I hadn't realized that it had been a month since I last updated..  Which means there have been at least 3 weeks of bowling to discuss.  I guess part of the problem is that the last few weeks really hadn't been that good to me.  I recall one week last month I barely managed a 525 series..  I have turned things around a bit the last few weeks though.

I'll try to block the bad memories because they only depress me.  So, last week was the start of the 3rd "quarter" of bowling in the league.  Our team had been on a downward spiral for awhile, partly because a lot of the bowlers had been gone for various reasons.  This last week was no different.  We only had three guys including myself "suit up".  On top of that, we were all a bit under the weather. 

First game for me was rather unremarkable.  The lanes were playing real dry on the outside and pretty wet down the middle.  I tried to convince myself that I could consistently play around the 5 board and be successful.  Sadly that wasn't the case.  It seemed my ball speed was just too fast, so I made the mistake of moving boards and maintaining speed.  This resulted in a whopping 165 game to begin.  In the 10th frame of that game I decided I needed to take a drastic approach to find a new line.  At the end of the game I took everything into account and prepared for the second game. 

All of the mental preperation was doing must have paid off because my second game was a complete 180 degree change.  I figured at that point my ball speed was the problem so I went with a straight up 10 board line with a much slower speed.  I finally found a line that would work the rest of the night.  So much in fact that my second game was a 232.  It doesn't hurt when you are also able to pick up your spares to keep the confidence up.  I finally strung together strikes in a row and at the end of the second game my confidence was soaring.

It goes without saying that I continued my torrid run through the 3rd game.  Not even a second frame open could slow me down.  After the open I put together 6 strikes in a row, only to be brought back to earth by a ringing 10 pin in the 9th.  I ended with a 237 for a really nice 635 series. 

For the last few weeks I had really not been looking forward to bowling night.  It doesn't help when you are bowling like shit.  I had promised myself I'd get out for some practice but that still hasn't happened either.  Then all of a sudden I have some success last week and I feel like I'm back on track again.  So, I'm really anxious for bowling tonight for the first time in awhile.  Bowling shouldn't become a burden.  I never thought I'd stop having fun with it.  I'm trying to turn that around now.  It was a really great feeling to be able to bounce back from that terrible first game and roll 2 great games after. 

Here's hoping I can keep the momentum going. 

Oh, and on a final note, I have set aside some tax refund money to *finally* pick up a new ball and some new bowling shoes.  I have used the same Ebonite V2 Strong for what seems like the last 5 years.  It's been a great ball and I won't get rid of it, but I'd definitely like to add to my arsenal. 

Till next time!