Keeping a secret is notoriously difficult (impossible). F'rinstance, I went and watched 2 team sessions...it didn't help me any but I had information a lot of others do not have access to. PLUS, no matter how few people know the secret, it will no doubt get out. THE ONLY FAIR way is to publish the pattern beforehand. That is the ONLY way to ensure EVERYone has the same information.
As I said...watching quality teams beat up the pattern didn't help me in the slightest. Again, I had 3 sets under 500, and decided after 2 misses early on to go back to shooting simple spares with a straight/backup ball. My first 2 attempts at simple spares using a strike release with my polished Polar Ice went ok...THEN I whiffed a 7 in the moat just in front of the pin and chopped a 6 offa the 10. So I went back to the tactic I KNEW would work. I didn't have many strikes, but my 2 best deliveries left me a rap10 and a 9 pin. I made one equipment mistake in taking my Rogue Cell, which has been a pretty good performer in previous nationals. I prolly should have had the Onyx Vibe in the bag for at least the end of team event. The Rogue was worthless on either condition. Other than that, ever ball I took got on the rack for an appearance. One of the guys I was with was shy about brackets so I walked him through the process and (unfortunately) he used one of my examples...He was the highest scorer in the building in the team event...660+ He should have had more $ in, but that is part of gambling on your bowling I guess.
It was 100°F for the 3 days we were in SYR...Monday afternoon a thundershower rolled through that decreased the temps by 25°.
I will keep going, but the "enhancements" make it more difficult to support this show...[shrug]
_________________________
In decreasing order of reaction:
Brunswick Danger Zone re-release
Radical Beyond Ridiculous 4k+polish
Storm Code Red
Rotogrip Winner - box
Brunswick Gold Rhino Pro shiny
Storm Polar Ice - 4k+polish
avatar is out of date
equipment list too