3rd game curse

Question
QUESTION: hi

this may sound like a stupid question but this is my second year bowling i have picked it up pretty well and have been drafted in a competitive league in my home town my avg has really taken a hit this year because of my 3rd games in my first games i avg.187.9 2nd 182.6 3rd 159.8 .  i know the lane breaks down ive changed balls and i changed lines alot but just cant get a groove

i have a low ball speed, med rev rate, no problem carrying just bad pin action alot of splits 6-7-10 i average about 3-4 open frame in the 3rd game.

in my bag
14# storm invasion
14# roto grip bandit
14# columbia 300 pure swing
14# storm hy road

ANSWER: Mike,
You're probably not going to like what I have to say.

As a new bowler, you're trying to find a technology that will help you over come the lane breakdown in the third game of a series. You've got a selection of wildly different ball reactions, and as a NEW bowler, probably not pin point consistency. You need practice. You don't need the right ball, you need to delivery A ball consistently enough to be able to predict and control the lane as it changes.

Modern lane conditions are EASY. That's why you average what you do (in first two games). As the lane condition breaks down and doesn't steer your ball back to the head pin, you find too much hook (splits). I would suggest that with your nearly $1,000 worth of bowling equipment, you need to hit your target, A LOT to get better. You have very good equipment, so you have not needed to learn the finer points of the sport, bowling on a Typical House Shot (THS).

It is embarrassing to be part of an industry, where a pro shop guy loads up a brand new bowler with 2 performance balls and 2 high performance balls. At this point, your equipment so dominates what you do that if the balls don't work you're dead. You've built what skill you have around what the balls do and the lane helps you do, without solid skills allowing you as a bowler to control the lane.

Bowling balls are tools. But if you have the perfect ball and can't hit your target consistently, you will struggle.

Let me guess what happens, you hit the head pin quite a bit the first two games (easy conditions, good equipment), striking some (thanks to your equipment) but if you were clean (all spares and strikes) you'd average over 200. So on bad shots, your high risk high reward arsenal some times leaves splits or multi-pin spares (so you miss some of that stuff). When you get into the third game the ball reaction becomes more erratic, then when you throw a bad shot you really get punished. Your looking for a magic bowling ball, that when thrown badly won't kill you.

You need practice and a plastic spare ball. Learn to throw the ball better. Practice with plastic and you will discover when your swing is off. Plastic will force you to better develop your bowling skills. But when you throw the plastic ball well, you will be able to control the others way better, too. You might even consider a coach.

Thanks for your questions. I hope I didn't offend you. I believe bowling has lost millions of players because over zealous ball drillers sell high performance balls to inexperienced newbies. A new bowler who doesn't know any better, who then spend too much, but then they see cool ball reactions (on easy, fresh lanes). But, the new bowler doesn't have the skill to control their equipment well enough. And, after investing a lot of cash, assuming there is a ball fix for bad execution (there is NOT), they get frustrated, then they quit. The sport can't be mastered with equipment, experience and skill provides the base. Let me know why you ended up with the equipment you did?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I never take offence to help you gave your honest opinion and i appreciate it you are kind right but before i started buying all this equipment last year i started bowling a 192 avg yes on a house shot with a brunswick slingshot but at the end on last year and this year ive started bowling on different patterns like eg. the Mexico city 45ft and really short ones like the cheetah pattern i also bowl in a house league with my wife and my average is 14 pins higher than the mens one im a 197avg on the house league.

Answer
Mike,
The reaction you may benefit from is the Slingshot that you mentioned was your first ball. When lanes breakdown, sometimes less ball (the Brunswick Slingshot) would help control potential overreaction. Try the old ball when the lane gets drier and let me know if it helps.

I commend you for finding hard shots to bowl on. Try to practice on them too. More you can experience diverse reaction, the more you will be able to unravel the best ways for you to play them. You might seek out some local coaching, too. Good luck and continue to improve.

Thanks for the follow up. Happy Thanksgiving.