Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Practice Bowling & Sport Shot League

Last night's bowling practice was a terrific one. I bowled 8 games without getting winded or having my back hurt, which has been a problem since getting out of the cast and crutches in November and starting back up with my bowling in January. The exercising and bowling practice are paying off slowly. Another thing I did was gear the bowling practice toward tournament competition rather than league play. Since the two types are different, it stands to reason that the practice for each should be different also. To wit: in the 8 games, I started on the first arrow (5 board), then after three frames, moved to the second arrow (10 board), then continued this until I was as deep inside as I was able to which was the second arrow from the left side gutter (30 board). I then went back, every three frames, five boards at a time till I was back at the 5 board again.
I played "scenario games" with myself such as, "okay, everything left of the center dot on the approach is water soaked so you're going to have to finish the next few frames playing the second arrow. I therefore, had to play with my hand positions, ball speed, approach speed and whatever I could think of to get the ball to the 17 board in the 1 - 3 pin pocket. Overall, it was very satisfying and had me moving all over the approach, the lane, and moving my hand position and adjusting my ball speed all through the practice session. These are tournament conditions because, unlike league where you might be able to work with basically the same conditions every week, the tournaments take us to a different bowling alley each week and therefore, different oil patterns, scenarios, and so forth.
I finalized the Sport Shot League I am helping to form for the summer and we will begin advertising and signing up people for it. It should be a fun time since we will be bowling under tougher conditions than the regular, high-scoring, house shots. Keep you posted on this one. My goal is to average at least 190 for this league. It will help me learn and study oil patterns and ball reactions. I'm wound up for it.

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