Diary Of An Average Bowler Part 1

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 11/2/2014; Updated: 8/21/22

This is the first in a multiple part article series featuring “Billy Bowler”, a fictional bowler who is entering into his first competitive league.
Allow us to proceed:
“Hi, my name is Billy. I have been recently invited to join my friend’s team and bowl in a highly competitive league well above the skill range of my previous experience in leagues.
Four bowlers making up the nucleus of my new team seem to be high average bowlers with two of the other four bowlers boasting entering averages of well above 220.
Because this is a handicap league with a ceiling cap for team average, my 170 entering average allows these other four bowlers to stay together as teammates due to the four combined averages totaling 830. With my average we enter as a team total of 1000 even and at the maximum entering average limit.
Ok, let’s get to it. On my first night of league with these star players, I was finishing shadow balls before the 1st game and never hit the pocket one time.
The 220 average bowler told me to stand with my slide foot instep on the 22 board and aim at the 2nd arrow because I throw only a modest hook.
After four consecutive open frames I found myself nervous, frustrated and disappointed I was hurting the team.
The high average player came over and said that he noticed I was walking to the right too many boards and I needed a straight walking path to the foul line.
He went on the say that by drifting right (I am a right handed bowler), I was changing my intended delivery path to the 2nd arrow and that was why my ball over-reacted and missed the building.
I asked if I could simply move further left on the approach to compensate. He said that might help and to try it.
It is very hard to get tips during pressure competition. I adjusted left on my starting position on the approach the number of boards I was drifting on the approach.
Did NOT help. I drifted more boards to the right than before trying this and still could not slide where I was supposed to slide in order to play the lane properly based on the oil pattern.
I pulled every other shot through the nose and overturned the ball pretty badly according to my teammates.
More of them have jumped into the conversation. They are jamming me and tag teaming me with tips.

Can’t handle this too well. Wish I would have stayed in the lousy league and not joined up to bowl with these “pros.”
My new teammate told me that I needed to fight through the night and practice with no pressure during the days ahead to straighten out my walk. I tried my best.
He said that by drifting into my swing path, my swing routed around my body so I would not hit my hip or leg and that caused a roundhouse swing and made me pull the ball off line.
Guess what I have to do now - practice and work this out.
I think I will take a lesson to get some professional help. My 480 series ended up causing us to lose two of three games that night and I am embarrassed.
Stay tuned for my next report how the lesson goes and what I did on the next league night.
Thanks…
Billy Bowler