Well, this season will certainly be one I'll never forget. I finished with a 223.87 average for 75 games which was almost 9 pins above my
book and good for 5th in the league out of 60 bowlers and in the top 15 for the house. And the great thing about it was that was the only league I bowled in this year. Now, granted, as it was admitted by the manager, and I knew full well myself, the shot wasn't exactly difficult, and there will be some tightening come next year, but still, as we say, scores are relative to the condition and the field. If the top guys are in the 220+ range, you better be there too if you consider yourself a good bowler.
Some stats for you stat freaks (like me); 1st quarter ave: 219.11 for 18 games (includes a 567 series and three 700's), 2nd quarter ave: 214.67 for 21 games (includes a 592 and 540 and two 700's) and 1st half average was 216.72, 3rd quarter ave: 228.20 for 15 games (includes one 700), 4th quarter ave: 234.05 for 21 games (includes four 700's - two of which were 773 and 772; my highest 2 series other than my 803) and the 2nd half average was 231.61. High game was a 298 that I shot the first week (left the 2-8) and high series was 773. First game average was 229.08, second game average was 225.12 and 3rd game average was 217.40.
I lost count on clean series and games, but a fair estimate would be about 8 or 9 clean series and about 50 clean games. I had at least one clean game a week since I bottomed out with my 540 after the 8th week and most weeks I had at least 2 clean games especially the second half of the year.
As a team, we finished 3rd overall and came in 4th in the roll-off which consisted of each quarter's winner and the one wild card team that had the most points but didn't win a quarter, which was our team. Cashed about $565 and paid in $640 for the season ($20/week for 32 weeks, $10 went towards prize fund every week), so there's no griping on my end about money. All in all I enjoyed the team I bowled with, but we'll have to split up because we'll be over the cap as this is a 4 person team with an 815 cap. We ended up close to 830 for team average.
But what contributed to my success was not so much the conditions (they didn't hurt, for sure), but the work I did last year on my game. As I progressed through the season, I got looser and my physical game got a lot better (and my mental game was solid); more fluid armswing, better footwork, much better pushaway, and the revs were getting close to the speed. By the end of the year, I was able to be more versatile and was able to increase or decrease my hand in the shot on demand which is something I haven't been able to do with any consistency in 7-8 years.
I'm looking forward to next year and seeing if I can still hang with the crowd on a tougher shot. I love a challenge.
................Brandon
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