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”/]