Fortunately, one of my teammates I have bowled leagues and tournaments with, and we both know each other's game fairly well, even though he is a righty power player and I am a lefty stroker. It works out great when we need a reality check. Unfortunately for both of us, he struggled worse than I did last night.

This summer league, we are both paying more attention to breakpoints and watched each other's ball reaction depending where it rolled relative to the downlane markers. After 4 games it was clear. 7 board and out was a washout or worse. 8 board had a good chance of hitting high unless everything was just right. Playing deeper and the ball would hook a few feet in front of the headpin. Playing outside with a weak piece, and it would squirt past the breakpoint.

I think if I brought my stronger equipment (2 Cruel 1000 dull and/or Raptor Talon 500 dull), I would have been able to play straight up the oil outside, using it for hold. My lessons learned for the night are 1) to bring all my equipment and 2) do a better job managing my disbelief. In short, the shot is what it is no matter what I think it should be, how it played last week, or the bowling center's reputation.