2015 - 2016 Bowling Season

[EvilMonkey]

I'm not sure what you're describing. You only have the dots but not the arrows? Or you don't have the dots on the approach where you set your feet?

No dots on the approach. So sometimes I know I am a a little left or right of where I need to be, and as a result, when I hit my mark on the lanes, it has a different arc. usually not too much of a deal, but if we are on the lanes closer to the door, when it is cold out they dry out super fast, your lines get even tighter and there is no room for error.

[Iwritecode]

No dots on the approach. So sometimes I know I am a a little left or right of where I need to be, and as a result, when I hit my mark on the lanes, it has a different arc. usually not too much of a deal, but if we are on the lanes closer to the door, when it is cold out they dry out super fast, your lines get even tighter and there is no room for error.

 

I've been to some pretty crappy houses but I've never seen an approach with no dots.

 

That's unbelievable. I know how much of a difference it can make when I move my feet a board or two. I always use the dots to line up. Especially on spares.

[EvilMonkey]

I've been to some pretty crappy houses but I've never seen an approach with no dots.

 

That's unbelievable. I know how much of a difference it can make when I move my feet a board or two. I always use the dots to line up. Especially on spares.

left/right isn't as big of a deal as how close to the foul line I am. One house i go up 5 dots and just to the right of center. The other house? I am sure it is different every time. Some lanes have a blemish in the wood or something I can use as a spot, some don't. Tuesday was a little of everything. 181 ( my average) 239 and 159. A few splits helped out on that last game.

[EvilMonkey]

Bowled the team that was 3 points in front of us last night. 203, 223 and 180. We won them all, but I needed a 181 to stay in the pool and win $80. I threw a 7-10 on pocket shots in the 8th and 9th. Strike out in 10th to lose the pool by 1.At least we are back in first.

[EvilMonkey]

Well, still no 300 game, but I ended game 2 with 6 and started game 3 with 6, so I did get 12 in a row. (My record is 16 in a row, but no 300 game) 185, 235, 225

[greg775]

Went bowling for the first time in two years and rolled a 170 with marks all over the place and my ball having the movement it needs for high scores. Choked on some easy spares and missed some easy spares that I feel would come back to me quickly if I bowled more. This begs the question ... is bowling one of the easiest sports to perform well in? The 170 with pocket balls all over the place means if I bowled more, I would quickly average about 160 or better and roll my share of 200 plus games. Is bowling easy is my question??

Edited December 29, 2015 by greg775

[Iwritecode]

Well, still no 300 game, but I ended game 2 with 6 and started game 3 with 6, so I did get 12 in a row. (My record is 16 in a row, but no 300 game) 185, 235, 225

 

That's pretty good. I think I've done something similar once or twice. The one 300 game I shot I had 18 in a row.

 

I saw a guy once throw 12 in a row during our 10 minute warm-up time. He was/is a really good bowler.

[Iwritecode]

Went bowling for the first time in two years and rolled a 170 with marks all over the place and my ball having the movement it needs for high scores. Choked on some easy spares and missed some easy spares that I feel would come back to me quickly if I bowled more. This begs the question ... is bowling one of the easiest sports to perform well in? The 170 with pocket balls all over the place means if I bowled more, I would quickly average about 160 or better and roll my share of 200 plus games. Is bowling easy is my question??

 

Short answer: No.

 

Longer answer: Like anything, the more you do it, the better you should get. Although I know people that have been bowling 30+ years and still don't get much more than a 150 average. Pretty much anyone can have one really good game. My wife averages in the 120's and shot a 192 the other day. But being consistently good like the pros and averaging 220 or 230 isn't what I would call easy.

 

A lot of people compare bowling to golf. There are about 100 different ways to mess up your shot. Off balance, too fast, too slow, bad back-swing, bad approach, etc... Sometimes when you correct one thing, you do something else wrong. Then there are times when you throw a perfect shot and continuously leave corner pins.

 

That's all not even mentioning different oil patterns. There's a reason a lot of guys carry 3 or 4 different balls with them.

 

So sure, with a little practice you could probably be a decent bowler with an average in the 180s or 190s, but I wouldn't go trying to join the PBA anytime soon. Those guys make it look easy but like with any professional athlete, they've literally dedicated their lives to their craft. For the most part, even the best bowlers in a typical weeknight house league wouldn't stand a chance against them.

Edited January 1, 2016 by Iwritecode

[Iwritecode]

I joined and adult/youth league with my daughter that started last night. School bowling for her doesn't start until late February so this will help her get used to bowling more than just once a week. It also awards scholarship money so that's a nice benefit as well.

 

We bowl two regular games and then two baker games, so we end up bowling a total of 3 games each.

 

My two regular games were 221 and 180. Her two regular games were 146 and 131. Not bad but she's capable of doing better. First baker game was 186. Then the second baker game we both caught fire and shot a 236. Could've been a 237 but my last shot I left the 8 pin and it literally slid over 3 or 4 inches. It was the only non-strike I threw the whole game.

[EvilMonkey]

I joined and adult/youth league with my daughter that started last night. School bowling for her doesn't start until late February so this will help her get used to bowling more than just once a week. It also awards scholarship money so that's a nice benefit as well.

 

We bowl two regular games and then two baker games, so we end up bowling a total of 3 games each.

 

My two regular games were 221 and 180. Her two regular games were 146 and 131. Not bad but she's capable of doing better. First baker game was 186. Then the second baker game we both caught fire and shot a 236. Could've been a 237 but my last shot I left the 8 pin and it literally slid over 3 or 4 inches. It was the only non-strike I threw the whole game.

Very nice. Shot 601 on Tuesday AND on Saturday. However Saturday's should have been higher. Missed an easy 7 pin (!) and chopped 2 washouts. Oh, and 2 q0 pins out of the 12 or so I had to shoot at.

[Iwritecode]

I shot a 649 last night and we still only won a single game. The second and third games the other team had 890 and 902. That's tough to beat. The women on the other team had averages in the 130 - 140 range and they both had 170+ games.

 

We are still in first but our lead is slipping. I think our lead is down to 7 games now. Although I do have my average up to a 192.

[smalls2598]

This past Friday, I had a teammate shoot a 299. Of course, the final ball appeared to be the best of the three in the 10th, but the damn 10 pin didn't fall. But the other team had a guy basically match him with a 288, and we lost the first game by 45. Got smoked in the 2nd game, and lost the third game too, this time with a guy shooting 300 against us. Going into the night, we were in 4th place with position round next week, but losing all 7 points dropped us pretty far.

 

I shot a 590. Had a crappy first game, but followed up with a 209 and a 213. Had a split in the 10th of the third game, which cost me the 600 (nevermind the 168 first game ). Up to a 179 average this year, which is still 6 pins short of last season, but i've had a good 7 week run after a miserable start to the season.

[lasttriptotulsa]

Went bowling for the first time in two years and rolled a 170 with marks all over the place and my ball having the movement it needs for high scores. Choked on some easy spares and missed some easy spares that I feel would come back to me quickly if I bowled more. This begs the question ... is bowling one of the easiest sports to perform well in? The 170 with pocket balls all over the place means if I bowled more, I would quickly average about 160 or better and roll my share of 200 plus games. Is bowling easy is my question??

 

 

That's all not even mentioning different oil patterns. There's a reason a lot of guys carry 3 or 4 different balls with them.

 

This is the key thing here. If you're shooting around 170 on a house pattern and then go bowl in a competitive tournament using a sport pattern you could easily see that 170 drop down to a 120 or so. House patterns are very forgiving, sport patterns are not. Missing your mark by a board or two can still yield good results on a house pattern while missing by a board or two on a sport pattern could put you in the gutter. That's the difference between casual league bowlers and pro bowlers. Pro bowlers bowling at your typical alley will average in the 240's, 250's.

[kageman129]

Bowled a 612 last night, my first 600 in over a year (maybe closer to a year and a half)... I did something different with my arm that felt more relaxed, so hopefully it wasn't a fluke. My average is around 175, so it'd help my team tremendously if I figured something out and can average around 190+ the rest of the way.

 

 

[Iwritecode]

My average is up to 193 in my Tuesday night league. Bowling 2x a week has actually seemed to help me. I'm averaging 200 in my other league but we are only 3 weeks in.

 

I should have had a 600 series last night but my shoe started sticking on the right lane only for some odd reason and I couldn't even pick up a spare for the first 3 or 4 frames. I think I ended up in the 580 - 590 range.

 

One of my teammates got a new ball over the summer and is obsessed with how much it's suppose to hook. It's a top of the line $200+ ball but he hasn't been happy with it all year long. He insists that it should hook more than it does. When he throws it normally, it does hook, but not a whole lot. With his natural throw he doesn't get a whole lot of lift or a lot of RPMs either. I'm about the same way though. I don't care how much it hooks, as long as it hits the pocket.

 

A lot of times though, he'll throw without his thumb in the ball. Then he gets a ton of lift and RPMs and can make it hook from gutter to gutter. He's supposed to go in sometime this week and have the pro shop guy look at it.

 

I typically don't like having a real big hook because they can be so hard to control. For the most part, I line up on the leftmost dot and shoot for the third arrow on the right.

[StillMissOzzie]

Good evening, gents. Long time lurker, infrequent poster. I saw this thread and thought I would chime in.

 

I've been bowling all my life, it seems, but on and off for at least 45 years. The last 10 years, I have been in a TINY men's league at the Brunswick Zone in Glendale Heights. The league has wandered from house to house - Lombard Lanes (now gone), Brunswick Carol Stream (now gone), and now in Glendale Heights.

 

I have averaged over 200 for all that time, I think. I peaked at 217 about 7 years ago, and slowly coming down a pin or two per year ever since. I am now at 202. Getting old sucks! Knees, elbows, shoulder, back - any or all might be hurting a bit the next day.

 

I have been fortunate enough to shoot two 300 games, with two different rings. My last goal is an 800 series, but that's looking more and more unlikely. My high series is a 765. But enough of my laurels, what about my last night?

 

I had a 585 series, with a 202, 181, and another 202. That middle game, I opened 3 of the last 4 frames, screwing up what should have been the best game of the night instead of the worst.

 

And a shout out to somebody who mentioned the pro oil patterns and the sport shot. My son and I bowled in a summer sport short league in 2013 and 2014. at the time, my average was in the 205-210 area. I struggled mightily, and I believe I ended up with an average in the mid-180s both years.

 

I will try to return every Thursday to post my results, good bad or average. I'm looking forward to discussing the game I love with you all.

 

SMO

 

[Iwritecode]

Had one of my worst nights in a really long time. My high game was a 175. I think the other 2 were 173 and 165. For some odd reason the left lane was just giving me fits all night long. First game I started out strike, open, strike, open, strike.

 

I was getting tons of splits and couldn't even pick up my easy spares. Luckily my teammates held me up and we won 2 games plus series. The one game we lost was only by 2 lousy pins.

 

My average dropped down to 192.

 

I'm still doing great on my Sunday night league though. I have a 203 average there.

[StillMissOzzie]

Had a 206, 212, and then a 176 game for a 594 series. Had a great shot on the right lane, never pinned down a good shot on the left lane. I opened in the 10th of BOTH games 1 and 2, with a split in game 1 and a blown spare in game 2. Semi-interesting factoid, I had a Dutch 200 going for 6 frames before I "wrecked" it with a turkey in the 6th - 8th frames.

 

The 3rd game was not so good. I should have switched out to a less aggressive ball to start the game, but I figured I was still throwing a decent enough ball, so I held off. I wasted 2 extra frames with the aggressive ball, and 2 frames to get a shot with the less aggressive ball. I have always been a bit too stubborn to switch up, particularly when I think I am alright without making a change, whether it is with my ball or moving my feet around.

Between the two opens 1n the 10th and the stubborn wasted frames, I feel like I pissed away a chance at a much bigger series, like a 625-650.

 

Average dropped another stick from last week, not clinging to 201. I don't think tonight's score will cost me another one, though.

 

SMO

[Iwritecode]

I remember when I bowled in HS. I was happy if I shot 250 for a single game.

 

Local HS Kid has 252 average

 

He is the grandson of John Sommer who is in the USBC HOF and is part of an ownership group that owns nearly all the bowling centers in the Rockford area. So he has a pretty good pedigree and quite a bit of access to all the equipment and practice that he could ever want. I'm guessing you may see this kid on TV someday.

 

What's interesting is that I also know one of his teammates named Brandon. I've watched him and his younger brother bowl on Saturday mornings with my daughter for many years. I thought he was pretty good with a 223 average. I had no idea there was another kid in the area that was that much better.

[smalls2598]

Just had my best week of the season so far...235, 223, and 199 for a 657 series. Only 2 opens, which were both splits. Raised my average up 2 pins, too. The team went 7-0, so we're now 9-5 this trimester.

[Iwritecode]

Our precarious hold on first place is looking like it might be in trouble. There were 3 teams tied for 2nd a few weeks ago, but suddenly one team has pulled ahead and is currently only 4 games behind us and 3 games ahead of 3rd place.

 

We only won one game this week. Every single game was close though. Within 20 pins or less. My first game I was doing fine. Not great, but I was over my average. Second game everything fell apart. I kept hitting the pocket but I was just leaving random single pins. The 9 pin, the 6 pin, the 8 pin... It was really odd. There was also 4 times where I nearly got a pocket 7-10 but then one of the pins would fall at the last second. Ended up somewhere around 165 or so.

 

Walking around and listening to people, it seemed like almost everyone was complaining about the lanes and the pin action that night. Even one guy that has a 220 average couldn't find his line.

 

I actually ended up switching to my old ball which is a 20 year old Zone. Surprisingly, it was hooking more than my brand new ball.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Iwritecode

[EvilMonkey]

Our precarious hold on first place is looking like it might be in trouble. There were 3 teams tied for 2nd a few weeks ago, but suddenly one team has pulled ahead and is currently only 4 games behind us and 3 games ahead of 3rd place.

 

We only won one game this week. Every single game was close though. Within 20 pins or less. My first game I was doing fine. Not great, but I was over my average. Second game everything fell apart. I kept hitting the pocket but I was just leaving random single pins. The 9 pin, the 6 pin, the 8 pin... It was really odd. There was also 4 times where I nearly got a pocket 7-10 but then one of the pins would fall at the last second. Ended up somewhere around 165 or so.

 

Walking around and listening to people, it seemed like almost everyone was complaining about the lanes and the pin action that night. Even one guy that has a 220 average couldn't find his line.

 

I actually ended up switching to my old ball which is a 20 year old Zone. Surprisingly, it was hooking more than my brand new ball.

Keep them clean and those old Zones work forever it seems. I got a 15 year old SpeedZone I still use from time to time when we get the lanes by the front doors.

 

Haven't had much to say lately, took this Thursday off. it was my scheduled day off and i made sure i took it this time. Needed the break. last 2 or 3 tuesday and Saturdays have just been complete failure by the third game. Elbow gets tired, I can't seem to adjust and just lose it. Average dropped down to 181 now. We'll see if it works next Tuesday..

[StillMissOzzie]

Just had my best week of the season so far...235, 223, and 199 for a 657 series. Only 2 opens, which were both splits. Raised my average up 2 pins, too. The team went 7-0, so we're now 9-5 this trimester.

I had a very similar night, but you nipped me by 5 sticks. But first, the laughable part, since I said I'd report the bad as well as the good. On my last practice shot before scoring for real, I left a 5-7-10. Color me embarrassed! I couldn't get to the reset button fast enough! But after that marshmallow ball, I had a good night.

I had a 226, 203, and 223 for a 652 series. Probably the best night in 2016, after not breaking 600 for (at least) the last 3 weeks.

First game, I had a solid shot to the pocket. Avery ball was a 9 count or a strike. I just couldn't put enough strikes in a row.

Second game, I had my first open of the night, blowing an easy spare. ( Only one of two open frames for the night, and NEITHER of them were splits! ) Then I got a few 7 counts in a row. It was like I lost it as fast as I found it.

Third game, I bounced back, as I got my game 1 shot back, after making a 2-3 board shift with my feet. Had more strikes in a row, but blew a 4 pin for my other open frame.

My average should be back to 202 after this.

 

SMO

[Iwritecode]

Well bowling is pretty much going to take over my life for the next 2 months or so. Tryouts for my daughter's middle school bowling (7th & 8th grades) started last night. Three days of "tryouts" (there are no cuts, everyone makes the team. They just divide them up into varsity and JV.) and then starting on March 1 it will be practice on Tuesdays and matches on Thursdays. There will be a handful of tournaments mixed in as well. The state tournament is in April.

 

This is on top of the traveling Saturday morning league she'll be starting in 2 weeks. Meanwhile I'm still bowling with her on Sunday nights in the adult/youth league and my normal Tuesday league still has a couple months to go. I'll have lots of updating to do in this thread.

 

As for me, I finally broke 600 last night. First game I started with 5 strikes, then opened the 6th frame, 3 more strikes, then got a split in the 10th. Picked it up and got one more strike so I ended with a 243. Second game I lost my line and fell to 181. Third game I found again and ended somewhere around a 220 (I think). I know my series was in the 640 range.

 

We won 3 games but somehow the second place team hasn't lost a game in 3 weeks.

[StillMissOzzie]

Well bowling is pretty much going to take over my life for the next 2 months or so. Tryouts for my daughter's middle school bowling (7th & 8th grades) started last night. Three days of "tryouts" (there are no cuts, everyone makes the team. They just divide them up into varsity and JV.) and then starting on March 1 it will be practice on Tuesdays and matches on Thursdays. There will be a handful of tournaments mixed in as well. The state tournament is in April.

 

This is on top of the traveling Saturday morning league she'll be starting in 2 weeks. Meanwhile I'm still bowling with her on Sunday nights in the adult/youth league and my normal Tuesday league still has a couple months to go. I'll have lots of updating to do in this thread.

I feel your pain. My son bowled in a Sunday morning travel league for a few years. I vaguely remember making some drives to far-flung houses whilst severely hung over. We never had middle school bowling, but our high school started up bowling as a club activity during my son's sophomore year. Since we were not (yet) a sanctioned school sport, some of the meets involved car pooling. How many kids with their 2-ball and 4-ball bags can you pack in there? My daughter, 3 years younger, bowled for the high school team all four years, and she got to go to state all 4 years, too - out in your neck of the woods, too! The whole team went for the first 3 years, but in her senior year, they lost their two best bowlers. One graduated, one moved away. However, her and a teammate both bowled WAY over their averages for the sectional and regional meets, and they moved on to state as individual bowlers. But enough about them.

This past Wednesday, I had 228 174 193 for a 595 series. Kind of pissed I missed a 600 after that first game start. In that first game, once again it was strike or 9 on every ball, and I made all my spares. Game 2 was a different story. I was missing badly, getting 7 and 8 counts after hitting the pocket every time in the game before. I missed two spares, my patented 6-10 chop (I am a righty, and chop the 6 off the 10 much too often), and then blew a 7 pin. Game 3 was just sad. I was back to hitting the pocket, but I couldn't carry s*** any more. I left 3 or 4 ten pins, and I don't even feel like I was getting tapped. They were flat hits, with soft 10 pins. I opened one more frame, with a 4-9 split.

And my average stayed at 201, and I don't think I missed it by enough to go down again.

 

SMO