Brad AngeloI have to go with
Brad Angelo this week as he is on the top of my head right now.
One of the most talented and versatile players on tour. Brad has
been working hard this week trying to get back up to form. The
last couple months have been very busy for Brad and on top of
that he had a brief battle with a rib injury that interfered
with his tour preparations.
Brad had planned to use the month previous to the start of
the season to get his arsenal and game ready for this years
tour. A slip on the gutter cap during an exhibition pulled a rib
cage muscle and didn't allow Brad to practice. A busy man at
home with his clinics and exhibition schedule. Brad had not had
the opportunity to experiment with his arsenal.
So the first three weeks have been hit and miss with Brad.
You can see his game is not where he wants it to be and his on
lane decisions seem to be confused with. Is it me...the
lanes...or the balls. Well the answer is all three.
I have asked Brad to spend a little overtime the next couple
weeks to regain the confidence he needs to carry him through the
rest of the season. Brad used a couple hours on Friday throwing
some of the Zone cores so we can understand them together. After
the practice the conclusion seemed to be a struggle of angles.
Brad's natural angles are pretty steep through the front part of
the lane. His natural hand wants to rotate around the ball. His
natural speed is medium and prefers to get slower rather than
faster. These characteristics are a natural match-up to oil down
lane as long as there is push in the front.
Brad has been working on a more up the back less rotation
with his hand the last couple years but it is not natural to
him. When he takes a leave of absence and then starts up bowling
again you can see his natural instincts come back. He is quite
aware of this and much of the problem early this season have
been Brad trying to repeat something he is not sharp at. Trying
to do something you are not sharp at doesn't get the job done at
this level.
Brad is a very aggressive type bowler and is quick to
recognize match-ups but has struggled to catch some of these up
to this point this year. This week was a good example. Brad was
crossing with Chris Loschetter and Chris Barnes this week and
while they were attacking the lane more end of end type of
roll...Brad was trying to attack the lane with more hand
rotation and trying to switch balls to find the right match-up.
This went on the entire first round of qualifying and Brad found
himself in 63rd place at only plus 22 when the pace to make
match-play was at plus 200.
The only difference Brad made for the second round of
qualifying was recognizing match-ups. No magic ball no practice
just a little better observation skills, which Brad is usually
very good at. The result was a round of 293 over which may not
have been enough to get Brad into match-play but it was enough
to get Brad going in the right direction. I expect Brad to be
back to his old self real soon. Good timing with next weeks
major. |
