Couldn't wait for league to start Thursday night.  I was feeling good physically and had a good practice session on Tuesday so I expected good things.  The warm up went well.  My spare lines were good, the strike ball was breaking just right.  Opened with five strikes in a row then pulled the ball way left to leave a five pin on a brooklyn hit.  Making sure the next ball stayed right, I missed my first arrow target two boards to the right but the ball still came back to the pocket only to leave a seven pin.  It was strange to pick up my spare ball for the first time in the seventh frame.  I blew it half an inch to the right and found myself with 166 in the seventh, a very good place to be when you are averaging 165.  I finished with 222, my first league 200 since before Christmas.

Had six strikes in the second game without a streak longer than a double.  Three strikes on each lane so I could not see a difference in the lanes.  Missed a 3-10 split for the only open and wound up with 202. 

I had moved five boards left on the approach and aimed at the seven board to double in the tenth and then pulled the final shot brooklyn and left the 6-10.  The first frame of the final game I pulled it brooklyn again but it struck.  Making sure to follow through toward my mark the ball skidded too long, broke late and left the 4-5 split.  Went way brooklyn on the next ball and again the next frame hit my mark only to see the ball break early, go high and leave the 3-6-10.  I moved back right and the ball skidded way long to leave a four pin washout.  Missed it. Next ball I put a little more spin on it and was rewarded with a perfect strike that turned out to be the only good shot in the game.  The ball slid past my hook spot for the next three frames, I missed a 2-10 split and chopped the 2-4 off the 2-4-5 in the tenth.  The game was over and I had 139.  So much for a 600 this week. 

It was still 563 and raises my average to 169. If I keep improving with 13 weeks left it is still possible to reach my 180 goal for this season.  I am minus 273 pins right now.  A quick calculation says I have to average 561 to do it.

Our team won all seven points and moved into first place.  That feels good after finishing last in the fall season.

Most of the guys were complaining about too much oil last night.  Maybe there was more oil than usual.  It didn't affect my game until a lot of it moved down the lane.  Looking back on the third game I know that a pro would have switched to a more aggressive ball.  I don't have one.  The next time I lose the pocket because it has gotten slick at my breakpoint like that I am going to try throwing harder and straighter.  If it won't hook anyway, it is stupid to keep trying to make it hook.

Watching the qualifying rounds of the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator tonight I saw Steve Harmon who had been leading the tournament lose his momentum and throw a 138.  Makes me feel a little better to know that a pro can be averaging over 240 and suddenly have a game like that.

I finally made it to a practice session today.  My toe is no longer swollen and my thumb looked normal enough.  It felt so good to deliver the ball with no pain and to feel my legs and feet working just as they were supposed to.  I did two games shooting corners with the first ball and rolling the strike line on the second.  In the third game I was lined up and confident.  Rolled seven strikes and put three more close to the pocket.  The two bad shots were really wide right leaving a washout and a another five pin spare and I missed them both.  The score was 208.  In my fourth and final game I could see the result of the oil carrying down the lane as the ball carried farther down before hooking and I left three 2-4-5's and missed two of them.  Instead of moving left, I tried to slow down a little and a couple of shots hooked early and went high.  Six strikes and 184 was not too bad for this 166 average bowler.  I feel ready for league Thursday.

Having good footwork and balance at the line makes it so much easier to hit my target.  I really empathized with Jason Belmonte as he limped through the final round of match play last Friday.  Having tried to bowl league the night before on a sore foot, I knew first hand how hard it is to keep your swing lined up with shaky underpinnings. 

A month ago after leaving ten 10 pins on league night, I was really wanting a more aggressive ball.  This practice session convinces me that for this house my ball has plenty of hook and good enough carry when I find a good angle and keep my revs up.  More practice to improve my consistency should be worth a lot more pins than a different ball.