8-2-07   Be prepared before you go bowl a tournament.......

     I'm going to talk about a variety of things that have to do with yourself bowling tournaments.  The reason I would like to talk about it, is because I see alot of people who bowl in tournaments that don't prepare themselves properly in one way or another.  Below is a list of some of the problems that I  see.

1. Bowlers look lost and confused

2. Bowlers never read the entry form

3. Bowlers never ask questions

 

Bowlers look lost and confused:   

     The reason that I want to talk about this situation first, is because it's the first thing I see with bowlers.  Many bowlers are not prepared and others do not use their head.   They ask you stupid questions like "Where are the entry forms"   or  "Where is the tournament standings"  when all they have to do is open their eyes and take a look around.  When I see people ask me this, I begin to wonder what in the heck is wrong with these people. Bowlers need to take a look at their surroundings before asking questions that make yourself look like a dum-dum.

 

Bowlers never read the entry form:

     First of all, this is the most common problem bowlers have.   Their excuses for not reading them range from time, to just being plain lazy.  Learning from this years USBC Open Championships, reading the entry forms might be the difference between winning a good chunk of change or being disqualified.  Just remember, it doesn't take much time and it could make a difference.  By doing this simple task, it will make you look like a bowling intellect.

 

 Bowlers never ask questions:

     There are good questions and bad questions to ask when you are bowling a tournament. Let's first talk about the ones you shouldn't ask.  If you have bowled in several tournaments, don't ask a question that you already know.  Don't ask a question that you asked the year before, because it makes you look like a dum-dum.  In other words don't ask  stupid questions.   What you should ask  are the questions that may pertain to you. Any question that you don't understand about  the tournament you are bowling is a good one to ask.  Any question  to acquire more knowledge about sport is great too.

     Just remember these things that I pointed out to you. It will definitely help you when you compete in tournaments. More importantly, it will  keep you from looking like a dum-dum.   

      

   11-2-06        Lane Tilt...

    For today's tip we are going to talk about lane tilt. Obviously when lanebeds get installed they are rarely level. Sometimes in bad installations, lanebeds can get more un-level by the constant pounding of bowling balls hitting the surface of the lane. I'm  going to tell you a few stories, what to look out for and how to handle the situation if it ever arises while you are bowling.

   First story I will tell you about is what happened in Corpus Christi at the Bowlers Journal Championships.  An individual who competed in the tournament cried his eyes out and couldn't understand why the end lane, lane 40 was so bad. He bowled 2 sets and basically lambasted us for oiling that lane completely different from all the others. Now this individual, happened to be a 2 time PBA national champion but didn't have the know how or the smarts to figure out that lane 40 had a serious slope problem. So instead he decided to make an ass out of himself.   Funny thing though he showed up the next day, shot a big set, good enough to be in the top 10, shooting his best game on that pair.   We knew that lane 40 had a serious slope problem but what are you going to do. We have only so many lanes to use for the tournament, and to be honest with you  all the lanes were sloped differently.

    Another story I would like to tell is one that happened with me. I took a job about 6 years ago running a little 12 lane bowling center in NW Montana in a town called Libby.  When I got there some of the local bowlers were concerned about lane conditions, that they were inconsistant from night to night. Unfortunately league bowlers want to knock down as many pins as possible, so by doing my job and making people happy I tackled the situation personally. The local association was there for lane inspections to get the lanes certified though our governing body. I asked our mechanic to oil the lanes the way he normally did and proceeded to throw a few shots on every lane. After I did that I asked the person who was to certify the lanes to check the slope of each one like he would ultimately do every year for certification. I told him to write  his information down and not to tell me anything . After he did his inspection I told him that a few of the lanes had a rather bad tilt and possibly one of the lanes wasn't certifiable. Meaning that they weren't level enough to be legal. I told him what I noticed and he looked at me totally astounded by what I told him. Because by throwing the ball down the lane I noticed all the slope problems to a tee. Lane 3 was basically non-compliant, lane 7 had a severe slope down from right to the left side of the lane and lane 11 was virtually going uphill the whole way. Because of these problems, that's  why there was a perception that the lanes were inconsistant night to night, it just depended upon what lanes the bowlers were bowling on basically. Some were level with each other and some were not. That year there was record scores, anything to make your league bowlers happy right.  Oiling the lanes correctly for the bowlers also seemed to help.

   The next story is one which happened at the USBC Masters last week. My friend Mike Karch and I always go down early, prior to us bowling, to watch how the other competitors play the lanes. The first place we usually go watch are the pairs we are going to bowl on. This year basically Mike and I had the same pairs to bowl on. Of course we had lane 3-4. Unfortunate for me because 3-4 probably has the worse problem for lane tilt then maybe any other pair in that building. Because I'm such a lucky person I drew that pair for the third consecutive year. Fortunate for me my 215 was enough to make the first cut, especially after having to bowl my last game there. It definitely was a big help watching other bowlers bowl on that pair earlier. We were watching other competitors bowl there and telling the crowds that were watching them also, exactly what was going to happen to them on the pair. Every Right handed bowler, was light in the pocket on lane 4, and missed the headpin to the left on lane 3. It was totally reversed for the left-handed players eventhough it didn't look quite as bad.

   Now remember today's tip............when you bowl and each lane is different, chances are it is just a lane tilt problem, one might be tilted one way, and the other lane might be tilted another. Don't get mad at your local bowling center and assume that there  is some hanky panky going on, and don't get mad like that touring player from the late 80's did. Things in bowling will never be perfect for you. Lane tilt is a common problem everywhere you go. Especially on flatter oil patterns, because it will be much more noticable to you. Unlike what you encounter when bowling on house patterns.........because on house patterns lane tilt is less noticable.  Then again some lane men at your local  bowling center don't have a clue on how to oil lanes to make you score, probably because chances are they don't really care if the customer is happy or not.  Unlike myself of course..............................