Hmm, invite Dennis over, and he asks "Can I bring my guns?"

I would re-think the invitation.

Well, knowing you, you'd look for mushrooms and dandelions to eat. I'll take a grouse, pheasant or turkey anytime. Wild Boar is pretty tasty too.

It's really neat when the Boar charges you, and all you see is the 3' grass parting. Better make that shot good, or he gnaws on your leg.

If there's one thing PBAX has done for me it's taught me to handle the mental aspect of the game better. On a house shot I'd be upset if I didn't come up with a 200 game or at least average that. Bowling on these patterns, I didn't really have an expectation for score even though the goal was to beat your opponent. If I converted my spares I was in no position to complain is basically how I looked at it. It got frustrating not to make those spares but to be honest, the league was basically a big opportunity to practice using my spare ball at just about all my spares. I've gained something, I can tell you that much.

man yeah guns are a must in alabama. they teach hunting in schools here. plus boats is a must too. dad has a 14 acre lake in front of his house that is his. so i fish a lot. you should see this thing. it took a year or so to build and its just amazing to have that in your front yard. i mean its like 30 yards to the water and pier. believe me, you would fit right in here in alabama.

i asked my coach if he knew of one and he said that he did. the next time i come up to huntsville he would have all of the info. so i'm hoping next time i can get in on it. i want to try everything i can on this. i know i'm working on myself right now but learning how the lanes work too is a must. you never can tell when you just mite need it.

oh btw alabama has 15 robert trent golf courses all over the state. also the one down from my house. its called deer run and its one of the best i've ever played. it has one hole (14th i think) that is straght up a hill. i mean up! par 3 also. much fun. plus golf is the state sport or should be. golf teams in just about every school too. no bowling that i know of in schools. but golf is there. really we have 6 golf courses in just the northwest side of alabama. there's 3 in huntsville alone. which is on the east side but you seen what i mean

question? in this league do you work on a different pattern each week or do you work on it longer ?

I assume you are talking about PBAX leagues? From what I have seen, there are 5 patterns, and each one is laid down for 3 consecutive weeks. At, least, that is common here. In addition, each pattern is laid down by some houses on an alternate night so bowlers can practice on them. So, you can get some pretty good exposure to the oil patterns. I routinely bowl 5-6 games each week in the practice session off nights, rather than just in a league.

It all depends on what the league decides. They could pick to bowl on one pattern all year or mix in more. I've bowled in one that used 2 and one that used 4. This year we're using 4 for 8 weeks each and then the 5th we'll use for the championship round the last week.

Some of the PBAX leagues around me do a pattern for one week and just cycle through them. Some include the patterns from a couple of the Majors as well. There is only one center I know of that puts the patterns down for practice on a different day, and that's early Sunday morning, but I think they offer some good prices per a game.

interesting. do they show you how the pattern is set up? do they show you how to attack it? one maintenance guy said that they use a different oil machine to lay down the different oil patterns. thats interesting to know.