Monday Morning Morphine (Better late than never)

Another weekend passed, another TGIF league in the books, and another Monday morning that feels short on coffee...

Well this post is late and going to be short. My robbed recently and lost my laptop and all my traveling worldly possessions, so that has taken up my time and attention. So with that, here we go... the delayed edition.

TGIF proved to be a bit entertaining. What started the night was back to back 2-4-8-10 splits. Almost converted one, but two opens makes for a rough climb. The night ended with a 621, but based on the look I had on the lanes, should have been so much more.

In PBA action at the Masters we saw just about every single type of drama you could come up with on the lanes. And to that point, hats off to Jason Belmonte for not only successfully defending his title, but climbing up from the bottom of the ladder to win it all. I have to admit, going into the finals I was all aboard the E.J. Tackett express. He absolutely dominated the field of 64 taking the top seed to await his opportunity to win the Masters. Unfortunately, it was not his day. I will say this, that kid is something special and we will be watching him for quite a few years to come. Here are the stepladder results...

Match One - Belmonte def. Ciminelli, 227-214
Match Two - Belmonte def. Smallwood, 202-173
Match Three - Belmonte def. Haugen, 235-234
Championship - Belmonte def. Tackett, 221-177

Again, sorry for the short post. Back to trying to lick my wounds and get my life back together.

Monday Morning Morphine

Another weekend passed, another TGIF league in the books, and another Monday morning that feels short on coffee...

Well boys and girls out there in bowling land, I am here to say that I am officially in a world class slump. I am too ashamed to report what my series was from the TGIF League and I proved once again that beer and bowling in this body do not mix. Nothing against beer and certainly nothing against bowling, but I should not have allowed myself to have too much liquid courage on the lanes. Especially when I had goals I was trying to achieve.

Hyper Cell

On a much brighter note, I did punch up a new ball on Valentine's Day. This is how you know your significant other loves you, when you spend Friday night in the shop drilling new equipment they got you. The Hyper Cell from RotoGrip was my bouquet of flowers and chocolates.  I went with a basic 4x4 pin above ring layout to try to match up with an older Columbia 300 Pure Physics that I had quite a bit of success with. The specs are almost identical when it comes to the RG and Diff and I knew that the cover from RotoGrip would be stronger. I have also been focusing on quite a bit of symmetric gear in my bag simply because overall, they react better for me. Not having anything asymmetric that has been released in the past year, I knew I was in for a surprise... key being, is it a good or bad one. Surprise!!! Boy was I right. This ball jumps off the break point with one of the most deliberate turns I have seen come off my hand in a long time. I was able to play further down the lane and hit harder in the pocket that any of my Storm IQs or DV8 gear. It also gave me a read deeper than I normally like to play. Which is not a bad thing, just something that I need build confidence in doing if the lanes get real torched on me.

In other news over the weekend, the defending champions of the PBA League, the New York City WTT KingPins took on the Motown Muscle. At stake was more than the single elimination match on the day, head coaches Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of the KingPins and her husband Del Ballard of the Muscle had a personal bet riding on the day. In the opening singles game between team captains, Pete Weber and Mike Fagan, Weber survived two big splits in the middle of the game to put the KingPins in an early 1-0 lead with a 232-225 win. Fagan converted the spare of the day, the 3-7-10 split, but it still wasn't enough to overcome the ageless Weber.

In game two, revenge was served. Motown’s Chris Loschetter and Fagan put together a run going strikes on the front eight to run away from John Szczerbinski and Weber, 268-214, to even the match at 1-1. Szczerbinski struggled to find carry, but looked solid in the pocket and at the line. All Weber could do was cover spares and be supportive off the bench.

Game three featured the Baker Trios with a Motown win over the KingPins. Mike Scroggins, Tom Daugherty and Brian Kretzer finished the game with five consecutive strikes to better a late rally by  KingPins Scott Norton, Jake Peters and Stuart Williams in the game. The 247-234 victory over the KingPins vaulted the Muscle to a 2-1 lead.

In the final game of the match, the Five-man Baker was all or nothing, something that you didn't want to miss. The Motown Muscle struggled to get anything consistent going, getting only one strike in the first five frames to fall behind early. A late game 6-7 split by Scroggins in the seventh frame pretty much ended any chance of the Motown Muscle winning the day. Strike after strike by New York’s Williams, Peters and Szczerbinski opened up a 47-pin lead allowing Weber to casually just toss at the pins in the tenth frame for the easy win. With the final game being worth 3 points, the New York City WTT KingPins won the match 4-2.

Next up, Quarterfinal match three, pitting Norm Duke and the Dallas Strikers against Chris Barnes and the Silver Lake Atom Splitters on Sunday, March 2, at 3 p.m. ET. This one will be a fun match to watch!

Natural, Slugs, Interchangeable... What does your thumb desire...

Traditional slug

One of the keys in bowling is consistency. As part of that foundation, the feel of the thumb coming out directly impacts each roll of the ball. As the industry has matured we have come from conventional drills all the way to interchangeable thumb inserts in a short amount of time. Just like many other sports, technology has made a direct impact on how the game is played and opened up options for the people playing it. Bowling is no different. Now there are several other things to take into consideration, but my focus today is as I said before... thumbs. Now, we all know about the conventional drill. That is where you just punch down a ball, bevel the edges, and hand it to the bowler and let them rock. Now, this isn't to say that it is only for beginners. There are quite a few bowlers, even on the PBA Tour, that are more than comfortable with a natural feel in the ball. Also, it really is a bit more involved than just making a hole if you consider pitches and ovals, but that is for another conversation. However, with this type of drill, you present two different materials that make contact with your thumb. The coverstock of the ball and then slightly deeper, the fill material in between the cover and the weight block. For some bowlers, this causes an inconsistent feel at the point of release. Where you might snag your thumb and stick in the ball. To resolve this, enter the slug. Thumb slugs are typically made of vinyl or urethane. What this enables is a even release of your thumb out of the ball due to the material in contact with your skin being the same all the way down the hole. This is probably the most common type of thumb you will find on the lanes. From beginners to pros, it is a relatively inexpensive and easy way to achieve that smooth release from the ball. Taking this technology a step further, you can also cast molds of your favorite thumb drill so that it can be recreated over and over again. One of the more popular system, being the Custom Thumb, almost alleviates the 'this ball feel different' syndrome, which we all have experienced if you have more than one ball. In addition to the stability it brings to the game, those of you that are keen on looking good can chose from just about the entire color spectrum to use. Flash on with your bad self!

Thom Thumb

Now we move on to the interchangeable breed of thumbs. This allows the bowler to have the same exact thumb in every single ball. Also, it allows you to carry different sizes of thumbs based on swelling instead of having to mess with tape or any residue left behind when you remove it. The birth of this idea goes back quite a way to a system called Thom Thumb.
Although short lived and the company is out of business now, it really spurred the industry in the right direction when it comes to customizing the fit and feel of a ball. Using an inner and outer sleeve design, it worked, but wasn't really adopted by the masses. The next company to step into the space was GripLoc. Their system used was a bit different. It leveraged an outer sleeve and a quarter turn pre-drilled insert. Later they offered blank slugs that were keyed to fit in the outer sleeve, to allow for further customization. Although the GripLoc system is still offered today, it is not near as popular as the two companies that have dominated the changeable thumb market.

GripLoc

Not surprisingly, the lion's share of usage is represented by long time insert makers Turbo and VISE.  The Turbo's Switch-Grip consists of a two piece, inner and outer sleeve system, that interlocks into the ball similar to it's ancestor from Thom Thumb. In the case of Switch-Grips, you can use a normal slug inside the inner sleeve, further expanding it's customization and consistency of feel. Turbo has even taken this technology one step further and created an identical system for interchangeable finger inserts as well, but we will save that conversation for another time. Finally we have the VISE IT system. Instead of a locking system that all of the other manufactures use, VISE has opted for a 'screw' in process of securing the insert into the ball. The entire system is based off of a top outer sleeve, a threaded base that goes in the bottom of the thumb hole, and a threaded base that is attached to the slug. This allows for a super tight fight that will not budge when locked into place.

Turbo Switch-Grip

Here it comes, addressing the question that is burning in your mind... which is the right one for me. I will start by saying I have tried them all. It boils down to the application, how you bowl, and how much you want to invest in your game. If you are a beginning bowler, just out there shooting recreational games, going without a slug would probably suit you just fine. Stepping up from there, for plastic equipment or spare balls, going with a slug is the best bet. No need to invest in an interchangeable system that might end up being about 80% the price of the ball you are putting it in. Now when looking into interchangeable thumbs, there are a few things to consider. I have heard some high rev rate bowlers complain about breaking Switch-Grips early on when they hit the market. Since then, Turbo has invested quite a bit of money into developing a much more robust locking point and that issue is no more. You can visually see how much more beefed up they are. With that in mind, I haven't heard of anything breaking when really ripping out of the ball when using the VISE system. I can't speak to any of them breaking personally, probably because my rev rate is more human than beast so it's not like I am going to stress the locking mechanisms at the point of release. However, I can speak to them being tough as hell when dropped, kicked, or even thrown. And let me tell you, it wasn't me that lost my cool, but those little buggers are hard to dodge when someone is upset enough to sail them across a center. The second thing to consider is if you have a very particular feel and are sensitive to swelling and shrinking of your thumb due to number of games you have rolled or weather. This eliminates the worry of fighting with your thumb hole using tape or powders when armed with a couple of different fits that you can just change over to. Lastly, the cost. They do cost money to get into, but once you have your one or two thumbs, it's all sleeves from there. So in the long run, if you have quite a bit of equipment or you tend to buy several balls a year, I would say go for it. You won't be disappointed.

VISE IT

Now for my personal experiences. I can't really recommend the GripLoc system. Although it wasn't any one thing that turned me off or anything truly negative happening to me with them, they just didn't feel firm at the point of release for me. I also noticed that the pins that lock the thumb into place wore down and rounded a bit from changing them in and out over time. Now, Turbo and VISE have been absolutely solid for me. Matter of fact it is a real toss up on which I like more. From a useability perspective, they are both easy to use and they are both very solid when locked in. For me it came down to simply which I had more of, which was Switch-Grip. I have no problems at all recommending both to anyone who asks. I also carry both inserts so that I can show the differences in the two systems when I get asked about what I use. So if you are looking to create a consistent feel across your arsenal, as a rule of 'thumb' (no pun intended), I say give Turbo and VISE a hard long look. Also, talk to your local pro on what they recommend. They are your eyes and ears for what people are buying and using, leverage that free information to make a complete and informed decision.

Monday Morning Morphine

Another weekend passed, another TGIF league in the books, and another Monday morning that feels short on coffee...

Let me start by saying I have been under the weather now for about a week. Feeling out of sorts is never conducive to great bowling and or even wanting to do anything during the day. That being said, my TGIF league was about as entertaining as a power drill to the forehead. Even not feeling well, I was absolutely solid at the line. My execution goal was to keep my head level during all phases of the shot, more importantly at the point of release at the line. That mission goal was achieved. Matter of fact, I only missed the pocket once all night. Oh and it was bad. I was rewarded with a power washout which resulted in an open. The other problem I suffered from was no carry. This has been a theme of mine for years. Ever since I broke my wrist I have been unable to get a good strong rev rate on my shot and am forced to find power and carry in other places, namely accuracy. So a night filled with sub par strike counts and lots of spares yielded me a very disappointing and weak 587. There were quite a few mental errors on single pin spares that can only be explained as 'reset and focus you dumb ass' syndrome. Lets be honest though, I would have rather been bundled up with a bowl of soup. However, as the old saying goes... I would rather have a bad day bowling than no bowling at all. So I sucked it up and rolled.

This weekend also marked the start of the 2014 PBA League Season. The  L.A. X, loaded with the power of Jason Belmonte and lefty technician Parker Bohn III defeated the BROOKLYN STyLES, 4 points to 2. Even with the STyLES anchored with the venerable Walter Ray Jr and Sean Rash, they couldn't pull off the opening match win. The format of this single elimination league is a single Head to Head match, Alternate Ball Doubles, Baker Trio, each worth one point and a Five-Man Baker Team earning three points. In the singles match, we had a rematch of the Super Clash with Belmonte taking on Rash. This match would not provide different results. Rash left an early 4-6-7 split, failed to convert, and Belmo never looked back rolling a convincing 255-223 win. In the Alternate Ball Doubles game, Jason Sterner and Walter Ray Williams Jr. evened up the points score with a very close 238-234 win against Mika Koivuniemi and Parker Bohn III. With an open in the second frame for team X, this game came down to that miss. Once again proving that spares win games. The third game was a Bakers Trio match up where three players bowled alternate frames. Rash, Tom Smallwood and Williams represented the STyLES while the X's were armed with Belmo, E.J. Tackett and Andres Gomez. The STyLES came firing out of the gates and never looked back opening the game with the front 7, crusing to a 247-218 win taking a 2-1 lead. In an all or nothing final game to take the match, it all came down to the Five-Man Baker to earn three points. With all five team bowlers stepping on, the L.A. X team was made up of Mika Koivuniemi, E.J. Tackett, Andres Gomez. Jason Belmonte, and Parker Bohn III and the BROOKLYN STyLES represented by Jason Sterner, Tom Smallwood, Michael Haugen Jr., Walter Ray Williams Jr., and Sean Rash, it was not a match to miss. Coming down to the 9th frame, Belmo with his amazing power, struck setting up the foundation frame for Bohn. Knowing that it now comes down to execution in the 10th, Bohn delivered. With a solid 237-215 win, the L.A. X had taken the day. Their next opponent will be the winner of the much anticipated New York City Kingpins and the Motown Muscle.

New Ball Alert!: Columbia 300 Disorder

Bend-It Hybrid:
Bend-It Pearl was used on the very popular Vow and Bend-It Solid was a top performer on the Oath… we’ve combined the two in order to give you Bend-It Hybrid.  This top performing coverstock provides way too much performance for this mid-price ball... that’s why we have no problem calling it Disorder!

Resurgence Core:
The fact that we keep coming back to this core and you keep shooting the lights out with it means that we’re all doing something right.  The Resurgence core has been one of the best ever, now give it a try with a new stronger cover formula. The low RG and Medium Differential makes this a great choice for all styles.

What To Expect:
Lots of hook for not a lot of money!  The Disorder will give you more traction than any Columbia 300 ball in the mid-performance category in recent history.  If you want to have fun, and you want to see your ball hook on medium to heavy oil without breaking the bank, you’ll want to pick up a Disorder today! World wide release date, March 4, 2014.

The Specs:
- Color: Electric Lime/PurpleAll colors do vary somewhat from the picture shown.
- Core: Resurgence Symmetric
- Coverstock: Bend-It Hybrid
- Factory Finish: 500, 2000 Abralon
- Reaction: Strong Hook
- Radius of Gyration (RG): 2.46**
- Differential (Diff): .040**
- ** RG and Diff are based off of 15 lb. balls
- Recommended Lane Condition: Medium-Heavy

New Ball Alert!: AMF Darkness

Be the first bowler in your area to throw the new Darkness from AMF before the World Wide Release date of February 20, 2014. In an effort to let the Darkness cast it's shadow AMF is releasing 99 seed balls for $99.00 including freight out across the Continental United States.  The offer ends as soon as 99 orders are shipped and is limited to one per household, so don't be left out. The Darkness features the Dark Tower symmetric core with an enhanced flip block that provides a lower RG and higher Differential, perfect for a strong motion through the midlane on slicker conditions.World wide release date, February 20, 2014.

Special offer link: [LINK]

The Specs:
- Color: Midnight All colors do vary somewhat from the picture shown.
- Coverstock: F77 Solid
- Core: Dark Tower Symmetric
- Factory Finish: NEAT (4,000)
- Reaction: Strong motion through the midlane on slicker conditions
- Radius of Gyration (RG): 2.479**
- Differential (Diff): 0.054**
- ** RG and Diff are based off of 15 lb. balls
- Recommended Lane Condition: Medium-Heavy

Monday Morning Morphine

Another weekend passed, another TGIF league in the books, and another Monday morning that feels short on coffee...

I wish it were the case that I shot in another TGIF, but sadly I didn't. As a little background and a major contributor to the situation I am in with my bowling, my job has me traveling all over the world.  Even worse, it can be at a moments notice. It is not surprising for me to get a call Monday morning asking me to be in Amsterdam the following day. Before you start thinking to yourself that it would be cool to travel the world on someone else's tab, it is only fun for about a week or so. After that, it become just as much a part of your day to day as driving into work and being stuck in traffic. Living out of a suitcase, being crammed into an airplane for hours on end, and the worst situation of all... not being able to find a good cup of coffee. In any case, I take every situation I am in and try to turn it into a drill that I can apply on the lanes. Such as a pre-shot routine. The key to perfection is repetition. This philosophy can translate to just about any situation you are in that you want to become better at. Be careful though, I caught myself at  conference about to get on stage and found myself wiping my left heel and folding my dinner napkin like I do my bowling towel. Funny thing is, no one in the room caught it.

So I guess that brings me to what is on my mind at the moment. I will start by saying that I am very proud of our sport. However, I have found that it is perceived quite differently depending on what part of the US or even the world you are in. For example, I was at a dinner event on Friday. As we were introducing ourselves to this small group of people we got off on the subject of what we were missing this weekend due to the conference we were at. This is small talk for frequent travelers, instead of how's the weather, it's what are you missing while you are away from home. At any rate, I mentioned that there was a tournament I was missing and I wasn't too happy about it because of my new resolve to my game. My comment took the group back a bit. One person even asked "Ummm is bowling a metaphor for something else... if you know what I mean". Although funny and I did laugh, I found myself energetically explaining that it was in fact competitive bowling. Catching myself before I went into full geek mode about it, the faces of the people around me told the whole story. it was a canvas of "you have got to be kidding me". Not wanting to insult me, the people that hadn't slinked away yet, made nice gestures to include themselves into the subject by telling a story about their kids birthday party and they went bowling or how when they were back college they would get drunk and try to throw the ball as hard as they could. So I did what I always do, chuckled and told a few non-bowler bowling stories as well.

As Saturday rolled in and another day of the conference was in full swing, I kept finding my mind wandering back to that moment. Then I started to compare it to all of the other times this had happened to me. I know that our sport has had the reputation of overweight middle aged men, and lanes with a permanent smell of beer. Paired with the out of beat crash of pins and the occasional yell at the rack, it is not a sport that has really been able to shake that persona. Those of us who are bowlers, we know the truth. It is an exciting thing to think about. A place that brings a smile to your face when you know that you have a chance to hit the lanes at the end of the day. And the people, the people that are just like you when you are there. They are like family or members in a special club. On top of that, you will find all walks of life. It is one of the few places where you can have a doctor, a mechanic, a fast food worker, factory lineman, a lawyer, a stay at home mom, and an owner of a company on the same pair of lanes. No one judging or bringing up the crap that society tries to pin people to. It's all about bowling. In some respects, I think it's the rest of the world that should take a cue from us. Sure there are people that we don't get along with, yes we get mouthy and competitive, but we also leave it on the lanes. Well for the most part. You know what I am saying. At any rate, the point that I am making is that overall, bowlers are a different breed of person. Evolved.

So Sunday for me was a day of sitting in a plane. Working my way back to Texas from Florida, making it home for the second half of the Super Bowl. Problem was that the game was pretty much over by the time I was able to turn on the TV. Even worse, I missed the very first Super Clash between Jason Belmonte and Sean Rash. No love lost between those two guys, that's for sure. It would have been great to catch those two head to head. Thank heavens for Xtra Frame and DVR, otherwise I would probably miss most of the best moments in sports. This match up, from what I understand, did not disappoint. Belmonte took game one, 258-238. The comeback kid Rash, edged the second game, 258-241, closing in on Belmonte's lead into the final match. With the lanes beginning to torch up at this point, the match came down to execution. Both bowlers left splits that could have tipped the scales in either direction, but the reigning player of the year, Belmonte, held on for a decisive, 244-222 win, and the overall match, 743-718. In addition to this great head to head battle, there were highlights from the 5th Annual Chris Paul PBA League All-Star and Celebrity Invitational. Chris Paul over the years has used his big NBA name and passion for bowling to assembled some of the best people inside and out of the sport for this great charity event. I highly recommend that everyone take some time to learn about his charity and check out how he has used bowling to get people involved. Aside from this being a great cause, the Super Clash and events like this are the things we need to help get bowling into household conversations. Spread the word.