Bob Casey
today being tues maybe just maybe i will meet you
there I live 5 mins from there. I can take my lesson then. Have you contacted pattyann at all
as her times are now changed because of league
season. Wire me if you need to and I will give
you phone number if you don't have it. joel

I just got off the phone with Patty and confirmed that I will be at Classic Bowl for tomorrow's (Wednesday's) lessons starting at 5:30. I'll see you tomorrow if you can make it, Joel.

Bob Casey

Bob Casey
This is joel, and yes I will be there 5:30 look
for the guy with a bulls shirt on. joel

I've been to see Cliff and Patty twice now this week and I said I would write again with my experience, so I want to do that. But, before I get ahead of myself, I want to say that I got to meet Joel. I can say that Joel looks like he is in tip-top bowling shape, like he just got back from the mechanic with new spark plugs, cables and an oil change. I certainly wouldn't want to go up against him in a tournament.

I'm not sure how to judge the lessons I've received so far other than to detail what I've learned about my game, and what I've been told are my hurdles to jump before I can get to the next level. First off, though, I want to say that hands down, these two lessons have been the best I have ever received, and I will be back many, many times. I told both Cliff and Patty that they will end up getting tired of seeing me at their lessons every week.

In my first two lesson, two big hurdles were revealed to me in my approach. First, a small problem of starting my approach too far forward on the lane and taking steps that were too small was quickly corrected. Patty moved me back, watched me bowl two balls, then moved me back a little further. Threw about 10-15 shots and felt more comfortable overall with my stride up to the foul line.

My first major problem is that I bend too far over at the waist, putting my head and shoulders past my knee and foot when it is time to release the ball. As nearly all of you will realize, that puts me at a bad leverage point and is one of the reasons that a 27 year old in pretty good health and physical shape gets so few revs on the ball.

While I'm still working on getting into a better leverage position, I'm already showing and feeling quite a bit of improvement in my game. Today under Cliff and Patty's care, I was putting more revs on my ball than I ever have, putting the ball down at 13, hitting 9 at the arrows, breakpoint around 5 about 42-44 feet down the lane, turn and explode for a pocket hit.

My second hurdle is that I pull my slide foot in front of and to the right of (I'm a righty) my power step, opening my hips up and causing me to regularly come around the ball. This has been extremely troublesome for me to correct so far, but Cliff has given me some exercises to practice over the weekend at home. Maybe, when next Tuesday comes around and it is time to get a bowling ball in my hand again, I'll have retrained enough muscle memory to get my hips more square to my shot.

It has happend to me before that I sometimes fall into this bowling trance where I get the ball, step onto the lane and the only thing I can see is my ball path and 10 pins in the pit. At those moments, everything seems so effortless that I have to laugh. This happened to me again today, and in 20 frames I put down 16 strikes and 4 single pin spares before my hour was up and the lane turned off. I can't imagine what it is going to be like when I've moved past these two major flaws with my approach.

I'm sold. I am definitely a believer in good coaching. Really, with such incredible coaching available to me at $12 per hour, I feel like I'm stealing. Cliff and Patty said that once I get past these hurdles I'll average 220 in any house, and I believe them. Honestly, I can't wait until I've already gotten past them so I can really see how far they can take my game.

That's enough for now. Stop reading. Don't take my word for it. If you are serious about bowling, go find a coach you can trust and go practice! See for yourself the improvement good coaching can bring to your game this season.

Bob Casey

You are right, at $12/hr any constructive coaching, much less the expert coaching you are describing is priceless. Especially when you stack it against our local pro/coaches who are advertising at $75/hr. Is that coach worth $60 more then Cliff and Patty? I dunno, I have not spent that moeny, but its hard to believe that you could get any better deal then what you are getting now. You should tell Cliff and Patty to take their act on the road. Hit any number of bowling alleys on the way here to CA and then they can stay with me indefinately. LOL

Erin

Bob Casey
Erin
Today I started a second league. It is friday men's afternoon, and is at river rand bowl des plains,ill. I started 557 or 185 av. 180-197-180
evry one was telling me don't start so good. I said if I keep doing this and better what is the
diff. Sunday was ok also but I know I will improve their. I used a 15lb brunzwick zone pearl and was wowing the guys around me. I am talking
about 1/3 pocket smashes. Later joel

Hey all,

I've had a rough go while I'm trying to get through some mechanics changes. I've had three outings where I shot around 510, a 170 average. Well, last night I felt really good, turning my slide knee out to square my right hip up with the shot, and bending less at my waist to get more leverage on the ball.

Well, I shot 215-180-226. My second I lapsed into my old ways, and I noticed I was falling back into them at the end of the game, so I came into the third game firing on all cylinders. Everything felt good as I ended the third game, and I left on a good note. I'll be back to Patti and Cliff on Sunday to gauge my progress. I'll post again when I have more decent info.

Bob Casey

Erin
Mary Ellen
This is joel, and I am in a tough mess. I still don't know how to adjust to a tough lane condition. Today I shot like I did not know how to bowl at all. The lanes were crazy. One on the left was tight but I did ok. The left lane had no
oil at all that I noticed. It did not effect just
me but all 8 of us had bad time. Then after bowling we found out no oil was put on last night. We are first on lanes fri morning. The ball hooked immediately on contact with the lane. Even the spare ball did the same thing.
I surely thought that after my lessons something I learned would work, but notta. Can you give me a clue. thanks joel

Ah Joel...don't beat yourself up. Just wait until the tour is on TV again. Then watch. Watch how many players....really really top notch players fail to read the lanes properly on any given day. Even the very best players in the world have times when they cannot figure it out or catch a break.

Its just one day of frustration. There are going to be those times when you just can't get a clue as to how the lanes should be played. Or you will sit there and think that the ball you should be using is sitting in the closet at home. Don't let it take over your day, night, week etc..... I know its tough and you'd think that you should be able to figure this out, but sometimes its not to be.

Perhaps you should have used your plastic spare ball for your strike ball. Maybe your carry would have been worse, but you'd have an easier time staying in the pocket. Hind sight is 20/20. Do you think is is how its going to be on this shift for you every week? If so, then I'd consult your coaches and get them to best direct you in what you need to do to tackle such conditions.

Erin

Erin
Thanks I feel better now, and you are right. I should have used the spare ball, even though it
started to hook as soon as it hit the lane, I still could have used a line that would have worked. Thanks again until next time. joel