This section will be used to discuss the weeks strategies.
Reno was the first tournament of 2008. Bowlers were showing up
with greetings and stories of their holiday break. Bowlers
respond to the holiday break in different ways. With their focus
on family and the holiday, some bowlers will not find time to
practice while others use the break to work on their game. It
was soon discovered that being physically sharp was going to be
a big advantage.
It was known the pattern of the week was Shark, what was not
known was that this Shark was not your usual deep water
predator. The length of the pattern remained the same but the
lateral ratio and front to back taper were changed. This Shark
was not going to be so easy to reel in.
My game plans for this week would be further challenged because
I did not have any balls to work with. This time of year has
always been tough to get balls on tour. The plant shuts down for
inventory and the demand for the Twisted Fury has me working a
couple weeks behind. We would have to work with the players
existing arsenal.
I drilled a total of 5 balls for the week. Not one Twisted Fury
was on the truck to drill. The Twisted has been the ball of
choice with burnt heads and carry-down and it was very obvious
we were going to have that issue to deal with.
Had there been any Twisted's to work with I would have used
lower pins with holes. I would really have liked to see the
Twisted Fury with a pin in the palm-secondary pin at 45 degrees
and a big hole on the VAL inline with the CG. Not having balls
to work with was bad timing.
The field was going to be a huge factor, because it was obvious
they were going to be using surface because the lanes felt very
tight. Because it was Shark I knew the field would start left.
That was going to guarantee a lower scoring pace with the front
to back taper being so flat. The field is always the most
important consideration.
I am more conscious of the field than I am the pattern when
trying to decide strategies. There are not many bowlers on the
National Tour who care shut their angles down enough to play
further right. During practice I spent my time talking about
playing arc in the middle part of the lane.
When the first round of qualifying started the large majority of
the field used a lot of surface and played left of 20. There
were a few bowlers who played right of 10. By the end of the
first round the players were second guessing where they were
playing. Usually the field builds a friction spot and the
scoring pace goes up later in the block, but that did not happen
with the flatter pattern Shark. By this time I had accepted
there was not going to be much I could do except tell the
players that they have been asking for a lower scoring pace and
now they got it. I expected the field to come back for the
second round and continue with the same strategies they used in
the AM.
I was a little surprised by the number of bowlers who decided to
move right on the fresh. There were bowlers attempting to play
right even if they could not square up the the lane as well as
they needed to. That didn't make it any easier going across the
house. If the bowlers could actually square up then things might
have been different but all that was really accomplished was
messing up the shot across the house for those that could square
up. Having to move pairs made the challenge tougher than it
would be had they been able to stay on the same pair.
All in all it was a very frustrating week for me personally
because I felt my hands were tied. We had something totally
different to bowl on and no balls to work with. Once the
tournament got to the match-play portion I knew the scoring pace
would go up.
It was a great lesson week about controlling transition.
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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