Tackling the Eiffel Tower at ABT South

After a month off, the ABT Chicagoland South branch got back up and running with a one-day tournament at Tinley Park Bowl in Tinley Park, Illinois. The close proximity to my home and the fact that ABT South (unlike ABT North) actually lets you know what you're bowling on once you arrive at the center, compelled me to give this tournament a shot.

This event was contsted using Kegel's Eiffel Tower oil pattern, a 48-foot, 25 plus millileter beast from Kegel's Sport Series. I had never bowled on this pattern, so I was excited to see what I could make of it.

I tend to use the pattern length minus 31 equation to give me a starting point, so I figured I would want my ball somewhere around 17 when it left the pattern, and then I could adjust from there. Before starting, I made some surface adjustments, taking my Nirvana and Mastermind Einstein down to 1000 grit, and taking my Mastermind Intellect and Melee Cross down to around 600. The plan was to play them as straight as I could early on, and then migrate deeper inside as the set wore on.

I started the day with the Melee Cross, figuring it would give me the smooth, controlled look I would need in order to command the pocket and stay out of trouble. Sadly, I just couldn't get the ball to do enough coming off the spot to get any hit, so it was soon clear that a change would need to be made. With that in mind, I moved a few boards further inside, and I went to the Mastermind Intellect, which has never let me down in regard to the move it makes down the lane!

My look improved, but it was still very touchy. If I missed inside, I was almost assured a designer split. If I missed wide, it was washout city. Obviously, that doesn't lead to a lot of confidence, so I was left pondering my next move. Thankfully, watching a fellow competitor gave me the insight I needed.

An older gentleman I was crossing with was throwing the ball extrmely slowly up the 2 board and actually getting the ball back to the pocket with some success. I knew that my speed would never allow me to do that, but I also knew that the extra revs I had over him would allow me to bring the ball back from further than he could.

With that in mind, I took two giant steps back to the right and began playing straight up 8-10 with the Intellect. Voila! I had to keep the speed down, but as long as I stayed smooth, the ball picked up nicely, charged hard through the deck and gave me a much better look than any that I had up to that point.

I threw the last four strikes of Game 2 to give me confidence. After switching pairs and adjusting slightly, I seven strikes out of eight at a stretch during Game 3. Sadly, the one non-strike was a 3-4-6-7 split that came as a result of missing inside a touch. I still finished with 228 that game, but the open kept me just short of the truly big game I needed to erase the damage done during Games 1-2. When all was said and done, I finished at +24, which was two shots shy of advancing.

Obviously, I was disappointed at my failure to move on to the semifinals; however, I was happy with my ability to make a drastic change in both line and technique in order to get something going where nothing had worked up to that point. That's the aggressiveness I need in order to go down swinging as opposed to limping my way home. Again, there will be times where those drastic changes fail and lead to drastically-low scores, but that's something I'll have to live with. Long story short, I liked some of the things I was able to accomplish today, and I'll use them to help me going forward.