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Oh, those precious minutes of
practice before league! There are so many things you need to do
with it. Sometimes it's long enough and sometimes it's not. You've
got to get your drink, fight for your table, shuffle the cards,
greet everybody, and oh yeah, find the shot.
I am, of course, assuming here that you are being treated like the
athlete you are and bowling in a place which recognizes that bowling
is a sport and therefore you have adequate time to warm up your
body and prepare for competition. This truly is not the time to
do all those things in the first paragraph. That should have happened
long before you hear the call, "Greetings and welcome to the members
of the Splits Happen League. Your lanes are coming on for your practice
session."
Before that announcement, you have checked all of your balls to
be sure they fit and placed the ones you intend to try first on
the rack. The others are close by so when you need to go to them
in practice, they are available and not in a bag far away (like
in the trunk or the garage). You have your shoes on and have checked
the approaches properly, your towel is in place, your drinking water
is ready. You have stretched your body and allowed one of those
well-fitting balls to swing your arm several times.
Let's talk about that 'checked all of your balls to be sure they
fit' comment. Just like you are wise enough to know that you must
go with whatever game you brought with you tonight, you also should
know that whatever adjustments you have made to the fit by taking
tape out or adding tape must be done to ALL your equipment, not
just the ones on the rack. What if those balls on the rack fit you
but not the lane? You cannot afford to watch other people warm up
while you have to make a ball (that you left in your bag because
you didn't think you'd need it) fit your hand.
I can hear some of you saying you wouldn't take that time. You're
thinking "Oh, my thumb will swell/shrink in a minute and then I
can throw it better". In the meantime, you are getting bad reads
because you are compensating for a ball that doesn't fit by not
putting your thumb or fingers all the way in or squeezing to hold
on. Either way, you can't throw the ball like you will when it fits,
therefore whatever information you obtain is tainted. You have cleared
your mind of work clutter and traffic trash from the day. You have
decided to make the best shots you can make and take your chances.
You wait patiently by the monitor, as physically and mentally ready
as you can be.
IT'S PRACTICE TIME
There are several things you need to find out as quickly as possible.
Use your practice time wisely. Even if you don't have time to try
everything on the list before the arrows come up, be sure that you
try them early in the competition to see what the lane really wants
you to do. It is not in your best scoring interest to assume that
searching for the right match-up ends when practice does.
1. Choose the line.
2. Choose the ball.
3. Try different axis rotations.
4. If one of them works, try another. It might be even better!
5. Lay the ball down early.
6. Try a little loft. Either laying the ball down early or lofting
it will be the most effective to a) get to the pocket or b) carry.
There is a distinction there. Getting to the pocket and pinging
back row is comforting ("Well, I am in the pocket every time") and
frustrating ("but I just can't carry"). Change something, particularly
if other people are carrying. The best way to know if the lane wants
early laydown or a little loft is to try both. What's going to happen,
you might not carry?
7. If you have found a shot, move. Try to find another one. I don't
mean a two board move. I mean go to a totally different area of
the lane. If you can play down 8, can you swing 15? That's like
having a savings account. You'll have somewhere to go if the shot
you thought you found goes away or is not scoring well.
How do you decide which shot to use? There are several considerations:
Which one will carry best?
Pay attention to your how your strikes fall. Does this house carry
better light? If so, you'll want to be a little left of perfect.
If high hits carry and your most common error is to pull it, don't
move. That would mean when you make your most common error, you
have a good chance of striking. If you hit flush do you leave back
row? Then don't hit flush. Line up to hit the pocket at the highest
carry percentage for that house.
Which one will last the longest?
It depends on how many people are playing there, what type of equipment
they are using, and something you might not be able to know, what
type of oil is being used. You can know, however, that temperature
affects the behavior of oil dramatically. If it's cold the oil won't
move as much or as quickly as it does when it's hot. Don't judge
the temperature of the center by how hot you are while you're bowling.
A more accurate assessment of what temperature the oil is responding
to is if the hundreds of fans watching you bowl are in parkas.
Which one will everyone else play?
That would depend on what type of bowler they are. If you are crossing
with crankers, they'll choose a different line than a tweener. Just
pay attention during practice and prepare some options. Sometimes
in practice you can't tell where someone intends to play. If you
have made a decision based on what you have seen in practice and
they change lines, you could be surprised instead of prepared.
Who's on the pair with you?
If the folks on your pair are cranker types, they'll be swinging
the ball a lot or a little and probably playing inside. If you want
to play inside, you'll be in there with them and the shot might
change very quickly and a lot. If you choose to play outside of
them, when you get ready to move, you might have to make a big move
left and go around them. Keep in mind that men usually break the
lane down diagonally and women generally break the lane down north
and south.
If you are playing with straighties or tweeners and have something
inside, you might want to start there and then stay ahead of them
moving in on top of you. If you have to play where they are playing,
be aware of quick or drastic lane transition. If folks are playing
all over the lane, stay alert.
Please note your comfort zone was not a consideration about where
to play.
If you only have time in your abbreviated practice session to try
forward roll, don't bowl defensively. "Well, I sort of found a shot
with forward roll. What if it's worse with side roll? Better not
change anything." Use the early frames to try all the options. Experimenting
to find a better line is worth the low count or open you might encounter.
Remember, you can't start over but you can start right here and
make a new beginning. You do not want to drive home wondering what
would have happened if... |
