"It doesn't matter what's out there. If you can repeat shots, have a little bit of knowledge of where the oil goes, and be able to follow it and visualize it and then just repeat shots and throw the right ball that gets you somewhere close to the pocket, you can become a successful bowler."
--Ritchie Allen, PBA Exempt Player
Showing posts with label Ritchie Allen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ritchie Allen. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
What's the Best Way to Practice?
I recently mentioned an exchange that "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark had with PBA exempt bowler Ritchie Allen on Xtra Frame last week regarding the best way to practice on easy conditions to prepare for difficult ones. That is, many of us aren't readily able to bowl in PBA Experience or Sport leagues, but we still want to improve our games so that we can be competitive on tougher league or tournament conditions when the need arises.
As you may recall, Mark and Allen had conflicting philosophies of how to do this. Allen argued that when you bowl in competition on any condition, your aim is to strike as often as you can by finding the best line to the pocket, playing that line, and executing as well as possible on every shot. Therefore, when you're practicing, you should do the same thing that you would in competition no matter how easy the shot is. Find the line that gives you the best pocket and strike percentage and play it so well that you can string "forty strikes" in a row. If you can do that on an easy "house" condition, you can apply that same method to bowling on much more difficult PBA or sport conditions. After all, even on a tough condition, you're still looking to find and play the line that maximizes your strike percentage.
On the other hand, Jeff Mark argued that if you play the easy line--or, as he calls it, "on the china"--on a regular house shot, the margin of error and inconsistency that this allows you to still hit the pocket and carry strikes with will prevent you from developing the accuracy, speed control, consistent release, and ability to repeat shots that you'll need to do well on demanding lane conditions. So, Mark's philosophy is "Practice where it's hard, play where it's easy."
I admit that I think both make valid points, and it's long seemed to me that the best way to practice is to do what both Ritchie Allen and Jeff Mark advise. That is, spend some of your time practicing easy and the rest of it practicing hard. For if I were always to do what Mark advises and move my line way left of the optimal line, I would encounter so much oil that I'd have to slow my ball way down to hit the pocket and carry with any consistency whatsoever, and that might make it difficult for me to throw harder playing a more effective line on that or some other condition in league or tournament play.
On the other hand, if I always play the easiest or most forgiving line that allows me to throw as hard as I want, not only will I not develop the "softer" game that I may need on some conditions, but I may also fail to develop the overall precision and consistency I need on tougher conditions. Yet, just as one can develop bad habits from practicing on very easy or forgiving conditions, I think one can also acquire bad habits, such as throwing the ball too fast or slow or "aiming" the ball too much, from bowling only on conditions or by playing only lines that are extremely demanding. It seems to me that there needs to be some balance.
Interestingly, it also seems to me from my personal experience over the past forty-five years or so that "easier" houses tend to produce better junior and adult bowlers than harder ones do. Has this been your experience too? If so, why do you think this is? I speculate that easier houses tend to encourage people to bowl more than harder ones do, and when they bowl more, they get more enthusiastic and serious about the game, and then they get better.
What do you think? And how do you practice on easier house conditions for competition on more demanding ones?
As you may recall, Mark and Allen had conflicting philosophies of how to do this. Allen argued that when you bowl in competition on any condition, your aim is to strike as often as you can by finding the best line to the pocket, playing that line, and executing as well as possible on every shot. Therefore, when you're practicing, you should do the same thing that you would in competition no matter how easy the shot is. Find the line that gives you the best pocket and strike percentage and play it so well that you can string "forty strikes" in a row. If you can do that on an easy "house" condition, you can apply that same method to bowling on much more difficult PBA or sport conditions. After all, even on a tough condition, you're still looking to find and play the line that maximizes your strike percentage.
On the other hand, Jeff Mark argued that if you play the easy line--or, as he calls it, "on the china"--on a regular house shot, the margin of error and inconsistency that this allows you to still hit the pocket and carry strikes with will prevent you from developing the accuracy, speed control, consistent release, and ability to repeat shots that you'll need to do well on demanding lane conditions. So, Mark's philosophy is "Practice where it's hard, play where it's easy."
I admit that I think both make valid points, and it's long seemed to me that the best way to practice is to do what both Ritchie Allen and Jeff Mark advise. That is, spend some of your time practicing easy and the rest of it practicing hard. For if I were always to do what Mark advises and move my line way left of the optimal line, I would encounter so much oil that I'd have to slow my ball way down to hit the pocket and carry with any consistency whatsoever, and that might make it difficult for me to throw harder playing a more effective line on that or some other condition in league or tournament play.
On the other hand, if I always play the easiest or most forgiving line that allows me to throw as hard as I want, not only will I not develop the "softer" game that I may need on some conditions, but I may also fail to develop the overall precision and consistency I need on tougher conditions. Yet, just as one can develop bad habits from practicing on very easy or forgiving conditions, I think one can also acquire bad habits, such as throwing the ball too fast or slow or "aiming" the ball too much, from bowling only on conditions or by playing only lines that are extremely demanding. It seems to me that there needs to be some balance.
Interestingly, it also seems to me from my personal experience over the past forty-five years or so that "easier" houses tend to produce better junior and adult bowlers than harder ones do. Has this been your experience too? If so, why do you think this is? I speculate that easier houses tend to encourage people to bowl more than harder ones do, and when they bowl more, they get more enthusiastic and serious about the game, and then they get better.
What do you think? And how do you practice on easier house conditions for competition on more demanding ones?
Friday, January 29, 2010
First Round of Match Play Recap at Dick Weber Open
Mike Fagan led qualifying in the One a Day Dick Weber Open, and he still leads the field after the first round of match play that took place last night. Hot on his heels is a star-studded cast headed by, in descending order, Walter Ray Williams, Tommy Jones, Ryan Shafer, Amleto Monacelli, Pete Weber, Robert Smith, and Bill O'Neill. And not far behind them in 13th place is defending champion Norm Duke.
This is a good, old-fashioned round-robin match play, top five advance to the televised stepladder finals kind of tournament, the kind I'd like to see a lot more of from now on. But take note that this week's finals will be broadcast live at 11 AM PST on ESPN2 rather than the usual ESPN. I hope that everyone who gets ESPN on their cable or satellite system also gets ESPN2, and if some don't who want to watch Sunday's tournament, they can catch it later on PBA Xtra Frame on demand. I should also mention that ESPN.com's popular Bill Simmons, "The Sports Guy," will be sitting in the ESPN broadcast booth this Sunday with announcer Rob Stone and bowling analyst Rany Pedersen.
On Xtra Frame's coverage of match play last night, British bowler Stuart Williams sat in with the boys for awhile giving his always entertaining and perceptive view of the action. He predicted that the TV finalists would be Mike Fagan, Walter Ray, Tommy Jones, Bill O'Neill, and Ryan Shafer. "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark predicted that Mike Fagan, Walter Ray, Bill O'Neill, Norm Duke, and Pete Weber would make the finals. By the way, Stuart Williams competed in this week's tournament, along with an international contingent of male and female stars, and finished a very respectable 30th. Jeff Mark claims that Williams has one of the heaviest ball rolls and most potent strike balls he's ever seen or heard. It hits the pins with an impressively unique sound.
Ritchie Allen dropped in for a few minutes before getting into a disagreement with Jeff Mark and leaving prematurely. Allen and Mark were talking about practice strategy on an easy pattern. Mark contended that when the conditions are easy, you should make them difficult by moving your line to where you have to be very precise to hit the pocket and carry. "Practice where it's hard, play where it's easy," he advises. Allen, on the other hand, advocated always practicing on the easiest part of the lane for strikes, because that's what you do when you're bowling leagues and tournaments. Mark countered by telling Allen that if he'd practiced the right way, he might have made the cut, and Allen promptly took off. Allen just missed the top 24 by four pins, coming in 25th.
But this raises a good question. What IS the best way to practice? Ritchie Allen's or Jeff Mark's? How do YOU practice? I try to play different lines from the easiest to the toughest. But I admit that I spend more time practicing where it's easy than where it's tough. What do you think?
This is a good, old-fashioned round-robin match play, top five advance to the televised stepladder finals kind of tournament, the kind I'd like to see a lot more of from now on. But take note that this week's finals will be broadcast live at 11 AM PST on ESPN2 rather than the usual ESPN. I hope that everyone who gets ESPN on their cable or satellite system also gets ESPN2, and if some don't who want to watch Sunday's tournament, they can catch it later on PBA Xtra Frame on demand. I should also mention that ESPN.com's popular Bill Simmons, "The Sports Guy," will be sitting in the ESPN broadcast booth this Sunday with announcer Rob Stone and bowling analyst Rany Pedersen.
On Xtra Frame's coverage of match play last night, British bowler Stuart Williams sat in with the boys for awhile giving his always entertaining and perceptive view of the action. He predicted that the TV finalists would be Mike Fagan, Walter Ray, Tommy Jones, Bill O'Neill, and Ryan Shafer. "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark predicted that Mike Fagan, Walter Ray, Bill O'Neill, Norm Duke, and Pete Weber would make the finals. By the way, Stuart Williams competed in this week's tournament, along with an international contingent of male and female stars, and finished a very respectable 30th. Jeff Mark claims that Williams has one of the heaviest ball rolls and most potent strike balls he's ever seen or heard. It hits the pins with an impressively unique sound.
Ritchie Allen dropped in for a few minutes before getting into a disagreement with Jeff Mark and leaving prematurely. Allen and Mark were talking about practice strategy on an easy pattern. Mark contended that when the conditions are easy, you should make them difficult by moving your line to where you have to be very precise to hit the pocket and carry. "Practice where it's hard, play where it's easy," he advises. Allen, on the other hand, advocated always practicing on the easiest part of the lane for strikes, because that's what you do when you're bowling leagues and tournaments. Mark countered by telling Allen that if he'd practiced the right way, he might have made the cut, and Allen promptly took off. Allen just missed the top 24 by four pins, coming in 25th.
But this raises a good question. What IS the best way to practice? Ritchie Allen's or Jeff Mark's? How do YOU practice? I try to play different lines from the easiest to the toughest. But I admit that I spend more time practicing where it's easy than where it's tough. What do you think?
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