I bowl Wed. night's, and the alleys were closed for Xmas Eve and New Year's Eve, so again I missed consecutive weeks, finally returning last night.
The rust was there for sure. Only got to practice once, and it was a different house.
I was coming high quite a bit, and only had my "a-ha!" moment after I left the alleys. Why do I analyze things better once I'm away, rather than adjusting on the fly?
I was done in by a split in each game. I missed a couple of spares I should have made (a 6-pin, and a 6-10). Combined that with the inability to string any strikes (one double, and one turkey was all), and I ended up with a pretty lame 180-191-189=560.
Lowest series in months.
Not too happy about it, but hopefully bowling more regularly will get my head right.
All in all it wasn't a bad night, but not a good one either. I can blame myself for a portion of it.....as good as I was in covering multiple 10-pins last week, I was almost equally as bad this week. I missed three or four, making only one. There's a good 40 pins thrown away in a 611 (182-224-205) which is pretty much as average as it gets for me.
My carry again was pretty suspect.....I know this stuff will even out eventually, and my last two games in particular I was rolling the ball extremely well. Just couldn't get the strings going, every time I'd strike or double, inevitably it'd be a flush 10-pin, a ringing 7-pin, or a slightly-high 4-pin that would never get tripped. Whining over. It happens.
I'll take the positives in that I'm largely throwing consistent shots to the pocket. If I'm going to be over 600 missing easy spares and not carrying, that's a good sign. Last year if luck wasn't on my side, and I wasn't carrying or making my spares consistently, I was en route to 550 or so.
I'll keep being patient and wait for the 700's to start coming back to me....I'm thisclose.
So after missing two weeks for Thanksgiving travel and business travel I finally got to bowl again tonight.
I had a decent night, 222-203-202 for 627. My carry was disappointing, and I had one open in each game that kind of derailed things. Two splits, and a 2-4-5.
Felt like I deserved better, but I made all my 10-pins, and there were several, so it felt good to not have that be my bugaboo. Normally when I get a lot, I'll miss at least 1 or 2 of them.
My average went up half a pin to 203.5, so I'm about 1.5 pins above last year's finish. I'm still kind of annoyed my high game for the season is just 244. At least I've been much more consistent -- 23 of my 36 games this year are 200+, and I've had five different weeks with all three games over 200.
Gotta look at the positives I guess!
Didn't do real well last night, which is unfortunate especially since I'm going to miss the next two weeks of bowling due to traveling for Thanksgiving and then a business trip to California.
Started off ok with a 209, which wasn't bad considering I whiffed a 10-pin in the 2nd frame.
Second game I was inconsistent and the lanes really started jumping, had a split and another missed 10-pin for 191.
Third game was a disaster. I had to work my butt off to keep it from being a full-out embarrasment. Splits the first two frames. Then two strikes. Then another split. Strike. Gutter-ball, 8-count. I closed out strong for a 176. My biggest problem was moving two boards left to compensate for the dryness, but wasn't throwing the same shot when I did it, so I was going through the beak anyway. Finally I moved back to my original shot and heightened my backswing to get the ball further down the lane before the breakpoint. Adjustment made too late and it cost me.
Now I have to wait until December 10th to bowl again. Ugh. I can't wait to bowl again, the minute I leave the alley -- this is gonna kill me.
Slowly but surely, I'm putting the first 3 weeks of the season behind me. To recap that, I was standing about 17 pins below last year's average after 9 games. And I wanted to improve this season a minimum of 4 pins, so I have had my work cut out for me.
Over the last 21 games, I've come back pretty strong, averaging about 212, and last night's 673 helped quite a bit.
I'm a little ticked at myself because I had a chance for a 700, but did myself in by fanning on a 6-pin in the middle of the third game and leaving a greek church in the 10th when I needed a strike for a 5-bagger to give me a chance at it.
Outside of those mistakes, and a whiffed 10-pin the second frame of the night I was pretty much in control of what I was doing, and really smashing the pocket, carrying well, feeling good.
The average is up to 204, and I feel like this upward movement is something sustainable where I can reach my goals for the year now.
