ROYAL SHOCK Bowling Team

Part 3 of 3: What was the impact of the new handicap system? This is our take. What do you think?

Part 2 (of 3): In this set we examine two elements. Were there other factors at play apart from the points system? If the points system is tweaked to give greater emphasis to team performance, how would that have impacted the season league table?

In Part 3 we will share our overall opinion.

The Winter Premier League Div I is over. Hot on the heels of the upward revision of the handicap system, we experienced a new points system. Another innovation to the system in the hope to make for a more interesting, more competitive league.

Over the league's 2 rounds, Royal shock collated and analysed the data emerging to allow it to give an evidence-based assessment of the impact that the new points system had.

The attached pictures present the first part of the assessment we carried out. tell us. What's your take?

Week 14: Royal Shock vs BOOM!
Judgement day. The day of reckoning!

Will it be a dark sky for us? Storms and lightning accompanying us as we walk down the stairs of doom our bodies all soggy, wet and minds full of gloom.

Or will the sun shine brightly, the sky radiate blue, the sea lapping around to cool our now suntanned skin and the breeze fanning that BBQ charcoal to cook our lunch to perfection as we lounge around sipping cocktails and enjoying the smell of fresh air and the satisfaction of a job decently done this season.

Well, in truth we are making a big deal out of nothing really. Things really have to go well beyond spectacularly wrong for us if we are to actually experience the fall to the lower division! We would need to lose all 32 points and that has not happened ever this season. Even when the best bowled the worst on the night, that did not happen. So already that would be an amazing event.

But even that would not be enough. In the other lanes, The Underdogs would need to win all 32 points themselves too to avoid the fall!! So not only does a full house of points need to go against us, it would need to simultaneously go in favour of the Underdogs too! Beyond spectacular.

But this is all conjecture. Painting the impossible as a potential reality that has high odds in favour of its fruition.

Although at the back of our minds, we knew the practical reality. Win two points. Any two points. In any fashion possible, and we are safe. Our mission was to make sure of this immediately.

We started off strongly but as play proceeded, it was becoming clear that the points could sway either way. We could easily win 10 on 10, but with the same ease, we could loose 10 on 10!

First 2 bowlers and the points are lost. This ain’t looking good. Need to pull up our socks and make things happen. Boom bam and bang. We bag 6 points!! Wonderful. Add to that the fact that The Underdogs lost several points, the job is more than done. 6-4. Safe.

We can and we actually did, just sit back and bowl for the fun of bowling. Still the competitive nature in us was there and very strongly, the worry and fret was no longer clouding our sight of things.

At the end of it, it was a truly entertaining match. We bowled very well. We also found the time to work wonders with our 1-minuite miracle transformation multiple-coach session which saw our subject bowler return from the dark ages and back in tune!

Truly entertaining. BOOM ended up victorious (20-12) but that was thanks to an amazing final frame in game 2 and which saw all our bowlers open each frame spectacularly including a 1-pin throw on a spare. That truly gifted our opponents quite a few points.

But at the end of it, all is well that ends well. BOOM bowled the highest scratch game, second highest scratch series and third highest handicap series. So its not like they had a walk in the park.

793-753 (6-4), 779-805 (4-6), 749-807 (2-8), 2321-2365 (0-2)

The curtain falls. We turn our backs on a season of two extremes. We practically ghosted Round 1 but then in the closing of Round 1 and throughout Round 2 we were on the money. We should have won more points but all in all, we truly enjoyed our matches and a return to a sense of achievement and reward.

We are the team that lost most with this new system but one thing is for sure. Overall and beyond the results (points), we are of the opinion that the most positive thing the new system had was in terms of its positive impact on the vibe, motivation, enthusiasm etc. that was felt around the Premier Division. There is now a much more positive vibe and a sense of competition and uncertainty, even when it is clear who the overall winner will be. That is a positive. A HUGE take home…

There needs some tweaking, but this is truly a victory for the MBA and the bowling community. Well done.

Over and out.
Forza Royal Shock.

Week 13: Royal Shock vs OKMalta.com
Will OKMalta.com be crowned champions after this match or will they not? That is the question that was on everyone’s mouth. The answer depended on us and BOOM. If this prediction was to be lost, then we would be playing quite a match and getting quite an upset of a result and on the other lanes, BOOM would convincingly win their tough encounter against an under-firing Powerfruit.

But it’s not the story on the top that is significant for us. A decent result and we can mathematically secure safety this week!! We face the Champions. The Underdogs face a mid-table team (BOV), so the odds are not truly in our favour, but we are confident. We can do this!

OKMalta have not been at their usual best. In a rare admission of their relatively below-par bowling lies the fact that they come into the game with 35 pins handicap per game. Considering this is usually hovering around the 0 to 5 region, its amazing. But that’s good news for us in the sense that they have the potential to falter. But it’s more of a bad news scenario as they have eaten away almost enough to make the recent increase in the handicap calculation system practically irrelevant.

Potentially we can nab something.

Who knows?

..Well at this point, everyone! But let’s play pretend.

We opened proceedings in style. 4 strikes to their 2. Perfect. Upto 4th frame and we are substantially ahead. OkMalta were trying but could not find the form they needed to dent our performance. Then a break. We open three. Bad. Recover the next frame. Next frame and amazing. Another blow. Open 3. That’s too much of an open window. OKMalta close the gap but Royal Shock are still ahead. A marginal lead. Its basically head-to-head and bowling on scratch basis at this point.

Frame 10 and we could quite realistically nab 10 points!! We need to be crisp and ruthless. We are not. With some misfortune and an awe-inspiring split or two, we give them the breathing space they need. They pip us to the finish line. Not just pip us but take all 10-points!! WOW. 725 – 792.

It seems the script has been written. The writing is on the wall. Its an echo chamber we are in!!

But hang on a minute!! We open game 2 in the same sense of mission as game one. 4 strikes to their 2 and once again, a perfect start for us. As if we were reading the same book, the story unfolded in similar fashion to the opener. Ahead. Break. Ahead. Break. Ahead. Hand them the opportunity they craved for all game long and they pounce on it. Pipped to the finish line once again. 731-777 but this time we hold on to 4 points.

Decent. Could and should do better.

We start with a stumble. 2 strikes and not the usual 4. OKMalta.com were having none of the usual. A 4-strike opening frame. They are making their intentions loud a clear. We shrug our shoulders. Heads down. Focus narrowed. Motivation high. Determination in top gear.

For the next 3 frames the hiccups haunt and taunt us. The handicap bridge is eliminated. Its head-to-head fun and battle. What they give, we return. We retain a slight advantage. Its truly down to the fine details. 9th frame. We are ahead and in theory on the road to victory.

But this is a Champion we are bowling against. They have the ability to bolt out Strikes in quick succession despite the sky being clear of any cloud, white or grey for that matter!

Each of their bowlers started their final approach with a strike. What did I tell you? They’ll keep you hoping and then strike you down like its child’s play!

But hang on a bit. We are no ordinary team. We are Royal Shock!!!

As the dust settles, all can see that we also have each of our bowlers start off with a strike! Blow for blow. Parry and strike. What a battle. One by one they fall. 2 points for us. 2 for them. 2 for us. 4 points left and they are shared. 789 – 763 and we bag 6 of the 10 points available. Total match pin fall 2245 to 2332 means the last points go to them. We bag 10 points in total to their 22. Not bad. But realistically, we should have taken more. That first game was a big missed opportunity for us.

With this result and with BOOM not taking home all points, OKMalta.com are mathematically Champions a week early. This despite the huge stumbling block MBA placed in front of it – the ‘bolstered’ handicap system that was meant to help level the field!! This also despite that OKMalta.com have been far from their best this season.

But still OKMalta.com proved that they are the best. That is truly an achievement. Well done. A top top top team without a shadow of doubt. Champions again and a loud cheer is due!! Well done!

As for our story? Well. Considering that The Underdogs manage the same result (10 to 22), we remain 31 points ahead with 32 to play for. Something truly extraordinary needs to happen in the last week for us to experience the drop. 2 matches need to end up 32-0 when so far there have been none this season!! We face BOOM who will want to make a claim despite knowing that they cannot win the league this season despite their valiant efforts. Family ties with the Underdogs could also bring in an extra bit of motivation for BOOM to try to dominate and crush.

So be it. We believe in ourselves and have more than shown that we are a truly hard nut to crack. Forza Royal Shock

Week 12: Royal Shock vs Powerfruit
It seems like this year fruit has a lower power capacity than usual. This season, Powerfruit could be said to have been performing under-par to what their potential signals should be their normal level of bowling. That is good news for team Royal Shock.

Team Royal Shock was not going to allow this detail to distract it from its preparations. 2 weeks is a good length of time to fully recover from past battles, regain strength and focus and more importantly, train mentally and technically for this. Clive F in particular was showing impressive technical abilities during training. Others opted to have a walk around abroad while the rest stuck to their usual training routine.

No wonder all arrived at the alley brimming with positive energy and confidence.

Tricky and slippery as the slide may be, we took no chances. Started boldly, plateaued to catch our breath and closed with a whirlwind! 884 to 778 for an 8-2 points gain in game 1. That’s just the start we wanted.

But it seems that the altitude reached with our ascent played its part in what was to happen in game 2. Powerfruit dropped a gear, revved the engine and pressed the gas pedal as far as it could go. Gas mal-pjanca as we say in Maltese. We attempted a reaction but we Powerfruit timed their resurgence with perfection. We found ourselves winded; caught us without enough oxygen in our lungs to power our reaction and counter-action. Alas the tables were turned. 743 – 813 for a 2-8 defeat. 10-10 overall. Its all to bowl for.

It was cagey. It was close. Neither team wanted to give way. But slowly we edged ahead. Then took two more steps forward. No rush, just a slow but sufficiently faster pace. Then another 2 steps ahead and closer to the finish line we got. That’s when we struck the final blow! 789 – 738 for a 2416 – 2329 total match pin fall and an overall very merited 18-14 (6-2 in the old system) win. The only downside to this was that we did not scrape off more points. A win is a win and we could go home with a feeling of job-done, well done.

Looking elsewhere, this season it seems that The Underdogs must be the team that has been blessed through the new system. That means we did not extend our distance from bottom place and the drop. With just 2 weeks left, a 31-point gap is likely to be enough despite that we face the top two contenders this season – Boom and OKMalta.com in the final run up.

We’ve been in impressive form this round and more. Just this week we register the highest handicap game, second highest handicap series (by a mere 3 pins!). Clive F dominates with the second highest scratch and handicap game and third highest handicap series.

The confidence we have is not misplaced. The ball is in our court and who knows, maybe it will be us to determine who stand on top of the podium this season. Interesting things ahead. Now back to some backflip training.

Forza Royal Shock.