Here it goes. As painful as it was here is a recap of my experience in Knoxville.

I got there Thursday in a horrible thunderstorm with tornados and hail. It never did seem to stop raining the whole weekend except for a few minutes here and there.

I started off at the Bowling This Month which was on old wooden lanes and had a short flat shot. I tried to just stroke through the shot with my Stinger going across the 3rd arrow out to 5 and back to the pocket which would work when I was able to keep my hand behind the ball and my follow-through quiet, but as soon as I put any turn on the ball, or blasted through with my swing the ball would head straight for the head pin. I realized that this is not my style and trying to force the ball using a style I am just learning is not to my advantage, so I switched to my TPC Shooter with a high Polish and pin at 5" above my ring finger and mass bias in the track. I moved deep inside around the fifth arrow and swung the ball out to 5 and back with some good turn and managed to shoot 209 my last game. I was alone and only one other bowler was there. He was trying to use a Super Freak and an Apex Intensity that were both hooking off the lane just past the arrows. He asked Diane (the tournament coordinator) if they had oiled the lanes. She said yes we just finished before you walked in here.

I then ran back to the Bowlers Journal to meet up with my teammates and barely made it because traffic is terrible there. The Bowler's Journal shot was the opposite of the Bowling This Month short shot. The Bowler's Journal was a very long and flat pattern, it seemed like the ball was going to slide right in the pocket, then would jump on the headpin. I used my Apex Adrenaline drilled 4x4 and my Vortex V2 sanded drilled 4x3. I had a nice shot straight up the 10 board on one pair, but the next pair the ball would over/under, and would just start to open up again when I would have to change lanes and bowl the next game and start all over. I found a nice shot moving deep inside and slow hooking my V2 and over the 4 arrow and letting it go out to 10, but if I got too much speed, or not enough hand the ball would wash out.

The next stop was the Storm Sport Challenge. I had the best shot on this one. The shot was 41 feet flat sport shot. I used my V2 and laid the ball down on 17 or 18 and let it roll out to 10 and back to the pocket on the left lane and 13 out to 10 on the right lane and stayed behind the ball more on the right lane. I actually did better on the sport shot than on the other shots, go figure. I beat my set for 3 games in the singles with just 2 games on the sport shot, if I could have made a spare I would have done better, but fortunately I only had to shoot 6 in 2 games.

The ABC Team shot we bowled with just our team, so if you have 2 teams on your pair, the shot will break down differently. We all played the break point at around the 10 board at 45 ft. My optimum break point is 10 board at 42 or 43 ft so the shot was a little long for my liking. If anybody hit the dark board on 8 or 12 at the break point they were looking at the wash out or big 4 combo. It didn't seem to matter who threw the ball or what angle or how much hand they had if the ball didn't hit 9-11 at the break point it wouldn't hit the pocket. I used my Inferno drilled 4x4 and had the most success with it. I dried the line out a little with my Adrenaline and that helped open up the shot a little. I had to play more direct to the break point than I am comfortable with, and would make good shots if I just stroked through the shot (catching a theme here?) and not forced the ball to the breakpoint.

Good food at Corkey's and Sonny's BBQ near the BJ. I hope this helps. By the way bring your spare ball you will need it.

The backends were a little snappy, but I didn't have anything with me stronger than the Adrenaline, so all I can do is guess. I would immagine that a stronger ball would work, but you might have to keep your hand more up the back of the ball if you wanted to play a tight line. One of my team mates used a polished Adrenaline and did well with it playing straight up 10 but he has less hand than I do, I had a hard time playing that line with out forcing it. If you can you should do well.

Hey Jim, does it put into perspective how great Ron Bahr's achievement was?
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I know Kung Fu!

I am the one, the one that will bring balance.  All the pins shall be destroyed!

CoachJim, you're bringing back some memories to me for sure.  Miss your breakpoint a board or two inside, and the ball dives straight through the nose.  Miss your breakpoint a board or two outside, and a washout is as good as it gets.  Basically, there is no middle ground to be found....you either hit it dead on the line, or you're hung out to dry.  It would definitely prove to be an eye opener for someone who primarily bowls on a wall shot.

Speaking of Corky's Bar-Be-Que, they got their start in Memphis.  Since then, they have branched out into Little Rock, Sam's Town Casino at Tunica, and apparently now at Knoxville too.  They make good groceries, for sure!  Their ribs are good enough to leave you gnawing on the bone.  Even if the rest of your trip was a bust, at least you got some good Bar-Be-Que, if this is the same Corky's that I'm familiar with.