Wow, so blogging everyday about the tournament didn't really happen.. I never really ended up with too much down time to myself, I was always hanging out with friends. Also, by the time we'd get back from the alley it was time for dinner and then we were off somewhere for a few hours.
This weekend was pretty epic. The first day was a slight struggle, but it was better than last year so I was fine with that. I ended up falling off in the last two games because I was tired, but was consistent enough to be happy about it. I ended up averaging 180. The problem with this shot (short: WTBA Stockholm), is that I didn't have the right equipment for it. It played really dry and my Reign was too strong and hooked too much. Because of that I didn't really know where the ideal place to play was. I knew it was down the 5 board or even outside of it, but I was making too big of an angle, swinging into it. I'm not used to that so I decided to try the straightest line I could, which clearly was not the best, but at least it got me through the day.
Scores: 181 180 188 217 158 163: 1087
Standing: 36/62
The second day was medium, WTBA Athens. This shot was better for my Reign. It played fairly short so I still got some good hook. The ideal line was around 7 or 8 and I'm pretty sure I stayed there all day. But once again I fell off in the last two games. Finally I actually balled up to my IQ because I realized that it wasn't hooking anymore, because I was too tired. The IQ did the trick, but at that point it was kind of too late and being tired didn't help, concentration was a bit shot. I was actually sore all day during this one. My triceps tendons by my elbow were killing me. Clearly I was throwing it too hard the day before. So this day was all about letting it swing, let it do it's thing, trust it.
Another challenge that I thought I'd have was bowling with one of the girls from my bowling alley. Let's just say we don't really get along, so whenever I can beat her I'm having a great time.. I took her for 4/6, she finally got it together in the last two when I fell off. It's actually kind of funny how that happens, I think she's too concerned with beating me and then she gets frustrated when I bowl well and it takes away from her game. This day ended up being better than the day before, as well as last year's medium series.
Scores: 191 204 224 210 163 176: 1168
Standing: 31/62
The third day was the long, WTBA Paris. Practice went horribly, I couldn't find a line whatsoever. I knew it was supposed to play around 12, but that is so tight, that for me, could be difficult since I got get enough roll on the ball. So during practice I was all over the place trying to figure it out, but once it got the game, I decided that I may as well just try to play it like it was meant to be. I suppose that means I ended up taking an educated guess of where I needed to stand, and maybe I got lucky until I was able to calm down and loosen up. Sometimes that's the problem and you aren't doing the technical things right. I was pretty anxious at the beginning actually, wanting to see everyones scores and stuff. Not sure why, but it took me two games to finally get into my own game and stop worrying about anyone else. I was bowling with two girls around my age for once which was a bit nice, but they had their parents as a cheering section, mostly acting like intimidation. I was not a fan of that so I texted my guy friends that were having some beers in the bar (they had bowled in the morning) and they came to cheer me on for a bit. It helped, it picked me up and I finished strong.
It surprises me how smart I played the lanes this weekend. I did my research for ideal lines to use and then figured them out, but no one really told me how to adjust to breakdown, and that's usually my problem. Usually I wait too long and then it takes awhile to figure it out. Maybe that happened in day 1&2 as well as the fatigue, but in day 3 there was no change. In the 5th game I was starting to get lucky, and was making all my spares but it just wasn't working right. I finally decided to ball down from Vivid to IQ just to change it up and it ended up working. I actually got lucky, missed where I wanted to hit, but it was a good angle, so I just had to move my feet to get it right in the pocket.
I was actually right next to the girl I have "issues" with from the day before and I think she was watching and was getting frustrated by me again, and her not having any great games until maybe the end. By far this day was my best day ever at CNCs and actually only 6 women beat me that day; all Team Canada members (4 adult, 2 youth), so that really is something!!
Scores: 232 204 151 258 206 233: 1284
Standing: 18/62 (6 spots and ONLY 101 pins out of making the final day cut!!)
**101 pins is not much by any means, especially when I have at least 2 games that, if they were like the other games that surrounded them (those 150s) I might have made the cut!
Overall, I averaged 197, miles better than I set out to do (180 goal). The scores were crazy high this year though, because going into the weekend I thought if I somehow averaged 190 I'd make the cut. Well I almost averaged 200 and I didn't, so that's insane. But I'm super proud of my showing, and my name is hopefully getting more and more recognized. Hopefully I can come back next year, keep improving and make the cut! I definitely need another ball in my arsenal though, something to play the short better, so I'll be saving my money all year long for the tournie in case I don't get the money (competing against the women now, though I did show I am 3rd best in Alberta this past weekend) and then maybe get the ball for xmas or as an early bday present or something. We'll see!
But of course, as usual, I just want to get back home and keep bowling! Especially after a showing like this, by the end doing everything really well and keeping focus really well. That ended up being key. Focus and hitting my mark. Once I could hit my mark consistently, the game actually felt pretty easy. This was why it was hard for other people, they couldn't hit their mark very well.
Definitely one of my best bowling experiences to date! Next year is Toronto and then hopefully in Edmonton for 2015!!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Reminiscing
After my last post, I went back and read all my old posts. It was really neat going through those memories and experiences again, I plan on using them.
So last year, opposite to my thinking (somewhat) I was good on medium, which I kind of foresaw, but was really bad on short and decently bad on long. Going in I was comfortable on long, but what happened is that whatever we practiced on in Edmonton was not the same so I think maybe that came as a shock to me and I couldn't rebound/get consistent.
Looking back, I guess I was a bit worried about the short as we didn't get too much practice on it, and safe to say I had reason to worry. What I remember from it (not my post) is that it played really dry. And it's funny because at the bowling alley yesterday I ran into one of the ladies that bowls in this tourney as well and she was saying to her friend who is going for the first time, that it plays really dry, so practicing on those dry conditions didn't hurt. She was saying to me "well you know, you've been there, it plays really dry!". I didn't know, I could not recall but I just said yeeaaahh... But now that these posts have refreshed my memory a bit, that is 100% true. I remember it was dry enough that I was trying to swing my ball in, like what I was doing yesterday, because nothing else was working, but neither was that line because it wasn't dry enough for that kind of line for me.
And now saying that, I realize that I didn't stick to the game plan. Game plan was, like I said, to "ride the rail", but I think I got uncomfortable with it and decided not too. So. This time around I am definitely not going to cast something aside that has proven to work. So that's a start for the short. I should definitely try and get a day of practice in on that shot, ideally one day for each shot.
It was also cool reading about my league stuff. Especially what my goals were for this year. I nailed one of them, average around 190. Well for quite a few weeks I was at 194, and ended up at 193! Booya! There was another: "win provincials or placed 2nd". Well.. the one I was looking like winning until the 2nd last game should have been 1st, then should have been 2nd after the strong surge by Chelsey, but ultimately ended up 3rd. And really, like I mentioned in a previous post about my health stuff, that's a pretty good achievement. Obviously not what I wanted, and had I been 100% health I would have that one for sure.
The there's also all the things that Dan and Ted have said that I've forgotten. I didn't receive nearly as much advice from them this year, maybe because I improved so much on my own, but then some of the things Dan have said never really came to fruition. But the one thing that I am looking at more seriously now that I am done youth bowling, is the two handed approach that they both were talking about. Now that there's really nothing on the line, I might look into it more. I'm not sure how feasible it is at this point financially, I'd have to get new stuff drilled for two handing, and I definitely won't have that kind of money. So more realistically might be in 2 years, once I'm done school and hopefully making decent money working. It'll still be something I should chat with Dan about.
But back to CNCs, hopefully this can give me a little edge going into the tournament, and I plan to keep this up, hopefully it'll payoff in future tournaments as well.
Oh technology!
So last year, opposite to my thinking (somewhat) I was good on medium, which I kind of foresaw, but was really bad on short and decently bad on long. Going in I was comfortable on long, but what happened is that whatever we practiced on in Edmonton was not the same so I think maybe that came as a shock to me and I couldn't rebound/get consistent.
Looking back, I guess I was a bit worried about the short as we didn't get too much practice on it, and safe to say I had reason to worry. What I remember from it (not my post) is that it played really dry. And it's funny because at the bowling alley yesterday I ran into one of the ladies that bowls in this tourney as well and she was saying to her friend who is going for the first time, that it plays really dry, so practicing on those dry conditions didn't hurt. She was saying to me "well you know, you've been there, it plays really dry!". I didn't know, I could not recall but I just said yeeaaahh... But now that these posts have refreshed my memory a bit, that is 100% true. I remember it was dry enough that I was trying to swing my ball in, like what I was doing yesterday, because nothing else was working, but neither was that line because it wasn't dry enough for that kind of line for me.
And now saying that, I realize that I didn't stick to the game plan. Game plan was, like I said, to "ride the rail", but I think I got uncomfortable with it and decided not too. So. This time around I am definitely not going to cast something aside that has proven to work. So that's a start for the short. I should definitely try and get a day of practice in on that shot, ideally one day for each shot.
It was also cool reading about my league stuff. Especially what my goals were for this year. I nailed one of them, average around 190. Well for quite a few weeks I was at 194, and ended up at 193! Booya! There was another: "win provincials or placed 2nd". Well.. the one I was looking like winning until the 2nd last game should have been 1st, then should have been 2nd after the strong surge by Chelsey, but ultimately ended up 3rd. And really, like I mentioned in a previous post about my health stuff, that's a pretty good achievement. Obviously not what I wanted, and had I been 100% health I would have that one for sure.
The there's also all the things that Dan and Ted have said that I've forgotten. I didn't receive nearly as much advice from them this year, maybe because I improved so much on my own, but then some of the things Dan have said never really came to fruition. But the one thing that I am looking at more seriously now that I am done youth bowling, is the two handed approach that they both were talking about. Now that there's really nothing on the line, I might look into it more. I'm not sure how feasible it is at this point financially, I'd have to get new stuff drilled for two handing, and I definitely won't have that kind of money. So more realistically might be in 2 years, once I'm done school and hopefully making decent money working. It'll still be something I should chat with Dan about.
But back to CNCs, hopefully this can give me a little edge going into the tournament, and I plan to keep this up, hopefully it'll payoff in future tournaments as well.
Oh technology!
Two Weeks To Go!
It's that time of year again! CNCs, or Canadian team trials, are upon us in 2 weeks time! I actually almost didn't "qualify" (aka get the $1000 scholarship) the first qualifying tournament at the beginning of the year. I came in 3rd despite averaging above 190. Then the second qualifying tourney (the more challenging one) I failed to make top 2 again. At this point of the year I was going through some health problems that HEAVILY affected my game, so after leading going into the last few games, I just couldn't hold on and missed the top 2.
A few weeks after this at provincials, I was told that someone dropped out and meant I was going. Normally I would have been really excited but for a few reasons I really wasn't. For one, I had already faced that fact that I would be missing out on it. Second, I was mad, because I knew the one girl that qualified in the first tournament wouldn't go, but she didn't drop out before the 2nd tourney so I had to pay for a second tourney, and I really didn't have the money to do it. Lastly, because of my health stuff I just couldn't get excited.
But things are a lot better now and I'm finally getting excited. More so just to get on a plane and get out of the city for a week I think, and also the possibility of visiting my friend in Ottawa afterwards. It also helps that, because the health issues are mostly resolved, my bowling is back to par so my confidence is up and I look forward to the challenge of a national tournament.
I went to practice yesterday, but the conditions were horrible since there was next to no oil on the lanes (aka SUPER DRY). Normally for league bowlers this is a pain in the butt and most would rather just not practice. But it's not a waste, if anything it helps your mental game, in my opinion. On these conditions, if you do something just teeny bit wrong, you'll notice. So if you can battle through that and focus, it for sure will help on more ideal conditions. It's also good to find what kind of lines work on dry conditions. We'll be bowling blocks of 6 games, and with the high levels of bowlers that will be out there, it could dry up fast, and that practice will come in use, though it won't be quite that dry.
Anyways, I found two different lines that could work depending on how dry the lanes get. One lane was drier than the other so I had to swing the ball in. Meaning I had to stand a few boards left of center (usually I'm about 10 boards on the right of center so this is a big move) but still throw at the same mark. I had to be careful to not let it get out further, or skid out to far, or else it wouldn't have enough time to get back into the pocket. This would be extreme and I doubt I'll ever use that line, but just in case, it was nice to work on getting comfortable with that shot.
The second line was on the less dry lane, going over the 2 board, so I was standing about 5 or so to the right of normal. This is a more realistic line, and really needs to be practiced because it's so close to the gutter. If I'm not used to it, then what would end up happening is that I won't trust the ball/myself and I'll pull it and will miss. Fortunately I've practiced this line (or something similar) in the past, so it wasn't too hard to get accustomed to it, but it was still good to get the repetition in, since with this line as well you can do one small wrong thing which could result in disaster.
Next step is to practice on fresh oil, hopefully something similar to what they will put down in Montreal. They are actually doing 3 patterns this year: short, medium and long. I should be fine on short I think, and medium should be good too, but it's the long that I need to practice on a lot. With long oil the ball is in oil for a longer time, so once it gets out, it has less time to grip the uncovered part of the lane to get to the pocket. So for me, someone with very little hook, it means I basically have to play straight in. What sucks about this approach is that you don't get quite the right angle for optimal carry, so I think I'll have to play straight from the outside to get a better angle. But even after 3 years of doing this I still always struggle once I get out there, so I really want to practice before I go this year and get some confidence going for it.
I'll be catching a flight out of Edmonton at 6:30am on the 16th (ughhh) so that I can make it there in time to practice, ladies practice in the afternoon. Then the next three days will be qualifying, and a cut will be made (top 12 for women). The 4th day of competition will be just those that made the cut and the team will be decided that day. I don't see myself making the cut; I'd have to be really on my game and for some others to be off their game for me to do it. But I hope to make top 20, which could mean averaging around 185. It seems like that should be easy enough, but on conditions like these a solid day for me is averaging at least 170... But if I'm focused enough and have my thinking cap on, I think I have a chance.
So leading up to and during the tourney I'll be posting on here, mostly to keep a record for myself, to help me remember things for the future, but also for anyone interested to follow along on my progress!
A few weeks after this at provincials, I was told that someone dropped out and meant I was going. Normally I would have been really excited but for a few reasons I really wasn't. For one, I had already faced that fact that I would be missing out on it. Second, I was mad, because I knew the one girl that qualified in the first tournament wouldn't go, but she didn't drop out before the 2nd tourney so I had to pay for a second tourney, and I really didn't have the money to do it. Lastly, because of my health stuff I just couldn't get excited.
But things are a lot better now and I'm finally getting excited. More so just to get on a plane and get out of the city for a week I think, and also the possibility of visiting my friend in Ottawa afterwards. It also helps that, because the health issues are mostly resolved, my bowling is back to par so my confidence is up and I look forward to the challenge of a national tournament.
I went to practice yesterday, but the conditions were horrible since there was next to no oil on the lanes (aka SUPER DRY). Normally for league bowlers this is a pain in the butt and most would rather just not practice. But it's not a waste, if anything it helps your mental game, in my opinion. On these conditions, if you do something just teeny bit wrong, you'll notice. So if you can battle through that and focus, it for sure will help on more ideal conditions. It's also good to find what kind of lines work on dry conditions. We'll be bowling blocks of 6 games, and with the high levels of bowlers that will be out there, it could dry up fast, and that practice will come in use, though it won't be quite that dry.
Anyways, I found two different lines that could work depending on how dry the lanes get. One lane was drier than the other so I had to swing the ball in. Meaning I had to stand a few boards left of center (usually I'm about 10 boards on the right of center so this is a big move) but still throw at the same mark. I had to be careful to not let it get out further, or skid out to far, or else it wouldn't have enough time to get back into the pocket. This would be extreme and I doubt I'll ever use that line, but just in case, it was nice to work on getting comfortable with that shot.
The second line was on the less dry lane, going over the 2 board, so I was standing about 5 or so to the right of normal. This is a more realistic line, and really needs to be practiced because it's so close to the gutter. If I'm not used to it, then what would end up happening is that I won't trust the ball/myself and I'll pull it and will miss. Fortunately I've practiced this line (or something similar) in the past, so it wasn't too hard to get accustomed to it, but it was still good to get the repetition in, since with this line as well you can do one small wrong thing which could result in disaster.
Next step is to practice on fresh oil, hopefully something similar to what they will put down in Montreal. They are actually doing 3 patterns this year: short, medium and long. I should be fine on short I think, and medium should be good too, but it's the long that I need to practice on a lot. With long oil the ball is in oil for a longer time, so once it gets out, it has less time to grip the uncovered part of the lane to get to the pocket. So for me, someone with very little hook, it means I basically have to play straight in. What sucks about this approach is that you don't get quite the right angle for optimal carry, so I think I'll have to play straight from the outside to get a better angle. But even after 3 years of doing this I still always struggle once I get out there, so I really want to practice before I go this year and get some confidence going for it.
I'll be catching a flight out of Edmonton at 6:30am on the 16th (ughhh) so that I can make it there in time to practice, ladies practice in the afternoon. Then the next three days will be qualifying, and a cut will be made (top 12 for women). The 4th day of competition will be just those that made the cut and the team will be decided that day. I don't see myself making the cut; I'd have to be really on my game and for some others to be off their game for me to do it. But I hope to make top 20, which could mean averaging around 185. It seems like that should be easy enough, but on conditions like these a solid day for me is averaging at least 170... But if I'm focused enough and have my thinking cap on, I think I have a chance.
So leading up to and during the tourney I'll be posting on here, mostly to keep a record for myself, to help me remember things for the future, but also for anyone interested to follow along on my progress!
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