ScottIsAFool: Bowling

A Year Ago Today (Well, last week really)

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:59:00 GMT

I meant to post this last week, but clean forgot. A year ago last Monday, I bowled my first ever series left handed; I got a 276 (92) average. I'm now averaging 136 on a Tuesday night, and 132 on a Sunday night, and I'm now regularly hitting 150+ games as well, including a few 190+ games.

Onto the next 12 months

More Bowling Goodness

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:11:09 GMT

Sunday I mentioned that I bowled my highest ever game, well that also included my highest ever series (452 over three games), so I was quite chuffed. Then last night, I only went and beat that too! I bowled a 157, 183 and 145, giving me a 485, averaging 162. My left handed bowling really feels like it's coming along now, just need to start getting the consistency and I'll be laughing.

Incidentally, one of the Dorset county managers was up the bowl last night, I hope he saw me bowling left handed and hitting that middle 183 game. Would love it if he did The last time he would have seen me bowling, I was right handed

Was just looking through my blog, and I realised that it's coming up to a year since I first started bowling left handed, and I blogged about my first left handed series of 276, and then compared to last night's 485, I've gone from a 92 average to a 162 average! (Ok, my actual league average is about 133, but I'm getting there!)

Whilst writing this I was listening to Aerosmith - Bone To Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)

190 Reasons Why I Was Grinning

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:03:50 GMT

That's my highest ever game left handed

Final Left Handed Average

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:49:56 GMT

As you all know, I've had to change what hand I bowl with, and am now bowling left handed, which is proving to be rather interesting. Well, the season on a Tuesday night finished a couple of weeks ago, and last Tuesday I got the final league sheet, with my final average on it. After 36 games (12 weeks) my final average was 122.4. Which, all things considered, isn't too bad. It's definitely something for me to improve upon next season.

In the meantime, I have the Summer league with which to practice and get even better. I will get back to my old right handed average!

Oh yeah, my team finished 7th overall in the league, which isn't bad as it's a trios league and for the most part of the season, my Dad and I bowled with just the two of us after my brother buggered off to Bath at the start of the season. So I don't think it was too bad a season all round (other than being told I have to stop bowling right handed...)

Whilst writing this I was listening to Paul McCartney - Dance Tonight

I Miss It

Tue, 29 May 2007 22:46:08 GMT

I miss bowling right handed, I really miss it

Goodbye Right Handed Bowling

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 17:32:13 GMT

I had an appointment with the physio today about my wrist, given all the problems I've had with it the last few months. She did a few stretches to see if it was still giving me grief, which it didn't and it's been ok the last few weeks. But when I explained that it was possibly cos of my bowling, and explained how my ball was drilled (fingertip) and the weight (15lb), she asked if that could be changed, I said not really, not without it affecting my bowling in a negative way (my mum would probably argue differently), so the physio told me that while my bowling ball is like that and that weight, the problem I've had with my wrist will only come back again when/if I start bowling right handed again.

Which sucks.

So looks like I'm going to bowling left handed for quite a while longer Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying bowling left handed (I got a 412 series on Tuesday), but I really miss doing it right handed and it seriously sucks ass that I might not be able to do it all the time again.

I'm not happy

187!! Yeah Baby!!

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:15:46 GMT

I went bowling tonight and just had a few games by myself (no league on a Sunday anymore). Bowled a crappy 106 first game, a not so bad 139, then in the last game, I hit 187 . Left handed!!!

The bowl doesn't have a printer and so I couldn't get a printout, then the score went off my lane's screen, so had to take a picture from main control...

Whilst writing this I was listening to Aerosmith - Livin' On The Edge

Left Handed Bowling and Dodgy Wrists

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:53:48 GMT

So I've been bowling left handed now for about five weeks or so, and I have to say, I'm enjoying it, it's certainly a challenge. And the best thing is, I'm improving so much so quickly. Over the last 11 games, I've averaged 122, which is pretty good going considering I've moved to my opposite arm, and more importantly, my much weaker arm! I've hit two 140+ games, with the highest coming last night at 144, and it's all just starting to slot into place for me. The only thing for me is I don't know how long I'll be bowling left handed; what I do know though, is it's going to be for quite a while longer yet . As well as I'm bowling left handed, I miss bowling normally (right handed).

As for my right hand.... Well, it doesn't seem to be getting better. At all. On Sunday I struggled to even hold a 2 litre bottle of coke without it putting me in a lot of pain. So I booked myself an appointment with the Dr again and saw her this morning, she has referred me to the physio, who I won't be seeing until at least the 25th April unless I can get a cancellation. So all in all, not looking that great for my right wrist... I've just gotta hope that when I do start seeing the physio that it does actually have some kind of effect on the wrist and it does start getting better. But even then, once it does stop hurting in general, what about my bowling? How is that going to be affected? Will I have to just stop bowling right handed to stop a risk of it happening again? Will I have to bowl with my wrist that heavily strapped I'll resemble Robocop? I have a lot of decisions to make regarding my bowling coming up, which I'm not looking forward to, but if I keep improving the way I have been with my left hand, then things might not be too bad in the end...

Seriously, What The Hell Is Wrong With My Body!!!

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:54:03 GMT

As you know, I'm now bowling left handed due to the problems with my right wrist. Well, it seems I might have a new problem now, my right hip! Seriously, I'm only 24 and it is starting to seriously piss me off!! All I want to do is bowl! I just need a f*cking break from all these body problems and for it to just work like it's supposed to. Is that really too much to ask?! It's getting to the point now where I just want a new body .

First Left Handed Series

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 23:58:45 GMT

I bowled my first series tonight with my left hand. And I don't think it went all that badly to be honest. OK, I only got a 276 (92 average), but I think considering I've gone from right hand to a very weak left hand, I'm happily taking that. There's certainly going to be some improvement, and I'm just sorting out getting my own 13lb ball for left handed bowling. Am I disappointed at not being able to bowl right handed? Damn straight I am, but I believe I can do ok left handed as well, and that's what is going to carry me through this .

Whilst writing this I was listening to Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' (Radio Edit)

It's All In The Wrist...

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:07:45 GMT

...Or not as the case may be. It looks like I'm gonna have to take a break from bowling. My wrist has been sore when bowling for a few months now, and I've had to get a really strong wriststrap for it because of it, but tonight it just seemed to be almost at breaking point (hopefully not literally...). To the point where instead of using my 15lb ball, I ended up using a 12lb houseball, just so I could finish the series (and ended up bowling the highest game of the evening for me ).

So what's the plan? Well, I guess I'm gonna have to go to the Drs and ask them to get it looked at properly; none of this pressing down on my wrist and going "Does that hurt?" Of course it doesn't bloody hurt, you're not putting the same pressure as my bowling ball!! Something is wrong with my wrist, and I need to find out what it is soon, so I can make a choice about what I do with my bowling. Cos as I see it, I have two real choices: 1) get a lighter ball. I don't really want to do this as I would end up powering the ball too much (I saw this tonight); 2) bowl left handed, which is do-able. There is really a third option, which is to stop bowling. F*ck that!!

I hope I can get this sorted quickly, I enjoy my bowling too much to have to stop or make drastic changes to my bowling .

Whilst writing this I was listening to Ian Broudie - Super Cinema

Warwickshire Results

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 13:24:42 GMT

Well the email came through today with the results of the County Trials that my brother and I bowled in a few weeks back. Craig has made the Under 24s and by the looks of it, the adult squad as well. Me on the other hand, finished 18th in the adults, and 12th in the Under 24s, missed out on the latter by only 27 pins , which isn't too dissimilar to last year where I missed out by just 7pins. Oh well. Well done Craig (Git!!), and I have to now concentrate on getting my body sorted and my bowling back up to what it should be.

YAC (Under 24) Results:

Oh well, always the adults next year

End Of An Era

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:11:06 GMT

Sunday was a sad[ish] day for me, I bowled in my last Under 24s County trials, and rather disappointingly, I bowled crap . I finished with an average of about 170; in reality, it was two of the six games that really did the damage, one of which being a 118 . My brother on the hand bowled really well, and he should easily make the squad, which is weird, it's the first time he's ever beaten me at a county trial. I would have liked to have gone out in my final year with a bit more of a bang, but these things happen. Once I have sorted out the crap that's going on with my body (I swear, it's falling apart!!) then maybe my bowling will start picking up again .

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Jack Johnson - Good People

Season is over

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 22:56:05 GMT

Well, we did ourselves proud tonight. We won 4-0, but unfortunately, the other match didn't go in our favour, but the fact that we won 4-0 guaranteed us 2nd place. So we finish the season as runners up to the leage. Which I am happy about and gives us something to build on for next year :) Well done team :)

How close...??

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:47:39 GMT

Well, this coming Tuesday is the last week of the Tuesday night league that I bowl in. And I'll tell you one thing, it's bloody close at the top of the league! My team (the mighty Eagles) are currently sat in 4th place, but there are only 2 and a half points between us and top spot and four points available, and guess what, it's position night. So basically, first will play second, third plays fourth, etc. What does this mean, I hear you all say? Well, it means that if second beats first 3-1, and we beat third 4-0, we go top of the league and we win

The other good thing is that the worst we can finish is fourth, fifth place are six points behind us. So Tuesday night is going to be very interesting indeed and I am very much looking forward to it, even though I haven't been bowling as well of late as I was a few weeks ago. Now if only we had some nice chesty cheerleaders to put our opponents off we would be set...! (Well, assuming they didn't put me off as well.... )

True Romance

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 23:30:34 GMT

I'm in love I'll admit it. I am in love. I'm in love with The One

Ok, I'll explain. The One is the name of the bowling ball I bought on Sunday, you may recall that from this post. I had bowling again tonight and although I was still buzzing from Sunday night, I still had the thoughts that maybe it was a fluke and I wouldn't do the same thing tonight, and after the first game, I really did think that it was going to be like that, I got a 183. Then I started picking it up a bit in the second game and finished with a 210; then came the last game, and what a last game!! I started off with six strikes in a row, on the 7^th frame I put a bit of a loose ball and took 8 pins, but I picked up the spare quite comfortably; then I finished the game off with another 5 strikes, giving me a 278 game!! My highest ever game

Because our apponents didn't turn up tonight, my Dad and I were finished quite early, so I thought, to hell with it, I'm having another game! So i started on my fourth game of the night. Started with an 8 spare, then a strike, then another 8 spare, then I got 7 strikes in a row, and finished with a 9 miss, giving me a 258 game. Which means, over the four games, I averaged just over 232!! My highest ever average, period!!

This new ball is possibly the best £200 I have ever spent! All I can say is: I want to go bowling!!! Bring on Sunday night

My New Ball

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 14:17:46 GMT

As mentioned, while I was in Nottingham this last weekend, I got myself a new bowling ball, afterall, it's been about 7 years since I got a new one. Got back on Sunday night and went bowling as normal, and boy, do I love my new ball Bowled a 213, 201, and 257, giving me a 671 series and a 223 average. I was most happy with that I just hope that I can do it on Tuesday as well, and that it wasn't just a one off. Either way, I was happy last night. Tell you one thing though, it's got a wicked backend to it, just whips into the head pin! I'm not used to so much action on my ball!!

About bloody time!

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:01:40 GMT

Just got back from bowling tonight, and my God, was tonight so much better. This was more like the me of a couple of years ago, before all the problems with my knee and toe came along. Bowled a 641 series (over three games); rolled a 203, 244 and a 194. Felt so good! Everything was falling for me and it just felt right. I hope this isn't a one off and this is the start of the proper come back :) Lord knows my average needs it!

Warwickshire County Trials: The Results

Fri, 30 Dec 2005 21:22:13 GMT

Got the results through today. I missed out on making the squad by only 8pins overall. I'll do better next year :) Just wait and see.

Warwickshire County Trials

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:43:15 GMT

Well, the Warwickshire County Trials were held yesterday in Rugby, just outside Coventry. Unfortunately, neither me nor Craig bowled particularly well, disappointing, but it was a really good day of bowling, there were a lot of bowlers going in for the trials at the various age categories, which made the atmosphere really good. So much better than when I've gone in for the Dorset trials. A lot of the bowlers struggled on the lanes yesterday, not just Craig and myself, which was kind of good, meant it wasn't just us. Sadly though, I don't think they bowled badly enough to help us! Still, I did find out that I'm still eligible for next year's trials, which I didn't think I was as I thought I would be too old, so I'm happy about that. I have asked for the results to be emailed to me, when they do, I shall update this blog to show them.

County Trials

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 13:36:51 GMT

Dorset County trials were held last Sunday and today, wonder if anyone will ask why I wasn't there?? I hope so, cos then I can tell them that the trials aren't til the 27th November ;) That's when the Warwickshire trials are, gotta find the centre though, it's in Rugby. Didn't even know Rugby had a bowling centre...... Crazy!!

County Championships

Wed, 02 Mar 2005 22:37:27 GMT

The Under 24 Inter-County Championships for bowling took place this last weekend in Nottingham. As people who know me, or who have read my past blogs, will know, I should have been up there, but the manager decided that he wanted to take someone else instead of me, someone I had beaten fairly in both the trials and the subsequent practice. Well, I was up my regular bowling centre last night and I saw the scores for the Dorset team. They finished a reasonably respectable 7th overall, but the thing that really stood out for me was that the kiddie, Darren Smythe, who had been picked instead of me bowled crap! He averaged over the 7 games a pathetic 169!! And this was the person the manager felt would get more pins than me. With Ben Zadel and Mike Quarry now too old for this category, Dorset don't look like they have much of a team to look forward to, which brings a smug, very smug, grin to my face! Long live Warwickshire ;)

SL

Waste of bloody time!

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 23:50:32 GMT

Well, it turns out that the county trials that I entered, and the subsequent county practice that I took part in on Sunday were a complete and utter waste of my time. I have now seen the team that has been selected, and the final person on the team was someone whom I beat in both the trials AND the practice. So, as you could imagine, I was not impressed in the slightest. The team manager was up the bowl tonight, as was I for my normal league bowling, so I decided to question him over the selection he made; I asked why Darren had been picked over me. The answer: Ben (the manager) believed that Darren would score more on the lanes we were to be bowling on as they have more oil on them and he has seen how Darren hooks his ball. That comment alone tells me that he had already picked the team long in advance. I would like to point out that the amount of hook on a ball doesn't indicate the ability of the bowler, which shows a clear lack in knowledge on Ben's part; Ben has never seen me bowl on wet lanes, so I am very curious as to how he knows for sure how I cope on those conditions.

It just goes to show how pathetic this county really is. Complaints are going to be made to the Dorset County Bowling Association, and I have already spoken with the vice-chairman of the DCBA, and he has advised that I write all this down and put a formal letter of complaint in, detailng my greivance. I am not letting it go this time, this time I want heads to roll!!

SL

Little side note

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:57:36 GMT

Just as a side note, I can still bowl for a county, being born in Coventry means that I am, and always will be, eligible to bowl for Warwickshire. So I will go and try for them, the bowling standards are slightly higher, but I would rather not make a team because the other bowlers were better than me, than not make the team because my face doesn't fit with the usual crowd!

SL

County Practice

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 15:50:35 GMT

I had a county practice session yesterday morning, basically everyone who was eligible to be picked for the team from the trials went up the bowl and had three games and gave the manager, Ben Zadel, another chance to see the bowlers before picking the team. Well, I bowled really well, averaged 203 over the three games, and had only two other people beat me. So I left feeling rather confident that I had made the team. Now, here's the kicker, later on that day, I got a call from the manager, and guess what, I hadn't made the selection this year. Again! I am first reserve. The manager has informed me though that himself and one of the other bowlers who will be going to the inter-county championships, will be two old next year so i should be a sure fire for the team next year. So in other words, the only way I can get picked is to finish first or second, then they have no choice but to pick me. I'm just waiting to see who the other bowlers in the team are, because if they are the same top five from the trials, then I will question the purpose of the practices in the first place!
What annoys me even more, is this isn't the first time this has happened with the team selection with regards to me. A few years back I finished fourth in the trials, beating a team england bowler. When it came to selecting the team, there was no practice done, it was just a straight selection that included everyone in the top eight of trials; everyone but me that is! The reason I was given, was that the manager wanted a different team from the one that had bowled the year before, which I would have excepted, had it not been for the fact that I was the only change from the year before. The manager that time was Andy Wicks, who was an atrocious manager.
So as far as I'm concerned, I bowled my last ball for Dorset yesterday. I will NEVER again bowl for this county, I will NEVER go for any trials for them, and as far as I am concerned, the Dorset County Bowling Association can go to hell. They have just lost one of the best under 24 bowlers in the county and I will laugh next year when they have a really poor team.

So, Andy, Ben, and everyone else associated with this pathetic county, F*ck you.

SL