Mounts Bowling

I have not posted in slightly over a month. In that time I managed to bowl a Western Women’s Mixed Doubles tournament with Lindsay Bonifacini – we did not win. I also bowled in a Dick Weber Open Win-A-Spot Tournament – again I did not win that tournament either.

Funny Bowling Shoe Story
Also during this span my bowling shoes were stolen from me right out of my bag! Who does that?!? The bowling bag wasn’t even at the bowling alley either but in my own garage. The culprit also stole my putter and a random box of old comic books – bah! OK so I was due for a new set of bowling shoes anyway and the putter ran me $5 on eBay so I guess it wasn’t all that bad except I’ve been bowling in 20 year old bowling shoes for the past 2 weeks. They don’t even fit me properly. I need to get my new bwoling shoes fast. These old ones keep turning my socks brown.

Anyway, I’m going to look at this bowling shoe experience as a positive thing in disguise. You see my approach to the foul line is VERY fast and I tend to slide a long ways. Because my slide is so long it can greatly effect my release if the approach is even a tad bit tacky or slippery.

The day I showed up to my bowling league and noticed my shoes were gone really stunk. I had to grab a pair of house shoes and I nearly fell down every shot for two hours. Since then I’ve been in vintage bowling shoes, which I found way underneath my bed. They also don’t slide a whole lot but I’ve been getting used to it. The non-skid sole forces me to be much more controlled in my approach, slower, and more deliberate. I am forced to release lower to the lane, plant, and balance. My old delivery would force me to contort my body in every which way whenever I slid too far. Because of this my release off my hand was often times different from shot to shot because I was compensating for my lack of balance due to a long slide.

I’ve found with my low-skid vintage bowling shoes that once I got used to not sliding I was able to focus on a perfectly balanced release point and a perfect follow through. I even find myself watching the ball all the way down to the pins before I break my finishing posture. It feels great!

San Diego Men's Master's Bowling Tournament
This weekend I will be bowling in the San Diego Men’s Master’s Tournament in El Cajon, CA. I’ll be in my vintage, too small, brown, low-skid bowling shoes and I intend on bowling my very best. Next weekend I’ll be getting my hands on some new Dexter’s thanks to my good friend on Tour, Gary Duran. I promise to check back in more often again, hopefuly with fond bowling stories a plenty.

Click through here to see a list of other bowling tournaments (2005) I've bowled in this year and check back for more bowling tournament recaps and analysis.