Biggest Disappointments in Bowling

Have you ever felt disappointed bowling? I sure have. Here are some of the biggest disappointents I have encountered, or may encounter in the future. Let me know what you think about my list.

Biggest Disappointments in Bowling

PBA Surfside Beach Open 2010

This past weekend, I had my gas pedal down driving southeast to Surfside Beach, SC for the PBA bowling tournament. Of course I had many aspirations of this trip being the first time I cashed, but 125 of the 128 bowlers there had other ideas (yes that means I almost finished in last place). However, the experience was still one that I will never forget.

For starters, it was quite a stacked field. With bowlers such as Tom Baker, Ritchie Allen, Tommy Jones, Brian Kretzer, and Jason Couch there, it was going to be tough. In fact, at one point, I think I counted around 10 bowlers that were, or had been at one time, exempt on Tour. Also, there were around 20 flags hanging above the pin decks. It was quite a star-studded cast, and I had a tough time fighting through my nerves and inner-demons. The 109 and 119 did not help either.

In the end, though, I had a great time with a bunch of great people, and cannot wait until next year.

Finishing Second Place in a Scratch Tournament

This past weekend I bowled in a scratch tournament held at one of my local bowling alleys. The format was simple. We bowled 4 games on the house shot, and at the end of the day, high pin count won. After three games I had a pretty comfortable lead of around 35 pins and bowled a 214 game to end my block. I thought this was enough, until another bowler struck out from the fifth game on to shoot a 256 and beat me by a mere 3 pins. However, I am still excited about this accomplishment and felt like I bowled really well. This gave me confidence to possibly spend a little more money and bowl in more local tournaments. After all, how else will you get better if you do not prove to yourself that you can perform in pressure situations. Local tournaments are a great way to gain valuable experience, especially if you want to one day cash in a PBA tournament.

PBA Tour Television Schedule For 2010-2011 Season

It has finally arrived! The long awaited televsion scheedule for the PBA Tour Season has been posted. It is going to be an exciting year and I cannot wait for the action to start on November 28th. DIrectly from the PBA website, here is the full schedule for the whole season:

2010-11 LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR TELEVISION SCHEDULE
(All times are Eastern)
Sunday, Nov. 28 – Brunswick Pro Bowling PBA Cheetah Championship, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 5 – PBA Viper Championship, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 12 – PBA Chameleon Championship, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 19 – PBA Scorpion Championship, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 26 – PBA Shark Championship, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 9 – PBA’s U.S.A. vs. The World, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 14 – PBA World Championship Stepladder Round One, ESPN2, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 15 – PBA World Championship Stepladder Round Two, ESPN2, 10 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 16 – PBA World Championship Stepladder Finals, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 22 – PBA Tournament of Champions, ABC, 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 30 – One A Day Men's Earl Anthony Memorial, ESPN2, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 6 – Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational, ESPN, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 13 – USBC Masters, ESPN, 3 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 25 – 68th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open Match Play Round One, ESPN2, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 26 – 68th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open Match Play Position Round, ESPN2, 10 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 27 – 68th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open Stepladder Finals, ESPN, 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 6 – GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 27 – Dick Weber PBA Playoffs Knockout Round One, ESPN, 2 p.m.
Sunday, April 3 – Dick Weber PBA Playoffs Knockout Round Two, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 10 – Dick Weber PBA Playoffs Knockout Round Three, ESPN, 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 17 – Dick Weber PBA Playoffs Championship Round, ESPN, 1 p.m.

Bowling a 297: Good or Bad?

Last week during bowling league, I struggled through my first game. I could not carry when I threw it good, and I was not throwing it good very often. I finished with a 172, wondering if this was just going to be another night getting me closer to playing golf once a week. Then, all of a sudden it came together. I threw the first two strikes and joked with my doubles partner for that match that we should shoot 600. Well the next thing I know, we both had the first 6! He missed in the 7th frame, but I continued on, the closer I got the more nervous I felt. I have not shot a 300 in serveral years, and by the time I reached the 12th ball, that bolwing ball felt very heavy. I stepped up to the approach, and my mind was clear, until I realized a sdistinct noise....silence. The entire bowling center got quiet, not one other person on the approach bowling, and not one person making a sound. All you could hear was the sound my footsteps made as I stepped closer to the foul line. Then, with my mind filled with doubt, I pulled it so bad, I missed the headpin altogether, leaving the 1-3-6 there laughing at my face, as well as some of the other league bowlers. A 297, which is the third highest game you can bowl and still be disappointed. However, most people will tell you a 297 is a great game. Of course it is, but how would you feel if you were a pitcher on the 27th batter in a perfect game and he bunted and reached on first with a single. Feel free to leave comments. My opinion is that it was a little bit of a dissappointment, but it sure has gotten me excited about tonight!

P. S. - The ball I threw was my Hammer Razyr.

Bowling On the Chettah Pattern This Weekend

This weekend is one of my favorite weekend's of the year for two reasons. One, of course, is the celebration of our nation's Independence Day. I can already smell those hot dogs and hamburgers sizzling on the grill. The next reason is that there is a PBA tournament right in my very backyard.

That's right, the PBA Gastonia Open is this weekend at Liberty Lanes, and I am looking forward to it. This will be the 10th tournament I have bowled in, and hopefully will be the first one I manage to cash in. To prepare for this event, I have drilled up all new equipment (I also broke my thumb and my layout changed anyway), and I got myself a lesson from a local PBA bowler who is much better than me and has much more knowledge.

The first thing I learned is that there are a few myths out there about the Chettah pattern I need to forget. The first is that you do not necessarily need a polished surface bowling ball. Despite the Chettah pattern being the shortest pattern, it still has a high volume of oil in the front, and with a polished surface, it will go too far down the lane in most cases. WHen thiss occurs, the ball retains too much energy and the result is a skid flip reaction that often times overhooks. In order to tone out that reaction and get more of smooth, arcing reaction, you must sand the surface of your bowling ball, for me a 1000 grit abralon pad seemed to work the best.

The second thing I learned is that the myth about having to play outside of the 5 board is true. I am not saying you cannot strike if your ball is inside that, but the most consistent way to find the pocket is to be as outside as possible, and yes, that could mean the dreaded 1 board. The board that scares most amateur bowlers to death. If you can stay behind the bowling ball with a rough surface and stay outside of 5, you have a very good chance of cashing.

Wish me luck!

My Highest PBA Experience Bowling Game

Last night in my PBA Experience league, I shot the highest game in my life and a halfway decent set. We were bowling on the Scorpion pattern, which is one of my best patterns since it is one of the long patterns.

I started off with my Hammer Jigsaw Corner and was playing the lanes pretty straight, and the ball still had a 2000 abralon finish with a little polish. It was going ok until the end of game one where I started coming up high and could not seem to adjust. I decided to switch to my Hammer Psycho, which is much more angular, and I moved two arrows left with my feet and played much deeper. After a few shots and getting lined up, it was time to bowl. I put on quite the display, striking 9 times out of 11 and shooting a 240. I started the game with a 4 pin on a ball that I slightly pulled, then threw two strikes. Next, I pulled yet another, but got a break only leaving the 5 pin on a brooklyn shot. Then I struck out until the second ball in the tenth, where I pulled it yet again.

It was a great game and as much fun as I have had in quite a while. I cannot wait for next week to see if I can continue this new found skill.

Strengthen Your Bowling Mental Game

I am sure everyone out there has heard cliche comments in all aspects of life, not just sports. But there is a reason this is heard so often, and that is because it is a universal truth. If you want to succeed at anything in life, you must have a good head on your shoulders. Bowling is no exception to this rule. However, how do you keep a strong head game when you are struggling? This question may not be easy to answer, but here are a few tips.

One of the biggest mistakes I see other bowlers make (myself included) is that they do not have a good game plan. Your head needs to be clear of clutter and if you are overthinking every shot, that does not leave much room for confidence and concentration. There will be times when the lanes will transition and you will have to think about your adjustments, but if you are changing balls, lines, etc every shot, most likely you will lose concentration and will not execute as well. Try and put together a good game plan of how you want to play the lanes during practice so you can reserve all that precious brain power on the fundamentals and throwing a good shot.

Another way to keep your head on straight is to smile. I know it is easy to get fired up over that ringing 10 pin, or especially that solid 8 that you just left, but it only makes matters worse to throw your spare as hard as you can and miss it. Remember, no one on the planet averages 300. You are not going to strike everytime you hit the pocket. Just pick up your spare, and make your minor adjustments to get your bowling ball to carry.

The final way is to try and have fun. Many of us out there take bowling very seriously, some may even bowl for a living. But most of us just enjoy the sport. I have always found that my best games and best series have come when I was in a great mood and talking and interacting with other bowlers. If you walk into the bowling alley with any doubt f whether or not you want to be there, chances are you may not bowl as well as you could. Head in there with a smile on your face and confidence on your mind, and if you bowl bad, there is always next week.

Twitter is Over Capacity: Too Many Tweets

Twitter is one of the most popular social websites out there today. If you have tried to use it recently in the past few days, you have probably noticed the large, blue whale telling you that there are too many tweets and come back later. I did a little digging and on their blog they state they had a small issue this morning and they are not back to 100%. However, despite any issues they have, it is estimated that the website gets 190 million visitors a day, with roughly 600 tweets per second. That is quite a bit of traffic to handle. In any event, hopefully it will get better soon, and if you are on twitter, follow me here.

Once a Week Is Not Enough

I have been bowling for many years now, and over the years have gotten pretty good. However, the past two years I have cut myself down to bowling once a week in league, and I do not practice at all. I did this to save money because I am now a father and his diapers and food come first. What I have noticed is that bowling is like any other sport out there in that you have to practice.

Bowling requires a great deal of consistency to succeed, and without practice, you will lose that edge. My average has actually dropped in the past few years 10 - 15 pins, and I find myself really struggling in tournaments were shot making is of the upmost importance. How do I get out of this slump? Well I tried buying new bowling balls, which you can check out here, but guess what. That did not work. Plain and simple, I need to develop a practice routine so I can weed out my bad habits and become a more consistent bowler.

Hopefully I can learn from the PBA Experience League I am bowling in right now, and practice a time or two a week so I can be ready for fall leagues.

Extra Action During Bowling League

One of my favorite nights of the week is bowling night. And sometimes when I am feeling positive, I try and turn my night into a little profit. In many of the leagues that I bowl in, some volunteers run sidepots or card games to give you a shot at making a few bucks. For those of you who know how these work, skip to the following paragraph.

Card games are typically cost a dollar per game, and everytime you throw a strike, you get to pull a card. At the end of each game, whoever has the highest poker hand wins the pot. Sidepots are a one on one match play competition. They usually cost around 5 bucks, and you get lined up in a bracket. If you win against your opponent, you move on. If you finish in first or second, you can make some money. Also, you can run a high game pot where the highest score in each game wins the money.

The above games are very common, but I have spent the last few days thinking of more creative ways of running these small cash events. Here are some of the ideas I have had.

1. One idea I had could be played by 5 players. One impartial person will shuffle the cards, and deal out 10 cards to each player. The two remaining cards will not be played and remain face down, along with the 10 cards you as a bowler will have. Whenever you do not throw a strike, you must give up one of your cards without knowing what you are giving up. At the end of the competition, whoever has the best poker hand wins.

2. My second idea has nothing to do with cards, but more with making something out of a difficult situation. You could run a small side pot for almost anything, so why not for the most spare converions, or the most split conversions. This way if you are struggling to carry, you can still come home with a few dollars and maybe a little dignity if you are picking up your spares.

If you win a couple of the events above, you can make a decent amount of money, maybe enough to enough to cover your bowling expenses, or in my case sometimes, the bar tab.

The New Hammer Axe: Not The Best Name

I recently purchased the new Hammer polyester bowling ball called the Hammer Axe. I was very excited when they released a new spare ball, as I am a die hard Hammerhead, but did not like the past few releases. The Black Widow spare ball was cool, but I do not like clear bowling balls like that, but merely a solid and dark colored bowling ball like the Axe.

Then I got to thinking, is Axe the right name for this bowling ball? Many times when we are bowling, we leave more than one pin, for example a 6 - 10. If you only hit one of these two pins, you just chopped that spare. Now, what do you do with an axe? You chop wood. Seems like this may not be the best name for someone trying to sell bowling balls. I sure hope I do not do a lot of chopping with my new Axe!

PBA Regional Bowling Should Be On Xtra Frame

Are you missing Bowling on Sundays? I know I sure am. I look forward to watching the best of the PBA battle it out every week. Now that we are in the off season, and I feel like all I have to do is go bowl in my once a week summer league, and that is all the bowling I get to soak in. I thought of signing up for PBA Xtra Frame, but without live competition going in, this would mostly be watching re-runs and would quickly get old.

For this reason, I wish the PBA would add their regional tournaments to Xtra Frame. They could skip on the qualifying round, of course, but show the match play all the way up to the Championship. I know if they did, they would gain at least one paying subscriber, and am am quite certain many others. PBA regionals can be a blast to watch, and trust me, the regional bowlers are very good bowlers as well. Many of them are aspiring Tour bowlers and could compete at the Tour level.

My message to the PBA, add regionals to Xtra Frame so we can see all the excitement they have to offer, not too mention getting a glimpse of the future stars of the sport.

My PBA Experience League IS Going Rough

As I usually do in the summer, I join a PBA Experience League. There are many reasons to join one, but I do so I can learn how to bowl on more demanding conditions. After all, I am a PBA bowler and bowl in three tournaments a year (I would bowl more, but they are a little expensive). Since I have never cashed, these leagues are great for me to learn more about the shots and how to play and adjust on them. Well so far this year, this has not gone well.

The first two weeks, we bowled on the Cheetah pattern, which of course I hate. The PBA pros score very high on this pattern, but most underacheivers like myself struggle on this pattern for the reason that you have to play outside towards the gutter. This is outside most people's comfort zone, and for some reason mine. My big problem is I cannot find a ball to react correctly, no matter the layout or surface. It either overhooks, or goes to long and snaps to hard in the backend. I guess I have not found that magic equation for me to succeed on that pattern.

Now last week, we bowl on the Chameleon pattern, which I have done well on in the past. However, I just drilled up all new equipment, and not knowing exactly how it would react, I struggled here as well.

The moral to this story is that you must bowl in a PBA Experience League. There is no other way to become a better bowler, be more consistent with your spares, and bowl like the pros do.

My Review of the Hammer Jigsaw Corner

For all you die hard Hammer fans out there that liked the Hammer Jigsaw, watch out. Here comes the Hammer Jigsaw Corner. This bowling ball is absolutely nasty, I have yet to come across a condition that this ball will not hook in. The ball has the Hammer Jigsaw Core and the Quick Corner 5/4 coverstock, finished to a 4000 grit with Powerhouse Factory Finish polish. This ball is great for medium to heavy volumes of oil, and that is why I got it. The layout of my ball is 50 X 3 7/8" X 60 using the dual angle layout technique. I have found that this ball works really well early in the Shark PBA pattern, especially since I have sanded the finish down to a 500 grit abralon finish. I also found some success using this bowling ball early in the Cheetah PBA pattern as well by taking a few revs off my normal release and moving right on the lanes. Even though this ball is meant to have a great overall hook potential, it is also very versatile. This is a great bowling ball and I recommend anyone have this bowling ball in their arsenal!

My Review of the Hammer Psycho

One of the recent releases in Hammer bowling's raw hammer series is the Hammer Psycho. This ball has a new core called the Raw-Hammer Assault core and a pearlized version of the Max-Hook Reactive coverstock. The factory finish is a 4000 grit sanded finish with Powerhouse Factory Finish polish. The idea of this bowling ball is to give you good length on medium conditions, with a very aggressive backend. The layout I used for this bowling ball is 60 X 3 3/8" X 35 using the dual angle layout. I wanted this ball to be what I use when there is a lot of carrydown on the lanes, and I need something that will still hit the pins hard. So far it seems to work perfectly, but I have found that in order to really carry with this bowling ball, I have to keep the surfaced roughed up with a 1000 grit finish with no polish on the ball. With the combination of the layout above and a low grit finish, this bowling ball really packs a punch and I have found much success with this bowling on the Scorpion and Shark PBA patterns.

My Review of the Hammer Black Widow Venom

One the Hammer Black Widow was introduced many years ago, I just had to have one and I loved it. I threw that ball for years and finally decided that it was time to upgrade my arsenal. I decided to purchase the Black Widow Venom. This bowling ball has the Widow series core with their Lethal Bite Reactive coverstock, coming from the factory with a 4000 grit sanded finish and Powerhouse Factory Finish polish. The characteristics of this bowling ball give it good length and awesome backend. The layout I used is a 35 X 4.5" X 30 using the dual angle layout. With this layout I hoped to see this ball read the lanes fairly early, and maintain a strong, but arcing backend motion. I will use this ball mostly in medium to heavy oil conditions. I sanded down the coverstock with a 1000 grit abralon pad to get this reaction, and this bowling ball works great for me on conditions like the Chameleon PBA pattern. The way I see it, if the bowling ball your throwing says Black Widow on it, you have a great ball in your hands, and the Venom is no exception to this rule!

My Review of the Hammer Razyr

Hammer has recently done something that no other company has tried recently. They designed a new bowling ball called the Razyr, and I love this ball. The Razyr has a pancake core just like a plastic ball, but it has a much more aggressive Recoil Reactive coverstock. The factory finish is sanded to a smooth 4000 grit finish and polished with Powerhouse Factory Finish. What this means to you is this ball is great for any lane condition where you need the ball to get through the front and middle part of the lane, and maintain a strong backend. I use this ball anytime the front part of the lane dries up and I have trouble with my stronger balls burning up and hooking to early. I thought this would be a great bowling ball on the Cheetah PBA pattern, but I have since realized that since it retains all of it's energy and has a very sharp backend, I did not carry well. I still have the factory finish, and if I roughed the surface up, I bet you could tone down that sharp backend and use this ball on just about any pattern. I have really loved this ball so far and really appreciate Hammer being so innovative and creating so many wonderful products!

Tommy Jones Wins Third DyDo Japan Cup, Denies Best Friend Dino Castillo His First Title | Professional Bowlers Association

Congratulations Tommy Jones on your victory at the 2010 Dydo Japan Cup, and congratulations to Dino Castillo for his first television appearance. TO read the full story check out the PBAs post linked below.

Tommy Jones Wins Third DyDo Japan Cup, Denies Best Friend Dino Castillo His First Title Professional Bowlers Association

Japan’s Aizawa Leads Japan Cup Qualifying; 18 of 20 PBA Tour Stars Advance to Match Play Eliminations | Professional Bowlers Association

The title of this article tells you who is leading the 2010 Dydo Japan Cup, but it des not tell you how everyone else fared. How are the PBA stars doing? To find out, click the link below. My guess is that Wes Mallott is going to win the whole thing.

Japan’s Aizawa Leads Japan Cup Qualifying; 18 of 20 PBA Tour Stars Advance to Match Play Eliminations Professional Bowlers Association