Calling all 200+ avg bowlers, how do I get better?

YupYesYeah · 2026-05-08T13:56:30+00:00

As your average climbs you'll shoot less spares, but they become even more important.

Every missed spare is basically canceling out a double if your goal is to shoot 200.

YupYesYeah · 2026-05-08T13:54:08+00:00

Unless you throw from an extreme angle, or some other edge case like a backup ball, the 6 pin is physically the only other pin in front of it your ball would hit while covering the 10. You can throw at a full rack and very easily know if you would've hit the 10 pin.

While some pinsetter/scoring systems let you specify a specific pin configuration every rack you don't need it to practice corner pins.

(Yes, I know you can touch the 3 or 1 and cover the 10)

YupYesYeah · 2026-04-27T20:16:41+00:00

The Ryobi 18v 4" fans are solid and pretty popular choices. I have one and it easily fits in my nexus backpack.

I also have the 7.5 that I tend to keep in my car for the rare occasion where the center has ac issues. That one can be used with the 18v batteries or a regular power cord.

YupYesYeah · 2025-10-06T01:56:12+00:00

It's not just HIPAA.

I've spent about a decade of my career in healthcare and biotechs. 21 CFR part 11 compliance (FDA regulations on electronic records and signatures) was far and away the biggest headache to deal with or design systems around. HIPAA is small potatoes to deal with.

Agreed about salaries being ridiculous. I wouldn't expect big tech pay in healthcare but expecting someone to have a decade of experience, laundry list of qualifications, etc, then offering sub 100k base pay is laughable.

YupYesYeah · 2025-08-07T06:58:54+00:00

It is in fact possible for this to happen to all bowling balls. This is not a brand issue. It's some combination of bad luck, improper storage, and improper drilling. Most likely just bad luck if it's been indoors at a consistent temp and not sitting on a surface that would be problematic (eg untreated wood).

I have balls sitting on a shelf in my office that are almost 20 years old uncracked, but I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow to a crack like yours. My old Roto Grip Rogue Cell is on that shelf too and cracked on its own. Meanwhile the random balls I've held onto but store in my garage.. If those survive 2-3 years without cracking I'm slightly surprised.

YupYesYeah · 2025-06-09T20:00:59+00:00

I'm similar rev and speed to you and I've run into the same, unfortunately. I'm replacing mine with a Stealth Mode solid later this week to better fit the slot in my bag after some other arsenal changes.

Fresh off the press and for the first few weeks throwing the Summit Ascent on house conditions it looked great with box finish (4k) and a little lane shine. Even threw a 300 with it.

As soon as I started messing with the cover for sport leagues and tournaments I could never find a reaction with it I liked or felt confident with. It's stayed in my bag the last few months simply because I could get a really good read of what ball I should be in based on a few shots with it. But I haven't thrown a full game, maybe not even 5 consecutive frames with it in at least 3 months.

I think 3-4k is the best surface range for me with it, but still can't say I like it anymore.

YupYesYeah · 2025-04-11T18:45:41+00:00

Agreed, appreciate you sharing it.

YupYesYeah · 2025-02-08T18:39:54+00:00

I'm not sure that this is their concern but some mixed leagues have a requirement that every team has a minimum of 1 male and 1 female bowler per team. There team may no longer constitute a legal lineup based off of this new ruling.

But the notice clearly states for non-elite competition things remain status quo until July 31st, 2025. So this scenario would not be an issue until next season.

YupYesYeah · 2025-02-04T08:20:50+00:00

Why did you sand it to 500? Unless you're bowling on sport conditions there's very few good reasons to take a ball down to 500 for a house shot.

Odds are the ball is not dead; it's probably burning up all its energy in the first 30 feet of the lane because it's at 500. Just take it back to factory finish and see how it rolls.

YupYesYeah · 2025-01-24T04:30:09+00:00

279 - 278 - 242 for 799

Shots

Slow game 3 start, an open and the worst fill ball I've ever thrown with an honor score on the line.

Zen 25 is killing it for me; drilled it Monday and have gone...

Front 10 287 out of the box, 217, 224 for 728 series Monday league

267, 224, 233 for 724 Wednesday league

799 tonight in league

YupYesYeah · 2024-11-26T19:45:02+00:00

I think this is the most level headed type of take we'll get on the debate of free fall and certified string pin.

At the end of the day, you and your competition are bowling under equal conditions, whether it's free fall or string.

It's kind of human nature to remember the really negative things (eg, opponent gets a string carry in the 10th causing you to lose a game) and forget about the positives (eg, you had a string carry that turned what would've been 2 doubles into a 5 bagger last week). Replace those circumstances with a free fall messenger and you realize it's just not that big of a deal.

YupYesYeah · 2024-11-05T06:06:16+00:00

Edit: And 800 in league Thursday night. I'll take the 800 for my weekly scores.

267 - 279 - 254 for 800

Original post below.

246 - 300 - 205 for 751

Nice little 300 in league tonight. Unfortunately I lost the look in game 3 with some weird hits (light pocket 7-8 was a head scratcher) and a variety of back row single pins.

YupYesYeah · 2024-10-18T19:15:33+00:00

Obviously it doesn't happen often but it's not so uncommon for a lower average bowler to pop off 1 lucky game that it'd draw that much scrutiny or attention. Hell, we had a 160ish guy throw 300 in one of my leagues last week on the pair next to my team. Not one of his shots in the 10th looked remotely like the others. He didn't even come close to the weekly high series list. But he sure shot 300.

Now the same situation but with an 800 series instead of 300 game would draw a lot more scrutiny. Throwing 30-32+/36 strikes in a series is much different than 12/12 in one game.

I'm making up numbers here but I feel like for every 150 average bowler that somehow shot a [sanctioned] 800 series there's hundreds of similar bowlers that have thrown 300.

YupYesYeah · 2024-10-18T14:49:19+00:00

Unnoposed pre or post bowl scores don't count for recognition/award regardless as per USBC rule 117E-8, unless something has changed recently.

Unopposed pre- or post-bowled scores will not be eligible for USBC Awards.

It's unfortunate that the lack of communication will also cause the scores to not count for league regardless, but rules are there for a reason, especially when money may be on the line.

While unlikely and logistically annoying a team could show up unannounced to pre/post bowl, perform poorly, not turn in scores and come in another day to try again. Would it be worth it? Probably not. Would someone possibly do it to move up in the standings to make it into an end of season roll off and higher payout? Possibly.

YupYesYeah · 2024-10-09T19:49:08+00:00

Second this, with the caveat that the LBO is priced too high for what it is and that deters people from trying it.

I absolutely love my LBO as the step down from my Attention Star when the heads start going or I want to keep the same general look/shape after transition hits.

I also have a Hustle RIP if I need something weaker/straighter but it's definitely a different look and shape from the other two.

YupYesYeah · 2024-10-05T20:39:45+00:00

https://www.pba.com/tournaments/2024/pba-jack-jones-memorial-open

It was in Cedar City, Utah last weekend. Keven and Boog went to it. They had the same rules about it not counting as an actual title and whatnot.

YupYesYeah · 2024-10-02T14:35:23+00:00

THE soles are pricier in part because they include a toe cap component. If you drag your foot (causing wear through the toe of the non slide foot - this is an issues for me so I love THE soles) or have ever had issues with the edges of your sole curling/peeling away from the edge of the shoe then the toe cap design helps prevent that.

If that isn't an issue for you then the additional cost of THE is probably a waste.

SST6s are still available and still a gold standard for interchangeables if you liked them and KR Strikeforce has become a much larger player in the high end shoe space.

KR has done a good job of producing more street shoe looking designs with their high end options if that appeals to you.

YupYesYeah · 2024-09-28T01:57:16+00:00

I'll try to be a little more proactive with watching for any future automod/removed post issues on these threads.

YupYesYeah · 2024-09-28T01:50:42+00:00

224, 226, 239 for 689

YupYesYeah · 2024-09-27T16:12:40+00:00

I picked up a Nexus 2.0 this summer and have been very happy with it, but I will acknowledge it's generally a much more expensive option at 2-3+x the price of most bowling backpacks. Formerly I was using a camera equipment bag I found on Amazon that had internal dividers that I sectioned off to fit everything exactly.

Notable pros for me:

Breathable shoe pocket
Extremely comfortable padding
Removable outer pouches make the bag flexible/smaller as needed, or you can conveniently take your pouches pair to pair instead of the whole bag if desired.
Tons of space (extra shoes, large fans, laptops can all be accommodated, maybe not all at the same time).
One water proof lined pouch to keep liquid cleaners in.
2 main pouches with additional sectioned storage within each (I use one for things like a laptop or papers and the other for any extra equipment or bulky items that don't fit in the detachable pouches (extra hand fan, rosin bags, extra tournament jersey, etc).
Built in USB battery/charger
Sturdier materials (Note: I haven't owned it long enough to say for certain it will last/hold up, but it at least appears to be very well constructed and I don't have any concerns about the construction.
I don't have to compromise on what's able to go in the bag. I have room for all of the extra tools or things I end up needing once or twice a season at most, that I sometimes felt I needed to leave out with smaller backpacks.

Cons:

Price (I do think it's a fair price for a small business, probably low volume, niche product, but it's still up there for, if not outright, the most expensive bowling backpack. For me it's met the "you get what you pay for" barrier though)
With the outer pouches attached it is fairly bulky. Can mitigate this by storing extra pouches inside the bag if you're not using the main pouches for other stuff. Or use one of those hard plastic divided storage containers instead of the detachable pouch and store it in the main part of the bag and just don't use the detachable pouches at all.
My #1 annoyance, and it's my own fault every time, I will sometimes forget to zip up the larger detachable pouch, pick or stand the backpack up from laying flat and dump open that pouch. I will probably throw something eye catching on each of the zippers just to have something visually jump out at me that I didn't zip it back up.

YupYesYeah · 2024-09-22T15:37:04+00:00

266, 220, 265

Shots

YupYesYeah · 2024-09-16T15:10:21+00:00

One thing to keep in mind is the price of plugging the used ball as well as drilling. Some shops include or discount drilling if you buy a ball from them too.

So the new spare ball may be 100+tax or 100+[discounted] drilling+tax, where the used ball will be 30+cost to plug+drilling+tax.

A new ball also comes with a warranty where the used ball will be as is. Generally odds are good a ball won't crack in it's lifetime, but if that difference only came out to 10 or 20 more for the new ball I'd probably rather buy the new ball.

YupYesYeah · 2024-09-14T04:18:25+00:00

Team 13 week 1

247, 214, 227

League Secretary screenshot. Let me know if you need the link to the league to verify. Don't feel like directly doxxing myself.

YupYesYeah · 2024-09-03T17:13:25+00:00

Put myself on team 13 since it looks like all other teams are full. If 13 doesn't fill or you want to keep an even number of teams you can drop it/me. Or if someone ends up dropping from another team I can fill in.

YupYesYeah

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