spots so missed the top 16.  A couple pairs gave me early read with the V2, but the IO didn't carry either and I missed a few spares.  Only made it to +190 and the cut to 16 was +266.  All in all a good tourney since any check is good.