Hello everyone!
I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE HAD A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON, AND I WISH YOU THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR.
It's been an exciting year on the Denny's PBA Tour so far, and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to be a part of it with the PBA Women's Series.
But now that the Women's Series is over, I am back to being a fan. When I am watching the PBA telecasts there are a few things I make notice of right from the beginning:
1. Where are the bowlers are playing on the lane? This will give me an idea of what pattern they might be bowling on.
2. I try to see what balls they are throwing. If it's a ball with an aggressive cover, that tells me there might be some oil in the front part of the lane (the heads). If it's a weaker cover, that tells me the front part of the lane might already be dry (ball layouts are really hard to see on TV, but sometimes Randy (Pedersen) will make mention of it.
3. How they are playing the lanes? Are the bowlers playing straight or hooking it? Are they using angle to the pocket? All of this is crucial when looking at how the carry is on TV.
4. Ball speed. Do the players vary their ball speed to create different angles into the pocket, which changes carry?
There is 30 minutes of practice on the TV pair before the show. This 30 minutes can determine how the pattern will play and how the bowlers will tackle the pair.
Before the final Women's Series championship match, all of the bowlers were still throwing less aggressive bowling balls with very little surface. This was the Cheetah pattern, and both the men and the women tried to still continue to play the pattern as far right as possible. It was the Great Lakes Classic in Wyoming, Mich., my second telecast of the series.
I used an Absolute Inferno, which is a ball with a weaker cover. This allowed me to stay to the right with a very strong arc affect into the pins. I thought angle of entry was very critical. Once you tried to move to the left and get the ball to the right, you started to see the transition in the lane quicker. There was oil to the left and dry to the right. If you got the ball to the right quick, it hooked too soon, and if you threw the ball too hard, it would not roll enough in the oil.
Chris Loschetter, Walter Ray Williams and Diandra Asbaty were all using cleaner cover bowling balls to allow them to stay on top of the pattern and not have to move to the left too quick.
**Walter Ray beat Loschetter 276-204 for the title and Diandra beat me 236-225 for the last Women's Series title.
The most recent show (the Spartanburg Classic) was a great example of how the lanes change from match to match and how crucial ball speed and angle can be.
In the first match, Mike Scroggins and Billy Oatman had problems with the right lane hooking too much. Mike chose to throw it harder, where Billy chose to project the ball to the left to create some angle. This worked in the first match, but as the lanes changed it became apparent that the left lane got a bit trickier and the right lane was the favorite.
The match in which Parker bowled Rhino showed the importance of ball speed. Parker had to make sure that on the left lane he needed to get his ball to roll in the middle part of the lane for it to carry. The few shots in which he threw it a little harder, the ball did not read the lane, and the carry was not there. In the 10th frame, his ball speed was just a little slower, and his ball rolled up just a bit sooner to give him the high flush shot. Those three shots in the 10th were the best he had thrown all game and experience of being in that position came through.
Rhino, probably one of the best up and coming bowlers the PBA has seen in a while, has definitely shown the bowling world that he has game. He played the lanes a little further in but kept the ball up to the pocket with not much angle, which improved his carry. The second shot in the 10th was just a little more firm than the first one, and the ball did not roll and hook as it had the previous shot. This experience will only help him in future matches, and I can promise you that this is not the last we will see of Rhino bowling for a title.
Until next time, keep on striking!
Yours truly,
CDB
P.S. - Always remember to support our sponsors. Without them, there wouldn't be a Denny's PBA, PBA Women's Series or some of the other great tournaments and events we all get to compete in.
Also, professional bowling as well as the accomplishments of local bowlers in your area deserve to be recognized, so call your local newspaper and TV stations, remind them what a great sport bowling is and let them know you'd like to hear more about it.
