Observations and Irritations

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Observations and Irritations
December 2007

Maybe it's not the ball

Greetings Friends I stand before you, wait I can’t say that. I sit before you, wait I can’t say that either although I am sitting. I am here today, which is technically true no matter when you read this, with egg on my face. Last month I said I thought Kurry Crayton cleaned his ball after every game in a tournament and I thought that improved his reaction. It turns out I was wrong he only used the alcohol to clean the fingers and the thumb hole. When I am wrong I will say I am wrong and apologize.

I stated last month I was going to try an experiment regarding cleaning the ball between frames and also between games. These are the results of the experiment:
On Monday night league at Riverview it is a 5 men team league. I tried my first experiment cleaning the ball between each frame. I found this had very positive results. I actually shot a 770 series by cleaning the ball between frames. When the lanes transitioned the ball maintained its earlier characteristics of gripping the lane. It also provided a more consistent roll increasing the friction thus giving the ball more “pop” on the backend. The next experiment I tried was cleaning the ball after each game. I cleaned the ball after each game with the same product I had been cleaning with previously. My scores were decent 727 but there was a lot more inconsistencies of carry, and also when the lanes transitioned between the 8th to 11th frames the adjustments were more dramatic. The most dramatic change was when I cleaned the ball following the game the reaction went back to normal. The final night I decided to follow through with my experiment regardless of the outcome (the sacrifices I make for you readers). I did not clean the ball except at the start of the set. The result was a 648 series. The most interesting part of the night was the games were 232 184 231. The second game the lanes transitioned and I adjusted. I adjusted into splits and I adjusted into taps. The last game I had finally moved enough to get out of the carry down and string some strikes. The testing environment used the same oil pattern all three nights, the ball used was the Total NV and the cleaner used was the Energizer. The temperature was cold all three nights and this is what I have concluded: A bowling ball being an object with pores soaks up oil must like the pores on the nose. The more those pores become clogged the less likely the ball is grip the lane with any consistency. While it may be a tedious task to put forth the effort of picking the ball up each time it is rolled the results are worth it. As long as it is legal to clean a ball during USBC Competition, we should take every advantage possible to improve our scores. While performing my experiments it was suggested to me that wiping the ball off every time was the same as cleaning it. I challenge that theory on the grounds of smearing the oil. If you have oil on your nose and you wipe it with your finger all you are doing is smearing the oil to another part of the nose which in essence creates a new problem of placing oil where it normally does not go. Micro fiber towels are good products but even they will not remove the oil from the ball without a degreasing agent. I am not saying I bowled well because I cleaned the ball every time I threw it. I am saying that my performance was improved the more the ball was cleaned. Quoting Jeff McCorvey “Maintenance is the key”. I hope the results of this experiment will prove useful to you.

Onto this month’s topic: Maybe Its Not the Ball, so what can it be?
There are many outside stimuli that can affect your performance such as sticky approaches. It’s always a good idea, if you are running a bowling center and someone tells you in practice of a tournament, like say the mixed couples tournament, that the approaches are tacky and everyone on your pair is sticking, to address the situation instead of having a conversation with the association president. But Hey that’s just my opinion, what do I know about sticking on the approaches, I just like to cause problems. Right? Another thing that causes poor performance could be outside interference for instance announcing popcorn is ready for the 3rd time in one league session. If people need that much popcorn shouldn’t they be watching a movie? Another thing that might cause some problems could be delays from breakdowns or the delay from waiting on the counter person to address your concerns instead of flirting with someone open bowling. One of my favorite distractions of the year was three 3 young men that decided to run from the game room onto the approach where a league was bowling. I would have really enjoyed it more if I had been the person on the approach and had the opportunity to have knocked them down, but instead I was the one who had the opportunity to confront them and just hope that their parents would say a word to me but alas they ran back to mommy and daddy. Another think that causes is distraction is people spilling pitchers of beer in the middle of the settee area. It’s always fun to have an obstacle course to try and maneuver around. Of course the counter lends no assistance they are too busy flirting. The last distraction I have seen this month is, oh wait did I not mention that all of this has happened within the last month, flashing pictures in a bowling center. Why bowling centers do not tell birthday parties on the front there is no flash photography in the center is beyond me. So of all these little moments of chaos tend to cause distraction and none of them have one thing to do with your personal equipment.

Maybe it’s not the ball? Maybe it’s the attitude. In college my roommate who for protection of the guilty we will call Pot Smarks, had one class that he always dreaded. Whenever he would leave for a test he would remark “Off to fail animal Phys”. I am a firm believer in positive reinforcement, can’t you tell? I told him as long as you think you are going to fail you probably are. If you think you are not going to make a corner pin because it always gives you trouble you are almost guaranteed to do so. I think one of the worst things in bowling is to think is, “I hope I don’t leave something”. If you have a long string of strikes, don’t say to yourself “Don’t leave a 10 pin or a 7 pin”. The power of the human mind is amazing, and always think positive thoughts to yourself: “Throw good speed”, “hit the target”, “Smooth Reaction”, “Stay slow” any of these are positive reinforcement, never, ever, never, never, use a negative word. Do not think to yourself any words that involve the word “NOT”. If you think of what not to do you ultimately will do it the brain focuses on the noun “Don’t leave a 7 pin”. The brain hears wha, wha leave a 7 pin. BAM! 7 Pin! The brain has done its job. Keep positive thoughts in let your competition worry about the negative.

In closing “Maybe it’s not the Ball” was a lot more in depth than the joke it started out to be. Everyone expected the article to say “Maybe it’s you”. Maybe it’s something you can control and maybe it’s something you can control but didn’t know you were controlling it. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, I hope Santa brings you the bowling the ball of your dreams.

Until next time…How did we go from a beer frame to guys squealing like a pig?

Don is a Birmingham bowler. If you have any story suggestions, please submit to Don at Donchappelear@bellsouth.net

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