I really cannot explain it… my up and down bowling. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been in a pretty low valley, my game. A couple weekends ago I bowled in a scratch tournament here in Dodge and in the 4-game qualifying I averaged no better than 175. I just couldn’t focus and it didn’t help that the lanes were oilier than usual and my ball just wasn’t reacting with a ton of carrydown… and I couldn’t carry for crap either. It was rather frustrating. It also didn’t help that I was bowling in about an hour and a half of sleep after coming off a midnight shift.
Last night was an entirely different story. I cannot explain how I could go from one extreme to another other than the fact that the lanes we were bowling on had a huge holding area for me and a shot about 5 boards wide, so that if I did miss either way, it would be in the pocket. I was carrying everything. My 2nd game was the 9th 300 of my bowling career, with every shot pretty much flush in the hole. The 10th ball was remarkable. I came in just slightly behind the head pin and left a soft 10-pin…however, the head-pin messenger came across like a bat outta hell… and ultimately took out the 10 in a last minute show of drama. All the bowlers around me watching let out a huge “Yeah!” when that last pin gracefully fell. The 11th and 12th were solid… except my 12th ball was far from solid release… as I double dribbled the damn thing, but following through and slow enough ball speed allowed for enough compensation to get the job done.
Next game started with 4 flush strikes. 5th frame I slowed the ball down too much and left a nasty 3-4-7 split. Didn’t convert, but followed it with another 6-in-a-row. The last ball was a solid 10-pin hit in the 12th frame for a 262… leading to my new all-time high series of 786… just 14 shy of the elusive and extremely difficult 800 series. -Mike
You make me sick! *LOL* My bowling ball will be with my gear on my next trip to Kansas and we will bowl! Congrats on another 300! Last time I congratulated you, I bowled my all-time high, so maybe I’ll repeat tomorrow night! Ciao dude!
Comment by Tony Laubach — January 20, 2006 @ 12:16 am
Yeah, we need to bowl man… hey maybe at the Chaser convention? I plan on being up in Denver for about 4 days around the convention.
Comment by Mike U — January 20, 2006 @ 9:59 am
Great job Mike! Congratulations on the 300 game and a truly exceptional series. I just got a new ball and bowled a 176, a 204, and a 216 with it. I’m going to head up to the alley after work and see if I can’t nail a 220 and a 250. It was an interesting adjustment because I have been using a ball with a TON of back-hook for the past 5 years. I’m going to have it re-drilled and use it as a wet-lane only ball.
Comment by Justin T. — January 24, 2006 @ 3:36 pm