Bowling Update

Week two on my quest for more consistancy in my approach and release. The lanes were flooded with oil. Had to slow the ball speed down dramatically. I also moved three boards to the right of where I normally stand, just to get the ball up into the pocket. I put into practice the tips I read about linking my right arm with my right foot to start the swing. I keep on with bending the knee at the foul line. No I'm not perfect, still had a few shots where I was off, but practice makes perfect or so they tell me so I'll keep on. The slowing down was a little difficult, but focusing on starting the approach and bending my knee kept me on track. The release felt good so I'm building upon the work done last week.

My scores? First game 198, came back in the second game with a 213, and finished the night with a 213. 624 series. My nephew had it a little rougher than I with all that oil out there. We would start the games fairly closely, one game I remember only being up 5 pins in the 5th frame. I think he rolled a 162, then a 178, and finished the night with 195. So he improved every game and ended up gettting his average for the night.

My 624 series helped in raising my average. It went up another 2 pins. I'll start with a 188 after the Holiday break. Our first week back is like a mini sweepers, it's the men vs the men and the women vs the women. It's a three week break before we start the second half of the league and before I can continue raising my average. I'm going to practice during the Holiday break so I can keep these things going in the right direction. I want to end this year with a 200+ average. I can see it happening, but seeing is not doing the work. Time to make practicing a priority. I don't do New Year's resolutions. I set this goal after last week bowling....it is a goal I'm going to reach.

Not sure if I'll get another post in before the Holidays, so I'll take this moment to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! I hope you are surrounded by friends and family and take the time to enjoy the 'Spirit of the Season'.

{{{{{************************}}}}} HUGZ to you all!!!!!

A different Christmas poem

I don't know where it started but I read this a few years ago.. and every year I try to post it and try to keep it going. To those I served with, and to those who serve currently......

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall..”

“ So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

Ahhh

Bowling... so last Thursday I guess I decided it was time to actually do all those things you're supposed to do when you bowl. I realized a few weeks ago I wasn't bending my knee when I released the ball. So I've been working on that since. Thursday it felt pretty good. Then I wanted to know what my Venom would do on the lanes. I started with my Playmaker, and it was doing well, I was clean through the first 6 frames. Just felt like I was fighting it a little too much. So I grabbed my Venom from my locker. I didn't put tape in the thumb and the first shot in the 7th fell right off my hand. Luckily it went down the lane and struck. So I put tape in and kept with the Venom the rest of the night. Finished the first game with a 211. Second game was pretty good..a couple of bad shots, but I instantly knew what I had done wrong, and corrected it. I'm pretty sure it's because I knew the release was good. I never felt lost. Ended that game with a 220.

So it's feeling good. I'm loving how my ball is rolling down the lane. Definitely the the right ball for the conditions. I start the third game... strike, strike, strike.. the ball is just pounding the pocket. I know when I let it go it's a good shot. I see where it hits the lane and starts to roll.. I just KNOW it's going to strike. Let me tell you that's a good feeling. Three more strikes and we're half way through the game. I've strung 6. Got up in the 7th frame and yeah...the pressure was there. Thinking too much about it. Pulled it something terribly. Anyway pulled a 231 out of that game. Been awhile since I've had three good games like that so the mental aspect isn't there. It still takes a game of 250 or above to make me really happy. Just been awhile since I've bowled this consistantly. Would love to put my average up in the 200's again. We're basically at the mid point of the season. It can be done.

Was reading some tips online today and I found one concerning timing and your approach. The points raised really connected in my head. I was trying it out in the office today. Couldn't slide on the carpet, nor did I have a ball in my hand, but I liked the way it felt. So I'll be putting that into practice and let's see how things go. My average going into last Thursday was a 183, the 662 series jumps that up to a 186. One more week to go before the holiday break...would be nice to add a few more pins to my average.

15 weeks left after the holidays... only need to raise my average one pin a week. Let's see what happens.

{{{{*********************}}}} HUGZ to you all!