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| Featured Player
of the week |
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Home Town
PBA National Titles
PBA Regional Titles
Audio Interview |
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Parker uses an oval thumb sleeve |
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Parker's PAP is 5 3/4 over and
7/16 up |
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Parker is left handed and uses 16 lbs. |
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| Featured Players Week in review |
Qualifying:
Parker bowled "A" squad
and was +115 after the first round. Parker used the Twisted Fury
with a 4 1/2 inch pin to axis placement. You would see the pin
being about finger height and just left of the ring finger.
There was a weight hole place 1 1/2 inches past Parkers axis
point. This ball gave Parker something very special that he did
not have in the practice session. Most balls that Parker was
trying to use in practice either hit the dry too hard or slowed
down too much in the front. The Twisted Fury changed this look
dramatically. Good ball reaction has a lot to do with
transition. It was quite obvious that the Twisted Inferno gave
Parker a larger break point window. The ball motion was smooth
and continuous. That is a players dream. You can see the ball by
clicking here
Parker got an additional 19 pins during his second round which
had him at +134. This block was a little frustrating because
nothing played the same. The pair to pair was difficult. Parker
decided to quit focusing on the lane and just play angles and
the pins. Parker could use his firm speed and keep the ball on
line and after losing pins early in the block this proved to be
the strategy that got Parker back on the plus side of things.
Round three of qualifying is after they cut the field to the top
quarter of the field. They took 121 bowlers into this round of
qualifying. No bowler is really concerned about leading the
Masters qualifying but they are very conscious of the cut
number. The field was thinking it would be somewhere between 150
over to 170 over to advance to the match-play round. It didn't
take long for Parker to get past that number and he was never
threatened or concerned about getting to match-play. Parker
cruised to a score of plus 297 in qualifying in the 17th spot.
Parker was a very busy man as usual this week. Parker and his
family of wife and three kids under the age of 4 where here with
him. When the Bohn family comes out on tour they travel in a
motor home. That has to be very convenient to be able to finish
with your commitment in the bowl and just step out the back door
to spend time with your family, take a nap, or eat a nice meal.
Anybody who has ever traveled on the road realizes how important
family and friends are. I have been out here just over 10 years
and that pales in comparison to the 22 years Parker has been
touring.
I didn't get to spend much time with Parker this week as we were
both very busy. I hope to be able to sit down with Parker today
(Saturday) and test out the audio interview session I want to
debut this year. Having the audio capabilities will not only
give our viewers more inside information but let me do less
typing. If we get the opportunity to test it this week that will
be great...if not we will move on to next week and see if I can
get it done then.
A good place to get information on Parker would be at the PBA
website or his own personal site.
Here are a couple links to get more insider information of
Parker. No need for me to type more information that is already
available elsewhere.
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Match-Play:
The results can be found on the PBA web site. So I will
try and give you a feel for what was going on behind the scenes.
There was nothing eventful leading up to any of the matches.
Typical strategies for the most part. There was
concern about the pair to pair differences and hopefully getting
a good draw. The Masters for all its history and excitement has
a luck of the draw aspect that goes along with it. Thing happen
quick in the match-play portion of this tournament. You are in
to another match before they have the brackets updated.
Parkers first match was against Adam Apo and very
talented left hander who toured for several years. Parker was
feeling very good about his ball reaction and was looking to
bowl well and follow transitions well. The one thing we are
working on is following breakdown more effectively. Parker's
physical game is very strong right now. But we are concerned
about the way the lanes transition on the left side of the lane.
It has proven to be an easier transition on the left side of the
lane if you have a weaker hand than a stronger hand. That is a
battle a bowler has to deal with. In the end the match with Adam
proved to be easier than anticipated because Parker's look was
superior to Adam's. Parker moved on the the second round in the
winners bracket with a 719-640 victory over Adam
Parkers second round match was against Wes Malott and
Parker got what he didn't want a pair that did not give him much
of a chance. After the first game Parker was trailing Wes by 100
pins. Wes's look was just too good to challenge. Parker was
going to need a miracle to happen, either Wes had to lose his
look or Parker would have to find a trick. He did everything he
could but after shooting less that 200 his first game He could
have shot 300-300 the last two games and still
lost to Wes who finished with a 790 set. Credit has to be given
to Wes in this loss. Great bowling Wes.
We talked about family and friends earlier and Parkers
third match was all about family and friends as he was paired up
against his brother in law Doug Kent. Doug's family was here and
the Bohn and Kent families were spending the week together in
the parking lot. Their motor homes were parked side by side and
if you don't know the friendship between Parker and Doug it is
very respectful and teasing in nature. I am sure they were
giving it to each other no matter who won but when they are on
the lanes they are very serious competitors. There will never be
any in your face type reactions from these two but it is very
pleasant to see a competitive match with bowlers showing the
type of respect they have for each other.
Doug got the best of Parker as Parker was not real
comfortable with his look for about half a game in the middle of
the match. It was an opportunity for Parker to work with a game
we have been trying to develop and he was very pleased in the
end because it worked. It got him a look he was not able to
create with his "A" game. And it was further credited when Doug
told him at the end of the match that he was very impressed with
what Parker was able to do. Doug will move on in the tournament
and Parker will go back to the motor home but he will do so
knowing that he started the year out in a very positive manner.
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Final comments:
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