Mark, the manager and I have a similar way of thinking. We have mutual respect for each other because I have worked in a bowling center and he knows that I know the mess he goes through and also because we are both good bowlers. He has the fairest shot in town, and probably the most consistent. That is his pride. He is a down-and-in bowler who struggles in carry contests, but it's not about his ego. It's about being as fair as possible across the board. When the top bowler in the area complains that the shot is too easy, you perk up your ears. I told him it was easy as well because there was no way I should've averaged nearly 224 bowling once a week.

Cryssen, it's good to hear your spare game is solid. That is more important than striking despite the fact that it's both more fun to throw strikes and is easier on the joints. But if you're "close", then you're probably just struggling in your mental game a bit is all, and not in a negative way. Maybe it's the fact that you don't pick up something as quick, or perhaps you don't believe that you threw the ball well and the lane didn't take the shot you had but you talk yourself out of a quality shot. Whatever it is, it should come with experience and just plain realizing if you made a quality shot or not. Take some time to practice one day and throw ball after ball after ball and read your game. Confidence is tough to build but so easy to lose.

Consistency is definitely one of the hardest aspects of bowling, but that's when "less is more" comes into play. For me, I know taking four steps instead of the five I used to take simplifies a lot of my issues. It allows me to have better timing which in turn improves my balance at the line. The reason I mention this is because five steps is simply adding something I don't need in my game and even complicates things sometimes. Keeping it simple allows for consistency to become easier.

My spare game is a little better than it has been in the past, which I'm happy about. In most cases even if I miss it's only by a few inches, which is kinda good becausause I'm close but also frustrating because of the same reason. I'm struggling with my grip right now and am in the process of getting it worked out, so for now I can blame some of my inconsistencies on that(I'm pretty good at admitting when it's me).

I understand how a bad grip can wreak havoc on your game. It's not a poor excuse unless it's habitual. But you said you are working on it so that's good. Among the top things you must have a high comfort level in your game, grip is up there in the top 2 or 3. If the ball doesn't feel right, even if it's the right ball for the conditions, it won't mean squat because you will be fighting the feel.

And FWIW, get your grip checked about every 5 years because your body still changes long after you stop growing, especially when you get to your 30's. Your joints start to stiffen, maybe you broke an arm at 7 years old and it might come back on you, etc.

I completely agree with Ron C.'s assessment of bowlers. In one of his tips he's talks very briefly able what he judges to be a good, average, and below average bowler. He says you should gauge them by how they do on PBA and different sport shots. That average would relect a much truer assessment of their ability instead of their average or easy house shots.

my coach called a house shot an adult bumper league

Speaking of coaching, how often should I work with a coach? I would think if I went too often, without time to work on what I learned, it would be pointless parroting on his part.

Truer words can't be spoken. I've been around this sport long enough to tell the difference between a good bowler and an average bowler, even on a house shot. You might not see the weaknesses right off, but be patient and the wolf will appear from the sheep's clothing. My leadoff bowler last year was like that. His spare game was awful, but when you have 5 boards to shoot at and some hand, a 205+ average doesn't take a lot of effort because strikes come relatively easy. When the funnel went away, well, so did the strikes and in came the splits, ugly leaves, and frustrations.

As for me, well, I can hold my own on a variety of shots. Even shots that aren't conducive to my game or scoring I usually can hang in there at the least and not come out looking like a fool. I need to gauge myself at the present, though, because I've grown leaps and bounds as a person, not just as a bowler, in the past 3 years and my mental game is way, way better than it was "when I thought I was good." I'm far from "awesome" but I have proven to myself that I can fare well just because I can hang in there with my spare game. That why we, as coaches, preach a strong spare game. You can't always strike, but you can make up for a lack of strikes with spares. The person who fills the most frames usually wins. It's pretty much that simple.

I've heard many people call the typical house shot adult bumpers. The PBA's Cheetah pattern is also referred to as being like that since it is very close to many house shots.

As for how often you should see your coach, that depends on how often you are practicing. If you go at least three times a week I would say at least 2 weeks in between. If you go less it might be monthly, and more practice could be weekly.

Bowled with a teammate for the past few years who falls under this category. Struggled in our league last season but bowled good in others, resulting in him averaging around 197 in our league (where the lanes were never that hard anyway), but over 210 in others, and he felt the need to tell everyone how good he bowls in whatever other leagues. I think he needed at least a 3 board area to get higher scores. His spare shooting (especially 10 pins) is hideous. He bowled in the PBA Experience league over the summer. I couldn't bowl in it due to a conflict with what day it was, but I looked at his average on the recap sheets at the lanes. He ended up with an average in the 160's on the PBA patterns. I wasn't too surprised.

Mark

I think I alluded to this in another thread some time back (and, while talking with the manager, made a similar statement), but there are certain signs of good bowlers; a strong spare game, the ability to adjust and the ability to read the pins to name a few right off the top of my head. Adjusting doesn't just mean "getting to the pocket", but reading how the ball carries the pocket and reacts throughout the lane. The spare game is self-explanatory. And, truly, a strong spare game is a testament to a bowler's mental game. How well can you shake off that ringing 10 and pick up the spare? How well can you fight of struggling to carry and make spares until you can carry? How well can you stay in the hunt with a low-scoring pace and tell yourself you're doing the best that the lanes will allow you to do?

Experience certainly helps, but it's not the be all of judging a good bowler. I know plenty of experienced bowlers who aren't anything better than average and I know relatively inexperienced bowlers who are much better than average. The key is smarts. Using your noodle for other than involuntary muscle actions helps in this game. There are certain hints on a lane you can read and make a wise adjustment. I still make wrong adjustments myself from time to time, but bowling is as much an art as it is a science and if the pros make mistakes, then it's pretty evident amateurs (like me) certainly will make them as well. The key, always, is to minimize your mistakes and capitalize on your opportunities.

Another part of the mental game? Addition by subtraction. That means knowing when to take your head out of the game and let your body do the work. That's the hardest thing for anyone to do, but if you can do that most of the time, you'll see your consistency increase by leaps and bounds.

Sounds a lot like me lol. The difference is I don't bowl well in one house and complain when I don't do as well in another. I expect it to be that way and I'm aware of the fact that 3 boards of room is my usual need in order to score. I can also admit when I'm given more room and whether or not that's my reason for scoring.

That said, I did a PBAX league in the Summer, had some ups and downs but ended up at 184. I'm somewhat happy about that but the league wasn't sanctioned and the lane surface in combination with the oil machine did not allow them to put down the pattern correctly. So it's quite possible my scores were up or down due to that inconvencience. Now, I'm in a fall PBAX league at a different house that has Pro Anvilane and the newst technology in laying down these oil patterns. We're two weeks into it, the first week was 159 average. I took a different approach at it(Shark pattern) the second week in an attempt to play the shot correctly. I feel I did just that, but was struggling because of a recent grip change. I managed to average 160 to keep my average of 159 in the league. If I can get my grip sorted out soon I feel I can average 170+. I'd like to do as good as or better than in the summer but due to the differences I think 184 is a bit of a long shot from how good I really am.