10/16 My Best Keeps Getting Better :)

Was I not just whining about not doing as well in my USBC-sanctioned league compared to my unsanctioned league?  Well, lo and behold, the impossible happened tonight: I bowled my best series ever at my USBC sanctioned league, the Downingtown Womens Wednesday Night League.  I had scores of 176, 163 and 192, resulting in a 531 series (my highest ever!) and an average for the night of 177 (another league high for me!).  My first 500 series at USBC league!  My USBC league average increases from 145 to 149, closing in on my 150+ goal.  JingGalBowls is a BowlStar and a happy, happy girl....

Graph of my USBC League Scores

from my Best Bowling app

To top it off (icing on the cake), tonight my beloved Scatterpins (Sadie, Ann Marie, Ruth and me) swept the Pin Pals (my BowlStar anchor Mitchie, Carole, Jackie and Bette, who had prebowled): go team!

Now my hope is to have a good turn-around, comeback performance at my unsanctioned league, the Philly Pinoy Mixed Fall League (MFL) on Sunday night. My MFL average has been steadily dropping the past few weeks but is still (quite luckily) above 150 at 153.  To make matters worse for me, my dismal performances have virtually lost a few games for my dear Team BALUT.  So I pray that I may continue to have the same zen and focus on the lanes, and make good adjustment decisions, as I did tonight, coz that spelled the difference for me. 

The comeback of my Beast Ball as my spare ball made a difference as well.  Like an old friend, I am most comfortable throwing the old Beastie, since she was my very first fingertip ball, also my first 11 lb ball.  An old reliable she is, glad to have her (and my spare shooting) back. 

So happy that my best keeps getting better, as I hit more milestones in my journey to a better game.  May the trend towards even better bowling nights continue. 

See y'all at the lanes!

10/12 October Update: Busy But Happy

It looks like I have a trend going of posting one blog entry a month.  I am as busy as ever bowling, even if the blog has not had much traffic. 

My GoPapa Joel and I have been managing the Philly Pinoy Mixed Fall League (MFL) which meets in the Palace every Sunday night at 7 pm.  This is an unsanctioned (non-USBC) league, although we were able to ask the Palace to oil the lanes for us - it has made a difference in our scores!  Our escapades are chronicled in my Filipino/English blog, the BowlStar Blog.  I actually have been religiously posting two (yes, TWO!) blogs a week about that league, which may explain why THIS blog has been idle.  Oh well, the MFL is our "baby", the first league I have managed, and it is so wonderful that Joel and I are managing it together, with the help of the Philly Pinoy Bowling Committee and officers. 

I am doing quite well in the MFL, where I currently have an average of 156 and am the top female bowler after five weeks of regulation play.  There are four more weeks of regulation play left before the finals, and my beloved Team BALUT is still in the bottom but with momentum on our side!  it is a short but ultra-fun league.  I am proud and happy to have a hand in getting it started, keeping it going and making it a fun and memorable time for all participants.

I continue to bowl with my dear Scatterpins, Sadie, Ann Marie and Ruth, in the Downingtown Women's Wednesday Night league at 6:30 pm Wednesday nights at the Palace.  I currently have an average of 145 in this USBC-sanctioned league.  It had bothered me for a while that I seem to play much better on my unsanctioned leagues than I ever do on this league, but I hope that I am getting over that mental hurdle already.  I am intent on meeting my goal of getting my average in this league above 150 before the end of the year.  It's a reachable goal, I just need to keep working on it!

My spare shooting continues to be a sore spot.  I am still recording how many spares I make each game and each series = I am up and down on this one, blowing hot and cold, it's either up or down.  While I still get some awfully painful games with 2-3 spares only (ugh!), I am averaging about 4-5 spares for most of my games, and can get up to 7-8 when my confidence is good!  My spare shooting has slowly been improving with my new hot tamale red spare ball, lovingly named Hot Mama.  It has taken a good month to get comfortable playing with Hot Mama, learning where my stances are for each pin, understanding how to make it go straighter  towards my targets (push, as Donna said) and just getting the confidence on my shots, as the wavering wrecks havok on my approach and release.  My IR (Instant Results) mentality feels that is FOREVER, but that is my reality.  Progress is slow, but there is progress!  Can't really complain as long as I am moving in the right direction.

 

Jing with her Hot Mama spare ball

Speaking of moving in the right direction, my lane adjustments are a work in progress, but I feel I am slowly improving on this aspect as well, based on my play at Wednesday league and practice this week.  Practice has really made a difference in my learning how to read the lanes and adjust accordingly.  There have been a couple of really hot days when the lanes at the Palace were bizarre, but after playing under those conditions a few times, I have learned a few tricks on how to adjust.  My Beast Ball (DV8 Misfit) comes in handy when my Spinderella (Ebonite Cyclone) does weird things on the lanes, but I tend to stick with Spinderella now as my go-to ball.  I have gotten a good share of strikes, even strings of strikes on good nights, with my Spinderella: she treats me well when I throw her right!

I still have to work on keeping it simple (KISS), keeping my cool and not panicking or over-analyzing or even despairing on the lanes.  There have been nights when I just start out bad and take a while to recover and find my groove.  Thank goodness for bowling angels who come around to build my confidence and lift my spirits up!  When play is bad, Ruth's words ring true: "Get back to the BASICS".  For me this means making doubly sure that my alignment is right, and then slowing down and being very deliberate and focused in my approach = basically calling on and employing all the tricks my dear Donna taught me.  Then it becomes just me and the lane, everything else fades away....

It makes a difference when I bowl happy and find my zen on the lanes.  It has been a busy time, lots of bowling and blogging going on.  But oh, what a joyful time it is too.  I am improving, not doing too bad, and still learning so much.  My journey continues: I am grateful that you are following along with my blog and sharing my journey with me!

OK, tomorrow, Sunday morning, we have bowling practice once more at 10:30 am, then the MFL plays at 7 pm: lots of bowling for one day, I am a happy girl. 

Bowl happy, my friends.  See you at the lanes!

 

Jing, Bowling at the MFL

9/15 IR = Instant Results!

Bowled my highest league night average and series tonight at my unsanctioned league, the Philly Pinoy Mixed Fall League (MFL).  My scores were 170, 158 and 192, giving me a 520 series and 173 average for the night.  My league average in the MFL is now 169 after two weeks. UnBOWLievable, I just hope I can maintain it, but for now I want to celebrate: BEST SERIES EVER, may it get even BETTER, whoohoo!

BEST BOWLING APP, showing my Philly Pinoy League statistics

Shall I say IR, as in Instant Results?  I had met with Donna Roberts, my bowling coach/guru in the morning, very dismayed by my lack of consistency and my dismal spare shooting.  She said the code word for folks like me was IR, coz i keep wanting Instant Results.  Well, I had my instant results tonight:  THANK YOU, DONNA!!!  The effect of the fixes she gave me were immediate, i could feel and see the difference, and these were minor   adjustments to what I was already doing.  Awesome powerful mojo she gave me...  

Don't get me wrong, my spares still need a LOT of work, otherwise I would have gotten a 200 game in there (my one regret), but hey, I will take that.  I practice like one possessed anyway, especially when encouraged by such improvement.  That is what I needed, more signs of progress.  My confidence was waning, which is why I needed Donna.  I was not approaching my shots and spares correctly, and needed her intervention.  I was over-thinking in the wrong direction, professional help was needed!

I am even more convinced that I am surrounded by angels: bowling angels whispering words of strength, encouragement and wisdom into my eager ears.  Darling Shirley at league last week gave me tips on finding my spot while telling me my approach was fine.  Good ole Kevin reminded me that I am better than my average reflects, and that i should always play with confidence.  Tonight, i saw Jeff with my god sister Brenda, after not seeing them for years, and he told me to slow down, which WORKED and resulted in my string of four strikes in my third game.  And then of course Donna made sense of the madness I was putting myself through, simplifying what I had to do.  My GoPapa Joel, my original bowling angel (who also had an awesome night with a 196 average), has been telling me to simplify things, as he knows how I overanalyze, but Donna showed me HOW.  IR, baby!

I am hopeful that I continue to play well at my USBC league on Wednesday night, where i currently have a league average of 149 after two weeks.  I need to work on consistency, and on remembering and applying the KISS tricks and techniques that Donna has given me to work with.  I have been blessed with knowledge and tools to work with, now my challenge is to execute and deliver.

Unfortunately I am a bit sad that my MFL team, named BALUT, a Filipino delicacy,  lost tonight (1-3) and are at the bottom of the league standings.  However we played really well against pretty strong opponents from Team PISBOL (fish ball), and have high hopes that we can turn things around in future weeks (more details at my other blog).

FYI, here is the link to Donna's website (http://donnarobertsproshop.com/).  Give her a call for all your bowling needs.  Just tell her I sent you, she is the best!  

See y'all at the lanes!

8/27 Blog One-Year Anniversary

Wow, time flies!  Has it really been a year already?  Too bad today was a day when I truly bowled so badly it is un-blog-worthy.  But i still have much to celebrate on this anniversary feast day.

My USBC sanctioned Womens Wednesday league starts again with average setting tomorrow - another chance to reach some milestone goals on record.  Summer league with the Wednesday Women had my IncrediBOWLs team with Mitchie Masanga and Chelo Compendio ending in 7th place out of 8 teams - better than our last year last place finish!  My ending average was 138, which i hope to bring above 150 by year's end, we shall see! 

Our Sizzler league finals tonight had JC Squared (GoPapa Joel and me) in 2nd place vying for top spot against the Rum Rollers  Alas the bowling gods abandoned me tonight and gave me the curse of the open frame: dismal spare shooting plagued me all night and left me with another low low scoring 120 average night, far far away from the 145 average i had earned to date.  Need to work on those spares....  Can't complain coz i had some great nights on this league and know I am still evolving and improving.

Looking forward to our brand new Philly Pinoy Mixed Fall League on Sunday nights at 7 pm.  We have kickoff scheduled on September 8, and just announced the 10 teams out of the 30 participants. We created the teams to have one female each and mixed players of different handicaps to give all teams a chance to win.  Joel and i are co-leads of the Bowling Committee organizing the league: lots of work but very interesting and rewarding to do!  I plan to chronicle the stories on this league in my other blog.

So i guess i have resurrected my neglected blogs just in time for all the fall league activities. I am excited about having another fresh start. Bring it on!

Till next, see yah at the lanes!

07/17 Milestone Monday!!!

Bowled both my first 200 game at league AND my first 500 series on Monday, July 15 at the Sizzler League at the Palace.  Scores were 211, 117 (let down!) and 178 (recovered!), all with my Spinderella Ebonite Cyclone.  Best league night ever for me, truly a Milestone Monday!

This is a welcome improvement from my last blog on one of the worst nights i have had at league in a long time.  After such a dismal display, I decided it was high time to check off one of my goals for this year: to seek coaching from bowling guru Donna Roberts.  I knew I was not going to get out of this rut by barreling through it like I have done in the past = professional help was needed.  I wanted to correct the fundamental flaws in my game so I could move definitively in the right direction, and be armed with the knowledge of what I need to watch out for, so i don't regress again or too badly.

I had my lesson with Donna on June 23, and have been diligently working on the key things she had me working on.  Lots of things to think about, which was not good for me in the beginning, but we had discussed about putting in the minimum six hours of practice (just like our piano teachers told us!).  I had noticed my ball speed increasing, and I was hitting my target more consistently, so it was only a matter of time before my scores reflected an incremental improvement in my game.  Putting in the work helped me get a sense of how "right" should feel, so my new and improved approach could become more instinctive... good to minimize the thinking! 

By this Monday, I had logged in 55 games (both league and practice) since my June 23 lesson, which was more than the minimum 6 hours, but hey, I am a stubborn cookie overcoming many bad habits and striving for consistency.  I had been doing the release drill Donna taught me, and was getting better at keeping my head down through my approach, trusting my swing (do not direct the ball!) and following through strongly, which all finally came together on Monday and made a difference!  

THANK YOU, Donna, my fabulous coach and miracle worker, for making it possible!  THANK YOU, Papa Joel, for watching out for me and sharing this journey with me (go JC Squared!).  SHOUT OUT to Romy and Blue of Pinoy Style, and our opponents from $Money in the Pocket, witnesses to the miracle.

In my typical fashion, i had to get worse before the lesson kicked in and sank in, but the results are worth it!  Hard work truly pays off.  I need to be realistic though = for sure it will be bad again, i have no illusions.  But now i know and believe i can do good and be truly great, coz my inner bowler came out to play this magical Monday and she was super awesome!  I am grateful to be on the right track, getting the help and support I need, and truly looking forward to even more milestones on my journey.

See y'all at the lanes!

6/12 Setback

Had my worst series in a long, LONG time tonight: bowled 101, 122 and 104 for 109 average for the night.  My 150 league average dives down to 140.  

I should shrug it off and move on, I guess, but it is disheartening.  Something was just very off.  Ain't that my trend, improve then get off track, get better then face another setback.  Still hoping for better play and better days....

See yah at the lanes.

5/25 FINALLY, a 200 Game!!!

FINALLY, I have achieved a much awaited milestone: my very first 200+ game.  Yes, this was only practice at Facenda but after getting so close so many times both at league and practice, i can at least say that i have done it.  May this be the beginning of better play and more milestones in my journey to a better game.

See y'all at the lanes!