Ten

Just to see if I can, here's a list of ten aspects of my bowling delivery that are critical to throwing a good ball.

1. Hold the ball at a 45-degree angle, between facing the pins and the left wall of the alley.
2. Keep your wrist locked, as if you have no wrist at all - the radius and ulna going right to your carpals.
3. Position your feet right between the middle three dots, facing a little to the right. Your toes are as close to the lane as those dots, though you can get a little closer if you like.
4. Look at the 7th or 8th board between the dots, six feet down the lane. That's where you want the ball to go. (Adjust the target as the game progresses if necessary.)
5. Remember that all of the speed comes from where you're holding the ball as you start your backswing. If you want more break, hold the ball lower, as a slower ball has more time to curve. (You tend to start too high, then learn to lower it as you get more comfortable.)
6. Lean a little forward throughout the delivery and take two full steps before your start your backswing. (You tend to raise the ball during your first two steps, which ends up flattening out your curve.)
7. Allow yourself to take a quick fourth step. Each of your five steps don't have to be on the same beat.
8. Your forward swing starts about the time your fifth and final step meets up with your fourth step. When your left foot is about to get in front of your right foot, the ball should be on its way. Your left foot and right hand (and ball) come make their last approach together. (You already do this naturally.)
9. While keeping your wrist sturdy and your angle at 45 degrees, try to feel the ball leave your thumb before your fingers, and feel your fingers give rotation to the ball.
10. If you need more rotation, you can hold the ball a little longer. This will cause the ball to be airborne a little more, but it'll give your fingers more time to spin the ball. As long as your arm is going straight ahead, you should be able to stay on line.

Margie and I have joined a bowling league and will start in two weeks. If I get the job at CVS Caremark for which I just had a phone interview, I'll likely be late for the league. But I doubt I'll get the job. The initial phone interview didn't go very well; I'm rusty when it comes to selling myself.

The last time I bowled, I was rusty the first couple of games but finished with a 216. That's three pins away from my all-time high, but it didn't even feel special enough to have it printed out. I guess that's another sign of my continued progress as a bowler. A 216 and I didn't bother to keep a hard copy of the score. I've got maybe a dozen 200+ games now, but I'm not completely sure.

I don't remember how the 216 game went down and didn't care to memorize it. I know that I had one open frame; I left the 6-10 and missed to the right, hitting only the 10. Now, if I ever have a game with no open frames, I'll have that one printed out for sure.

One thing I do remember about the game was that I had five strikes in six consecutive frames, the one frame containing a 10-pin spare. Yep, within seven consecutive throws, I had six strikes and one gutter-ball. This is why I need to remember Rule 10 above. If I had bowled a four-spare instead of a zero-spare that frame, it would've been a new high game.

My overall game improved once I washed my ball. I'll start cleaning the ball with isopropyl alcohol and a towel after every trip to the alley. Looking back, no wonder I was unhappy with my scores. I went at least 150 games without removing the oil from the ball. About 2500 rolls. That was one oily ball! The dishwasher technique rocked.

A big worry for me, when it comes to my score in the new league (the "Lousy Bowlers" league), is that it's been taking me a long time to get into the groove and get a feel for the curve. Two or three games. That's about close to 60 rolls. I'll be lucky to get six rolls before a league night. Is there any way I can get in the groove without actually throwing the ball? Can concentrated visualization help?

This has been a nice break from the MLC (modeling life contingencies) review I've been doing most of today. I've got about 60 days before that exam, and I should try to average four hours a day. If I do get that job, which will not offer any time or compensation for exam attempts, I'll be one busy guy. I did grade calculus tests while driving the Beltway once; that's something to put on my gravestone. But studying this stuff is a whole other animal, and I wish I could take the train in each morning and study on the way.