[censored]. If I'd known that my center dropped open bowling on Mondays to $1.75/game, I would've waited another night. Ah, well. Sundays are still nearly as cheap.

Several of you suggested that I try next time out to see how much hook I could generate on my White Dot to see which sort of entry-level ball might be a good next buy. That said, I wasn't really trying for count at all.

So, I set myself up w/my right foot on the 8 board, which from what I could see would mean I'd roll over the 2nd arrow, then have the ball skid a few boards left before (hopefully) hooking the last 5 or so boards into the pocket. To my surprise, I was actually able to do this at times.

It'll be to no one's surprise, least of all me, that I couldn't do it most of the time. It's so radically different from anything I've ever tried to do that I missed the headpin half the time -- again, not the pocket, the headpin. Either I'd stand up on the shot, dump it to the right and not get it to hook at all, or I'd pull it way to the left and hook it past the headpin. I actually garnered some Brooklyn strikes this way, but I wasn't pleased w/them at all. Going Brooklyn is NOT what I set out to do.

Needless to say, I left a LOT of center-lane spares tonight, especially 1-2-9 or 1-3-8. (I left the 1-2-9 3 times in 4 frames at one point; at least I was able to cover it 2 of the 3 times.) Because I wanted to get as much work in trying to hook as I could, I tried hooking at all of my multi-pin spares...which obviously made my accuracy on those suffer. I don't think I'm doing that again.

Scores were not great -- 170-117-140. The 170 should have been much lower -- had 3 Brooklyn strikes. The 117 would have been better had I not gotten a mental block on single pins and missed 3 straight in the second half.

Lesson for tonight -- at least for the moment w/my plastic, I know where I should line up when trying a hook. Over the 8 board, over the 2nd arrow and then hooking 4-5 boards left late. Learning that is all I set out to do tonight; I tried the 5 board a few times and went WAY left every time, then tried the 7 board and was still going left on my better releases, then moved to 8 and found it. Now to stay balanced and get out of the ball cleanly w/no grabbing...easier said than done.

At least I have 3 months to practice this. My birthday is 9 days after Christmas, so I'll likely end up getting a Freeze then. Pity a lack of scratch means I WILL have to wait that long -- not unless I want to put myself behind the 8-ball in paying off some bills. Thanks for reading, and good bowling!

The Brooklyn strikes were probably caused by the angle. Standing 8 and aiming of for 10(the second arrow) puts the ball on an angle already heading for the middle of the lane. I would suggest lining up with your foot on 15 at least and maybe try going straight up the 8 board(2 inches right of the second arrow) just to see what the ball does then.

Just a note, when we talk about which board we're standing on, we are generally talking about the inside of our slide foot. I actually use a certain stitch-line in the toe of my shoe, which means when I say I'm standing on 30, someone else in the same spot would probably say 29.

That is a good point. I use the board my big toe is over. The inside of my slide foot is usually near the line that is between that board and the board to the right.

Ahhhh, so that's why you probably look at me as if I'm speaking an alien language. Well, that and all this rambling about a 4.5" ball that weighs less than each pin does.

I think my slide foot instep probably is on the 15 board, or if not, very close to it. I'll have to check next time (Wednesday). Dunno why, but going back to 14-15 years old, I always just naturally judged it by my non-sliding foot.

What did I say about Wednesday? Screw that. My fingers and legs felt good and tonight is the cheapest night of the week, so I wanted to test out the sliding-foot-on-15 as soon as I could. When I stopped by the center on my way home from work, I saw why they have $1.75 games and various drink specials on Mondays -- no leagues. Went home, had dinner, did an errand or 2, grabbed my gear and drove back.

Thanks, guys! I'm very glad I did. Shot my first 500 tonight. 146-189-173 for 508. I probably didn't deserve to shoot quite that well, which I'll get into in the what-did-you-shoot-today thread. However, I was able to get the speed back up around 16.5-17mph with the hook for the first time; last night it was all I could do to get it above 15. I was around the pocket much more consistently than last night, or any other time I've bowled so far, and that was the key. I didn't have to shoot a single split all night. Most difficult leaves were 1-3-9 and 1-2-9 (shades of last night there), both of which I picked up. Spare shooting wasn't great, but for someone w/my limited experience it was solid enough -- converted most of my leaves, no matter what they were.

Lesson for the night -- the White Dot LOVES it when the lanes are dry as a bone. Bc the center had no leagues yesterday or today, I was shooting on a 2-day-old condition, and I think it helped me get more turn into the pocket and more carry than I would've otherwise had. Thank you again for the pointers, and I'll continue to put them to use (once my fingers feel better -- they're a bit sore and stiff right now).

Nice job, it's great when such a little thing can lead to an "A-ha!" moment.

Hey great job out there, keep up the good work!

The transition to big pins seems to be going well!

Nice going. Always glad to see that some of the advice is working.