February 15, 2023 - This week, we are bowling on 41ft Bear Pattern. In my opinion, the new Bear pattern has more forgiveness than the old Bear that was completely flat left to right.
After last week, I wanted to come into this week with a new mindset. Last week, the person who bowled the last 7 games wasn’t me. That person was irrational, frustrated, and made decisions off of emotion.
Starting of the day, I thought the lanes played very slick and I couldn’t get my ball to hook much. I really thought the lanes were tricky so I planned on staying patient and see where the transition went. Game one, I used the new Track Archetype and had a great look. Ended up bowling a very good 215 with a missed spare. The guys on my pair intentionally played out to try and make the pair higher scoring. I just never settled in and finished with an okay start.
Game two is always an adventure. It’s the first time seeing lanes that some one else bowled on. They hooked a bit less than my last pair. I used less speed to have the ball hook more on the slicker pair being able to get to the pocket early in the game but never struck and had a pocket 7-10. I moved a bit left and used more hand to get the ball to finish and struck out for 230 and felt great after two.
Game three, I made the jump to the low end of the center and saw my first sign of adversity. I missed the head pin two times early and was in rough shape after six frames. I decided we needed to move left to get rid of the hang right and used my trusty Paradox Black, of course, and had a 5 bagger to finish the game with 209. I really felt good with how I was bowling and liked my ball choice. Unfortunately, in game three, I realized my ball was way too aggressive and split early in the game.. great. I went to my Black Widow Ghost to save the game but could never string strikes because it still wasn’t the right ball and only bowled 186. Onto the next one.
I honestly felt good until I looked at the scores and I realized I was very much behind pace. I thought the pattern was way tougher than it really is. I switched through multiple balls and talked to my ball rep, Dino. He suggested a pin down Big Foot Hybrid and it opened my eyes which is great because I never really liked the Bigfoot line. The next 3 games I was cruising with this ball bowling 100 over and really felt great. This shows me that making an opinion on a ball before really trying it does not help in the long run.
I kept moving left and hooking the Bigfoot until it started hooking a bit early. I decided to go to the GB4 Pearl. I knew it was probably a bit too responsive to the friction, but I decided I would rather have my ball hook too much down lane then not enough. I finished game seven strong and bowed 221 and felt like I was in a good position. The house is only 24 lanes so game eight, I had to jump to the low-end again. Unfortunately, my ball motion was again sketchy and I limped to the end of the block with another 186.
Ultimately, I finished the day at +124 for 8 which put me about 30 out of cash and 60 out of the top 12 after day 1 of qualifying.
I have a lot of work to do on day 2. I am so happy with how I played today. I was really calm, logical, and kept control of the block. I didn’t attack them the way I should have and that is why the score isn’t there. Hopefully, day 2 I can make those changes and get in the number.
I feel like today was a solid B. I did everything I would like to do in a block. I had patience, made some splits, unfortunately, missed a couple spares, and missed some transition. However, overall it was a solid block and if I do this repeatedly I think I’ll be where I want to be at the end of each event! Let's see what tomorrow holds!
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