I have a tendency to want to put a ball away after I've had a really good game with it, and my friend (and teammate) says that's selfish if I do it in league.

I can see his point if the team is still in contention for the playoffs and if the game was a 230 or better or with a really strong finish. To put the scores in perspective, I'm only averaging 172 in this league, but 180+ in my other two leagues, and even with those averages, used to get my fair share of 220 or better games.  But not so much this year.

And my team was out of contention weeks ago and we're only bowling for points, but still...   I bowled a 215 the first game and then decided to switch to a different ball.  I had my reasons and again...  the 215 was a solid, reasonable game for me ... and clean too.  But it wasn't like I was on fire at any point.  And I really thought the ball I switched to would work better or at least as good.

It was a colossal mistake with a bad result, and my friend remembers that earlier in the month I had bowled a 255 in the 2nd game and then put that ball away for the 3rd, with similar results.  And even that time, I felt that even though I was throwing a phenomenal shot, I was really laboring to get the ball far enough down the lane  to maintain the shot, and decided to switch balls before I started missing my mark if I didn't keep the speed up.  He accused me of wanting to put the first ball away so I could put it (figuratively speaking) in a trophy case.   He was not 100% wrong, but he was not 100% right either.

Unfortunately that perception is there now. I'm not clairvoyant, so am I not allowed to guess which ball I THINK will be best in the next game....even if it's not the one I just bowled great with?

Granted...  if we were in the playoffs or in contention, I would be much more conservative and not want to change ANYTHING. Even what I had for dinner or what street I drove on, etc... and, of course, the ball.  But we are NOT in contention, and 215 was decent ---especially for me in that particular house---- but it was not phenominal and off the charts, so I don't agree with my friend's view.

Am I a jerk?

Quote from: Neptune66 on May 03, 2019, 12:38:38 PM

It’s not a black and white issue to me,  it my friend disagrees and sees no good reason that I changed.  And I confess the 1st game was technically 40 pins over average, but I’m capable of more, and it was more like I was hanging on and [successfully] avoiding mistakes. I didn’t feel I was rolling that good despite the numbers.

Help me understand. If you average in this league 172 and 180+ in another, as stated earlier, and you shot 40 pins over average, but are "capable of more than 40 pins over your average", so you switched balls, then how are you only averaging 172 if you aren't sandbagging it??

Sucks at spare conversion...just a guess 

Changing balls does not improve aim.

Doesn't sound like you're smart enough to sandbag.

+10000000

I see your point, but I think my friend was just being especially blunt to make his point.  I don't think my ball changes (or not) are at the top of his priority list or even his list of pet peeves. He disapproved and can see his perspective and am willing to keep it in mind going forward.  I just felt he was being overly harsh and also didn't care for being pyscho-analyzed (by him) as not caring, etc.

And he's only one teammate.  The others really don't care (and didn't that day).

But before I bowl another game on a team with him, I will have a discussion with him to be sure it's not a lingering issue---even if I intend to be more mindful of any changes as he wants me to.

#BOWLINGALLEYDRAMA. Just quit and go to a new league and if it happens again, then there is only on common denominator...

So this entire thing was just to vent?

Yea, you definitely need a safe place.

Hey first time commenting, great to he here. My take on this is that unless advice is asked for, learning about ball motion and recognizing how the ball exits the deck, both on pocket hits that strike, or not, is all important. Knowing why you're making a ball change is imperative. It's my belief that feet and eye target  moves should be tried, if not exhausted before ball changes. The only thing that promotes early ball changes is noticeable over/under cliffing. 172 average bowlers are "finer tuning" away from 195 and beyond. Keeping speed up, or slowing down, different releases, foot work to allow for speed increases without muscling your downswing..it's all a part of the game. Ball changes are just another tool. I have bowler after bowler ask me why I need more than one ball..omg