My First PBA Tournament Experience and Review
Written By: bowlingball.com | Written On: Friday, December 8, 2017
bowlingball.com 12/8/2017
As most of you know that on top of being a staff writer here at bowlingball.com, I also have attempted diving into the big sea of bowling known as the PBA Tour. I have only been doing a few regionals here and there to start, but it’s a good start as opposed to the big, big stuff right away.
Bowling the first day I had actually very little nerves all things considered., knowing it was my first ever event. We got a half hour to practice on the lanes and the pattern we would be bowling on. It was a PBA 42 foot oil pattern, where targeting and shot making were going to be key. On the practice pairs I had a decent look playing inside, but once the tournament began after the 30 minutes of practice on the tournament pairs, that shot didn’t exist. I spent a whole two games fishing in an area of the lane that wasn’t even worth my while and dug myself in a hole early. Honestly I should’ve made smarter choices, but realized it 20 shots in and everyone had already gotten dialed in.
Starting game 3, I had moved nearly a whole 20 boards right and began to create my angles to be very tight downline, and took a weaker ball as a way to make sure my ball wasn’t going to go completely sideways. On top of that, the PBA has their one-pair courtesy rule, which for myself, I have no problem with as it is more of a way to create more time to focus on your shot. However, that’s not the case when you’re bowling next to an individual who doesn’t know what all is going onand getting me to jump out of line to not only get myself out of rhythm, but whom also talked to by the PBA Regional Director.
I know I’m 20 and I may be one of the young bowlers, but I don’t appreciate someone trying to get me in trouble fortheir lack of understanding. This certain individual even continued doing it the following day as well. Probably did not like young bowlers, two-handed bowlers or just clearly didn’t know what all was going on. For the next six games the first day I was able to finally make better shots. Pin carry was an absolute pain but recovered nicely enough to where I wasn’t going to make cut, but I felt satisfied with myself and fresh for the next day with a whole new game plan.
The next day, fortunately for me, was doubles, and I got to bowl with one of my best friends from California.. We both started playing the outside. I however bowled more inside of his line and actually had a decent look all day. I only had one bad game all day which hindered my chance of personally going plus, but as a team going -15 for the day wasn’t too bad. Wth the talent that’s in the field, it was extremely difficult to make the cut.
Overall, I felt satisfied with the way I bowled personally, just the scores didn’t reflect anything I did in my honest opinion. Since a month has passed, I have worked on being mechanically better, built more stamina to endure the long tournaments, improved more on having fun, and overall become a better bowler. I must send a shout out to everyone at South Point Bowling Plaza, the PBA and West Coast Regional Director Gary Mage as the tournament was run excellentlyl. An A+ grade I would give them if bowling report cards existed.
Back to work writing and making videos it is for me… See my articles and everything bowling during this busy holiday season, right here at bowlingball.com. It’s where bowlers go.
