NEW PHILADELPHIA — Frank Testa is getting older and he knows he still has things to learn on and off the bowling lanes.
“My results over the past few months had been very consistent. The tournaments I’ve been bowling in have been mostly cashes or wins,” the 41-year-old Massillon right-hander said. “I really didn’t think there was a whole lot off.
“But I never settle on success. I know there are always things for me to learn and grow from.”
It’s what prompted Testa, who operates Ten Back Pro Shops at Park Centre, Triway and Wabash Lanes, to meet up with PBA professional Andrew Anderson at the Turbo Tech training facility in Chesterfield, Mich. recently.
“He put me on the lanes and we took some video. We were able to see some glaring issues that I’ve been having,” Testa said. “He gave me kind of a homework sheet to work on, and I’ve been trying to get out on the lanes every single day to work on a couple of drills he showed me.”
The session paid off the very next day as Testa had games of 257, 268 and 289 for an 814 series during the Zoar Village Golf Course Two-Man league at Wabash. It was his 60th 800 series — the first in two years — to go along with 61 300 games.
So what changes did Testa make?
“My start was out of whack and my footwork was out of whack. My swing, my hips and my feet were going in three different directions, but at the foul line, they would all come together,” Testa said. “We’re trying to simplify everything, get everything going in the same direction so I’m not so open with my hips, shoulders and feet and closing everything down at the end.
“It feels different, but over time, I know it’s going to start feeling a little more normal. But right now, if it feels different, I know I’m doing it right.”
At Wabash, using his Ebonite Emerge, Testa started a little farther right than usual.
“I just felt like they were a little tighter down lane and I had to keep my angles a little straighter,” said Testa, who made about five or six moves during the course of the night, but kept the same ball.
He started Game 1 with the first seven strikes before the run ended with a 9-pin spare. He added two more strikes before a pair of 10-pins in the 10th frame.
Game 2 was more of the same as he started with a spare before running strikes into the 10th frame and leaving two more 10-pins. Game 3 started with a 10-pin again before he struck until his 11th ball leaving — what else? — another 10-pin.
“Most of the guys on my pair that night were playing straighter, so my moves weren’t as drastic as they can be there,” Testa said. “I was trying to get it right of eight or nine (board) down lane. Usually too far to the right and the ball takes off a bit, but if you miss left, you run the risk of leaving the 2-8-10.”
The combination of the 800 plus his training session have given Testa more confidence in his game.
“I bowled with Andrew in a recent Michigan tournament, and I was going to bowl with him in another tournament, so I wanted to get together so I didn’t embarrass myself,” Testa said. “I just wanted to see if there were any small issues, but it turned out there were big issues.
“I was due for a session to see where I could improve. It’s nice seeing the ball do things that it hasn’t done since I was in my early 20s. I saw immediate change after the practice session. By ball speed was up a couple of miles per hour and my rev rate was up. When I did what I was told to do I saw different results.”
But that won’t stop the work. Despite his pro shop duties, Testa still practices at least three days a week.
“On Mondays at Park Centre, I go over a checklist in my head of mental things I did during the tournament that weekend. Wednesdays at Park Centre, I throw a few shots after the women’s league to deal with the more carry down and playing straighter angles,” Testa said. “Thursdays, I do some drills before league at Wabash.”
For Testa, the work on and off the lanes remains ongoing.