I've been practicing on the patterns quite a lot these days and have been able to follow and read my transitions well enough to know what to look for when I have to move.
I'd like to discuss a situation in which some of us haven't been through, but may encounter when bowling in PBA Tournaments. The situation is, you've grinded your way to the match play portion. Whether you've bowled 14 games to make the top 32 in the national tour or the 8 or 13 games it took for you to make the top 16 in a regional... you'll deal with this. This, however, should only apply to the longer matches... best of 3 games and above in the bracket part of a pba tournament.
So you've grinded your way in. Sometimes you'll be the player that is on, has a good look from early and through the transitions... and your opponent can't even touch you. Hopefully for several of you, you'll be the guy the opponent can't touch. However, sometimes, there will be a pattern in which what you will do will actually work to the advantage of your opponent, in which you will create a hang spot that will help your opponent, or even create a hook spot that your opponent can use to help find a larger area on the lane to find the headpin or even create a larger entry angle for more strikes. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes this type of stuff is inevitable, but there may be some strategy behind it. I was hoping that some of the guys who have been through this can chime in...
So scenarios... you've got big power player on your pair on the Shark pattern. You're a straighter player and have found a good reaction early by playing somewhere between 8-12 with a ball with some surface. Knowing that, you're going to burn a hole in the pattern that some of the big power players can exploit to their benefit in creating area into the pocket come game 2 or 3, and it's a best of 5 match. Do you chase in with the power player and potentially sacrifice the amount of area you have on the lane... do you move farther right with an even stronger ball, more surface, and maybe more hand to stay away? What would you do?
There are different scenarios, but I'd like to see what the guys have tried in the match play scenarios that worked and haven't worked.
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-Jeremy Vitug
Edited on 9/6/2007 5:48 PM
