Month: April 2009

Categories
Bowling

Storm Virtual Energy, the successor

[bowlingball value=”7056,i150″/]

Storm had a HUGE hit with their amazing [bowlingball value=”6811″/] bowling ball.  I can’t wait to check out the new successor, the [bowlingball value=”7065″/].  It is set to release on June 25, 2009.

Here are the tech specs on this upcoming new ball release:

  • Color: Emerald/Olympic Gold/Black
  • Coverstock: R2X Hybrid Reactive
  • Weight Block: Shape Lock HD
  • Ball Finish: 1500-grit Polish
  • RG: 2.48
  • Differential: .052
  • Mass Bias Diff: .020
  • Logos: Virtual Energy, CG, Key, Storm
  • Durometer: 73-75
  • Flare Potential: 6″ Plus (High)
  • Fragrance: Pear Berry
Categories
Bowling

How to Hook a Bowling Ball

Often, people ask for a hook bowling ball.  But what does that mean?  I will try to spell it out.

I am going to include a video from [bowlingball value=”6693″/] below for a different explanation.

Bowling balls hook because of friction.  Oil is applied to the lane to let the ball get down the lane before it hooks.  A larger entry angle into the pocket increases your chance for a strike.  But a bowling ball hooks because of the bowling release, the friction on the lanes, and the core in the middle of the ball.

If you really want to hook a bowling ball, you need a higher performance bowling ball.  Anything stronger than a plastic bowling ball will be a great start.  Plastic bowling balls are meant to go straight.  I personally suggest that you start with a lower price entry level bowling ball.  This will allow you to get it drilled professionally to fit your hand, start to develop consistancy, and then you can find your PAP.  From there, as you buy more expensive higher performance bowling balls, you will have a better idea how to drill them.

Watch this video, and please ask if you need help learning to hook a bowling ball.

[bowlingball value=”6568,i150l”/] [bowlingball value=”4927,150l”/] [bowlingball value=”4183,i150l”/]

Categories
Bowling

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard Sets New Record on TV

Women’s bowling took a big step forward this past weekend.  A few years back the PWBA was pretty much canceled and the women were no longer on TV.  This year they started introducing them back at the beginning of the season, showing their title matches in the middle of the men’s games.

This past weekend was the Women’s Series Showdown where 6 women competed in the finals.  They used a new scoring method, The Johnny Petraglia Scoring System, and bowled 3 women at a time.  The format of the bowling was very confusing for me at home, as well as the women bowling.  You can see at one point, Jodi Woessner looks to her right and points at herself to make sure it is her turn.  The women did not bowl on the same lanes as each other, they each had their very own lane.

The six women were broken into two squads of three.  The winner of each squad moved onto the finals, the highest score (worst score) was eliminated, and the other three moved onto a wildcard round.  After the first squad, it appeared that Carloyn Dorin-Ballard was going to be eliminated with a score of 17.  Lucky for her, Michele Feldman struggled and ended up shooting an 18, giving Carloyn a chance in the wildcard.

In the wildcard round, Carolyn made a great change and tied Macpherson with a score of 12 each.  They then went into a sudden death roll off where Carloyn rolled 3 strikes to finally knock Macpherson out.

Carolyn shot the last 8 strikes in her wildcard game, then 3 in the roll off.  She then threw the first 9 strikes in the finals (10 would have been a perfect game), giving her 20 strikes in a row on television.  The previous record for the PBA was 18 in row.  This was an amazing feat, and I was happy to have watched it.

The final standings:

  1. Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (Keller, TX), $25,000
  2. Jodi Woessner (Oregon, OH), $12,000
  3. Stefanie Nation (Arling, TX), $5,000
  4. Wndy Macpherson (Henderson, NV), $3,000
  5. Miss Bellinder (Fullerton, CA), $3,000
  6. Michele Feldman (Auburn, NY), $2,000
Categories
Bowling

Petraglia Scoring System

I watched the PWBA (Professional Women’s Bowling Association) tournament this past weekend and found that they were using a new scoring method.  John Petraglia, one of the PBA’s greatest 50 listed this year, introduced a simplified scoring method.

Basically you bowl until all of the bowling pins are knocked down.  In a sense, the scoring is like golf.  The lower your score, the better.  A strike is one(1) point.  A normal spare is two(2) points.  There were a few frames where the women scored three(3) points because of splits (like the dreaded 7-10) and just chopped spares.  A perfect game would be 10, almost accomplished on TV by Carolyn Dorin-Ballard.

This isn’t a new concept, but the PBA put a name to it (Petraglia) to give it a little more appeal.  Johnny Petraglia is a great person, and I am happy that they used his name for this scoring method.

It will be interesting to see if the Johnny Petraglia scoring method catches on and becomes more widely used.

Categories
Uncategorized

Official bowlingball.com Coupons

bowlingball.com often runs promotions for customers that receive various magazines (example: USBowler and [bowlingball value=”4916″/]).  bowlingball.com knows that all USBC registered bowlers receive the USBowler magazine.

Want to save money on bowlingball.com?  Visit the Official bowlingball.com Coupon page.

Categories
Uncategorized

ABT Casselberry Champion

This past weekend I decided to bowl an Orlando ABT (Amateur Bowler’s Tour) Tournament at AMF Casselberry Lanes. The qualifying was on Saturday April 4, 2009. I ended at +105 to make it into the semi finals on Sunday.

Unfortunately, due to surrounding circumstances, there were only 21 entrants in this weekend’s tournament. There was the Orlando City Tournament, and a UBA tournament in the area. Never the less I still bowled well and was happy to be one of the 7 semi-finalists. I used a combination of my [bowlingball value=”4444″/], [bowlingball value=”6912″/], [bowlingball value=”6913″/]. I have a very bad habit of relying on handicap pins. I have a mental block, where I feel I can’t win without handicap. I was very worried when I looked at the recap sheets and saw that I was the getting the fewest pins handicap of the group. Because of this tournament I have learned not to rely so heavily on handicap sticks. At the beginning of the first game I saw many of us were seemed to be striking at will. I think 4 of the 7 of us started with three strikes. I used mental imagery and a positive attitude to tell myself that this was a marathon and not a sprint.

The top two semi-finalists moved on to the finals, and I came in second place. The finals consisted of Josh Tabony (a lefty) and myself. Josh was the top seed and had lane choice. I think he made the mistake of wanting to go first, rather than the lane conditions. We both struggled on the right lane, yet his decision to go first had him finish on the right lane. I think this one decision really cost him 1st place. Unfortunately, I didn’t close him out going into the 10th. The game was in his hands. He need a double to win, and ended up leaving the 4-7.

I know that I keep downplaying the win, because there were only 7 semi-finalists. But I am warming up to the fae that I still had to bowl well to win. I did that, and feel that I have gained confidence through this experience. I look forward to bowling more tournaments in the future. I am definitely not doing this to make a living, but more as a fun weekend activity where I have the chance to make a little money.

[bowlingball value=”4444,i150l”/] [bowlingball value=”6912,i150l”/] [bowlingball value=”6913,i150l”/]