Striking Out

[Penthesilea]

Do you pay per game or per hour?

This wekend, I went bowling for the first time since 1995.
For some years, we used to go regularly with friends, but it all stopped when I got pregnant the first time. Anyway, when we were bowling I was always the only female and always the one with the lowest scores. But it didn't keep me from having fun. I stared with scores around 60 and through practise, I went up to an average of  - I don't know, but I remember that I considered everything under 100 a bad game and everything close to or even over 120 as a victory.

Last Saturday, my oldest had her birthday party at the bowling lane. My first game was 69, the second 90. Then I left the teens to enjoy themselves without mom.

Now I'm hooked again and really want to get back into bowling. The bad thing is, at our bowling place you pay per lane per hour. This is good when you're a group (like last Saturday), but bad when you're alone or only two people. For three hours, I paid almost 90 $ for lane and shoe rental (without drinks and food, they were extra of course). I don't see me paying that kind of money on a regular base.


Maybe I should look into Kegeln, which is the German version. It's nine-pin bowling with smaller balls which have no holes. Always drove me crazy, I never could get the ball right when there are no holes to grab it.

[Penthesilea]

I've been searching online to price new equipment.  I found this ball....do you think it's appropriate?

 

Love it! I'd buy it in a second, it's really beautiful.

[CellarDweller]

Hiya Chrissi,

The way the alley I go to works, from 8:00am to 11:00am on Sundays, you can bowl for up to 6 games, for $11.00, and that includes the cost of the shoes.

[CellarDweller]

I came here today to update, and I realized I never put last week's scores up!



Maybe because I was so pissed at the scores!    Remember, I didn't bowl two weeks ago because it was Easter, so by the time I got back to the alley, it was two weeks without practice, and I was sure the scores would reflect that.

And did they ever!!!!


112 - 122 - 90 - 109 - 92 - 138

As you can see, I had two games where I scored under 100, and two games where I barely crossed the 100 mark.  I was not happy!  I did take comfort in the fact that I was able to rebound in my last game and have my best game of the day.


                 3/12/11   3/20/11  3/27/11  4/3/11  4/10/11   4/17/11  5/1/11

Game 1          109         96            89       125     127        113       112
Game 2          121       115           113      134      93         142       122
Game 3          146        110           125     103      133        140        90
Game 4                       115           132     101      124          88      109
Game 5                       112           117     121      116        100        92
Game 6                       129           118     125      132        147      138
_________________________________________________________________
average:         128        112           115     118      121        121      110

[CellarDweller]

And now, here I am with today's scores.

122 - 122 - 112 - 117 - 110 - 126

While not happy with the socres over all (especially since a few weeks ago I was getting as high as a 147) I was happy to see that I was able to get back to having no games under 100.  I consider game #5  (score of 110) a personal victory.  The game started off horribly, and I got far into the game (8th frame) without any marks.  I had no strikes or spares at all.  I walked off the lane after the 7th frame, took a few breaths, and did my best to focus.  I was able to strike and spare in frames 8, 9, & 10.  Which made me break the 100 mark.  It was my lowest score, but I fought for it, and was very determined to have no games below 100 after last weekend's scores.



                 3/12/11   3/20/11  3/27/11  4/3/11  4/10/11   4/17/11  5/1/11

Game 1          109         96            89       125     127        113       112
Game 2          121       115           113      134      93         142       122
Game 3          146        110           125     103      133        140        90
Game 4                       115           132     101      124          88      109
Game 5                       112           117     121      116        100        92
Game 6                       129           118     125      132        147      138
_________________________________________________________________
Average:         128        112           115     118      121        121      110


              5/8/11

Game 1     122
Game 2     122
Game 3     112
Game 4     117
Game 5     110
Game 6     126
___________________________________________________________________
Average:   118


After last week's average of 110, I'm glad to see it going back up to 118 again.    I also sent an email to the bowling league, and got a very nice reply.  They are remodeling their website, but they're very excited to have me as a new member, and invited me to see them bowling next Tuesday.  I believe I'll go and see what everyone is doing, and see what the competition is up to.

lol

Next weekend, I'll be going to a pro shop to see about ordering the ball, bag and new shoes. 

[dejavu]

The new ball sounds exciting, Chuck.  Will it be the multi-color one that you showed us a picture of?


Glad your scores improved this week, too.  Sounds like you worked your way out of a not-too-good situation with your mental concentration in game #5.  That's important to be able to do that, so congrats.   

[Penthesilea]

After last week's average of 110, I'm glad to see it going back up to 118 again.    I also sent an email to the bowling league, and got a very nice reply.  They are remodeling their website, but they're very excited to have me as a new member, and invited me to see them bowling next Tuesday.  I believe I'll go and see what everyone is doing, and see what the competition is up to.

lol

Next weekend, I'll be going to a pro shop to see about ordering the ball, bag and new shoes. 

Congrats on not having a game <100!
The above sounds exciting, having a look at the team and how they play, and getting all pro with your own shoes and ball.
Have fun!


BTW, what do people do with old balls (bowling balls, take your mind out of the gutter! )?
Do shops take them back for recycling? Or do you throw them away? I just picture a poor garbage collector, cursing over a trash bin containing two or three old bowling balls.

[CellarDweller]

BTW, what do people do with old balls (bowling balls, take your mind out of the gutter! )?

Chrissi, that's not something I have thought about.  I believe that one can "donate" the ball to a local bowling alley, and it becomes a "house ball" that someone who doesn't have their own bowling ball will use.

[CellarDweller]

And now, here I am with today's scores.

115 - 125 - 113 - 98 - 103 - 127

Slow and steady wins the race.  LOL   I keep telling myself that. 

Once again, not that thrilled with the overall scores, but happy that I had 2 games that went over the 120 mark.  I am very pissed at the 98 in there.  That game was awful.  The pins would not break for me.  I was hitting the pins in the right spots, but never a strike, and then I would miss the spares.  And when I did get a spare, I would get only 1 or 2 pins on the next ball, which really took my score down.  One thing that I did notice was that the ball felt lighter than usual today, so I'm assuming that I've adjusted to throwing that weight ball down the alley.  I was debating getting a lighter ball, but today it felt like it wasn't such heavy weight to be holding.


                 3/12/11   3/20/11  3/27/11  4/3/11  4/10/11   4/17/11  5/1/11

Game 1          109         96            89       125     127        113       112
Game 2          121       115           113      134      93         142       122
Game 3          146        110           125     103      133        140        90
Game 4                       115           132     101      124          88      109
Game 5                       112           117     121      116        100        92
Game 6                       129           118     125      132        147      138
_________________________________________________________________
Average:         128        112           115     118      121        121      110


              5/8/11 5/15/11


Game 1     122       115
Game 2     122       125
Game 3     112       113
Game 4     117        98
Game 5     110       103
Game 6     126       127
___________________________________________________________________
Average:   118    113


Average is still over the 100 mark, and I hope this trend improves.

[dejavu]

The practice is doing you good, if you're getting used to the weight of that ball.

When you order your own ball, will it be the multi-color one?