Another day, another tournament. I bit more disappointed in this one, but in hindsight, I didn't do bad.
Haven't bowled in this house in over year. It's my dad's league house - the owner is a real good guy, and he actually remembered me from then. He drilled my first fingertip ball for me - started with an 8 lane center, and managed to save enough to buy a 30 lane center in the same town.
Anyways, I figured it would be a house shot, since it was a 90% of 210 tournament. 3 games, break while the re-condition, 3 more games. I got into the scratch option as well, and a couple scratch and handicap brackets. Finally got to toss my first practice ball, and it was
wet. Initial line was somewhere between straight up 10 or straight up 7. I couldn't tell you - apparently my "straight up the boards"
Execution has gone out the window. I had no area, and missing by a board meant trouble. 158ish for the first game, then I came back in the 180s or 190s for the next 2 games. They were paying to 13 places, and I was in 12th I think after 3 games. Also, even with the 150, I got through 2 of my brackets in the first round, and went all the way with both of them.
Had lunch, got back. This time I had a plan. Grabbed the Infinite One going straight up 5. That started to over-react by the end of practice, so I moved in 2 and 1. Gave myself a little bit of miss room both ways, right? Well, I kept missing inside, and it held pocket the first 2 times, and then came the splits. Ball change, line change, just couldn't get it. 150 to open again. This time I was in 8 brackets (my winnings from the first round, minus 10 bucks that I pocketed). Moved down to the other end, and the lanes were hooking a bit more. I don't know what my 5th game was, probably 170 or 180. Finally, in the last game, I just moved in to my A game area (crossing arrows between 13 and 15), grabbed the Total for a slightly earlier read, and started getting around it enough that it would finish no matter where I put it. Finally, area! 4 pin, 10 pin, moved for a 4 pin, moved for another 10 pin, and then strikes. Finished with a 215.
I came in at last years book of 178. This year my current avg is 183, so I got to use last years. I averaged 182 for the tournament, only 4 over average. I placed 8th. I missed 2 single pin spares that, had I made them, would have boosted me to 5th, and added $145 to my pocket. I can't get mad at myself for leaving splits, and I can get a little frustrated for the 2 multi pin spares that I made bad shots at, but those 2 single pin brain [censored] cost me 70 bucks each. I ended up going all the way with the 2 brackets I got through in the second set as well.
The pay line was actually under 210/game, with handicap, so I feel a bit better about my performance now than I did when I was on the lanes. The scratch bowlers all seemed to hit around their average.
So,
Paid: 60 + 20 + 10 + 25 + 40 = $155
Won: 80 + 50 + 50 = $180
Lessons:
1) Don't miss single pin spares
2) Practice playing straight up the boards, and minimal angles near the gutter.
3) Get my fingertips redrilled on most of my balls - the pitches are all different. I can
deal with the middle finger, but my forward/reverse is different on some ring fingers, and that really f's with your release.
4) Until I don't have an 'A' game, and can bowl wherever I need to, I need to find a way to make my A game work as soon as possible on the condition. I probably could have just slowed down my ball a little bit and played 3rd arrow all day, changing balls when necessary.
Next tournament is next Sunday, 3 minutes from my house. They put out less oil, and you can actually see the dry boards outside. Even at the foul line, the last 3 boards have no oil. Gonna get my stuff taken to higher abralon numbers, get a little more polish on it, and go to town.