Ok, so in all reality last night wasn't that bad.  I did get my highest game of the season so far, 186, but my scores weren't indicative completely of how poorly I rolled the ball at times.

For some reason after the first game, which was nearly clean, I had a terrible feel, and was throwing the ball too hard, missing my mark pretty badly at times. I struggled with the fit, yet again, and it wasn't until I realized I needed to slow down and roll in under more control, that I started to see results, and I made that adjustment far far too late.

So, you toss in some suspect spare shooting, and 186-159-154=499.  Not exactly what I was looking for after the promising start.  I guess the bright side of starting the season with a 432, is that even a series like what I had last night, sends the old average up! LOL.  Up to a whopping 159.9! :)

I have to say, even though I've been inconsistent hitting the line, I kinda like playing inside. When I've missed, I've crossed over and gotten a few Brooklyn's, and I don't seem to get many splits, and I've gotten my fair share of mixer strikes from the pocket side too.  If I can just get my roll straight on these patterns I think I could eventually score pretty well on them.

Off to the Chameleon next week.....another pattern I've never shot on, so we'll see what that brings.

So yesterday I get outta work early to practice on the Scorpion for Wed. PBAx.  Naturally I get there so early the shot's not out yet.  I decided to futz around on the house shot and work on some things.

Firstly, I added some tape to my Awesome Finish thumb, since it wasn't fitting right. Spent most of the session using it to make sure it felt right.  With this ball as my dry ball, set to go long, and my Shock & Awe for longer patterns, both fitting pretty decent now, I feel like I'm ready for any pattern as long as I can find and execute my shots.

I've never bowled on the Scorpion, but from reading the information online it sounds like 2nd arrow, perhaps a little more inside, is where I want to be, so I bowled the house shot like that just to get used to playing up that line.

A funny thing happened along the way......I actually hit my mark consistently, and shot a 275 the last game.  I've been playing down and in all my life around the 1st arrow, and this is the first time I've felt comfortable on a more inside line.  If nothing else, despite what happens on the Scorp. I feel I've gained some confidence to play different lines when I get back to house shots in winter league.  So that's a positive.  PBAx, even with the shot not being out, is forcing me to try new things and I'm improving from it as a result.

Tonight's Shark was a much better experience than last week. The scores not earth-shattering, but I improved each game, and developed  a good feel for the shot towards the end.

I had a more aggressive ball than the last time I played this shot, and it definitely paid dividends. Unfortunately my shot making on my strike ball wasn't quite what it needed to be, so I had to rely on my spare-making, which was decent.  I would have liked to have a fourth game, as I feel like I was just about ready to break through as the night closed out.

I ended up going 164-167-177 for a 508.  Like I said, nothing amazing, but world's better than last week's 432 on the Viper!

Next week is the Scorpion....completely new shot to me, so we'll see what it yields.  It's supposed to be a relatively long pattern like the Shark, so hopefully I can work similarly to Shark and go from there.....if I'm way off base on how to attack the Scorpion feel free to say "Hey dude, you're wrong!" :-)

Well....I have a few valid excuses for why Week1 was not good.  Some of it, is plain and simple bad bowling. For those of you wanting to bypass the whining to follow, I'll sum it up by this: 133-144-155 for a whopping 432.

I didn't make the proper adjustment until the 3rd game and was trying to force a down and in shot with a very aggressive ball and it just wasn't happening.

Unfortunately, my only experience on Viper was last week when they didn't strip the lanes down before applying the pattern.  What I practiced on, reacted way different than what I walked into blindly last night.

Had I realized my aggressive ball was too much, I would have used my other ball: Which wasn't usable because my fingertips inserts are too tight and need to be swapped out. I had them done the week prior because they were too loose.  Of course, this was just as the pro shop guy is closing up and I felt rushed to say 'yeah that's right' and I should have made him keep tinkering.

Next week is the Shark, so I might use it for spares since it goes longer, on a long pattern.

Well.....I went into this league hoping to learn. I think I put a couple of nuggets in the ol' noggin. Hopefully that'll translate into more respectable scores from here on out.  I saw a lot of people struggling out there, so I don't feel like a complete idiot.

Almost six months after bowling my first and only 300 game, I finally got the ring late last week.

Some lost paperwork prior to the holidays and ignorance on my part on how long it takes to process it, ended up having me late to question what was taking so long......but it doesn't matter now.

The package came in the mail, and I was like a little kid opening it up, tearing apart the package like a pit bull on crack :)

Outside of actually bowling the 300, it was the most exciting bowling-related moment I've had.

Never having worn one (except for my father's ring from the 80's, which is silver)  I was surprised how good the quality is.  It's a heavy ring.  I did go for the upgrade since I figure this might be my only chance to get one.  I'd like to think I have more 300's in me, but I didn't want to look back years from now wishing I had done it, if I never get another.

This is the capper to a great year....gonna enjoy this one!