Today marks the beginning of UC Davis Bowling team's tryouts. I'll be bowling today. Format is 8 games a day, 24 games total. Half of your games has to be on the short pattern (36 feet), and long pattern (44 or so ft). Just need some words of encouragement/advice!

Thanks!

Have fun with it. When I was started bowling my freshman year in college, we only had about 8 or 9 guys so we were all on the team. We had tryouts week to week for the tourneys though. First few weeks, I was so nervous, I bowled way below my potential. Then, I thought: "What in the heck am I going? I am better than this." I started having fun with it and my confidence grew in my game. Then I started making the tourneys. By the end of my freshman year, I wasn't just barely making it, I led qualifying a few times.

Ricky it sounds like they are using the new cheetah and shark patterns (shark is unchanged I think) I was talking to Ron Clifton yesterday who said the new cheetah doesn't play like the old cheetah, it is much tighter with an out of bounds outside the 4 board, where the old cheetah had a flat bounce off the gutter. He said one day they had a shot up the 3 board, with no crossing, meaning start the ball on 3 and roll straight up the 3 board, the next day there was no shot on the 3 board, so he was not sure which shot was the right one, but he did say that anyone who tried to play the new cheetah like the old one didn't do very well. He also said the new cheetah had much more oil on the lane and the ball would go much farther than the pattern as a result and carrydown was an issue. So I guess what I'm saying is just because it is a short pattern, don't be afraid to move in a little and try a different line than the traditional straight up the back of the ball go up the outside and let the ball burn out in the pocket shot.

The 44ft pattern may play straight up the 7 or 8 board, so start off there and keep your speed down and let the ball roll, if it hits the 3 pin then move parallel far enough so the ball makes it to the pocket on the next shot.

Best of Luck Ricky, I know you have worked very hard to make the team, now is the time for all of your hard work and practice to speak for you, so relax and let it happen and don't force the ball, just because it doesn't hook, don't try to make it hook, remember it is not you, it is the lane, so adjust to it.

Let me know how you do.

Little update:
So I decided to tryout saturday instead of friday, and found out how to play the patterns, sort of.

I first started on the long oil pattern, around 42 feet, and found I had to roll the ball pretty straight on the 12th board, and if that didn't work, point it to the pocket a little from the ten board. I had some trouble pointing to the pocket, throwing fairly straight since I haven't been doing so all summer due to the lesser amount of oil/pattern length. I would miss right quite a few times a game, until suddenly, at the last game of the 4 games series, my shoulder, hips and feet weren't lined up correctly. I saved my average with a 200 games.

Short oil was a bit more consistent, but I couldn't find a consistent hook spot. Little in, and it would cross over/through the head and right it would just sail. It was a modified house shot with some out of bounds. I tried to take my hand out of it with some moderate success but speed control was a problem.

Overall, I learned alot of things yesterday about how to play the lanes, and I'm guaranteed to do better today ( 150.75 avg yesterday V__V). Also, my spare games could use plenty of work.

But, there is some even better news: Towards the end of tryouts, our coach (Nick Morgan) decided to come out and watch us bowl for the last couple frames. He went over the recap sheets and bowled after too. I wasn't going to bowl, but I wanted to just focus on where my feet slid, where I hit the arrows, and my breakpoint. Focus on those three things. I threw a couple shots, and he decided to shorten my first step and have a more "aggressive" pushaway, and that keyed many things for me. I was more accurate, better roll, and it felt good and repeatable. I could cup it more if I wanted to, or change my axis rotation if I felt I needed to.
Overall, I just wished he would have came before tryouts =P. But I'm bowling in half an hour, so I hope things are bound to be improving. I'll fill you guys in how it goes!

Where do you bowl league and where will you bowl your home matches for UC Davis. I live in that area. Didn't know UC Davis had a Bowling team. What is your average for your leagues that you bowl..

They have a bowling center and they are associated with the Greater Sacramento Area USBC. Sacramento being about a 30 min drive from Davis. However the college center runs just one league in the fall. It is also very difficult for USBC directors to get into the UC Davis campus making it very difficult for us to serve them as an association. Other then that there is no sancitoned bowling, other then going outside the University. Which, when I was in college, was tough to get to. I bowled in the Memorial Union hall which had like 24 lanes in its basement. Never remembered paying USBC or ABC or WIBC dues then, so the leagues were probably not santioned at the time.

So Ricky will have to ansewr the rest, but the ability to bowl leagues is severely compromised for him, due to distance and mobility.

Erin

Uhmmm Erin has pretty much got it down. Our Memorial Union has 16 lanes, and our home matches (We run two tourneys, the Reno tourney in two weeks and one tournament in Davis which I will get back to you with the date.) are in the MU. We do a fundraiser league which I don't believe is sanctioned, and fall is a bit shorter since we start the league a bit later. Anyone can join (in fact, we encourage as many people to join as possible, since the lanes are never quite full). My average, depending on what shot they put out, can range from 170 - 195. 170 with the longer pattern (40 foot, pretty flat), and 195 for the house shot that our manager uses. I think the one league in the fall that Erin is a senior league, but I'm not sure of it.

I didn't want two huge posts, so I decided to create two .

So today's tryouts were better in certain areas, but also highlighted what I needed to practice on. I just wanted to note what I need to work on and what I learned.

I started with short oil this time, hoping long oil would break down when I got over there, so I'd have some swing room. First game out was a 211, a really good game for me. Knew the good the shots when I threw them, and knew not so good ones once they left my hand. I straightened out, and went (foot-target) 17 - 8 with more speed than yesterday so i could let it skid more through the front. Second game I lost it, and just hit on it more instead of "being nice to it" and was in the 130's. Second game was better, but I still couldn't find the look like I did on the pair. Moved another pair and did a 140ish game, and wasn't pleased. My spares were horrible. I'd pick most of my multi-pin spares, but splits and some single pins were horrible. Whenever I picked up my spare ball, I would hesitate - no confidence in spare game.

Moved to long oil, and did much better. I knew where to play so I started there. I had two 200 + (242 and 20-something)games, but that was due to my strike game being on. Stood on 19 and through to a target of 11 at the dots and breakpoint of 11 (really straight). Whenever I got enough hand and didn't overturn it, I would strike. Carry percentage was great. I literally stayed in the same spot for four games. Moved sometimes when I lost it, but it was because I threw bad shots. Last game TICKED me off. Had my strike game going again, but lane was a little oilier than others so I would leave a weak ten if I got it out or not enough hand. I don't think I made one ten pin (out of four). I hesitated and it would fall into the gutter 5 feet before the ten pin. I ended up with a 160, which could have easily been a 200 game.

So I stayed after 8 games, and decided to work on my ten pin. I stood on my target and just made it mostly forward roll, and it hooked a bit and hit the ten for four times straight, but I couldn't do it the same way consistently. (I would sometimes hook at it and it would hook back from the 1 board, or go straight.) Towards the end, I just tried reaching to the pin/target and not putting alot of hand, and it went fairly straight enough to get it out. Plus, it was easier to repeat. I gotta remember...i'm just trying to knock a single pin down, nothing fancy needed.


sorry for the long post =/.

P.S. Averaged 150 yesterday. Averaged 170 today, with less consistentcy =/

I was asking if you bowl any leauges at any of the nearby houses.. Woodland and Vacaville would be the closest.
I was going to practice at Davis one day just to get on some different lanes and I couldn't even find the alley.