Hey everyone...

I threw in a tournament this weekend(and took second place by the way), and I did something different. First let me say that I have worked extremely hard on having a natural swing, not muscling the ball and staying behind the ball and following through, and things have been working great.

When I threw in the tourny, I shot on a modified viper pattern. I found that if I slowed my ball down and threw my Kinetic pearl while standing with my RF on the 25th board, threw to the 7-9 board, the ball would work through the oil and hit the pocket.

The question is was this a good thing to do? Should I have used a different ball or just taken a different line or both and threw at my normal speed?

Howie, you took second in a tournament.
You found a stance and breakpoint that your ball hit the pocket.
And, you ask if you should do something different?

Not satisfied with second, huh?

Good, competitive spirit.

Well, of course I would have wanted first, but I am happy with second too. I was just wondering if it is a good idea to change ball speed.

If balls rolled into the pocket were carrying, then I don't think you should have changed anything. Like Dennis said, you found a line that worked and rode it to second in a tournament.

Did you leave some opens that you should have picked up? That would be the more likely difference between finishing first or second.

Good bowling!

Of course it's good howie. You did whatever you needed to do in order to do your best. That's how it should be. If you are questioning your ball speed then go back to your normal speed with the knowledge and confidence that if need be you can slow down your ball speed.

Now if you're contemplating changing your ball speed at the houses, or on the patterns that you usually bowl in/on, it's really a matter of matching it to the pattern. Some patterns your usual speed will be fine, while others might require a higher or lower speed.

Well I don't think throwing it faster would be something that I would consider doing. I think if I did, I would end up muscling my ball and the ball wouldn't react the same.

I came to the conclusion that I'm not a cranker and I should just bowl like I do right now and just clean up my game and my reaction will be stronger than if I tried to turn it hard. I do know that when I slowed everything down I threw the same as normal speed, just slower. Duh.

A faster speed is something that you should be able to do, and you won't muscle the ball if you do it right. You simply have to move back on the approach and move the ball higher in your stance. After that you initiate your swing as usual. If absolutely need a little bit more speed on the ball you resort to muscling it a little on the downswing, but that is a last resort.

slowing the ball speed gives the time for the ball to work. Often have to do this with pearl balls otherwise it would fly past the break point. But this works because the pearl balls have ALOT of energy after they break to smash into the pocket.

There are MANY MANY ways to play this game, you just unlocked another trick you can use with your main swing isn't working. I do it all the time for ugly lanes.

Howie, first of all, congratulations on getting second. Apparently only one person figured it out better than you did.

From my own experience, I've bowled in tournaments where I've had to practically sling the ball with a "dead hand" (major forward roll, broken wrist and low revs) and where I've had to slow the ball down to 2/3 to 3/4 my normal speed (normally 16-17 had to be 12-13) and to get the ball down quietly so it wouldn't skid to the 6 pin. I've also bowled in tournaments where I had to roll a softer ball slower on one lane and a harder ball faster on the other lane. Mind you I haven't exactly broken scoring records or anything from drastically changing my game at that moment, but I made the most comfortable adjustment I felt I could make.

The key in tournaments is to be the most adaptable, quickest thinker, and you need an element of luck as well. If your game matches the shot, you should be up there in the standings. If it doesn't, you better find a way to adjust to get to the top, and it looks like you did the latter. What it boils down to is that whatever means necessary, that's what you do. And since you took second, then I say you made the wisest and best choice available. It's not easy keeping the speed slow when you're not used to it, but apparently you did it well enough.

Again, congratulations. Cherish the moment.

Thanks for everything guys!