Another Shot at Glory
Seems like last season just wrapped up, the summer flew by so quickly. However, it’s been months since we wrapped up league and I barely touched a bowling ball since then. Sure, I’d occasionally open up my bag and dream of strikes and sweet slides on the approach, but otherwise my life was heavily pre-occupied. At work, we were busy working on lots of new Roto Grip stuff (check out the new rotogrip.com, that’s our creation). Even though I wasn’t throwing any balls, I had plenty of them on my mind. Let’s just call all that “mental practice” so that it sounds like I worked on my game some.
In all honesty, I needed some time away from the lanes. I threw over 250 games and countless balls during coaching sessions. By the time we were starting the final week of league, my brain felt like bacon that had been cooked for three or four hours. And not to mention the strain that my body had gone through. Sure, I’m not that old, but my hip and knee were starting to feel worn down and weak. It was time to shut it down and let everything that had happened settle down and implant itself as knowledge instead of frenzied frustration.
It definitely helped. Man, my brain feel the desire again and the weight of wanting to succeed has fallen off. I feel fresh and invigorated. Completely ready to burn out my brain again and hobble away from the lanes. You know you enjoy something when you’re willing to endure pain for it… I’m excited to get beyond the beginner level and reach the “just a little bit better than your random league bowler” level.
And… this season, I am not alone in my fun and struggles. As already evidenced by his first two posts, Zak Becker has joined the Gutter to Glory family. He’s new, young, and motivated so it’s going to be great to follow along with him. He does have some work ahead of him and hopefully I can help him through the frustration and anguish that come along with pushing to hard to achieve something. Be kind to Zak but don’t be afraid to mess with him a bit (I know I don’t hold back, right Zakuille?)
It’s going to be a fun bowling season and both Zak and I hope that you’ll follow along, offer your opinions, and enjoy watching two train wrecks at the same time!
Goals for my sophomore season:
- Bowl every week without complaining about joint pain
- Raise average to 190+
- Raise my high game and high series (aiming for 270+ and 650+)
- Not throw a single gutter ball
- Not let Zak out-bowl me… ever (okay, maybe once)
