Jim,
I have Coaching Session scheduled for friday june 6th. So hopefully i work on what he has me work on after that session. Then schedule a follow up meeting in two-four weeks.

Yeah Spares killed me this season. About 90% of the time i leave makeable spares. Its failing to covert them that has cost me. I think this year i average about 2 opens per game. 66 pins a night.

Im hoping coach goes over adjustments too. I know someone adjustments but need to fine tune them more. Gotta stick to the game plan and adjust properly. I tend to tighten my line up sometimes when i move inside. Got some major work ahead of me this summer but ready for the challenge.

jim, funny you should mention the 'control issue', because if i let the ball do it's thing, and trust that it's gonna go where i throw it, i'm fine. but i do have times where i feel i have to force the ball, why, i don't know, but if i let it do what it do, it works out.

probably the biggest help i have had so far, is reading an article in the local bowling press by cliff saliba, he stresses a free arm swing, and since reading it, it is something i try to do. and i found while doing so, the ball feels like an extension of my hand, almost like it isn't even there.

i also have come to realise a certain comfort level, if 'it' doesn't feel right, i'll step off the approach, spin the ball on my shirt, put my fingers in, get a comfortable grip, and step onto my 'foot mark', set myself, then start my approach. although i'm a novice at bowling, when it goes right, i can call a strike as soon as it leaves my hand [i know you know the 'feel'], my spares are the same, i know as soon as it leaves my hand if i made it or not.

all of my snafu's are mental, i either get lazy, or excited, which plays hell with the game.

tbill, do you have aspirations to improve, or are you happy with where you are?

Tbill, thats one thing I rarely do, step back if something doesn't feel right when I'm set up. Usually its with holding the ball so hopefully that will be fixed and happen less and less. As for calling strikes off the hand on something that feel like it all went right, well I've done that a few times and it not happen. This happened the last night of my Saturday league. The ball felt like it came off the hand clean, rolled over my target, hit the breakpoint and I felt so good about the shot at that point that I turned and started to walk to the back of the approach heard the pins hit and it sounded good and turned around as my anchor bowler yelled an expletive deleted and several guys 3 pairs down gave me the double thumbs up to see the 8-10 split staring back at me.

i want to improve, as i see flashes of good bowling, BUT, i also know i cannot go further untill i can be consistant with hitting my mark, cause if i can't hit the same spot, how do i know if i gotta move?

tbill, i usually sense when a move is necessary if my armswing, balance and timing feel good but the ball goes high or brooklyn or if the ball sails light or wide right on the first ball of a couple frames. I'll adjust by moving 2 or 3 boards in the direction I'm missing.

If I'm rolling the ball & hitting my target breakpoint but leaving 10 pins, I'll move an inch or so up or back on the approach. I try not to be stubborn by continuing to throw from the same spot if I see I'm missing the target in a consistent direction for more than 2 frames. The lanes are giving me clues on where I need to get lined up in order to reach the pocket.

This is why you need a coach, there are many many reasons you are missing your mark, the least of which is concentration or focus on your target. Once you start your armswing the aiming is over, you can close your eyes and if your fundamentals are sound then you will split what ever board you were aiming at in half. Any aiming or controlling the ball after the start of the swing is detrimental to your game and you need to work on your fundamentals if you want to hit your target.

yeehayashi, moving forward or backward an inch doesn't do anything for you physically it might be more of a mental adjustment that is making you take a little speed off or add a little speed to the shot.

Moving forward shortens the distance of your approach and slows your feet down and slows the ball down unless you were finishing 2 feet or so behind the foul line and then only finishing 1 foot behind the foul line then your ball will hook one foot farther down the lane, but all of people who finish 4 to 6 inches behind the foul line will slow down by moving forward or speed up by moving back and still end up in the same distance from the foul line.

The only time I recommend moving forward or backward with your set up is when adjusting ball speed, if I want to throw the ball faster hold the ball higher I move backward the same distance that I raise the ball in my stance and the opposite if I am slowing the ball down.

Here is what I plan to do this summer.

1) Bowl sport league.
2) Work on getting comfortable with my new span/no grips.
3) Gain some of the revs back that I lost when I got rid of the grips.
4) Gain confidence in my surgically repaired knee.
5) Have fun.

It's been almost a year since I have bowled on a weekly basis. I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

jim, most definitly a coach is needed, i'll have to look and see who/what is available close to my area [i'm kinda in the sticks]. so far, i've been depending on team mates to point things out, and what i've been able to absorb from reading here.