Upcoming Clinics by Missy

Hello Everyone!

I will be holding two clinics coming up at Saddleback Lanes in Mission Viejo, CA. Both clinics are Saturday, November 7th AND Sunday, November 8th.

The first clinic is a beginning-intermediate clinic for bowlers averaging 175 and below. The cost of this clinic is $125 total for both days. The clinic will be held from 9am to noon both days and will be broken up into a classroom portion and then on-the-lanes practice. Some of the topics discussed include: timing, ball fit, finish position, alignment and spares. This clinic is limited to the first 20 bowlers, so be sure to sign up today!

The second clinic is an advanced clinic for bowlers averaging 175 and above. This clinic will be held from 1pm-4pm both days. The cost for this clinic is $150 total for both days. Saturday will feature one-on-one time with Missy working on individual's game. Personalized assessment, along with practice time will be given. Then Sunday features a special tournament utilizing new skills. Prizes will be awarded. Bowlers will practice on different oil patterns both days. This clinic is limited to the first 10 bowlers, so be sure to sign up today!

To sign up or if you have any questions, please email Missy at missy@missybellinder.com Payment for the clinics can be paid by cash or check the first day of the clinic.

PBA Fresno Regional

This past weekend, I bowled a PBA West Region event in Fresno, CA. My leg had been feeling better and I was certain, that even though I would be bowling a lot of games, that my leg would hold up OK.

Since being home from tour, I have only bowled one tournament and just been bowling 3 games a week in league and no practice. So I've been staying off of it and letting it heal.

Well, I started the tournament very well, shooting 279 (with the front 7) and then 233 to start the day. I was leading after 2 games at +112. We were bowling on the Scorpion PBA pattern and I was able to use my 900 Global Bounty Hunter all day. I ended up hitting some trouble in the middle games and ended the 8 games of qualifying with +196 and was in 5th place.

We bowled our semifinals that afternoon (so 5 more games). During the 7th game of qualifying, my leg was starting to bother me a little bit. Then during the semifinals, I could barely bowl the final game. I ended up +203 and in 11th place. So i had qualified for the top 16 Sunday matchplay finals, despite being in a lot of pain.

I got matched up against PJ Haggerty the first match, in the best 3 of 5 single elimination format. Starting off the day, I seriously thought I was going to have to withdraw. My leg was really bothering me (and I can withstand a lot of pain) and I shot 128 the first game (obviously losing).

However, during the second game I figured out a way to still have some timing and not have my leg hurt so bad. I came back with a 234, but lost to PJ who threw the front 9 at me. I then came back and won 222-186. The next game the lanes changed just enough for me to start out with opens for the first 3 out of 4 frames (a pocket 7-10, a 2-8-10 and a 2-4-8-10). I ended up rallying back that game, shooting 201, but lost to PJ who shot 214.

So although I bowled well, it was a very disappointing tournament because my leg isn't quite healing as well as I had hoped. So I am definitely taking some time off of bowling for at least two weeks and then starting back up again with just 3 games a week. The goal is to be fully healed by tour in January.

I also wanted to thank all of you for the support and well wishes! I really appreciate it!!!! =)

In the Off-Season

First off, I'd like to thank all of you that tuned in to watching the U.S. Women's Open TV Shows. I really appreciate all of the support and love hearing from all of you.

Now that I am in the off-season and am not bowling a whole lot (as you can see from my calendar), I thought I'd mention what I've been doing in my spare time. =)

Due to my leg injury, which I must say is healing well, I haven't been bowling as much or practicing a lot. Unfortunately, the only way for a pulled groin muscle to heal is by resting it. So...I have been doing just that. I am happy to say that I can bowl 3-4 games without wrapping it and it doesn't hurt. So little by little it is getting back to where it should be, and I should be 100% when the tour starts up again in January.

So, besides giving a lot of lessons, I have been keeping busy with two main things - ONE - the wedding (since I got engaged in July) and TWO - buying a house. Both of those things are VERY time consuming and can be fun and a little nerve-racking at the same time.

The very first thing I did after returning home from being on tour was to set a wedding date and secure a location for the big day. We set the date - I am getting married in September of 2010. And the venue is rather unique.

My fiancee, Drew and I only went to one wedding venue and immedately knew that was the place. We decided to get married on a yacht in Newport Beach Harbor. This was definitely not what I had pictured, but upon visiting the site and knowing my love for the beach, it was all but perfect!

As for the housing situation, we are still working on it.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Watch Missy in the Final Four of the Women's U.S. Open this Sunday, Oct. 18th at 2pm EST on ESPN

Missy Bellinder defeated Liz Johnson 212-202 and then went on to face tournament leader Shannon O'Keefe in the quarter finals TV Show of the Women's U.S. Open. Bellinder threw 11 out of 12 strikes to defeat O'Keefe 279-213 and just missed out on the $25,000 bonus for shooting a 300 on TV.

Watch Missy face Tammy Boomershine in the final four of the Women's U.S. Open this Sunday, Oct. 18th at 2pm EST on ESPN.

Watch Missy on ESPN this Sunday, Oct. 11th at 2pm EST

Catch all of the action as Missy Bellinder takes on Liz Johnson in the U.S. Women's Open this Sunday, October 11th at 2pm EST (11am west coast time).

The winner will face top seed Shannon O'Keefe, with the winner then advancing to the top 4 finals to be aired on Sunday, October 18th.

Check it out!!!

Good ending to a long month

The World Series of Bowling came to an end after the culmination of the PBA World Championship. The event featured three separate tournaments - the Women, the men and the Senior World Championship.

The PBA Women's World Championship featured three 6-game blocks of qualifying, with the field then being cut to the top 20 women. After which, we bowled another 6 games to determine seating and the top four players (which received two byes into matchplay).

The entire tournament I was close to being in the Top 4. However, I didn't fair too well during the last round of six games. I ended up being seated 14th and paired up to bowl Wendy Macpherson the first round of matchplay.

For all of matchplay, we then were moved into the main bay of the bowling center, so the ESPN crew could get the TV show pairs ready in the arena bay. We hadn't bowled in the main bay of the bowling center at all during the entire month and it played completely different. So the first round of matchplay was a bit of a guessing game, whoever guessed right the fastest, was most likely going to win.

Fortunately, I had some help from Dave Smart from 900 Global and figured out some bowling balls and strategies that would work pretty well on the condition. I ended up using the Bounty Hunter for most of matchplay.

In the best 4 out of 7 matchplay finals, I got lined up pretty early against Wendy and ended up winning the match 4-1.

The next day, I then faced Lindsay Baker. In this extremely close match (our first game I won 268-251) we kept going back and forth with some high scores. The match ended up going to game 7, and I advanced, winning 212-180.

In the Super Round of 8, I bowled against Michelle Feldman. We must have bowled on the tightest pair in the center. I was throwing a Bounty Hunter, sanded with 360 grit and then re-sanded with a burgundy scotch brite pad. Needless to say, the ball was a snowball. So not only was I throwing charcoal, but I was also pointing the ball more than I have in a really long time (i.e. standing 6 and aiming at 7).

I didn't figure out how to play the pair until after the first game (i shot 145 the first game). I then rallied back to win the match 4-2.

The next match was the Round of 4, in which the winners would make the TV show. I faced Kelly Kulick and in this difficult match it was Kelly who ended up beating me 4-2.

I guess with a hurt leg, bowling 19 games the last day of matchplay and 48 games total the last tournament, I was pretty happy with how I ended the World Series of Bowling.

The World Series of Bowling concluded this weekend with the taping of all of the World Series of Bowling tournaments over this Labor Day weekend. The shows will air throughout October-December as tape-delayed shows for the first half of the PBA Tour season.

I plan on taking some time off to let my leg heal, but should be back on lanes in no time. Til then...

Scorpion Championship

Well, we did have a bit of a break prior to starting the Scorpion Championship. Some bowlers (that had the convenience of being close enough to home) decided to take a mini break and have a few home cooked meals and sleep in their own bed for a few nights. My roomie and I are a bit too far away for that convenience.

So instead, we hung out with a lot of the other girlies out on tour. There were numerous trips to the Fairlane Towne Center mall, along with chick flick movie nights. Yes, we saw "The Ugly Truth," (which I might add I think guys would also get a kick out of) and we saw the "Time Traveler's Wife."

Beyond that, we also had makeovers at the Mac store and then went out for a really entertaining karaoke night, with many of us singing the night away. Yes, we do have a Whitney Houston amongst our 20+ group that ventured out, and even the lead singer for Bare Naked Ladies.

So on with the tournament...for those of you that watched Xtra Frame or watched the scores online, you could tell that the lanes were pretty difficult and low scoring. Minor mistakes were magnified and missing the pocket often resulted in a split or difficult spare conversion.

I definitely had the roller coaster of scores going on - a few decent games, then 150, another good game, then 160. (All of which was very easy to do depending on what pair you happen to be on.)

With my leg feeling better, I was in contention for making the cut pretty much the entire time. Towards the end, there were about 7 of us that were vying for that final 8th spot into match play. I had dropped down a bit, due to a bad 5th game, but was rallying to make it.

Our pair was one of the last to get done. I could strike out for 267, putting me at -5. I didn't think anyone else had gotten to that number. (The cut was in the -30s going into that game.) I was bowling with Adrienne Miller (also in contention) and she struck out to put herself at -16. I knew I needed to double in the 10th to beat her. For those of you who watched Xtra Frame, you know what happened next. I threw the ball perfect off of my hand (you know, one of those shots you just know that you pured) and the stubborn 10 pin decided to stand.

Yes, I was upset, but all you can do is put the ball there and hope the bowling gods cooperate. I guess my leg needed more time to heal.

Our next event starts on Thursday with practice and qualifying on Friday. Be sure to check it out.