Six Month Overview

[BudKennedy]

It has now been six months since my return to bowling. This certainly has been a bit of a humbling adventure but the ongoing improvements have made this effort a lot of fun. My original decision to focus first on the fundamentals has turned out to be the best thing I could have done. The fundamentals along with a little bit of physical conditioning have provided a solid foundation to begin working of other elements of the game.

For the most part my approach and delivery has become much more consistent. I still make some mistakes but then again, I realize that this will likely be the case from now on. The best part is that with a solid set of fundamentals, I am able to recognize my mistakes quickly and take corrective action where needed. Being an old school kegler, the changes are making sure I am executing correctly. I continue to believe that the changes usually have something to do with how I am moving and delivering the ball. Staying behind the ball has been the most difficult for me and I focus each time with mental messages to me to remind me stay behind the shot. Proper execution is giving me an element of control that in the beginning was not happening.

I still am a one ball bowler. I am considering another ball that may help in certain lane conditions. I have noticed that many of the folks that I see regularly at the lanes are bringing multiple balls. Their first attempt to make changes is usually to grab another ball. I observe that this does not seem to work well for them as they are still making the same mistakes on their fundamentals. So now they drag in 5 or 6 balls and they all seem to react the same. Maybe they just don’t have the experience or consistency to make those subtle changes that could correct some of their problems. This is especially true when it comes to spare shooting.

So here we are six months into my return to the game. The approach and delivery are mostly very solid, Speed is fairly consistent but have to guard against going a bit too slow sometimes. My biggest improvement has been with the spare shooting. I still have some 10 pin nightmares but as long as we have some oil it is not a problem. When it is dry on the end of the lane it is much more challenging for the 10 pin, spare shot. Lately it has been a bit more wet and I have not had those problems. I may pick up another ball in perhaps a pearl cover to help this issue and other issues with very dry back ends. Not sure about that as yet. After six months I am able to focus on scoring and am scoring on average right around 200. I have had a couple of hero style outings with higher scores but only a few. Since the modern game allows for more strikes, it just becomes more important to be a good spare shooter at least allow for some respectable scores when the strikes aren’t as frequent.

I now feel I am ready for league play this fall and am looking forward to the competition. I do believe I can compete and only time will tell if I am able to deliver the scores that I am hoping for. This year I will be turning 78 and I hope the old body can continue to enjoy this game that has been a big part of my younger life.

[kajmk]

As for 10 pin nightmares.
Consider this in future practice sessions, play a game of picking the 10 pin off a full rack, on the second shot, roll it over the hopefully vacant 10 pen spot.

Straight ball takes the lane condition out of play.

[kajmk]

Bud.
As you may know the relationship of the lane to the ball is like that of a road with a tire.
They change each other.




Cheers!