All in all the trip was kind of a bust. I didn't bowl nearly as well as I wanted to, averaging below 170. Because of this I didn't enjoy myself as much as I should have. But what can you do. We still partied hard and got to know some more people. Aka the people I knew by name but never spoke to now knew my name and I didn't seem like such a creeper.
Last night, after the final day of bowling for the ones who didn't make the cut, partied HARD. I woke up this morning with my legs covered in bruises and a massive headache. Who knows how much I actually drank; there was a tub full of beer though and there were about 3 left over this morning. I definitely slept until 11:30, did timmies for breaky and then just sat out in the courtyard in the gazebo for 3+ hours. I got good and tan, even burnt my thigh.
Then we headed to the banquet, decent food and lots of talking. Next year (if I go) I'm so not doing that again. It's a bunch of clapping, standing ovations for the inductees to the hall of fame, more clapping and nearly falling asleep.
We then headed back to the hotel, sat around chatting for an hour or two and then headed over to the 'toba boys' room to drink some more. Only a tall can of beer, can of rockstar & half a cooler. At the moment it's 3:40 and we head out to the hotel at 7am so there's no point in sleeping. I would love to, but I know I'd end up worse for wear if I were to sleep for just a few hours. Carla passed out, wouldn't keep her eyes open.
So we fly into Calgary about 12, layover and then land in Edmonton at about 12:45. Hopefully next year I can qualify the first time around, and book better flights. Fingers crossed. If only I had made CTF nationals.. because a good chunk of the people here will be there. Next year, next year!
So the plan now..? Most likely take a break for at LEAST a month. More so because I won't necessarily have the money to go out there week after week. I'm probably going to go there Wednesday to drop off my stuff, pay the proshop and talk to Ted about our plan of action. Figure out what I can work on during the summer. He won't be around though, and probably not Dan until about August.
While I'm disappointed at my performance, I still learnt new things, which is the next best thing I suppose.
Next year!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Day 2
This day on medium went much much better. I think I just needed to get day 1 out of the way, get some nerves out of the way. I just threw the ball and it was fine! I started off with a bang of 226 (FINALLY A CLEAN GAME!!) and then dipped down a bit but I pulled the day together pretty good to average 184. I threw maybe 3 bad balls so I can't complain on the day. Everyone else struggled like crazy though! So I ended up jumping 10 spots into a tie for 38th. I was shooting down 5 and then ended up moving to 10 and then 12. Nothing much else to say about the day besides wishing I didn't have that 153 game and maybe the two 170s.
Scores:
226 153 172 192 180 178 (1101)
2026 & 38th overall
Scores:
226 153 172 192 180 178 (1101)
2026 & 38th overall
Monday, May 21, 2012
Day 3
This was the final day of bowling. After jumping 10 spots the last day I wanted to aim to jump another 10. I think it was a mistake to set a bar because I really struggled; very similar to the first day, pulling it a lot. This time I reacted quickly and Stephen, one of the coaches actually helped and got me to use a different line, swinging in from the 10, instead of 5. It worked great for the 2nd game but then I struggled again. The carry down was tough to deal with; not being used to dealing with much of it I didn't know what to do. So I went through the thought process of, well what is my ball doing? It wasn't coming in so I knew it was carry down that was messing me up. So how to get it in? Well there's the standard move but I tried that and didn't like the line I had, I wasn't comfortable there. So I asked myself what else could I do? Then I remembered by abralon pad (like sand paper for bowling balls) to make it duller so it'll hook more. It worked perfect and so I dulled it down a bit after every game. If not for the 1st & 3rd games I would have been pretty happy with my day. Long was supposed to be my best because we had been practicing on it for about a month but at Gateway it was a lot slicker.
Scores:
144 196 129 181 197 173 (1020)
3046 & 41st overall
Scores:
144 196 129 181 197 173 (1020)
3046 & 41st overall
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Day 1
Day 1 was Friday, on short oil. Going into it I wasn't feeling prepared; I hadn't had time to practice on it at all. The shot at Gateway was more of a medium pattern so that wasn't going to help.
The first 3 or 4 games I was pulling it way too much. I knew it too. It took myself way too long to ask myself, "Ok. What are some possible reasons for tugging it?". So far I had only been trying to stay behind the ball. I then realized that I had been popping up at the end, so I needed to stay down. Once I figured that out, I had a few good balls. But by then I don't know if the problem was that it had broken down too much and I had too little a margin of error, that I was pre-turning or if it was a combination of both. All in all I just was not in the right "zone" to bowl. Dallas and Max ended up helping me out in the 5th game which helped a bit, even though it wasn't that great a game. I think the problem as well was that I was using the wrong line, I think I was shooting 5 for most of it. For next year I definitely need to figure that one out ahead of time.
Scores:
160 115 179 144 156 171 (925) & 48th place
The first 3 or 4 games I was pulling it way too much. I knew it too. It took myself way too long to ask myself, "Ok. What are some possible reasons for tugging it?". So far I had only been trying to stay behind the ball. I then realized that I had been popping up at the end, so I needed to stay down. Once I figured that out, I had a few good balls. But by then I don't know if the problem was that it had broken down too much and I had too little a margin of error, that I was pre-turning or if it was a combination of both. All in all I just was not in the right "zone" to bowl. Dallas and Max ended up helping me out in the 5th game which helped a bit, even though it wasn't that great a game. I think the problem as well was that I was using the wrong line, I think I was shooting 5 for most of it. For next year I definitely need to figure that one out ahead of time.
Scores:
160 115 179 144 156 171 (925) & 48th place
Monday, May 14, 2012
Last Practice
It was an odd night of practice. I almost didn't want to be there - I didn't have too much fun. And of course I got tired again. Maybe the secret is timmie's. 1/2 coffee, 1/2 hot chocolate. I'm SO bagged. But even through that I was doing alright, but throwing the ball only okay. Maybe 2 really good shots at most. Ted kind of stayed away from us and just let us do our thing - with three days to go I think it's almost more important that we go at it on our own and just get comfortable throwing a bunch of games.
I think I may have averaged 175 over 3, which isn't too bad considering the shot was pretty broken down by then. It just got really frustrating trying to adjust for that, and the two lanes were breaking down differently. I didn't quite have the mental capacities to deal with that tonight.
Then we shot a round of golf (low game). I won again with 61. Everyone else had at least a strike. That's when you know people are tired (yet they stayed and played one more!). So I'm comfortable sparing my 4, 6, 7, &10 pins at least. As long as I can manage to leave single pins if I don't strike I should do pretty well I think. I've figured out my game plan for the long. At the beginning try and ride the rail (1 or 2 board). Then keep moving inside, 8 board (maybe 5) and then 10. We'll see where everyone else is shooting though. If everyone is doing 10, that might not be the best line by the end, but we'll see.
Tonight was really not much of a confidence boost, so I'm glad I had it last Wednesday. I'm not really taking anything from this besides sparing because I was just too tired. A positive though since it's not like I was horrible. I'm much happier being consistent and being okay, than scoring high and then crashing back down.
So now it's a waiting game. No more bowling till we get to Mississauga for official practice on all the shots. We probably won't spend too much time there, maybe a game on each (if that). More so just to get a feel for the approach, pin action and of course the shots.
So next post will be from TO! 3 days! Takeoff at 8am.
I think I may have averaged 175 over 3, which isn't too bad considering the shot was pretty broken down by then. It just got really frustrating trying to adjust for that, and the two lanes were breaking down differently. I didn't quite have the mental capacities to deal with that tonight.
Then we shot a round of golf (low game). I won again with 61. Everyone else had at least a strike. That's when you know people are tired (yet they stayed and played one more!). So I'm comfortable sparing my 4, 6, 7, &10 pins at least. As long as I can manage to leave single pins if I don't strike I should do pretty well I think. I've figured out my game plan for the long. At the beginning try and ride the rail (1 or 2 board). Then keep moving inside, 8 board (maybe 5) and then 10. We'll see where everyone else is shooting though. If everyone is doing 10, that might not be the best line by the end, but we'll see.
Tonight was really not much of a confidence boost, so I'm glad I had it last Wednesday. I'm not really taking anything from this besides sparing because I was just too tired. A positive though since it's not like I was horrible. I'm much happier being consistent and being okay, than scoring high and then crashing back down.
So now it's a waiting game. No more bowling till we get to Mississauga for official practice on all the shots. We probably won't spend too much time there, maybe a game on each (if that). More so just to get a feel for the approach, pin action and of course the shots.
So next post will be from TO! 3 days! Takeoff at 8am.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Almost There
At today's practice I didn't work too much at using different lines like on Monday. I had enough of that and just wanted to get some confidence going. It definitely worked! I'm still not 100% there for the long shot though; it was supposed to be what it was Monday but it seemed like there was lighter oil or something, it was not as tough as Monday.. or maybe I was used to using the line I was shooting/I was shooting the right line.
Using my vivid, I ended up going down the 5, eye on the dots, just about a foot out on the lane instead of the arrows farther down. For some reason looking closer helps get the ball rolling into the direction of the pocket sooner, which is needed on a long shot.
Once it dried up a bit more I switched to my invasion since it's an older ball it has less energy to it, and changed my line to 10. I made the change instantaneously perfectly, guessing a movement of 6 boards with my feet to the left. Twice now it seems to be if I move 5 with my eyes, a move of 6 with my feet should have me close (if I remember correctly - I really need to start writing things down).
So I have a good feel for the long now, which will be the toughest pattern out there. Ideally I would love to get back on the short and find a good line. I did get some good practice on it, but instead of really trying to find a line, I was trying tough lines to see how they worked and I was working more on my hand placement and release. Unfortunately they're only putting out long from now on. But at least when we get there on Thursday we can practice so I'll spend most of my time on the short and the medium (I haven't had a chance on that one but it'll probably play more like a house shot Im thinking).
Overall I'm feeling a lot more confident now and just want to get there already. I'm going for one more practice Monday and then I'll rest until Thursday.
Side note: I lost ANOTHER thumb slug. I was using my larger one because once again it was really warm in the alley so my thumb was swelling. Dan, the pro shop guy, happened to be watching. I told him and he flipped his shit pretty much. He said here and Calgary are the only places he's heard of that happening so much (I've done it in both..). They couldn't find it so Dan said he'd do another for me. So frustrating. So that was the end of the night since I couldn't use my smaller one. I would have been done anyways, I only had 3 frames left and I was getting really tired. I ended up shooting 212 the first game by the way.
8 days!
Using my vivid, I ended up going down the 5, eye on the dots, just about a foot out on the lane instead of the arrows farther down. For some reason looking closer helps get the ball rolling into the direction of the pocket sooner, which is needed on a long shot.
Once it dried up a bit more I switched to my invasion since it's an older ball it has less energy to it, and changed my line to 10. I made the change instantaneously perfectly, guessing a movement of 6 boards with my feet to the left. Twice now it seems to be if I move 5 with my eyes, a move of 6 with my feet should have me close (if I remember correctly - I really need to start writing things down).
So I have a good feel for the long now, which will be the toughest pattern out there. Ideally I would love to get back on the short and find a good line. I did get some good practice on it, but instead of really trying to find a line, I was trying tough lines to see how they worked and I was working more on my hand placement and release. Unfortunately they're only putting out long from now on. But at least when we get there on Thursday we can practice so I'll spend most of my time on the short and the medium (I haven't had a chance on that one but it'll probably play more like a house shot Im thinking).
Overall I'm feeling a lot more confident now and just want to get there already. I'm going for one more practice Monday and then I'll rest until Thursday.
Side note: I lost ANOTHER thumb slug. I was using my larger one because once again it was really warm in the alley so my thumb was swelling. Dan, the pro shop guy, happened to be watching. I told him and he flipped his shit pretty much. He said here and Calgary are the only places he's heard of that happening so much (I've done it in both..). They couldn't find it so Dan said he'd do another for me. So frustrating. So that was the end of the night since I couldn't use my smaller one. I would have been done anyways, I only had 3 frames left and I was getting really tired. I ended up shooting 212 the first game by the way.
8 days!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday & other
Last night was another good work, with good work being done on my swing. It was also a bit frustrating though, mostly from getting tired though I think. But I've also had problems really focusing on my mark, hitting it, staying down and getting the proper lift on the ball. I think that a few days before we leave, I'm just going to bowl for fun, not worry about technicalities..
Exciting news (for me) though! I finally got my new ball! It's the Vivid by Storm.
Exciting news (for me) though! I finally got my new ball! It's the Vivid by Storm.
It's drilled specifically to be stronger for me; to get to the pocket with more hook & power. Dan also had me trying out some different surfaces on it (sanding it) to see the different reactions. This is all the purpose for the long oil shot. Long oil means 45ft of oil, so there generally isn't much hook to be had on those types of shots. I unfortunately didn't get to practice with it on long, we were on more of a short shot, so there was a lot more hook than needed. Next Monday we're doing long so maybe I'll get to use the new ball on it (Dan doesn't want me using it too much so it doesn't burn out before the tourney).
It's kind of crazy that there's only 2 weeks left until we leave! That means 4 more practice sessions, but I'll probably take the last one off, since it'll be Wednesday - we leave Thursday and will be practicing later that day, then bowling 18 games in the following 3 days.. so that's a lot of bowling.
In the last post I was saying how maybe there would be a plan of attack for CNCs.. well I suppose there was, talking about different surfaces to use on the new ball and such. But we also talked about for next fall. Dan said that when he gets back from doing expos in August that he's going to fit me into a new wrist brace contraption. Sounds like it's going to keep me from being the full roller that I am, which will immensely help my game. He didn't put me into it right away because that's a big step to go to. I guess it basically forces/holds my hand into the proper position. That being said, my stuff will no longer be drilled properly for me so Dan said that if we get to that point he might be able to just give me a ball so that we don't have to plug and re-drill everything. To me it's not the end of the world, but when it comes to tournaments it could probably make a difference, since there's "foreign" substances in the ball now, it would change the overall reaction of the ball a bit I guess. So we'll figure that out when we get there, but it sounds promising for next year.
Oh also, I was comparing last year's average(s) to this year's and I actually didn't fall back to badly. Tournament scores had a significant difference I was -5 from last year, and that was even with averaging 206 in the scholarship tourney... League average was -2 and Monday sparing I went +4 (but I had less games played this year so that doesn't mean a whole bunch). Overall I am -3, averaging 183 throughout the year (even though I haven't factored in CNCs like I did last year, it would probably be about the same). So really, it's not that bad.. it's just disappointing that I didn't improve my average, especially after averaging 190+ during the summer. But that IS a totally different environment so I guess that's not much of an argument... haha, whatever.
Alrighty, 14 days!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Fun Bowl & Awards, Year End Wrap Up
I suppose I should write an entry about how the year finished off.
The last day was just a 3 game, glow in the dark, family fun bowl. It was 8 pin no tap - if you get 8 pins or more; it's an automatic strike; so of course scores were going to be huge. I don't remember what I scored, except I got a 300 the last game - of the 12 strkes, only 5 of them were from no tap so I still would have had a great game going. It was also an easy shot which was nice to get back to.
Then we had our banquet - free food and awards!! I had highest score for senior girls (267) and my team won high handicap single (812). I also won a draw for a $50 gift certificate to the pro shop. That honestly doesn't cover too much, but not like it matters anytime soon, since I'm getting Joe to pay for anything (he HAD said to keep it under $500 for new balls but now I'm getting one, I had to get two new thumbs done, I have to get my balls certified for the tourney and they will also resurface my balls so I don't see why he wouldn't pay for that stuff too).
So looking back at the season... it was bad. It really was. I only made one provincial tournament and then bowled like crap in it. My average went down. I missed a lot in the beginning because of stupid partying and other things (I honestly don't know what was wrong with me the first semester). I also failed miserably in the first qualifier for CNCs.
There definitely was SOME good though, like the scholarship tourney and making all the money I did. That was the highlight. Also placing 5th in world cup & beating everyone I wanted to beat. And I guess qualifying for CNCs though it wasn't a challenge.. I also started to do some good work in the last month or so. I haven't totally revolutionized anything yet, but I'm getting more lift on the ball and better reaction which if definitely a step in the right direction.
Goals looking forward:
-Place top 25 at CNCs (same as last year but there's almost a guarantee there will be many more women entering) OR just bowl well - be above average.
-Work on my game during the summer. I don't know what the chances of getting Ted out there once a week might be, but maybe Dan would be willing to help.. I would love to have the chance to change some things by the time league rolls around again.
-For next season, see my average close to 190 or up (definitely realistic)
-Make all provincial tournies
-Make nationals or take 2nd place at provies
These are some adequate goals, not sure how lofty they may or may not be, but whatever the case it's always good to have goals. It will also be my last year in youth so I have to make it count.
Tomorrow is organized practice 6-8 which I will of course be attending and it'll be the third day in a row of bowling (good practice for CNCs - 6 games/day, 3 days in a row). I maaaay get my new ball! Also get to chat with Ted and maybe figure out a plan for the summer, but at least maybe talk about a plan of attack for CNCs?
I love this sport.
The last day was just a 3 game, glow in the dark, family fun bowl. It was 8 pin no tap - if you get 8 pins or more; it's an automatic strike; so of course scores were going to be huge. I don't remember what I scored, except I got a 300 the last game - of the 12 strkes, only 5 of them were from no tap so I still would have had a great game going. It was also an easy shot which was nice to get back to.
Then we had our banquet - free food and awards!! I had highest score for senior girls (267) and my team won high handicap single (812). I also won a draw for a $50 gift certificate to the pro shop. That honestly doesn't cover too much, but not like it matters anytime soon, since I'm getting Joe to pay for anything (he HAD said to keep it under $500 for new balls but now I'm getting one, I had to get two new thumbs done, I have to get my balls certified for the tourney and they will also resurface my balls so I don't see why he wouldn't pay for that stuff too).
So looking back at the season... it was bad. It really was. I only made one provincial tournament and then bowled like crap in it. My average went down. I missed a lot in the beginning because of stupid partying and other things (I honestly don't know what was wrong with me the first semester). I also failed miserably in the first qualifier for CNCs.
There definitely was SOME good though, like the scholarship tourney and making all the money I did. That was the highlight. Also placing 5th in world cup & beating everyone I wanted to beat. And I guess qualifying for CNCs though it wasn't a challenge.. I also started to do some good work in the last month or so. I haven't totally revolutionized anything yet, but I'm getting more lift on the ball and better reaction which if definitely a step in the right direction.
Goals looking forward:
-Place top 25 at CNCs (same as last year but there's almost a guarantee there will be many more women entering) OR just bowl well - be above average.
-Work on my game during the summer. I don't know what the chances of getting Ted out there once a week might be, but maybe Dan would be willing to help.. I would love to have the chance to change some things by the time league rolls around again.
-For next season, see my average close to 190 or up (definitely realistic)
-Make all provincial tournies
-Make nationals or take 2nd place at provies
These are some adequate goals, not sure how lofty they may or may not be, but whatever the case it's always good to have goals. It will also be my last year in youth so I have to make it count.
Tomorrow is organized practice 6-8 which I will of course be attending and it'll be the third day in a row of bowling (good practice for CNCs - 6 games/day, 3 days in a row). I maaaay get my new ball! Also get to chat with Ted and maybe figure out a plan for the summer, but at least maybe talk about a plan of attack for CNCs?
I love this sport.
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