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Author Topic: Reno Report 2016  (Read 9373 times)

Gene J Kanak

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Reno Report 2016
« on: May 03, 2016, 10:46:18 AM »
Well, another Open Championships has come and gone. Seeing as how we're all looking for that extra edge out there, I'll give you my report on what I saw and experienced during my three days in Reno this year. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or respond here.

Lodging: My group stayed at Grand Sierra this time around. The hotel is fairly nice, and staying outside of downtown Reno definitely gives the trip a different feel. There are several nice restaurants on site. The cafe is very nice for breakfast, and they have a very high end steak house if you're in the mood to treat yourself. Just be warned, it's pricey. Our two teams ate there after team event and racked up a bill of more than $700. lol


Bowling: First and foremost, if at all possible, schedule the one-hour team practice session on the Showcase Lanes. Our group felt that what we saw on the Showcase Lanes was very, very close to what we saw when actually bowling the event.

With that in mind, go with the strategy of using surface (most of us used 500) to burn up the outside by throwing up 5-6-7 during practice and for most of Game 1. From there, start tucking in 2-3 boards at a time with both your feet and target, and you'll be golden. This strategy helped our companion team to 3054 (which could've been a lot higher if not for a few bad breaks carry-wise late in the going) and my team, which includes a senior and a classified bowler, to 2834.

Minors were tough for my partner and I because we had to bowl an earlier squad than the rest of our group. In fact, he and I shared a pair with just one other duo, two ladies who threw polished equipment up the gut. As such, it was tough for us to burn things in the way that we had during team.

Still, I think the approach to minors should be pretty much the same. The 8 guys in our group did that during doubles, and we had one of our doubles teams shoot 1290 and actually have a shot at the overall lead halfway through Game 3. As is usually the case, just keep bumping inside a few boards at a time throughout minors, keeping the moves parallel and balling down as necessary.

If you follow this plan, the lanes can become very playable. If you move inside too early or have 10 guys doing their own thing, they can become just about impossible for everyone!

Personal: I carded 1698 this year (566 team; 520 doubles; 612 singles), which, sadly, is about average for me. As usual, I actually felt like I played the lanes properly and was on top of what needed to be done. Unfortunately, I just lack the physical game to make the shots necessary to take advantage of what my eyes are seeing.

In regard to ball selection, since that's always a popular topic, here's what I used:

Brunswick Nirvana (pin up at 500 grit) - This was the ball I used during practice and most of Game 1 during both sets to be sure we were burning up the spot up 5-6-7; DV8 Grudge (pin in ring at 1500 grit) - This was the second in command during both squads. Obviously, this ball was cleaner up front than the 500-grit Nirvana, and it offered more movement and continuation. I shot 249 with this one the second game of Team; Brunswick Melee (pin under bridge at 1000 grit) - I tried this one a bit during doubles in order to give me some midlane read with a controllable move off the spot. I think it could've been decent had I thrown it better, but that wasn't in the cards; Brunswick Brute Strength (Pin over bridge at 1500 grit) - I really liked the look this ball gave me toward the end of team (despite throwing a lousy score with it) and during all of singles. The ball gave me push without being squirty, and it gave me backend without being flippy. As long as I trusted the ball and didn't miss it at the bottom, my look was great with this piece during the latter stages of Team and Doubles and throughout Singles.

All in all, I had a blast this time around. Although my personal performance left a lot to be desired, I was a part of a great group with a great plan who managed to put up some really, really nice scores. In the end, as always, it comes down to execution. There is no magic ball or anything like that. Yes, there are certain things you should do or not do. Yes, there are certain parts of the lane you should play or not play. Still, when all is said and done, it comes down to how you throw the ball. Sadly, my physical game still keeps me limited there; nevertheless, in the end, it just gives me motivation to keep pushing myself to improve. My hope is that I can make some strides this year so that a better performance is in the offing at South Point next year.

Thanks for reading. Again, if you have questions, feel free to ask.


 

northface28

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2016, 11:47:20 AM »
Great review.  I think u held the door for me, thanks bro!

Best look I had was with 3000 grit pin up devour, 3000 pin down fight.  Everything else was too much or read the breakpoint wrong, otherwise you're spot on!

I always wondered was staying outside of town would be like!

Stacked leverage does that......jk, kind of, lol.
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billdozer

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #17 on: May 04, 2016, 01:55:23 PM »
Great review.  I think u held the door for me, thanks bro!

Best look I had was with 3000 grit pin up devour, 3000 pin down fight.  Everything else was too much or read the breakpoint wrong, otherwise you're spot on!

I always wondered was staying outside of town would be like!

Stacked leverage does that......jk, kind of, lol.

I did something different but I won't take the time now to post a pic of the layout, jackwagon :)
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billdozer

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #18 on: May 04, 2016, 02:27:43 PM »
Great review.  I think u held the door for me, thanks bro!

Best look I had was with 3000 grit pin up devour, 3000 pin down fight.  Everything else was too much or read the breakpoint wrong, otherwise you're spot on!

I always wondered was staying outside of town would be like!

You were there this weekend too? Dang, I wish we would've had time to shoot the bull a little bit. How did you shoot?

Staying out of town was fine. It was a bit of a pain having to take cabs or Uber back and forth each time, but it wasn't too bad. As strange as it sounds, the city looked nicer/cleaner by staying a little bit further out.

I bet there was probably less weirdos out that way!!!

Didn't shoot big. I will cash in team and doubles, I had some tough breaks in singles.
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Gene J Kanak

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #19 on: May 04, 2016, 02:59:10 PM »
I will cash in team and singles, and I may be the low-to-cash number for AE, which has happened before. lol

L3nn0n

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #20 on: May 05, 2016, 10:38:12 PM »

Since you won't have 8-9 other guys helping you burn in a spot, logic would tell me to have you do one of two things. I would either use big time surface early; I'm talking 180-360 to play up around 5-6-7, or I would use something around 500 and tuck inside of the that by 2-3 boards. Do that throughout practice and for some of the first game. Then, keep balling down and making small moves inside as needed.

However, I watched Matt McNeil use an original Brunswick Mastermind with some surface and go pretty much up 5-6 the whole way, and his look was pretty good. As such, maybe there is some built-in friction that will allow you to just go up the wood like that.

Now, as far as what equipment to bring, I brought five balls and a plastic with me this year. I really only used three out of the five, the Nirvana at 500 during practice and most of Game 1, a DV8 Grudge at 1500 for a little more push and better recovery as I started bumping inside, and a Brute Strength at 1500 when I fully moved in.

So, you have a Nirvana of your own, so I'd definitely recommend that one. The Haywire might be good as the next ball up if you put it at 1000-1500. I think the Marvel Pearl is an amazing tournament ball, so that one could be good, but I'd definitely make sure to knock the shine off. I would maybe keep that one at a matte-finished 2000 or so. Also, I think the Hyper Cell Skid could be good once you need to tuck inside, but, again, I wouldn't keep polish on it. From what we saw, polished balls weren't really the way to go at all.

Thank you Gene. Yes, sounds like I will start with the Nirvana playing straight 5-7 down and in trying to burn a track, and then I am not sure wheter to take Forza or Haywire, both roll similar for me in THS but I have the feeling that the Haywire will handle the oil better than Forza, but the Forza being my favorite ball is a tough decision. I wasn't thinking on the Marvel Pearl but it might be a good option once I need to move in a little bit. I am also undecided on taking the Venom Shock or a Storm Fight, the fight being my only "pin down" ball I have the feeling that it might be helpful in order to keep the breakpoint predictable, but I love my Shock lol... What do you think? Forza or Haywire? Shock or Fight?


Gene J Kanak

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #21 on: May 06, 2016, 07:50:55 AM »

Since you won't have 8-9 other guys helping you burn in a spot, logic would tell me to have you do one of two things. I would either use big time surface early; I'm talking 180-360 to play up around 5-6-7, or I would use something around 500 and tuck inside of the that by 2-3 boards. Do that throughout practice and for some of the first game. Then, keep balling down and making small moves inside as needed.

However, I watched Matt McNeil use an original Brunswick Mastermind with some surface and go pretty much up 5-6 the whole way, and his look was pretty good. As such, maybe there is some built-in friction that will allow you to just go up the wood like that.

Now, as far as what equipment to bring, I brought five balls and a plastic with me this year. I really only used three out of the five, the Nirvana at 500 during practice and most of Game 1, a DV8 Grudge at 1500 for a little more push and better recovery as I started bumping inside, and a Brute Strength at 1500 when I fully moved in.

So, you have a Nirvana of your own, so I'd definitely recommend that one. The Haywire might be good as the next ball up if you put it at 1000-1500. I think the Marvel Pearl is an amazing tournament ball, so that one could be good, but I'd definitely make sure to knock the shine off. I would maybe keep that one at a matte-finished 2000 or so. Also, I think the Hyper Cell Skid could be good once you need to tuck inside, but, again, I wouldn't keep polish on it. From what we saw, polished balls weren't really the way to go at all.

Thank you Gene. Yes, sounds like I will start with the Nirvana playing straight 5-7 down and in trying to burn a track, and then I am not sure wheter to take Forza or Haywire, both roll similar for me in THS but I have the feeling that the Haywire will handle the oil better than Forza, but the Forza being my favorite ball is a tough decision. I wasn't thinking on the Marvel Pearl but it might be a good option once I need to move in a little bit. I am also undecided on taking the Venom Shock or a Storm Fight, the fight being my only "pin down" ball I have the feeling that it might be helpful in order to keep the breakpoint predictable, but I love my Shock lol... What do you think? Forza or Haywire? Shock or Fight?

It's really difficult for me to make those suggestions without knowing you personally or ever having seen you bowl. I can tell you that one of the guys in our group had a nice look with his Haywire, and a couple of our guys used the Fight, and definitely kept the break point controllable. Other than that, again, it's just too hard for me to know for sure which of those options would roll best for you.

Steven

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #22 on: May 06, 2016, 11:15:11 AM »

It's really difficult for me to make those suggestions without knowing you personally or ever having seen you bowl. I can tell you that one of the guys in our group had a nice look with his Haywire, and a couple of our guys used the Fight, and definitely kept the break point controllable. Other than that, again, it's just too hard for me to know for sure which of those options would roll best for you.

 
Very good input for anyone asking specifics about "what will work". There are too many variables for recommendations without knowing the bowler.
 
In general, keep it simple. Bring equipment that is even rolling and predictable. Three Solid/Hybrid balls, respectively prepped at 1000, 2000, 3000, should give you the look you need in the different events.


Nationals is more about execution than the ball in your hand. Don't fall into the trap of believing a specific ball is magic and going to bail you out.

Gene J Kanak

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #23 on: May 06, 2016, 01:48:43 PM »

It's really difficult for me to make those suggestions without knowing you personally or ever having seen you bowl. I can tell you that one of the guys in our group had a nice look with his Haywire, and a couple of our guys used the Fight, and definitely kept the break point controllable. Other than that, again, it's just too hard for me to know for sure which of those options would roll best for you.


Amen to that. I'm a ball whore, so if a "special" ball was all it took, I'd have found it by now!
 
Very good input for anyone asking specifics about "what will work". There are too many variables for recommendations without knowing the bowler.
 
In general, keep it simple. Bring equipment that is even rolling and predictable. Three Solid/Hybrid balls, respectively prepped at 1000, 2000, 3000, should give you the look you need in the different events.


Nationals is more about execution than the ball in your hand. Don't fall into the trap of believing a specific ball is magic and going to bail you out.

mainzer

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #24 on: May 06, 2016, 09:54:36 PM »

It's really difficult for me to make those suggestions without knowing you personally or ever having seen you bowl. I can tell you that one of the guys in our group had a nice look with his Haywire, and a couple of our guys used the Fight, and definitely kept the break point controllable. Other than that, again, it's just too hard for me to know for sure which of those options would roll best for you.

 
Very good input for anyone asking specifics about "what will work". There are too many variables for recommendations without knowing the bowler.
 
In general, keep it simple. Bring equipment that is even rolling and predictable. Three Solid/Hybrid balls, respectively prepped at 1000, 2000, 3000, should give you the look you need in the different events.


Nationals is more about execution than the ball in your hand. Don't fall into the trap of believing a specific ball is magic and going to bail you out.

Best advice I have heard for Nationals I have heard in awhile
"No one runs...from the conquerer "

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machine24

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #25 on: May 07, 2016, 10:31:17 PM »
Gene

Thank you for that awesome report. Just a few questions.
Do you need to take a ball that is pin down.
The arsenal i plan to take is The Eternal Cell, Critical, Hyper-Cell and Disturbed, what surface do you think i should have them at.

Thank you, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Gene J Kanak

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #26 on: May 09, 2016, 10:08:31 AM »
I don't think that you absolutely have to have a "pin-down" ball with you. Do you want balls that are smooth and controllable? Yes. Do pin-down balls often give that shape for a lot of bowlers? Yes. That doesn't necessarily mean that they do that for you. As such, I wouldn't get too caught up in the actual pin placements; go by how the ball reacts. You don't want anything terribly flippy. My pin-over-bridge, 1500 grit Brute Strength was as flippy as I needed out there.

As for the balls that you discussed, I would put the Hyper Cell at 500 to try to help burn things in early. I would probably put the Disturbed at 1000, and then I'd go either 1500 on both the Critical and Eternal, or do one at 1500 and the other at 2000. From my experience, you don't really want or need anything shiny, so I would stay matte finish with all of them.

dmonroe814

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #27 on: May 09, 2016, 10:13:34 AM »
I don't think that you absolutely have to have a "pin-down" ball with you. Do you want balls that are smooth and controllable? Yes. Do pin-down balls often give that shape for a lot of bowlers? Yes. That doesn't necessarily mean that they do that for you. As such, I wouldn't get too caught up in the actual pin placements; go by how the ball reacts. You don't want anything terribly flippy. My pin-over-bridge, 1500 grit Brute Strength was as flippy as I needed out there.

As for the balls that you discussed, I would put the Hyper Cell at 500 to try to help burn things in early. I would probably put the Disturbed at 1000, and then I'd go either 1500 on both the Critical and Eternal, or do one at 1500 and the other at 2000. From my experience, you don't really want or need anything shiny, so I would stay matte finish with all of them.
I agree.  I drilled a pin-up Fight that is the smoothest I have ever thrown.  Go with the ball that gives you the most controllable roll.  I personally would not drill any equipment specifically for the nationals, unless you are also going to roll other tournaments with similar patterns.  It is 9 games.  You have to execute your best for the 9 games.  There are no magic balls, drills, or lines. 
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avabob

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #28 on: May 09, 2016, 11:10:15 AM »
It is really a lot more about being able to get comfortable playing a bit more direct than you have to do in league.  If you can get comfortable playing straighter ( both in roll pattern and body alignment ) it opens up your options on equipment, particularly in terms of layout.  Surface then becomes the most important variable.

Dave81644

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Re: Reno Report 2016
« Reply #29 on: May 12, 2016, 04:26:46 PM »
Pin up or down does not matter much
pin distance from PAP matters more

Surface dictates at least 50% of your ball motion
If you want some advice on what surface, go to any of the booths there
they all know how the shot is playing

bottom line, shot is tough, have to throw it well no matter what piece is in your hands. MAKE your spares......