I seem to have lost my game. I was comfortably averaging a nice 206 about
four weeks ago through 30 games during the league so far this year (up a couple
pins from last season). All was well.

....and then.... my game went missing......

I have plummeted - badly - I've been struggling to get a three game series of
500 pins... and I mean struggling. [[I know I left my game around here
somewhere]]. The bottom has fallen out of my average - down to 194 as of last
night. Usually, I kinda know what I'm doing each shot. What doesn't
feel right, when I lose the ball, bad follow through, when the ball comes off
my hand well, when I hit my mark, what speed to throw,... etc...

But right now, I am freekin lost. Everything feels good, timing seems ok,
release check, hitting my spot, but once the ball starts down the lane it
is a mystery until the end what is gonna happen. Srikes? You kidding me?
I haven't seen many at all. I've been seeing a lot of pocket 7-10s, 4-9s,
6-8s. (I'm a righty and I left a 6-8 last night - doh!)

(Hey! Is that my game over there? ....nope.. not it - drats!)


I'm in a slump. So, what is the answer? Practice practice practice?
A shot of vodka? Some voodoo ritual?


**I could try and blame the fact that the center put in all new pins
four weeks ago and then also changed the brand of lane oil they use - but
then I'd be admiting I'm a house hack. I'd rather live in denial and think
I've lost part of my game and need to find it. Not to mention, in the
other house I bowl with a different lane surface, different pattern, etc...
I am doing just fine.

[[Hey, you over there.... did you take my game!? Hey, stop...thief!]]

Any slump advice?

Dr. Joe


--------------------
Dr. Joseph Howard
Joe's Physics Page    

"Imagine what you could do,
if you could do what you imagine"

F.O.S. Member
Uranium Pearl
Bullet
Pearl Cherry/C^2
XXXL
Lane 1: 4 Ball Roller
H_sub2_O (expected order date ~Oct)
Uranium Solid (expected order date ~Dec.)
More saber-toothed saws soon thereafter.
Hey! There is room in the roller!

Maybe they've changed the shot at your house? No?
Same thing happened to me recently. I went from ending the winter league averaging 192 all the way down to the mid 170's. Lots of people in my house went through the same thing I did and their averages fell when they changed the pattern ever so slighly. After last night, I felt like I found my game again when I tried playing a different line. Of course when I start slumping, I usually buy a brand new ball.....no joke.

Slumps suck, but they are a fact of life.
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