How the hell do you get better????

[Isom]

I bowl in 5 leagues currently, in 5 different houses. It's likely I will average 230 in all 5 houses (maybe a little less at Cedar Creek, although it's a house shot, it's so over and under that it gives me trouble sometimes). Everywhere that you go, the lanes are easy and getting easier (as if they weren't easy enough).

With that said, how do you get better at this sport? Where do you go, to practice and challenge yourself? We complain that joe bowler can only play up 10 but when joe bowler walks in almost any alley thats where the shot is, up 10. So can we really blame him if that's all he really knows to do? Where can you practice where the conditions are challenging so that you can test yourself other than going to nationals etc or regionals... spending hundreds of dollars to bowl on shots that you have NEVER seen before only to get your head bashed in by people that have had much experience on similiar conditions?

[Martin "BLUFLAME" Seay]

Chase I believe that the reason you may see scores down are because most bowlers don't know how to adjust. The shot is easy but it doesn't hold forever as Isom stated. Many bowlers would be surprised that the pattern you start practice on 15 min before league is already changed by the time league starts. Average bowlers have there high games the 1st game and maybe 2nd, if their comfort zone line hasn't dried up. The skill comes in with the adjustment. All in all the purpose of the game is to finish with more pins than the other person. No matter how easy or hard the lanes are.

[C.Moler]

Isom....C.Moler here and I am going to tell you how to get the challenge that you desire......Jioning a PBA ExperienceLeague or sport bowling league. They give you a different look every week using 5 different sport patterens that the pro's bowl on ranging in pattern length and oil volume you should find your challenge and if you don't let me know I have a few other ideas.....

[Isom]

did that this past summer... only problem was, the alley only oiled the lanes that were being used for league with the patterns. so after league when we wanted to practice more on the pattern there were no lanes with fresh oil to bowl on only the lanes that had already been bowled on by the league. as we all know the patterns get easier after then have been bowled on and broken down so the practice just wasnt valuable. the fresh is when most people find them difficult and thats what we wanted and needed to practice on.

And not to sound like im whining, but why do i have to pay the pba 25 bucks a week to practice 3 games? i would rather, on my own time, just be able to walk into a bowling alley and simply get valuble practice in without it being a competition.

also, since i posted this thread, many of the bowlers have posted great ideas and told me of certain alleys that were willing and able to put down difficult shots for us to practice on

[C.Moler]

Yea that is true I have a house near me that offers me 99 cents per game and will apply any pattern including the current "National" Pattern for an additional five dollars you're going to have to befriend some of the house staff and even the owner if you can and just talk with them about your goals...Also there are houses that will post practice times for a particular pattern in which you just pay for your regular linage.

[Chase]

Can someone please explain to me what "over and under" means?

[Isom]

Hey Chase.... over and under means when you miss a lil inside your target your ball skids wayyyy more than you would ever have expected it to, and when you miss a lil outside your target it wants to hook wayyyy more than you would have normally expected it to. When most people claim they are experiencing this, they arnt missing by much, maybe a couple of boards. A good example of this right now for most people would probably be the shot at Metro Lanes.

[Chase]

ok, I get it now. Thank you!

[Isom]

Let me correct myself... it can also be the opposite reaction, where when you get extreme skid when you miss outside your mark a lil and extreme hook when you miss inside.... I think most people, experience it the way I first explained it the most because most houses today oil the inside heavily and leave the outside dry.

[Randy Russell]

Isom is dead on, more often it's the first description. Usually it's not the same for everyone, because ball reaction is all about matchup. For example someone might get a lot of over/under at Metro, but not at BZ Lilburn...and another bowler might get over/under at Lilburn, but not Metro.

It's all about what rock you're throwing and how you're rolling it. Generally a more end over and roll will help even out an over/under reaction.