First Night of League Play

I headed over to King Pin Bowl & Ale House in West Bend for my first league bowling experience, not entirely sure what to expect. I felt a mix of nervousness and excitement as the clock approached 6:15 and was ready to familiarize myself with the league bowling process and my surroundings on Thursday nights for the next eight months. I showed up early to get my new Berserk drilled but the Pro Shop had closed for the day, hopefully I will have it ready for next week. After throwing a few warm up balls I realized that with the oily conditions I was going to be throwing my Defiant anyways.

126.33 Average, 379 Series. I definitely have room for improvement!

I started off well, throwing strikes on my first two balls, and finished my first game with a solid, for me at this point, but unspectacular score of 140. I wish that I could write about how I built on that first game and did even better in the next two, but that would make me a liar as my other two games could only be described as inconsistent. I’ve realized that perhaps my biggest challenge at the moment is variation in my form since I’m new to the sport and have yet to start my coaching sessions. This is especially true if I am struggling or make a mistake and start over-thinking every aspect of my approach and release. My plan is to get at least one practice session in this week, or perhaps my first lesson, to make some tweaks before my second night at league.

My second game tested my patience and my frustration level began to rise as I threw a couple gutter balls and failed to convert several spares, reaffirming that at this point I am still in the gutter, dreaming of glory, but it’s a long season and I’m determined to get there.  After sitting at a pretty dismal 63 through 7 frames I had a couple of spares and ended with a strike to bring my score up to 109, still not anywhere near where I would like to be, but I was glad that I got above 100 and the strike calmed my nerves and gave me new hope as we entered the third game of the night.

My third game was better but still had its ups and downs as I was able to throw 4 strikes, but only converted one spare, and finished with a 130. In the end I had a lot of fun, with a little frustration mixed in, and feel I will be much more confident and less distracted next week now that I have a better idea of what to expect and how everything goes.  Having a full team should help as well. Hoping that this will be my only sub-400 series and am going to make my goal for next week 425 or better. Trying to get my lessons started this week and will let you know how the first one goes if I do. Until then, keep reaching for glory!