Winter League Update - Week13

 

The Hasbeens — Lanes 13/14

Tuesday night brought a top-five matchup between us (The Hasbeens) and the league’s #1 team, Use Your Thumb. We came in with a 98-pin handicap advantage. Our opponents had two average bowlers and two very strong ones, averaging 193 and 197. One of them, a young two-hander with a ton of revs, was especially dangerous. Between him and their anchor, I figured lane breakdown and carrydown would show up early.

Our game plan was simple: stay consistent, convert spares, limit mistakes, adjust quickly, and keep our composure under pressure. We also made another lineup tweak—moving our lowest-average bowler to the lead-off spot and stair-stepping the rest of the lineup. The main goal was to keep every game within 98 pins of our opponents to secure the total pins point. If we could grab two games and keep it close overall, we’d call that a win.

And that’s exactly what happened. We pulled out five of seven possible points, and it was a blast. We took Game 1 by 29 pins and Game 3 by 38 pins, dropped Game 2 by just 23 pins, and still won total pins by 44. Too many open frames in Game 2 cost us a sweep, but we bounced back strong in Game 3, stringing together marks when it mattered most.

I started Game 1 with a three-bagger and was feeling great with the Phaze II. Then came a missed 3–10 split in the third frame that brought me back down a peg. To top it off, I threw a gutter ball on my fill shot in the 10th—total bonehead move. With the win already locked up, I decided to test my Road Warrior on that fill shot but forgot to add tape in the thumb hole. The ball slipped off my hand at the approach and found the gutter just past the arrows. Lesson learned—I had tape in there before rolling it again. Honestly, the three splits in that game didn’t sting nearly as much as that one embarrassing shot.

Game 2 started rough with a 2–10 split, and I never really found my line. I finished with a 159, managing only four strikes and a couple of spares. That one hurt our total.

Game 3, though, was a blast. I switched to the Road Warrior (this time with tape!) in the second frame, and it completely changed the game. After an early 9-spare and 8-miss, I went clean the rest of the way with strikes and spares off the sheet—six strikes total. Moving my feet to board 25 and targeting the third arrow helped the ball stay in the oil longer, and it retained a ton of energy at the pins. It looked fantastic—at least to me! I finished with a 215, my second highest game of the year. 

For the night, I ended with a 46% strike percentage and only eight open frames (26%). My main issue seems to be staying with the Phaze II too long or not adjusting quickly enough before switching balls. Next week, I’m planning to make more deliberate adjustments earlier and not hesitate to change equipment if needed.

No R-L-R Thursday this week since my wife and I have a prior engagement, so I’ll use the downtime to think, plan, and get ready for next week.

Keep Striking!