League Night - NSAC - Victory Lanes - Kankakee, Illinois

I don't often tinker around with mechanics while bowling for score, but I wanted to test out a slightly different setup position and pushaway that I've tried here and there in practice. Surprisingly, I stuck with it all night and still managed to put together a pretty decent set. Here's how it shook out:

Game 1

9/ 9/ 9/ X X X 72 9/ X XX9 - 222

I started out with my Brunswick Mastermind Genius standing on 30, which is pretty much how start every week in this league. The first three shots weren't very good as I wasn't freeing my arm up enough, which led to funky releases and three back-row leaves; however, the rest of that game was executed about as well I have seen in quite some time. The strikes in the 4-6 were all posted up and thrown beautifully. Sadly, I slipped a bit at the line in the 7th, which caused the ball to leak to the break point early, resulting in a 4-6-7. Not letting that discourage me, I threw four very good shots in a row before missing the fill ball a bit at the bottom to leave a 7-pin and finish at 222.

Game 2

62 9/ 9/ 9/ X 9- X X 9/ X9/ - 183

Obviously, the score isn't very impressive here; nevertheless, other than a pretty terrible shot in the first and a boneheaded blown 10-pin in the 6th, I really didn't throw the ball that badly. I stuck with the Mastermind Genius until the 7th frame, and, to be honest, the ball was still looking pretty good going down the lane and through the pins. I just couldn't find a way to strike. I left a solid 8-pin in the 2nd, a 9-pin in the 3rd, and ringing 10's in the 4th and 6th. Nevertheless, realizing that it wasn't doing any good to keep pinging nine counts all day, I tried something different in the 7th. Instead of going to my Melee Jab, which has been my typical Game 3 ball in this league, I decided to try my Mastermind Intellect. My thought was that the Intellect would be stronger than the Jab if I missed in the oil while still offering the backend continuation the Genius was starting to lack. It was a good choice as I flushed the pocket the rest of the way with only a 9-pin and a rack-ripping 7-pin slowing me down.

Game 3

X X X X X 9/ X X X 9/X - 258

My move to the Intellect could not have been more right. The polished cover helped the ball clear the heads with ease, and then it was left turn, Clyde! I got lucky breaks in the 3rd and 5th as the ball crept tight but tripped the 4-pin both times to keep me going. At that point, I really felt like if I could survive the 7th and 9th, I'd have a legit shot at 300 since I had better control of the right lane than I did the left. Sadly, I was wrong. I threw what I felt to be a very good shot in the 6th, but broke loose a bit quicker than I expected, leaving a 4-pin. I made good adjustments and struck in the 7-9 before a nasty solid 8-pin took my bid for 279 down to 258, which gave me 663 for the evening.

The numbers are modest, but I really, really liked how I threw the ball tonight. I was much more mechanically sound than I have been in a while. I think my hip injury may finall by behind me! Plus, I learned that my Mastermind Intellect is a great choice for the third game in this league. With seven weeks to go, I have a feeling I could have another run or two at perfection with the Intellect before all is said and done.

As always, thanks for reading! If you have questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to message me!