5 More Days!

About a week ago I ended up with tendinitis in my foot and couldn't do anything. Thankfully it got resolved a few days ago so I could get back to practicing. I really didn't feel like I needed to do much, especially since it's proven to be next to impossible to get any kind of pattern put down.

But my friend who bowls at a different house (at West Ed mall), also works there and managed to get at least something else than a house shot put down. It resembled a short pattern (a lot more hook into the pins) so it was a lot more relevant than a house shot or no oil at all.

I found a great line right away, using the 5 board, close to the outside of the lane. I was throwing it great; thumb out first and lots of fingers. I never throw it that way (ie. the "right" way), I've always struggled with it, but from my practice on the dry lanes, this came a bit easier.

The first game was great, but then part way through the second game I think it was, I was starting to lose the fingers and thumb out first release. Because I couldn't throw it consistently (I was also missing my mark every now and then), I couldn't really move to a new spot.

We finally took a break, I think part of the problem was I was getting tired too, and then I decided to try a different line. I moved inside by two boards and moved my feet right two board, straightening out my angle, basically driving the ball right into the pocket. I'm not sure why that worked/why it made sense, but it did and I was back to throwing a great game.

By then I was getting sore so I was close to calling it quits. We decided to do one last one though, two handed. Pretty much just for kicks. After that we were really fooling around, like taking my most reactive ball and lofting it two handed over the gutter into the other lane to try to keep it on the lane. I couldn't get it down far enough to keep it on though, it slid too much to the right and immediately would fall into the gutter. So a bit more of that, and then I was pooped.

So I guess I took away 2 things from that. 1) Play outside for as long as it works. Try what Scott does if it stops giving good results: if there are no strikes for three frames, make a pretty significant move and try something else. 2) On the note of moving, don't be afraid to do it, aka don't wait too long to do it. That's been a big problem in the past in a lot of tournaments. I always think that I can't move because I'm not being consistent so I think if I move I'll finally throw it right but then I'll be in the wrong spot. Which does sometimes end up happening, but maybe the move is good to reset and to start throwing it properly again? I guess at any rate, if you're not throwing a strike where you are originally, it doesn't hurt to move somewhere else at the risk of also not getting a strike. I suppose chances go up that you end up with a split if you're not close enough on the move, but I'd say chances could also go up that the move is a good one, resulting in a strike.

So with 5 days left, I feel fine not practicing until next Thursday when I get there for official practice on the actual patterns. Yesterday was good to just make sure I don't/had not lost the feel. But if I go again, knowing me, I could end up hurting myself some way, so it's probably better to just stay in a plastic bubble until Thursday.. I'm also still really sore so I need to let my body (back) get back to normal.