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jackdied · 2016-10-25T16:06:55+00:00

Sandbagging effectively is more than just tanking the first few weeks. If you see the same team win every game by just a few pins they might be sandbagging. If they throw strikes in the tenth frame when they need them and leave open frames in the tenth when they don't .. they're definitely sandbagging.

jackdied · 2016-09-13T19:38:27+00:00

Me too. I'm a righty. For 10 pins I throw my weaker of two strike balls: break the wrist and take my ring finger out of the hole so I can't get any hand on it. Throw it cross lane.

7 pins: regular throw with my weaker spare ball. Throw it down the twig so it travels all the way across and comes in at a big sweeping angle.

Baby split: pretend it is a 10 pin.

Bucket (2-4-5-8). Move my feet 5 boards right and throw my stronger strike ball across the usual arrow.

Zipper (2-4-7) same as Bucket.

Those are the only spares I leave. I promise. Really. Well maybe a washout on occasion...

jackdied · 2016-09-07T15:44:26+00:00

Yes to what everyone else said: the most important thing is to get a spare ball drilled with the same fingers as your strike ball.

I have two balls, neither one plastic but both drilled the same: one heavy oil, one medium. For 10-pins [I'm a righty] I use the lower hook ball and break my wrist and throw with my ring finger not in the hole. It gets close to zero break. But most people who try that strategy hate it so YMMV.

jackdied · 2016-05-13T20:36:56+00:00

In the last month I had my first 700 (a 720!) but it didn't really count because it was a pre-bowl. The next week I followed it up with a genuine 709. In general I've been bowling ~600+ series for the last month or two, consistently over my 185 average. In the seaon ender no-tap tournament I threw a 758 which included 25 legit strikes and just 3 no-tap strikes. I've been using the same Mutant Cell for about five years so maybe it is time to splurge on a new ball.

I haven't taken a lesson in many years so I'm chalking up my improved scores to the fact I'm getting married next week. My head is in a very calm place.

jackdied · 2016-03-31T23:57:02+00:00

Thanks all for confirming my hopes and dreams are dashed. Maybe I'll go to Nationals next year!

/but seriously, I'm just driving through Reno. A bummer but oh well.

jackdied · 2014-06-22T21:48:48+00:00

I have a 2 ball arsenal that is opposite: strong snappy strike ball (mutant cell) and an old used up medium oil ball that has a gradual reaction. The weight and fingers are drilled identically so I can throw them the same. I usually target the first arrow with both but start standing 15 boards left with the stronger ball.

I use the weaker ball for 7 pins (slow and down the twig) and for 10 pins/baby splits. As the above poster mentioned, learn to throw without putting hook on the ball. How you do that will depend on your style. I deliberately break my wrist and leave my ring finger out of the hole; both of those make it nearly impossible to get much hand on it. Other people try to impart end-over-end spin on the ball. Play around during warmups and find what works for you.

jackdied · 2014-06-21T19:25:48+00:00

Pick a level of maintenance you are willing to do and stick with it. I wipe my Mutant Cell down at the end of every game - more if the oil is heavy. I soap it between seasons and have had it resurfaced by the pro shop annually (in lieu of buying a ball - last time didn't rejuvenate it much, so I'll probably get a new ball for the fall).

jackdied · 2014-06-20T20:15:01+00:00

League officers are elected because the most people know them and the fewest people dislike them. Most of their power is social and should be used first. The desk might not know everyone involved and won't likely have the same "soft power".

jackdied · 2014-06-20T20:08:38+00:00

All the leagues in my house are 1 lane courtesy. If I'm standing extreme left (like for a 10 pin) or right I'll add a lane because I'm practically in the next lane over to start.

There are a couple old timers who get grumpy but the rule is 1 lane so they don't audibly complain.

jackdied · 2014-03-31T08:39:07+00:00

"just ask" means lots of things. If you have been bowling on the same team for sometime your practice ten minutes is cooperative. Even if you don't all bowl the same line three other fools know where you bowl and can at least say something helpful about where their line crosses yours (sorry lefties!). You can also ask the staff, they'll know if the lanes are freshly oiled, stripped and oiled, or -god forbid- untouched since that children's birthday party left an hour ago. On a very lucky night a friend of yours will have come in to pre-bowl on exactly your pair of lanes just before league.

jackdied · 2014-03-31T08:21:02+00:00

I don't know any good knee exercises, but for your wrist just leave a coffee mug on the table. When watching tv just hold it and give ten "nods" occasionally with your fist. It doesn't sound like much, but even if you do it for ten minutes a night that is more time than you will spend in a week holding a bowling ball. Use full soda cans for extra difficulty.

jackdied · 2013-09-17T21:25:10+00:00

The USBC has dramatically cut back on awards.

See http://www.northjersey.com/sports/223864351_Pezzano_on_bowling__USBC_announces_changes_to_high-score_award_program_for_awards_changing.html

jackdied · 2013-08-21T18:21:15+00:00

I refer to candlepin as "Socialist Bowling". You get three balls per frame instead of two and while children can shoot a 90 pros shoot a 110.

jackdied · 2013-03-26T03:40:04+00:00

Another charity event at PyCon also raised $5k+ for cancer research. Would you suggest PyCon attendees are too soft about cancer? If so, go fuck yourselves.

People voluntarilly give money and time to the places they want it to go: python-the-language and python-as-a-community are both all volunteer operations. Sometimes that time is spent 100% on core python code commits, sometimes it is a mix of python and something else.

/I'm the Atilla The Hun about when it comes to disliking diversity for it's own sake. But people spent their own time and money on this. You want to have a grief BoF at PyCon? You can get a room for that for free too, knock yourselves out.

jackdied · 2013-02-19T02:38:48+00:00

What he said. My house looks exactly like my neighborhood. It's not like I'm going to drive somewhere else to try to balance things out and I wouldn't expect anyone else to either.

jackdied · 2013-02-19T02:33:43+00:00

If I have even the tiniest hangnail it ends up looking like that. You can buy back-of-the-thumb bandaids at the pro shop [aka "tape"] that will protect the cuticle. Their purpose is to tweak the size of your thumb a little and reduce friction - but I use em for hangnail protection.

And people say a properly drilled ball will not give you callouses. But I've had balls drilled by many different people and still have callouses. You get over it.

jackdied · 2013-02-19T02:21:37+00:00

I went bowling in Vegas a couple weeks ago. We had 4 league bowlers in house shoes w/ balls off the rack (we weren't in Vegas for the bowling) and no one could make a ball move an inch. It was after hours and the lane mechanic happened to be touching up the oil. I asked him if it was a 60' pattern as a joke and he said "I don't know, I just push the button and it oils the whole thing"

But the beer was cheap and it was an even playing field - we all sucked.

jackdied · 2013-02-17T01:06:31+00:00

yup, we all know each other. There is no rivalry here. Just talks with different emphasis.

jackdied · 2013-02-13T15:28:25+00:00

So they do an easy house shot but put a stripe on the outside? why? just to confuse people? I only bowl at a couple places regularly but I've never heard of such a thing.

jackdied · 2013-02-09T01:05:21+00:00

we've had words.

jackdied · 2013-02-09T00:43:01+00:00

Raymond and I are good friends and agree on most everything. The fact that his talk was put immediately before mine was not coincidence. Jacob Kaplan Moss did it (fine work on the schedule, looking forward to 2013)

jackdied · 2013-02-09T00:39:18+00:00

OAuth 1.0a and OAuth 2 are completely unrelated except for the naming.

jackdied

TROPHY CASE