4 months ago I talked about our 3rd week on the PBA conditions.  Well, we are 12 weeks into the season with four remaining and I have managed to sanction 59 players.  This is a 32 person singles league so having 59 guys sanctioned over the course of 12 weeks is pretty impressive if you ask me.  It means that our ideas and the implimentation of those ideas has been a stunning success.  Based on the success of this league, I have been able to develop some seperate tournament ideas and get great feedback.  We'll be running 3 large scale tournaments next year.  A doubles, Trios, and a youth scholarship event. 

As for my performance in the league, it has been in a funk since I won the week 3 event on the Cheetah.  I've really had struggles in the match play portion only advancing past the first match 3 times.  In my losses, I have bowled well enough to finish higher on the standings sheet because points are issued based on losing score in order of highest to lowest. 

I currently sit in 11th place about 4000 points behind first place.  A win this week on the DWC condition would obviously help my chances of finishing in the top 10.  Top 10 is a good goal considering I entered into the league with a 217 average and must use that in an 80% of 230 hanicapped league.  I want to prove to those high rollers who said handicap would have a negative affect on scratch players that if you're good enough, it doesn't matter if handicap is involved.  Currently a 181 average player is leading the league.  He has also now been re-rated to 191.  A 168 average sits in 2nd.  He has been re-rated to 186.  A 171 average sits in 3rd.  He has not been re-rated.  Behind these 3 are a slew of 200 plus average players just waiting for the re-rate to hurt their chances of winning and force the lower average players back down the standings ladder.  With four weeks to go and 3000 points available to a winner from the #1 seed (happened twice this year) the standings can change quickly.  One player was leading after week 9 with a 175 average.  He was re-rated to his 205 average from his Saturday morning league.  A couple times I suggested he should re-rate himself so he could be honest to himself and his competitors.  He laughed at me pretty much.  So after week 9, he was re-rated to 205 which I am allowed to do based on their Dec. 31 Averages.  He has not won a match since.  He has dropped to 7th place in just 3 weeks.  Karma is a b****.   

As for my regular Wednesday night league, I am averaging 214.  I have shot 742, 711, and 721 in back to back weeks and our team is in first place.  I have been throwing a Twisted Fury and refuse to throw anything else right now because that ball is a beast in the pocket.  Carries everything. 

Other than that, I'm excited about bowling and can't wait to get to the next season.  Normally, I am about tired of it right now, but I have been enjoying my PBA league and everybody else seems to be enjoying it as well. 

I speak of bowling ball dynamics and drill layouts.  It all makes sense because for the first time in a long time, we are finally able to face conditions that demand the ability to match up to the lanes with equipment.  Granted, it puts a lot of value on making the right ball selection versus making great shots, but lets be honest, this is the way of the game today.  And it isn't going to change anytime soon. We all pretty much agree that any medium to high end ball with a typical label drilling can score on a house shot.  In fact, you might not even notice the difference between two balls drilled entirely differently on a THS.  The taper of the oil pattern dictates your balls reaction. 

This topic is more appropriate to me these days now that we have faced 3 seperate PBA conditions.  The Scorpion, Viper and most recently, the Cheetah.  On all three, I have encountered a different set of issues and with each passing week, I realize the adjustments that need to be made and make them quicker.  For instance, on the Scorpion, I lined up well early, rolled 3 good games over 200 and then couldn't get the ball back to the pocket on game 4.  And I lost.  Being clueless, I assumed that the high end of the house was just tighter than the low end and that justified the reaction I was getting.  However, I was wrong. 

Week 2, we played on the Viper and once again, I got lined up early.  Won my first match.  Then migrated to the the high end of the house and had similar problems as in week 1.  The ball just wasn't cutting like it did in games 1 and 2 and I lost in game 3.  Then it hit me...Carry down!  I hadn't taken into account carry down.  I don't normally encounter carry down until 5 or 6 games into a normal tournament, but with the higher volume of oil, carry down appears much sooner and is more deadly to the reaction of your ball.  Also, my suggested ruling of the high end being tighter was retarded. 

Week 3.  I wasn't going to make the same mistakes.  I was prepared for it on the Cheetah pattern.  Game 1 I shoot 259.  Feeling really good and the ball is biting hard on the backend.  I used a Mo Rich Labryinth with a variation of the RICO drilling that has become so popular.  It puts the pin in the palm of your hand and kicks the CG at a 45 degree angle from the pin down by the thumb.  A weight balance hole is drilled to make the ball fall within legal limits down by the thumb and to the right of the CG.  The ball reaction should be very rolly smooth.  It won't jump on the dry and it won't overly skid on the wet.  The ball is constantly rolling.  This drilling is normally performed on a solid surface with a slight polish. 

Because of my quailfying place, I move to the high end of the house in game 2.  And since I was the high qualifier, I got a bye.  I noticed by about frame 5 that the ball wasn't cutting as it did in game 1.  I immediately changed to an earlier rolling ball with more bite to cut through the carry down.  This pretty much resolved my hook issue and I shot 211, but it still wasn't the right ball yet.  I went back to the Mo Rich and moved into the carry down.  I shot a 245.  I set the ball down early onto the lane so it would have more time to cut through the carry down.  With this method of delivery the ball still had energy remaining so it also improved my carry.  I won.  On game four, I encountered an over-under reaction with my current equipment setup.  I assumed this was a result of the track area drying up.  I changed balls to something that would be clean through the heads, but also give me a smooth transition to the pocket.  The result was a 190, but a victory nonetheless.  Now I had made it to the semi's and was headed back to the game 2 pair where I shot 211.  My opponent opened in the first 5 frames and I struck the first fiver so I tried to get lined up for the final trying a couple different angles with one ball.  I found my groove with the same ball from game 4.  I played the ball a little further outside than in previous games, slowed my ball speed and tore up the back half of the game.  I shot 202.  The final had arrived and as my opponents appeared to get even more lost on the lanes, I maintained shooting 213 and winning this weeks event.  This catapulted me from 9th in the standings to 1st.  I averaged 220 for the day.  My average in the league is now 205 for 13 games versus my book average of 217.  I've attached the web address to view our standings.  http://www.centerbowl.com/PBA%20Experience.htm

It sucks that for 4 consecutive weeks, we'll be interupted from play due to special events at the center.  Our next competition week is November 18 and we'll be playing on the Chameleon.  This is a pattern I have looked forward to because of the various ways to play the lanes. 

Also, its possible a video was posted of me goofing off by the guy with the fake fish standing in a fake boat on a fake river.  Well, the river is real, but the screen behind the guy is just a blue screen.  Its like taking those pics in Vegas where you put your face on someone elses body.  Yeah, its like that except we do it with big fish.  My brother is actually much smaller than that.  I'd say, maybe 4 foot 8 and 120 pounds.  He didn't happen to mention the booster seat he uses to drive his car did he?  Thats also why he throws 12 pound equipment.