After renting shoes for just one week, I realized that renting shoes every week was not a lucritive financial decision. So I bought my own. Then, on a whim on a night when I arrived at the bowling alley early, I bought my own ball. I let Mr. Arrogant Bowling Ball Man convince me to buy a 10 pound ball instead of an 8 pound ball (even though for my stature I should be rolling a 12 pound ball) and then I watched as he quickly drilled the holes.
What was supposed to help me bowl better because it was fit to my hand actually caused me to bowl much worse than I'd ever bowled in my life! I had to completely change my approach--to the point that I no longer tried to hit the pins from the right but from the left (which is backwards for a right handed bowler)--and I had to grant myself a lot of patience and grace because I was really horrible with Bourbon--that's what I named him because that's the name that popped into my head on that first night--and because he drove me crazy.
I thought that Bourbon was drilled incorrectly but Mr. Bowling Ball Man said that it was fine. So I kept playing with him and practicing with him, trying not to get too aggravated. The final straw came over Christmas vacation, though, when I went bowling with my entire family and my 7 year old nephew almost beat me--naturally--with no bumpers.
I got a new ball shortly after that humiliation. It's awesome! His name is Fish Ball because he has an acquarium scene on him--complete with ORANGE FISH! Even though he is a 12 pound ball, I had to have him because he was perfect for me...and I'm glad I got him...because I've been bowling MUCH better since he rolled into my life. He is drilled differently than Bourbon and his driller confirmed that Bourbon was not aptly fit for my hand.
With Fish Ball, I've been able to go back to my college bowling class bowling approach and my average has slowly increased. Because I felt bad for him, though, I decided to use Bourbon as my clean-up ball, and I think he realized the error of his ways because he's been doing very well as my second string guy...
Until yesterday...
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