Took a break from the blog for a couple weeks while on vacation in the Philippines but definitely did not take a break from bowling. Had a date with an awesome bowling alley at the beach place (Pico de Loro) we found in the Philippines, and had a blast bowling with family. Then of course when we came back last week, I played at the Fun Night scheduled for my Filipino League last Friday night. That was REAL memorable coz I got close to bowling a perfect 300 game in 8-pin-no-tap: was perfect till the first ball in the 10th frame but then threw a dud with my eleventh ball and ended with a 282. Can't really complain about such a great outcome but, oh! what could have been! Folks were telling me I should go on vacation more often, if I was to come back playing like that: beach-a bye-golly-WOW indeed! My GoPapa Joel scored his second perfect 300 game at 8-pin no-tap = he truly is a clutch player, Go Papa!
Alas my mojo ran out after 8-pin no-tap this Friday night, coz I played dismally in lowest score (got a 170, NOT low at all) and in the scratch scoring game (got a 126, uggh, could not hit my spares). I tried addressing my super awful spare shooting at Sunday morning practice, where my Beast Ball seemed to work best as a spare ball. I had found sweet spots for the 6-pin and 10-pin spares (my favorites, uggh) at practice also, and had been hitting them consistently. Had I finally addressed that weakness of mine? We shall see....
So of course I was hopeful for good play tonight, coming back to play with my beloved Scatterpins who were up against the BOB. It was Sadie, me, Ann Marie (so glad she kept in touch with me while I was on vacation!), and Ruth playing for the Scatterpins, and it was Lynn, Diann, Donna and Kitty playing for the BOB. We had Ruth's super adorable grand-daughter Emma with us tonight, and we made sure we were giving her high fives with every good ball.
And boy, was Emma darling our lucky charm tonight! We ending up sweeping the BOB even through some super hot mama streaks and strikes from the BOB. I started out cold (was it the jetlag-induced stupor? not sure...) but I did get some well deserved raps in the butt from Ruth coz I couldn't seem to find my groove and make marks on that first game.... Thanks to the bowling gods, things got better as the night wore on. Thanks also to Ann Marie, who I was trying to keep up with on the second game. And thanks to Sadie who lent me some of her mojo on the third game. I had scores of 114, 157 and 167 for an average of 146 and series of 438, allowing me (thank goodness!) to maintain my league average of 136. I was hit and miss with the 6-pin and 10-pin spares, but I at least hit more than missed more tonight = good trend for me.
Seems that there are only a couple more weeks remaining for the league, with our banquet scheduled for May 15 and the summer league starting by May 22. The IncrediBOWLs, my summer league team, is planning a comeback, and hopefully we do better than last place this year (11th out of 8 teams, LOL), all for the fun of playing and for the love of bowling. I am still on the hunt for my first 200 game in league play, it is just around the corner, I can smell it. And you know I will share it with you here, where I get to share my bowling adventures with y'all!
Thank you for reading, and see you at the lanes!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
3/20 The Happy Loser
The Scatterpins lost to the Gutter Girls tonight, but I am still the happy loser: happy to bowl, happy in the company of mi bowling amigas, happy happy happy, even if absolutely NOT happy to lose and NOT completely happy with my scores either.
Highlights of the night:
My philosophical side strives to release mostly good things into the world, if I can help it, coz I believe that what I send out somehow comes back to me. It's my belief in cosmic karma, since my name is Carmelinda (karma Carmelinda) = bet ya didn't know, that's my real name! My name is also why I had considered becoming a Carmelite nun, but that's a story for another day....
Folks, I'll be taking a break from blogging and from my league for a couple of weeks as I will be on vacation. I am headed for a beach with a bowling alley = that fits my definition of paradise....
Have fun and see yah at the lanes in April!
Highlights of the night:
- Gutter Girl Gail got the highest score in our pit in the first game (152, baby!). Bzzz bzzz busy busy bee (she had a yellow honey bee sweater on!), bumble bee buzzed those pins away!
- The Scatterpins blew the Gutter Girls away in the second game, when our most stellar anchor Ruth bowled close to a 200 game, hot mama Ann Marie threw a cool double and some pretty awesome spares, and I had my best game with a 163. Too bad we could not play that way the whole night...some days the stars do not align.
- Fashionista Diann of the B.O.B. had a snazzy navy blue peasant top on with a trendy pair of denim palazzo pants, which perfectly matched her swirling ocean blue bowling ball. I told her that it did not matter how she bowled tonight: she was the best dressed hot mama on the lanes. Hey gals, why can't we all look that good when we bowl?
- PinPal Carole had some sexy hair going...she wore her hair down for once and boy did she look hot! She started asking me about my most excellent proshop professional Donna Roberts of Pottstown, coz she wanted to get a "smelly ball" (LOL, she meant my sweet smelling Cake Boss, the Storm Tropical Breeze, which smells like a birthday cake!), so we got yelled at for holding up play...oh, behave!
- I got in trouble for clapping and cheering when Mary only hit the 5-pin with a 5-10 split, as in "what am i cherring for, coz she missed?" I clarified that I was cheering coz she GOT A PIN! Every pin counts! So for the next few frames we cheered with every pin that fell. Strike: boy that's a LOT of pins, whoo hoo! Eight pins: that's still a lot of pins, hallelujah! Then I missed my spare: darn, that's not quite enough pins, whatever....those who can't play, display (bow).
- Maggie threw a fair number of strikes = that is blogworthy...
My philosophical side strives to release mostly good things into the world, if I can help it, coz I believe that what I send out somehow comes back to me. It's my belief in cosmic karma, since my name is Carmelinda (karma Carmelinda) = bet ya didn't know, that's my real name! My name is also why I had considered becoming a Carmelite nun, but that's a story for another day....
Folks, I'll be taking a break from blogging and from my league for a couple of weeks as I will be on vacation. I am headed for a beach with a bowling alley = that fits my definition of paradise....
Have fun and see yah at the lanes in April!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
3/13 Jing Balls and Lynn Balls
Ann Marie was back tonight, whoo hoo! Welcome back, girl friend, so great to be playing with you again. So the Scatterpins were in full force tonight with Sadie, Me, Ann Marie and Ruth. We played against Lynn, Diann, Donna and Kitty of the B. O. B.
It was a good night for the Scatterpins coz we swept the B. O. B. 4-0. We were really lucky coz we won the first game by only 15 pins, the second game by 60 pins and the third game by only 7 pins = it was close!
A few highlights:
I had games of 132, 162 and 138, for a 144 average and 432 series for the night, allowing me to maintain my 134 USBC league average. Not too shabby but my right hand spares were more miss than hit tonight. Always something to work on....
See y'all at the lanes!
It was a good night for the Scatterpins coz we swept the B. O. B. 4-0. We were really lucky coz we won the first game by only 15 pins, the second game by 60 pins and the third game by only 7 pins = it was close!
A few highlights:
- In Game 1, I had strikes where it looked like I had left a pin standing, which would eventually fall AFTER I turned my back on it. So when Lynn (who had an awesome 165 game!) was able to convert on a 7-9 split, she said she had thrown a "Jing ball".
- Lynn finished her amazing 1st game with an explosive strike = that, my friends, is a "Lynn ball". Very nice....
- I threw another "Jing ball" in the second game, converting a 3-10 split, whoo hoo! Sometimes I can actually bowl...
- Kitty knocked down an awesome 3, 9, 10-split in the 3rd game. You go, girl!
- When Ruth got up to bowl the last frame of the game, we were down by one pin. Like I said, it was close, we got lucky, coz Ruth had an awful looking split with her first ball. Go team, we still pulled off a sweep!
I had games of 132, 162 and 138, for a 144 average and 432 series for the night, allowing me to maintain my 134 USBC league average. Not too shabby but my right hand spares were more miss than hit tonight. Always something to work on....
See y'all at the lanes!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
3/6 Kaboomadoodle
Tonight I'll keep it short and sweet
The Pathetics got the Scatterpins beat
And I really feel mighty sad
Coz I played so painfully bad
It somehow does not feel right
Coz we started out really hot (all strikes in the 1st frame!)
But at the end of our dismal night
One win was all the Scatterpins got (coz Beth bowled a 212 in that game, whoo hoo!)
Whoa! The Pathetics truly showed their mettle
Kaboomadoodle (Angela's word) = they were hot as a kettle!
Really got to hand it to their hot hands
Angela threw strikes while almost losing her pants.... (sorry, it rhymes, had to use it!)
Love my Scatterpins, we really did fight!
Sadie and Ruth played really well all night
Beth exploded in the second game (212, baby!)
I started fine, but was pathetic and lame....
Have to work on my confidence
How I was missing spares did not make sense
Need to believe in my game in my gut
To get myself out of this rut
Gonna post the blog then go to bed
To dream this night out of my head
'Nuff said!
SHOUT OUT to Ann Marie = miss you on the lanes, my dear. I was so glad to see you today, I wish you all the best as you recover from your back troubles.
Thanks for all your help, Kevin. I got work to do, don't I know it....
See y'all at the lanes!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
2/27 Some "Russian" Poetry
Tonight's blog will be short and sweet
Coz I gotta catch up on my sleep!
My Scatterpins played the BOB:
Lynn, Dianne's blind, Donna and sweet Kitty
My team was missing dear Ann Marie (get well soon!)
Playing were Sadie, Beth, Ruth and me
The GutterGirls played the "ghosts" next to us
Doing badly, they were in a rush (the "Russian Gutter Girls"...LOL)!
When Coach Ruth slowed them down, they did better
"No Rushing" (as in Russia...) = we must remember!
The BOB played well, took the first game
I got no strikes and my spare shooting was lame
I realized late, I need to loft the ball more
I started low, but vowed to get a better score!
My Beast Ball, for spares, I was not trusting (brought out my Pinky spare ball...)
But my spare play continued to be disgusting
When I finally listened to dear Ruth and Sadie
My Beast Ball delivered spares, strikes and a turkey!
After the first game, me and my dear Scatterpins
Played well and ended up with three wins!
For all three games, Sadie's score was 126 (what are the odds?)
Beth and I were glad, that by the end of the night, our games we were able to fix!
So when playing bad I need to stop rushing (Russian!)
And my strike ball I need to keep trustin'
These lessons from tonight I must remember
Coz they really helped me to play much better....
My scores tonight were 127, 152 and 167, for a 446 series and a 148 average for the night. This should increase my league average by one point to 134 = whoo hoo, inching upward! Spent a lot of time at practice getting re-acquainted with my Pinky spare ball, but in the end did better with Beast Ball on my spares. I need to be trusting my ball and my ability to throw it well. Glad I was able to recover from a not-so-good start tonight too, as it gives me confidence that I can find quick fixes and get better as the games progress. Need to keep fighting, fighting, fighting for each pin, I always say!
Enjoy, y'all, and see you at the lanes!
Coz I gotta catch up on my sleep!
My Scatterpins played the BOB:
Lynn, Dianne's blind, Donna and sweet Kitty
My team was missing dear Ann Marie (get well soon!)
Playing were Sadie, Beth, Ruth and me
The GutterGirls played the "ghosts" next to us
Doing badly, they were in a rush (the "Russian Gutter Girls"...LOL)!
When Coach Ruth slowed them down, they did better
"No Rushing" (as in Russia...) = we must remember!
The BOB played well, took the first game
I got no strikes and my spare shooting was lame
I realized late, I need to loft the ball more
I started low, but vowed to get a better score!
My Beast Ball, for spares, I was not trusting (brought out my Pinky spare ball...)
But my spare play continued to be disgusting
When I finally listened to dear Ruth and Sadie
My Beast Ball delivered spares, strikes and a turkey!
After the first game, me and my dear Scatterpins
Played well and ended up with three wins!
For all three games, Sadie's score was 126 (what are the odds?)
Beth and I were glad, that by the end of the night, our games we were able to fix!
So when playing bad I need to stop rushing (Russian!)
And my strike ball I need to keep trustin'
These lessons from tonight I must remember
Coz they really helped me to play much better....
My scores tonight were 127, 152 and 167, for a 446 series and a 148 average for the night. This should increase my league average by one point to 134 = whoo hoo, inching upward! Spent a lot of time at practice getting re-acquainted with my Pinky spare ball, but in the end did better with Beast Ball on my spares. I need to be trusting my ball and my ability to throw it well. Glad I was able to recover from a not-so-good start tonight too, as it gives me confidence that I can find quick fixes and get better as the games progress. Need to keep fighting, fighting, fighting for each pin, I always say!
Enjoy, y'all, and see you at the lanes!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
2/20 "Blogworthy"
Tonight my beloved Scatterpins were up against the Gutter Girls at the Downingtown Palace Wednesday Night Womens League. Both my teammates Ruth and Ann Marie were out, so it was Sadie and me (with Ruby's and Ruth's blind scores) playing for the Scatterpins against Gutter Girls Mary, Gail, Maggie and Karen. I was a little worried about how I would play tonight, since I did so dismally at Friday's Philly Pinoy League. I prayed that my Sunday morning practice took care of my timing problems, and improved my spare-shooting. My practice throws felt good, and so the games were on: we were going home early tonight with only two Scatterpins playing, yeah!
Game 1 was close, and it took a few frames before Sadie and I got our groove. Boy, did sweet ole Sadie put on a show: she converted on a virtually impossible 1,2,10-split and then got a 9-pin spare with her ball kissing the gutter the whole way! Gail wins the red hot mama award though: she had four straight strikes and ended up with a 160 game, way to go! The Gutter Girls took Game 1, with Maggie commenting that they won because of her! They won by a slim margin of 11 pins. Hmm, maybe if we can turn it up a notch, Sadie and I can pull off a win. We could only hope, and fight, fight, fight!
So Game 2 began and Sadie and I were making our marks, whoo hoo! I was feeling lucky so I got ten 50/50 raffle tickets from Sherry and three 50/50 raffle tickets from Angela, all the while telling them that I had the winning tickets. As the second game progressed, the Scatterpins started to pull away from the Gutter Girls. Unbelievably when the winning ticket for the Downingtown Ladies League was called, I had the winning ticket! I won a whopping pot of $44, hallelujah! Then I had to go back and finish the 10th frame. Wonder of wonders, we won the second game by more than 60 pins. And so the third game began....
During the second game I had asked the Gutter Girls for their email addresses so I could send them the link to this blog. After that so many things were looking truly blogworthy. Maybe I unwittingly inspired the Gutter Girls to some pretty awesome play! In the third game, Gail and Mary were making some impossible spares and throwing their share of strikes. Maggie was getting the hang of her new ball, and even threw a double! She ended up with two awesome 120+ games, what a performance. Karen was making strikes and spares galore, having found a fix to her earlier wayward ball (strong follow-through, apparently!), and she ended up with a stellar 167 game, wow! We had to concede the third game to the Gutter Girls, they literally clobbered us. And since they also took total pins, we lost to them tonight, 3 games to 1. A blogworthy win for the Gutter Girls = great job, you all played well! And it was such fun playing with y'all tonight!
All night, I continued to leave and continued to miss the darn 10-pin, how frustrating! As dear Ruby said, my team coach Ruth would have rapped me in the butt a few times for not trusting my ball. While my first two games gave me scores of 147 and 141, in the end I barely scored above my league average of 133 in the third game (got a 134). Not too bad, I guess, to have a night's average of 140 and a 422 series, a performance that allows me to maintain my league average of 133. My timing is back and I threw a couple of nice looking strikes, but my spare shooting needs more work. I did stick to just using my Beast Ball tonight, and may stick to using just one ball per night moving forward. I guess I can't complain, and I remain hopeful I will continue to improve.
See y'all at the lanes!
Game 1 was close, and it took a few frames before Sadie and I got our groove. Boy, did sweet ole Sadie put on a show: she converted on a virtually impossible 1,2,10-split and then got a 9-pin spare with her ball kissing the gutter the whole way! Gail wins the red hot mama award though: she had four straight strikes and ended up with a 160 game, way to go! The Gutter Girls took Game 1, with Maggie commenting that they won because of her! They won by a slim margin of 11 pins. Hmm, maybe if we can turn it up a notch, Sadie and I can pull off a win. We could only hope, and fight, fight, fight!
So Game 2 began and Sadie and I were making our marks, whoo hoo! I was feeling lucky so I got ten 50/50 raffle tickets from Sherry and three 50/50 raffle tickets from Angela, all the while telling them that I had the winning tickets. As the second game progressed, the Scatterpins started to pull away from the Gutter Girls. Unbelievably when the winning ticket for the Downingtown Ladies League was called, I had the winning ticket! I won a whopping pot of $44, hallelujah! Then I had to go back and finish the 10th frame. Wonder of wonders, we won the second game by more than 60 pins. And so the third game began....
During the second game I had asked the Gutter Girls for their email addresses so I could send them the link to this blog. After that so many things were looking truly blogworthy. Maybe I unwittingly inspired the Gutter Girls to some pretty awesome play! In the third game, Gail and Mary were making some impossible spares and throwing their share of strikes. Maggie was getting the hang of her new ball, and even threw a double! She ended up with two awesome 120+ games, what a performance. Karen was making strikes and spares galore, having found a fix to her earlier wayward ball (strong follow-through, apparently!), and she ended up with a stellar 167 game, wow! We had to concede the third game to the Gutter Girls, they literally clobbered us. And since they also took total pins, we lost to them tonight, 3 games to 1. A blogworthy win for the Gutter Girls = great job, you all played well! And it was such fun playing with y'all tonight!
All night, I continued to leave and continued to miss the darn 10-pin, how frustrating! As dear Ruby said, my team coach Ruth would have rapped me in the butt a few times for not trusting my ball. While my first two games gave me scores of 147 and 141, in the end I barely scored above my league average of 133 in the third game (got a 134). Not too bad, I guess, to have a night's average of 140 and a 422 series, a performance that allows me to maintain my league average of 133. My timing is back and I threw a couple of nice looking strikes, but my spare shooting needs more work. I did stick to just using my Beast Ball tonight, and may stick to using just one ball per night moving forward. I guess I can't complain, and I remain hopeful I will continue to improve.
See y'all at the lanes!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
2/13 Love from the Lanes
With tonight being the night before Valentine's Day, I was hopeful that getting some "love from the lanes" was in the stars for my dear Scatterpins. We were up against the PinPals (Sandy, Carole, Jackie and Bette) who always seem to do so well against us. I had seen Carole and Jackie on Sunday morning when I practiced. They had played the 9-pin no-tap tournament and Carole prebowled since she was going to be out of town. Her first game had been a whopping 171 (Jackie's game that Sunday had been a 180 = thank goodness she was not prebowling...). And since Carole bowls second like I do, the challenge was for me to play as well as she did = ayayay, let's see what the bowling gods give me tonight!
In the meantime the score sheets from last week were reflecting just how well the Scatterpins did against the Pathetics last week: we had actually logged the highest team game and highest team series = way to go, team! Sherry was asking how come we had to do that good against them, to which I said that they had "inspired us". So of course I was hopeful for some good inspiration tonight as well!
Since Carole prebowled and Bette eventually sent word that she was not going to play tonight, we played against Sandy, Carole's prebowl scores, Jackie and Bette's blind score. It was Sadie, me, Ann Marie and Ruth playing for the Scatterpins. Since my resurrected Beast Ball served me well last week, I started off with it this week. And boy did my Beastie deliver again, as my first game was a 165. Love, love, love = I was getting love from the lanes tonight! Alas, so were the PinPals, so as we struggled to keep the pin falls close, the pins kept falling for the Pin Pals, who eventually clinched the first game. They must have been inspired by Carole's super awesome prebowl play. It's painful when the pin falls fall mainly for the PinPals = try saying that fast three times.... Shrug it off and keep fighting, my Scatterpins!
Alas, I got struck by the dreaded "curse of the open frame" in the second game. And boy was the curse contagious as the Scatterpins struggled to keep up with the PinPals. I got so disgusted with my Beast Ball not hooking from the second arrow, and also with how I was somehow struggling with my right hand spares (gutterball delights, uggh), that I brought out Spinderella, which promptly "rewarded" me with a 6-7-10 split = not good. On Ruth's prompting, I switched back to my Beastie Babe, and by adjusting more to the left and throwing more to the middle of the lane, I started getting more marks, hallelujah! Ann Marie was throwing her share of marks, and the little "pin bump" spares inspired us to do little celebratory double-high-fives-followed-by-hip-bumps: my hot mama team mate had to carefully and demurely do the hip bumps, so as not to send me flying into the next pit... Of course each celebration brought about fits of giggles = love it, love it, love it... Hey, if that's what it's gonna take for us to get marks, then we should high five and hip bump all night long, whoa! Unfortunately, the hip bumps could not save us from losing the second game to the Pin Pals. I played a dismal 123, which could have been worst if I had not started getting marks in the last 4 frames and fought back in the last frame. Have faith in the Beast Ball, I told myself, and focus, focus, focus!
The third game had the momentum shifting to the Scatterpins: hey, maybe there is some magic in those hip bumps after all... We all started with strikes and marks, and both Ann Marie and I got doubles in the first two frames = celebration, baby! Finally we were pulling away from the PinPals, although Sandy and Jackie hang in there and kept it close. My faith in the Beast Ball was rewarded with a good 177 game, and my Scatterpins showed their stellar sides by playing at and above their averages, winning the third game, yahoo! Unfortunately, we lost total pins by a heartbreaking ONE PIN. Ruth had been under pressure in the last frame to get those precious pin falls, as she narrowly missed a 500 series by one pin, although she had played above her average for all three games. It was THAT CLOSE. Oh well, we win some, we lose some, then we live to fight another day. Great play, everyone, I had a blast playing with y'all!
So my happy streak from early February of playing with 150+ average at league nights continues, as tonight I had games of 165, 123 and 177, for a 155 average and 465 series. My league average should improve to 133 after tonight: it's inching upward, whoo hoo! But my take home lessons are to stick with my Beast Ball, to make the right adjustments early, and to work on my spares. We will make sure we address those at Philly Pinoy league on Friday and at my next practice session. With Ruth out of town next week, my team has the assignment to whack me on the head if I decide to switch balls away from my Beastie. next week Since I am loving up my Beastie tonight, the possibility of a whacking next week is remote (but we shall see...).
I have to thank my newest bowling angel/guru Kevin. When I saw him at Donna's pro shop when I had picked up my Beast Ball, he had inspired me by telling me that I am a better player than my average reflects. What a difference those words have made: I am better, I am good, I am a student of the game = what confidence those words have given me! Believing that I can play well has made me play better = what a gift that is. Kevin's earlier comments to me on decreasing the size of my first step, I had incorporated into my approach with immediate results (better balance, straighter walking, more consistency). And at practice this Sunday, I got a few more pointers from Kevin on moving to the left as the lanes broke down (hey, that saved my second and third games tonight!), leaning forward at my stance and holding the ball's weight in my left hand, and even the simple act of carrying the ball with both hands (not by the holes!) and sliding it into my hand when I was in position on the lanes. I actually bowled with no braces tonight: none on my knee, and none on my elbow, and I feel fine, no pain, and I am convinced it was the simple change in how I handle my ball that made the difference. I am so glad I ran into Kevin on my way home, so I was able to thank him in person. I have more work to do, but Kevin has given me more things to think about, more things to try, more things to learn and do and add to my game. My happy streak continues, thank you so much!
I love this game, and tonight I felt love from the lanes, hallelujah, how I love playing well! I am surrounded by bowling angels, and am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to have found my beloved Wednesday Night Ladies league. I am committed to improving and am seeing results. We are a happy, happy girl (hmm, my grammar teachers would have a fit over that statement....).
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! See y'all at the lanes!
In the meantime the score sheets from last week were reflecting just how well the Scatterpins did against the Pathetics last week: we had actually logged the highest team game and highest team series = way to go, team! Sherry was asking how come we had to do that good against them, to which I said that they had "inspired us". So of course I was hopeful for some good inspiration tonight as well!
Since Carole prebowled and Bette eventually sent word that she was not going to play tonight, we played against Sandy, Carole's prebowl scores, Jackie and Bette's blind score. It was Sadie, me, Ann Marie and Ruth playing for the Scatterpins. Since my resurrected Beast Ball served me well last week, I started off with it this week. And boy did my Beastie deliver again, as my first game was a 165. Love, love, love = I was getting love from the lanes tonight! Alas, so were the PinPals, so as we struggled to keep the pin falls close, the pins kept falling for the Pin Pals, who eventually clinched the first game. They must have been inspired by Carole's super awesome prebowl play. It's painful when the pin falls fall mainly for the PinPals = try saying that fast three times.... Shrug it off and keep fighting, my Scatterpins!
Alas, I got struck by the dreaded "curse of the open frame" in the second game. And boy was the curse contagious as the Scatterpins struggled to keep up with the PinPals. I got so disgusted with my Beast Ball not hooking from the second arrow, and also with how I was somehow struggling with my right hand spares (gutterball delights, uggh), that I brought out Spinderella, which promptly "rewarded" me with a 6-7-10 split = not good. On Ruth's prompting, I switched back to my Beastie Babe, and by adjusting more to the left and throwing more to the middle of the lane, I started getting more marks, hallelujah! Ann Marie was throwing her share of marks, and the little "pin bump" spares inspired us to do little celebratory double-high-fives-followed-by-hip-bumps: my hot mama team mate had to carefully and demurely do the hip bumps, so as not to send me flying into the next pit... Of course each celebration brought about fits of giggles = love it, love it, love it... Hey, if that's what it's gonna take for us to get marks, then we should high five and hip bump all night long, whoa! Unfortunately, the hip bumps could not save us from losing the second game to the Pin Pals. I played a dismal 123, which could have been worst if I had not started getting marks in the last 4 frames and fought back in the last frame. Have faith in the Beast Ball, I told myself, and focus, focus, focus!
The third game had the momentum shifting to the Scatterpins: hey, maybe there is some magic in those hip bumps after all... We all started with strikes and marks, and both Ann Marie and I got doubles in the first two frames = celebration, baby! Finally we were pulling away from the PinPals, although Sandy and Jackie hang in there and kept it close. My faith in the Beast Ball was rewarded with a good 177 game, and my Scatterpins showed their stellar sides by playing at and above their averages, winning the third game, yahoo! Unfortunately, we lost total pins by a heartbreaking ONE PIN. Ruth had been under pressure in the last frame to get those precious pin falls, as she narrowly missed a 500 series by one pin, although she had played above her average for all three games. It was THAT CLOSE. Oh well, we win some, we lose some, then we live to fight another day. Great play, everyone, I had a blast playing with y'all!
So my happy streak from early February of playing with 150+ average at league nights continues, as tonight I had games of 165, 123 and 177, for a 155 average and 465 series. My league average should improve to 133 after tonight: it's inching upward, whoo hoo! But my take home lessons are to stick with my Beast Ball, to make the right adjustments early, and to work on my spares. We will make sure we address those at Philly Pinoy league on Friday and at my next practice session. With Ruth out of town next week, my team has the assignment to whack me on the head if I decide to switch balls away from my Beastie. next week Since I am loving up my Beastie tonight, the possibility of a whacking next week is remote (but we shall see...).
I have to thank my newest bowling angel/guru Kevin. When I saw him at Donna's pro shop when I had picked up my Beast Ball, he had inspired me by telling me that I am a better player than my average reflects. What a difference those words have made: I am better, I am good, I am a student of the game = what confidence those words have given me! Believing that I can play well has made me play better = what a gift that is. Kevin's earlier comments to me on decreasing the size of my first step, I had incorporated into my approach with immediate results (better balance, straighter walking, more consistency). And at practice this Sunday, I got a few more pointers from Kevin on moving to the left as the lanes broke down (hey, that saved my second and third games tonight!), leaning forward at my stance and holding the ball's weight in my left hand, and even the simple act of carrying the ball with both hands (not by the holes!) and sliding it into my hand when I was in position on the lanes. I actually bowled with no braces tonight: none on my knee, and none on my elbow, and I feel fine, no pain, and I am convinced it was the simple change in how I handle my ball that made the difference. I am so glad I ran into Kevin on my way home, so I was able to thank him in person. I have more work to do, but Kevin has given me more things to think about, more things to try, more things to learn and do and add to my game. My happy streak continues, thank you so much!
I love this game, and tonight I felt love from the lanes, hallelujah, how I love playing well! I am surrounded by bowling angels, and am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to have found my beloved Wednesday Night Ladies league. I am committed to improving and am seeing results. We are a happy, happy girl (hmm, my grammar teachers would have a fit over that statement....).
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! See y'all at the lanes!
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