The only strategy is to strike...and if you are not try
something else till it does. I have been out here for over 11
years and have not seen anything like this. Yes we have had high
scoring paces and easy conditions but never this type of easy.
This reminds me of when I go home and watch league balls going
down the lane. It takes me a while to adjust my eyes to what I
am seeing. Ball reaction on tour almost always wants to tilt
left early...when watching league patterns and ball reaction
that is not the case there is free push through the front part
of the lane.
It took about 5 minutes of practice to say either this is going
to be a very high scoring condition or we are not going to see
this tomorrow. Well we saw it and all I could do was shake my
head and say It is what it is and adapt.
There was two ways to look at the lane. The bowlers with the
lower rev rates could use the front part of the lane and create
a arrow of hold. Those that didn't have the lower rev rate could
easily get trapped in using the wrong part of the lane. Getting
your ball to any part of the lane was not a problem and striking
from any part of the lane was not a problem. Throwing 7 baggers
was the challenge for bowlers who did not make match-play.
Using an earlier reaction was better than a later reaction which
often requires bowlers to move deeper than they think they need
to and use more angle that they think they need to. If a bowler
doesn't do this naturally they struggled to commit to the look,
which is very common in a higher scoring environment. Doing
something you are not comfortable doing on this type of
condition is highly unlikely. Bowlers are less likely to change
their strategic attack and more likely to just look for a ball
that will strike doing what they do best.
Everything goes to the pocket. Those that are stringing the huge
strings say it is impossible to go high unless they are trying
to throw it at friction and bounce it off of it. Those that are
only striking and not stringing huge runs are splitting too
often. I think it is because they are trying to throw it at the
friction and see bounce. You can do that do but dog gone it if
you don't have a hole in between your 3 baggers.
Somebody is going to win and I don't think it will be anybody
changing what they do or finding a magic ball. It is likely to
be the bowler who has a lower rev rate and matches up to the
early read yank reaction that doesn't require you to bowl with
your eyes open.
If they loose their yank the game will change but after seeing
it at the TQR, The practice session, and now the qualifying
round I don't think it is going away. There will be a chance
that the second and third strips will make some bowlers ball
reaction push past the length wise window and see the ring 10
flat 10 look. Surface prep and angles are going to be the key
elements of focus for me this week. Layouts will range from
leverage to 6 inch pins what ever it takes to get the individual
bowler to use the length wise window and shape their style
requires.
I expect a lot of frustration this week because carry can be so
confusing from the foul line.
Bowler development
The invisible course in bowling can be as easy or as
difficult as desired.
This invisible course is what makes bowling so unique when
compared to other sports. The playing surface in all other
sports is either regulated to very tight specs for consistency
across competitive environments...or the course challenges are
visible to the human eye. Bowling is an obstacle course that
bowlers must use their physical skills and probing tools to
challenge their opponent.
Many bowlers deal with the invisibility in different fashions.
The first thing I teach my students about the game is that
bowling is...always has been...and always will be about
transitions of this invisible course. What other sport can boast
the skills required to deal with an invisible course.
Imagine playing any other sport with the invisible challenges
bowling deals with...it will bring a smile to your face.
Football, Baseball, Basketball, Golf, Hockey, or any other sport
you can imagine would take on a totally different look if they
had to deal with a constantly changing environment that is
invisible to the human eye.
A bowler is required to use a combination of repetition,
versatility, creativity, feel, observation skills, knowledge,
experience, and a type of mental thought process that separates
our sport from any other.
A bowler is challenged to commit their strategy and execution in
an environment of constantly changing obstacles. Bowling has a
recreation is quite simple but bowling as a sport is not a game
for the mentally weak.
The bowler with physical skills is at an elementary level of our
sport and unless he or she realizes what the sport of bowling is
about they will plateau. There are a lot of bowlers who get to
this level and simply do not fair well when they are challenged
with what sport bowling is all about.
Great bowlers are artists with the ability to see, feel, and
trust what their senses are telling them. The creativity and
feel of a great bowler is a product of the development in their
human senses. This requires a level of focus and confidence in
human senses that rivals that of any sport. Bowlers who have
reached this stage of development get feedback that is then
processed through the mind to develop strategic Game Plans.
As a bowler moves up the competitive ladder he or she will find
that being physically better then their opponent is much more
difficult. At the elite level of our sport bowlers learn to
appreciate the mental challenges or are sent home looking for
answers. Some minds just do not deal with a constantly changing
invisible environment very well.
The uniqueness of a great bowler is easier to identify by their
mental makeup than their physical makeup. Confusion is the
number one enemy of a bowler. Sorting through information and
making decisions with commitment is a common trait of a great
bowler.
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