All,
Here's a PBA update for my last 2 tournaments. I've bowled Rocky Mount, NC and Chesapeake, VA so far this year. I did not cash in either tournament, which on its face sounds bad, but really requires an explanation. I'll get to that in a few minutes; before that, a couple of links:
Rocky Mount:
http://www.pba.com/regional/regionstory.asp?ID=1016Chesapeake:
http://www.pba.com/regional/regionstory.asp?ID=1022Rocky Mount: I finished at -50 (193.75 average) in 46th place. The top 38 bowlers cashed so I was right on the cut line; specifically I was 39 pins out of the cut. I bowled really well for 7 games; well, almost. I started the day with a low score that I rebuilt up to just under par in game 7. By the time I got to game 8, the lanes were flying and I couldn't get anything to hold pocket. I ended up shooting a 150ish game to fall out of the cut. The lanes weren't particularly difficult; I just had to keep up with adjustments, a skill I don't have the opportunity to work on unless I'm out there on tour conditions regularly. One lesson I took away from Rocky Mount, however: have a plan B for when plan A fails. There was another lesson I should have taken out of Rocky Mount, but I didn't figure that lesson out until after Chesapeake's qualifying round was finished (more on that in a moment).
Just for the record, for 4 games I was ahead of both Walter Ray and Patrick Allen, two of the best bowlers in the world. Like the champions they are, they worked their way into the money (Walter Ray won, shooting 300 in the process) while I spent game 8 looking for a shot. When I was an up-and-coming bowler in college, I used to watch Walter Ray on TV and think to myself, "One day I'm going to bowl against him on the PBA." As fate would have it, I was bowling on the same squad as him in Rocky Mount; he was 3 pairs to my left most of the day. After game 6 we skipped 2 pairs which put me right next to him for about half a game. You can only imagine just how strange it was to suddenly realize that my thoughts of 15 years ago were realized when I looked to my right in the 3rd frame and got the nod from WRW to bowl ahead. The shot I made was a strike, BTW. ;-)
OK, now Chesapeake. I finished at -26 (196.75 average) in 38th place. The top 34 bowlers advanced, so again I was very close to the cut - missed it by 12 sticks this time. Grrrrrrr!
The lesson I realized at Rocky Mount (plan A & plan B) was exercised: I had 2 different shots with 2 different balls that utilized different parts of the lane but bounced the ball off the same breakpoint down the lane. The idea worked well; the problem was with what I should have learned at Rocky Mount. The lesson I should have taken from Rocky Mount was this: IGNORE THE LEADER BOARD!
After my first game (225) I was on the board in 5th place. By the end of the 4th game I was at +52 in 8th place and I started to get a little mentally spastic. "I'm gonna make the cut; I'm gonna bowl on Sunday; I'm gonna cash; ohmygod; ohmygod." While in the back of my mind a little voice is saying, "Uh, dude. You still have 4 games left." So I watched the board and started to bowl defensively, trying to protect my precious 52 pins over par instead of building on it by focusing on the lanes and my game. The result, you may ask? How about a -78 spiral for 4 games to finish at -26? Shot a 190 with a gutter fill ball in the 11th (humidity sucks, BTW) followed by a series of 170ish games (specifically 179, 180, 173).
The 173 (game
was a particularly interesting game. I was clean for 8 frames going strike, spare, strike, strike, spare, spare, spare, strike. It's looking good to make the cut. One more strike and I'm there. Up in the 9th, ball comes off clean, right over target, into the 1-2 pocket and ka-BLAM - 10 pin. I nearly died. I never wanted 10 pins to fall so badly in my entire life and there, 60 feet away, was a solid 10 pin staring at me. I felt like I had just been punched in the solar plexus by Mike Tyson. Family, friends and strangers behind me all groaned when they saw what happened on the shot. I went back to the pit and just fell to my knees and tried to catch my breath. Picked up my spare ball, which hadn't been the most reliable piece of equipment I'd used all day, and went after the 10 pin. Missed my mark a little inside (did I mention the humidity?) and the ball fell into the channel at 59 1/2 feet. Now I didn't want to die, I wanted to break something. The thought of taking a lit M80 and stuffing it in the thumb-hole of my spare ball came to mind. Needless to say, I wasn't in a decent frame of mind for the 10th frame.
10th frame wasn't any better. The ball got off my hand ok and hit target, but it squirted out a little at the break point and didn't recover. I left a 3-7 split and didn't convert. I was ready to pitch about $1000 worth of equipment into the James River at this point. Instead, I packed my junk, took it to the paddock, and waited for the scores to post. My -26 was good for 20th place out of 51 bowlers on A-squad. I would need some help from B-squad to make a check. I didn't get it and missed the cut this time by a measley 12 pins.
Remember that gutter ball and flagged 10 pin? Yeah, so do I; all too well.
For now, it's back to the center: practice , practice, practice. There will be no more flagged 10 pins in my future.
On the encouraging-news front, I got some validation that the practice and coaching is manifesting itself in my game (thanks, Ron C!). PBA Regional champions Gary Faulkner and Jim Lewis in addition to points leader Chris Hans (and a few other guys) made comments at different times over the weekend that I am throwing the ball much better now than I ever have and that success on tour is only a matter of time and experience. Either they are encouraging me to just keep contributing to the prize funds that they enjoy winning part of every week or they are sincere with their comments.
I'll believe option B for the time being.
Next stop - Fayetteville: July 29-31.
Thanks for your continued support of my PBA dreams.
K. A. Webb
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Nut...
/|\None are more hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free.... Edited on 6/29/2005 12:00 PM
