Today on my sunday league. I opened up with a 212. Not bad an average game. Then the second game began. My shot completely disappeared. I tried everything. Front to back, left to right adjustments. Ball speed and hand position changes. Nothing worked for me. I couldn't find the pocket. I ended the day with a 171 and 166. I haven't had a day like this in forever. Just really discouraging for me. Cuz no matter what I've always been able to adjust to the conditions under any pattern. Sorry just had to get this off my chest. I don't complain about my bowling ever. So I'll do it just this once Just one of those days I guess.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">Originally posted by TurboManGT:
Today on my sunday league. I opened up with a 212. Not bad an average game. Then the second game began. My shot completely disappeared. I tried everything. Front to back, left to right adjustments. Ball speed and hand position changes. Nothing worked for me. I couldn't find the pocket. I ended the day with a 171 and 166. I haven't had a day like this in forever. Just really discouraging for me. Cuz no matter what I've always been able to adjust to the conditions under any pattern. Sorry just had to get this off my chest. I don't complain about my bowling ever. So I'll do it just this once Just one of those days I guess. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">In all of our bowling futures there is a bad game or series waiting to test our mental strength.
Shake it off. I know this is crunch time. Time to get paid and all of that. But its not the end of the world.
That's a 549 series and a 183 Average. No body on this forum who bothers to check and definitely no one in your league thinks that this series is the sum of your bowling skills.
By the same token if you had shot 750, no one would think that you carry a 250 average.
Did your team pick you up?

Turbo

I guess by definition most bowlers have average days but every now and again you just bowl badly, you can’t put your finger on what is going wrong let alone put it right. It is just “one of those days”; you have not turned into a bad bowler over night, you just have to accept that fact that you had a stinker and get on with your bowling.

If you can feel what was going wrong and it is something that you can work on in practice then by all means do so but whatever happens do not let that series carry over to your next set and try not to over analyse the situation.

As we all know from experience we bowl best in the now, think neither of the previous shot / game / series nor of the one to follow.

If you really want to put a positive spin on it, as an average is built up of good and bad sets, then a 700 is probably just around the corner.

Hey man!!! I finished up my last Fri night league night with a big old fat 134 game. I changed balls and just couldn't get this new ball to come up to the pocket no matter what I did. About 5 2,8, 10s, and some chopped spares later, there you go....pretty awful game. We finish around 1am or so and I had to be up at 7:30am to travel to an all day tournament on Saturday. I was in all the squads and started at 10am, out of the box 246, 248, 198.

So one bad night, doesn't make your bowling career. It wasn't easy to put that disasterous 134 game behind me and bowl just 8hrs later in an all day tournament. I'll will tell you, that I didn't use that new ball. LOL

Erin

I know its just very frustrating. I'm known for my versatility lol.

That's too bad. Just do better next time and try not to let it get you down.

Think of it this way, even the pros out there on the tour have a bad outing. Yes Even the big time pros like Walter Ray, Parker Bohn, Norm Duke, and even my late idol Earl Anthony had bad outings, but they all know how to put it behind them and bounce right back. One thing that I tell myself is just because I had a bad night doesn't mean that I suck, it's just I couldn't figure out the lanes and it doesn't make me less of a bowler. And then I try to add some humor to it by saying "Boy if I had $5.00 for each bad night that I ever had I would be rich by now." Believe me I had my share of bad nights and sometimes it's hard to stop thinking about it. And there have been nights that I've tried every single adjustment that I could think of and nothing worked, but I try to learn something out of that bad night and I move on. It all boils down to your attitude and how you handle a bad night. If you dwell on a bad night then most likely you will repeat a bad night, because you psyched yourself out from that bad night. This is also how you would develop your mental game by how mentally tough you can be after a bad night. I've been bowling for 8 yrs and always had the physical game mastered, but what held me back was the mental game and I'm just now learning to Master that part of my game and it's becomeing my strength. Here's my motto "Never Give Up, Because That's The Easy Way out." Just keep those words in mind and you'll be fine.

Hey man,

Let me say that EVERYONE has their bad days, I mean EVERYONE.

Secondly, It's a SUNDAY League!!! Since when did a Sunday league get this much hype?

But seriously now, I'm not trying to discourage you or anything. So just shake this one off and get the next one.

Wow, my good games are everyone's bad games. I feel good, though. That just means I'm getting better.

Its all relative Rolly. Every bowler struggles and every struggle is a mountain for that bowler. So no matter what your average or skill level, if you are working hard then your struggles are our struggles.

Erin

So everyone's got problems with their hands hurting from bad balls, too? That's my major mountain right now. That situation needs to be rectified ASAP.

How long have you been bowling with this ball? Your hands should not hurt after bowling. It would not be unusuall for your arms or the muscles in your arm and forearm to be sore. However, if you are using a ball that was drilled properly for you, your hand should not hurt. I have a feeling that the "span" is too far out; do you have to stretch your fingers out too far in order to place them into the finger holes? If so, that would definitely cause pain after bolwing. Also if the thumb hole is out too far to the left that would also cause pain. When you are measured for a ball, the person fitting and drilling it should have ask you if the fitting was comfortable prior to drilling. Another thing that can happen; once in a while mistakes occur in drilling. I recommend that you go to a different pro-shop and ask the person who drills to check the ball fitting. If it has been drilled improperly, try to get the original pro-shop to plug and redrill it or pay the second shop to plug and redrill it.

Actually, I'm using my dad's old ball. The span is a little short. It's mainly the fact that his fingers are a bit thicker than mine. I have to grip the ball to make sure it doesn't go flying when it gets oily. That's one reason I use rosin on my left hand. Keeps my sweaty hands from helping out.

I've got a few balls in mind, but don't have the money. Mainly the Storm Diablo and Ebonite Black Ice. If neither of those, than probably an Ebonite Ice. But, if the pro-shop can get it, I'll most likely be going with a Black Ice. I say if they can get it because I didn't see any the last time I was in there. Then again, I didn't ask if they had any. I'm also thinking of going down to a 14 lb. instead of 15 lb. I think that's another factor in the hand pain.

A well fitted ball will actually feel lighter than it actually is, at least to me. A 15 lb. alley ball feels heavier to me than my Track Arsenal, which is also 15 lbs. but drilled to fit my hand. Have your Pro Shop check the span and redrill if necessary. Stay with the heavier ball if you can. You get better pin action with a heavier ball. If that doesn't work, a wrist brace might help. Does your dad's ball have finger inserts? Having to gorilla grip the ball sounds like the fit is off. Is the ball fingertip or conventional?