Just got back from teen masters, first time i'd been down there. Boy was it a lot of fun, and very exciting! I ended up in 12th place after a dissapointing round of 16. For anyone that complained about the tournament not including all teens, and the invitation problems, please don't bring it up again, as its been beaten to death. And beware, this is a full report of lane play and such, so its going to be long. Feel free to add your thoughts about how everything went for you at the tournament!
Anyways, first day: bowled on a longish pattern, seemed to play inside. Started off playing with a big one, could see many people throwing balls such as the gp2, scorchin, ultimate, and every other oil ball you could think of sanded to 500 and below. You would have thought we were bowling on a huge volume of oil from what they were throwing, and it would reek havoc on the lanes later in the day (not necessarily for me, but a lot of people were complaining).
Came out pretty solid with a couple of good 200-220 games for the first 3. Carry was a struggle for everyone it seemed, you had to be either dead nuts high flush or get a light swisher to carry. Half pocket=no way. Around game 4, I started having real problems carrying, ended up switching to a fired up and moved my breakpoint from about 9 out to the 7 or 8 board. Carry was better, but couldn't string anything together and had a 195 and 185. I got on an absolutely horrid pair for the last game, literally could not find the hole no matter how good i thought i threw the ball. Opened 3 times with splits, ended with a 159. Was in 38th place and only 5 opens the whole day, no missed single pins.
The next day, short oil really killed a lot of the guys. For some reason, people didn't really score very well on this pattern. I started off using a fired up, swinging it out to 5. Started off slow, I attribute this mainly to bowling at 8 a.m., with another 160. Came back with a couple of solid 190's, then switched over to my super sport pearl and moved a bit more inside. People really started to struggle, I honestly didn't see anyone scoring besides one kid who was firing it from the corner. Ended up 50 down for the day, 80 down total, for 29th place. Saw a lot of people crying from struggling so bad, you know its tough when a condition has 18 year old boys crying.
The 3rd day was the most interesting. We used the same patterns, but one lane had long oil and one had short. It required a ton of concentration, and actually scores were up for the day. I think by this time, since cuts were made, a lot of the bowlers left weren't going to make the scores look as low, and most had already figured out the patterns. It was real hard going from throwing 15 with a lot of forward roll and playing a more inside track with my big one to flinging my super sport out at probably 17 mph with a lot more side roll. This was my best day, i ended 31 down for the day which put me in 25th place, just inside top 32. My goal for the tournament was to be top 75 out of the 200 boys we had, so i was very happy at this point.
READ THIS Ok, so matchplay comes up and I am really locked in and feeling good. First game, i get in the tenth and need a strike and a mark to guarantee a win. I get the first one, then leave a 2-7-8 on the second (threw it a bit harder, was on the long oil). So I basically needed to pick this up to win. I get up, throw the ball a little right, it gets caught in the oil, barely picks off the 8 pin which goes into the 7. I almost had to laugh, because now he could strike out to tie me. He throws the first 2, dead nuts flush. Throws what i think is the exact same ball, leaves a solid 8 pin. I was both relieved and kind of felt bad for the kid at the same time. I would feel his 8 pin pain later in the day.
The next game he goes 269 and i shoot like 230. Couldn't do much. BUt then he falls apart and goes 150-190, i go 195-215, win 3-1.
Next match comes up, round of 16. Fresh oil again (they reoiled 3 times this day), and i get in the 9th frame, needing a mark basically to lock it. I throw a 2-4-8-10. Pick it up, first time I've ever done that, and just sat there staring, because i knew that the other kid was probably thinking he had a already won. He throws a split in the 10th, i win.
Next game goes about the same, i win by 20. Used the same 2 balls, big one and super sport, and pretty much played the lanes the same way the whole time. By this time, i was getting real tired, not from bowling, but from the fact that we started at 8 a.m. and it was nearly 4 now. Long day at the lanes.
3rd game comes, I again basically need to strike in the 9th. I throw a pretty good shot, leave a 10 pin. Come up in the 10th, needing to strike out, get a solid 8 pin. Short oil hates me, but the kid was really mentally out of it, unfortunately not for long.
He throws the front 4 in game 4, putting the pressure on. I couldn't carry worth a darn, my ball speed was slowing on the short oil and it was killing any string i could put together. I prayed for anything to carry, but nothing would for me. Lost this one with one of the most solid leaves i've ever had. Knowing i need to strike in the 9th, i throw what i thought to be the best shot of the day, so clean off my hand, perfect at the breakpoint, absolutely crushes the rack. Everything goes down in like half a second, messanger flew right in front of an 8 pin. I let off a few choice expletives, then lost this game as well.
5th game i couldn't catch a break to save my life either, and the other kid was very fired up by this point and seemed to be throwing it much better (he ended with his best game of the day, a 210 at the end of this one). Spared in the 7th and 8th, then struck in the 9th. Needed to strike out to win, left another 10 pin. I nearly wanted to shoot myself i was so pissed, I mean i go up 2-0 and then drop 3 straight. I literally thought that it would be impossible for me to lose all 3 after i won the first 2, but somehow i managed to do it. Very frustrating, i only averaged 183 for this match compared to nearly 215 for the first one and 194 for the tournament as a whole. I got over it though, and was eventually very happy with my performance. If you ever have a chance to bowl on what they call a mixed pattern (one long, one short), do it, you won't believe how hard you'll concentrate. I only threw the wrong ball on the wrong lane once, and laughed when my big one went soaring by the headpin and barely hit the 2 pin.
Overall, it was a really fun tournament, and i was really happy with how i did. I couldn't believe how often my spare game saved my butt, the number of 2-10's, 3-7's, and washouts i picked up were ridiculous, and i only missed one single pin spare the entire week (around 30-35 games). For any of you that actually read this, congratulations, and i hope it was interesting enough. This was my first real national tournament that i've bowled, and i'm glad that I got the opportunity to bowl it.
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stanski
