Bowling Tips & Coaching Articles, Coaching Corner with John Gaines
900 Global Tour Rep Day 2 – The USBC Masters
900 Global Tour Rep USBC Masters Syracuse, NY 2018:
[addthis tool=”addthis_inline_share_toolbox”]Day 2
Today starts qualifying. Implement the game plans formulated from practice day. Only issue is, and this happens quite frequently, when the lanes play different from practice day. As I said in my blog from “Tour Rep”, the lanes can and usually do play different from day to day and block to block. Today was that day.
A Squad Observations For The USBC Masters
A squad played considerably tighter from practice day. The spot where it hooked from 2-4 would not hook. The lanes also played tighter down the lane. This will force the bowler not just a little left, but several boards left. Most of the bowlers that bowled well early on A squad ended up starting around 10-12 at the arrows. And because the lanes played tighter down lane, you need faster response balls (balls that hook more in the backend) than slower response balls. So instead of the Truth Tour, balls like the Dream On rolled better. The scores were expected to be low because the pattern was very hard and very flat. They ended up being slightly lower than expected. None of the 120 bowlers on A squad got to +100. And +25 (205 average) was 15th. For the caliber of players bowling, that is quite low.
B Squad Observations For The USBC Masters
B squad is the burn squad this week. The burn squad is when the lanes are left over from the previous squad and are not stripped and oiled. Usually this is the highest scoring paced squad as the lanes have broken down and that gives the bowler a friction spot to throw it to. Even though the lanes had developed a spot to throw it at, the lanes are still not easy! Only 8 players got to +100 or more off B squad. One of my 900 Global international staff players, Gaetan Mouveroux, bowled fantastic! He bowled +133 (226.6 average) for his 5 games which put him 2nd on B squad and 2nd overall after 2 of 3 squads bowled today. Because A squad started further inside than expected, B squad also played further left. By the end of game 5, Gaetan was sliding on 45 and his ball was crossing 34 at the arrows. Basically, he was playing the first arrow on the left side of the lane. Gaetan started with a Honey Badger and then went to a Drift.
C Squad Observations For The USBC Masters
C squad was back to the fresh again. The first thing I had to watch for was were they tight like A squad on the fresh in the morning or were they hooking more like practice the day before. It was obvious from the first couple shots in warm up that they were tight like A squad in the morning. Unlike A squad, C squad quickly recognized this and migrated left quickly. C squad quickly moved left to 16-19 at the arrows to get away from the hang to the right. 900 Global staffer Anthony Lavery-Spahr led C squad with +130 (226 average). He used a DCT with surface to start. Then went to a Truth Tour with 2000 on the surface. Then went to a Cardinal Boost to finish. 900 Global staffer Chris Barnes also bowled well with +82. Chris started with a pin in the palm Truth Tour. As they broke down and Chris had to migrate left he went to a Honey Badger. When the lane transitioned again, Chris had to get way left. He was sliding 47 and looking at 27 at the arrows.
All in all, not a bad day for the 900 Global staff. No time to get complacent however. They are hard and there are a lot of games to go. Have to stay focused and keep making good shots.
Stay tuned!