The bowling thread

I had no idea that bowling lingo is as much a foreign language as poker chat, but I probably should have known that.

 

You sound like you're on basically the same team as me.

One of my teammates is one of the best bowlers in town with multiple 300s.

Another teammate is also very strong and has thrown a 300. Just to keep me humble he rolled a 783 series this week. Kept my 600 in perspective.

 

I have some hook, starting on the right-hand side and rolling into the 1-3 pocket. Took me a while to get the courage to go far enough right that I could take advantage of the oil pattern without worrying about dropping it in the gutter.

 

I only have one ball but it is drilled to fit my hand, which for anyone who wants to start playing regularly is a must-have. I learned pretty quickly you can't rely on lane balls. I was fortunate that my first league gave you a ball at the end of the season as part of the league fees.

I've always been sorta comfortable with the 10. It's the 7 and 4-7 that gave me real trouble. For a long time I didn't trust myself to stay right and slide it into the back corner. Part of the process of picking up a new skill every few weeks.

 

Yes, no open frames. In the 10th as long as you strike or spare with your first two balls the last one doesn't matter.

I got to 21 clean frames last week before I left the 4-7 -- and whiffed the spare. Next frame I left the 4-7 again -- and whiffed the spare again. Started to worry I wouldn't get the 150 I needed to finish the 600 but I rallied late.

It's not easy when you're still learning. Think of how many times you throw what felt like one of your best balls of the night and you leave some crazy split. Even the very best in my league don't throw a clean game every time out.

 

Grandparents and parents all bowled -- Detroit was one of the hotbeds back in the day. We'd all watch Chris Schenkel and the PBA Tour. I wanted to be Mark Roth. Now I look like Earl Anthony!

My first league was as an 11 year old at Boca Lanes in Florida. I think I averaged 120 with mom's ball. Eventually bowled with grandma's (drilled for a lefthander) and dad's before getting my own at 16, a cheap rubber model from K-Mart or Sears.

As a senior in high school in California, I was averaging around 140 at Walnut Bowl in Walnut Creek -- but couldn't seem to get a 200 game, always choking at some point. My buddy and I got the bright idea to enter the Nor Cal Junior Championships in the handicap division. The regionals were in Fremont or Hayward, and I promptly tossed a 206 right out of the gate and 1210 (handicap included) six-game set, which sent me to Stockton for the state. (I returned to my normal mediocrity there, unfortunately.)

However, that impelled me to get the local bowling shop to sell me a top-of-the-line Ebonite Gyro, expertly drilled. And suddenly, I developed a real nice Dick Weber-like hook that I could throw on nearly any lane conditions at the time. If I could roll it over the second arrow, all I had to do was adjust my approach left or right to compensate. I averaged 187 on the house lanes (including my career-best 258 and 660 series) and bowled in a scratch league with WIBC professional Nikki Gianulias. I averaged at least one 200 a week that season, which seems more impressive the older I get.

But that spring, I fell while skiing and severely cut the knuckles of my right hand on the edge of the skis (because I was stupid enough to not wear gloves on a warm day). Since then, I haven't had the strength in my fingers to properly release a heavy ball, particularly one drilled for fingertip grips. I never graduated to the reactive resin or urethane balls. I've been told they're way easier to control -- and the way they're weighted makes them rotate through the pins better than my trusty "16-pound doorstop." (It's in the original bag in the garage, gathering dust.)

Back then, you might have two balls -- one for dry and one for oily. Now, guys are carrying racks of balls. It's just changed so much that I wouldn't know where to start.

Just a few years ago, Dad bowled in a senior league in North Carolina. Even though his finger span is way smaller than mine, I asked to borrow his urethane for two games and tossed a 180 with it (once I figured out that I needed to release it thumb up without adding lift and the thing would naturally hook to the pocket).

Still, there's something about a perfect pocket shot that clears the deck. And the frustration of throwing a perfect pocket shot and leaving a solid 10.

 

There's some of that, but I'll tell you where bowlers get really, really deep in the woods -- the balls. They affect your game so dramatically, it can be an obsession. It goes without saying, if anyone plans on bowling on a weekly basis, I'd strongly recommend at least buying one good ball.

When I'd get a new strike ball, I'd sit there with my pro-shop guy for an hour to 90 minutes, getting the finger pitch and span dimensions down to perfection. It not only helps your score, rolling a perfectly drilled ball is like shaking hands with a friend.

Bowling.com Bowling Ball Selector

 

I always called it a Brooklyn.

 

If someone asks if you're a stroker or cranker, you know too much about bowling. (For the record, stroker.)

 

Cranker here. And yeah, BT, I've heard both used.

 

SHUT THE FUCK UP DONNY.

 

Ah being a child of the 70's bowling was a staple of a young kids' life in my neck of the woods, Chris Fleming calling the US Open from the Akron Lanes. We had a great afterschool bowling league in 5th and 6th grade where we took a bus to the lanes, got french fries and cokes while we bowled in the league. Highlight of my bowling career was a 500 series (3 games) with a 221. To this day best game and series of my life. Good times. Congrats on your progress.