Attempt Four

LAST MEAL: Chicken Tikka.

SUPPLEMENTARY TRAINING: Three press ups.

METHOD OF FOCUS: Right, bear with me a minute - the idea was to count to five before throwing each ball, but I got to about three and found I'd started to move so I guess counting to five but moving on three would be the correct definition.

LUCKY LANE NUMBER: 7

BEST SCORE TO DATE: 142

CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF STRIKES: 6

It would appear the Friday game was just a massive fluke despite being 158 short of target. That said, I think there's something in the counting to focus method as I did feel more in the moment and more confident with every ball I threw. Tonight was an improvement on last week's Monday game and I can certainly take something from that.

Also I've been eyeing up balls. Bear with me once more. I may look at purchasing a ball as house balls have been thrown down the lanes more times than...actually, you can put your own euphemism in here. I should also add that I was robbed again on the first ball - it should definitely have been a strike in my opinion.

Next week I will continue with the counting method and hope that, combined with another method of focus, I can hit that magic 300 mark.

Attempt Three

LAST MEAL: Duck a l'orange - with chips.

SUPPLEMENTARY TRAINING: Deep breathing at least two or three times.

METHOD OF FOCUS: Thinking about something sweeter than bowling...fruit Mentos.

LUCKY LANE NUMBER: 3

BEST SCORE TO DATE: 108

CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF STRIKES: 2

I refused to be defeated by my backwards steps on Monday and had a game to make up due to the lateness of starting this blog. This gave me a great energy, particularly as it's a Friday night and I could treat it more as a warm up than an actual go despite the fact it was actually an actual go.

Once again I blew the competition with the first ball but kept the cumulative strikes in mind as I continued on. Well, it was already paid for so I may as well have carried on chucking the balls down if for no other reason. The results are below for your delectation.

I have no real reason why this extra curricular (but not really) round was any better than the other two but I will endeavour to keep up the momentum and really have a go on Monday when I return to Ocean Bowl for attempt number four.

Attempt Two

LAST MEAL: Peppered steak with swede mash and vegetables. 

SUPPLEMENTARY TRAINING: Watching the credits to Kingpin 1,483 times.

METHOD OF FOCUS: Studying the lie of the lane for an hour.

LUCKY LANE NUMBER: 7

BEST SCORE TO DATE: 108

CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF STRIKES: 1

There was a tense atmosphere at Ocean Bowl this week. Other bowlers could see that I was starting to take this challenge really seriously and some dropped to their knees in the hope that I would fulfil such a simple ambition. One lady even said, "Go on, son". She was not my mother.

I felt a little robbed at times this week, particularly on balls 2,3, 5 and 7. I realise that it's physics that makes the pins go down and not luck but I felt with each one that it would be a strike, only to watch various pins stay upright. Bowling is a cruel mistress, however, and I could only look on and hope that I would pick up some spares to bring my score up.

Once again fate (physics, sorry) was not shining upon me as I actually went backwards this week. A measly 103 is all I can offer you all as readers and I can only apologise for that. Perhaps my focusing method is too intense and I need to re-strategise in that department. Maybe just I need to eat more duck.

Attempt One

LAST MEAL: Chicken Curry with noodles. We were out of rice.

SUPPLEMENTARY TRAINING: Driving a 600 mile round trip over the weekend.

METHOD OF FOCUS: Becoming one with the ball

LUCKY LANE NUMBER: 7

BEST SCORE TO DATE: 0

CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF STRIKES: 0

I used to bowl fairly regularly but haven't thrown balls down a lane in anger for a good year or two. My average was nothing to write home about (think three figures, divide by two, add 10, subtract the cube root of the second number and repeat fourteen times to get somewhere close) so I'm certainly not cheating anyone by conducting this experiment. I got the idea last Saturday on a long drive so have had no chance to practice either, as confirmed by my score this week.

When I got to Ocean Bowl I felt a wave of nostalgia, adding to the feeling that I have left it far too long between bowls. I spoke to the team and they are well behind my efforts, giving me every opportunity to attempt what I set out to do. I approached the lane with borrowed shoes on my feet and picked up old faithful, a ball I was semi familiar with in the old days.

Things did not start well. I wanted some promotional shots so readers didn't think I was making this up and lobbed the first attempt straight into the gutter as the photo was taken; rusty was a great description. The goal had been blown on the first ball but it made me realise that I have so much else to aim for - how many strikes can I get? Will I increase my score at all? The perfect game is still the objective but throwing every ball every week gives me a much better chance to do that than chucking one ball, getting less than a strike and going home.

I didn't pick up a spare until the fourth frame and, worse still, didn't manage a strike until frame ten. I felt deflated but that was good as it meant I was taking this seriously. I left the building with a greater knowledge of what I need to do and a renewed vigour for bowling. 

Below is my scorecard for the week. I need to get another round in soon as I essentially missed last week by thinking of this too late in the year (January the 9th, what have I been doing all year??) so there will be another update soon.

The Gig

Here's a question for you - is it possible to bowl a perfect game? Yes is the answer, obviously. If you get twelve strikes you'll accumulate 300 points and win bragging rights for life as nobody can take that away from you...ever.

However, according to the highest points board at Ocean Bowl in Falmouth (Cornwall, UK), the highest score achieved so far is 279 points meaning no-one has ever bowled a perfect game on their lanes. There are examples of 300 games online but I feel Ocean deserves the same accolade. I believe the reason it hasn't happened yet is that people tend to bowl to beat another individual as opposed to searching for the perfect game and so the odd miss is deemed okay, something that I will not allow myself to feel.

This means that over the next year I will be bowling 52 games, one a week, to try and gain this prestigious title. I could go on forever but I feel a deadline will help me to focus and mean that I stay on track as I will only have one chance every week to do this. I have booked in for Mondays as things stand and will upload my progress as it happens. Life may get in the way and mean that I have to put games in earlier or later but I am committed to 52 and that's what I will do.

Stay tuned.