Now it's all about preparing for CNCs. Today we asked for a long shot but it was more medium than anything.. I was using my lower end ball and still getting quite some hook on it; not what I'm used to. So the oil was a bit thin I think then, but I'm also throwing it a lot better, getting more lift and rotation on the ball.

All we did was throw games, I ended up shooting 7, trying to work up the endurance to throw 6 in TO. Usually that would be no problem but for some reason I've just been tuckered right out after like 4, so I made myself push through it. I just need to find a way to keep the energy up to keep my ball speed up so that it doesn't have too much time to move on the lane.

It was a frustrating practice though; had to be right on your mark or you'd leave crap. I definitely did not have the energy to focus that hard; I was having enough trouble as it is staying down at the line - which helped tremendously. I realized I had stopped doing it, started again and then was throwing sooo much better! So I definitely need to make a mental note of that.

I'm going out again on Wednesday, there's practice Mondays & Wednesdays 6-8 at Gateway. It's mostly been set up for the CTF provincial team, but it's still good for us to go to. They'll have the CTF long shot put out which won't be what will be at CNCs but it's still better than nothing.

Saturday Practice

No more league :((
Just fun bowl next Saturday and banquet; food + prizes. So since there was no league, I headed out to practice.
It was Max, Brendan, Chelsey, Jeremy and I; all of us going to CNCs but unfortunately not Brendan. We actually had a really great practice. Usually I don't like to score when practicing, but it was ok. Our first 2 games we did strictly scoring. I can't quite remember my scores but I did better than the others.. The shot was ridiculous, I asked for hard and man did they give us hard. There was a ton of oil 5 and out and like right in front of the pins, it would just stop hooking... SO STRANGE. So naturally the score were pretty low, and I think I had the high the first game with a 180 something.. actually Brendan might have gotten my in the last frame with a 188. I can't remember the second game.

Then we went to a low scoring game. The goal is to take out only the 10 pin and then the 7 pin, working on spares. If you got a gutter on the 1st ball, that gives you a srike. If you had a gutter on the 2nd ball, that's a spare for the frame. And since you're trying to score low, that's bad. I was definitely the best at my 10 pin. Snipe shot 5 times about. I won with a low of 58, narrowly beating Brendan who had a 59. Chelsey and Jeremy were in the 70's I think, and Max had about 90 something.. lol. He had about 2 strikes in there.

Then we shot another game, and since we had been shooting all over the place, we were all able to find a good line. I was getting tired though and focus was slipping, so I didn't shoot that great of a game, a low 170 maybe? So I was done after that. Jeremy had left after the 3rd game, and everyone else shot a 5th game. I really should have pushed through maybe, but I think it was just the lack of sleep. Because 4 should be no problem. We'll be doing 6 a day for 3 days out in TO.. Gotta get the game numbers up, but that'll have to wait til after exams now. No more bowling til I'm done!!

Note: I've been using a brace now and it definitely helps me get a bit more on the ball, not a big jump, but maybe it could contribute to a few more pins here and there so I think I'll stick with it.

Sparing - Rolloffs

I forgot to write a post up last week about practice but there's not too much to share. It was a lot of good work, so it was tiring and also a bit frustrating. It was also a bit.. disappointing? I was really in the mood to BOWL not practice I guess. So I really wanted to throw some normal balls at the end of the night, but Ted told me to call it quits and I wanted to catch the bus so I didn't.

Lately, because I've been working at fixing my game, I haven't felt very confident in my game or very comfortable either. I've been about average, but in the weeks leading up to all this playing around with my swings and stuff I had been doing pretty great, so it was a bit of a let down. I was just really unsure about my self.

And then comes a night like tonight, just got back from Calgary so I'm all relaxed and just want to bowl (I had missed Saturday league). I got there early to warm up with everyone else who was practicing and didn't really make any nice shots or anything so I was uneasy about sparing in an hour - it was rolloffs, basically like playoffs. So it was important for the team I was bowling on that I bowled well.

Well I did! First game (once again against my coach that I had beaten 2 weeks prior) I came out with a bang. 226. Take that Brian! I won that match. Then we switched opponents. 203, lost to Carla who was also sparing. She had a heck of a game, a 236. She always bowls better when I'm around, she loosens up. For me it depends. If we get too chatty I lose focus and then suck. But it was alright today. I ended up losing a bit of focus, but having Ted coaching on the lanes right next to us was kind of making me paranoid for some reason. So I missed a spare or two that I should have had. Next, we changed opponents again, and I was up against Chelsey's mom. I shot a 201, I was definitely losing focus, I was getting tired - it had been a long day (3hr bus ride from Calgary). She shot a 204. I had left an open, a freaking easy spare to make (hence I knew I was losing focus), so she was able to beat me.

But I averaged 210 which I'm not complaining about. And I think I helped the team take 3rd place. I'm really just glad that I was able to just go out and bowl, and bowl well! It helped that it was an easy shot though.. Oh well.