Practice Wrapped. Lanes Oiled. The Stage Is Set.

Practice Wrapped. Lanes Oiled. The Stage Is Set.

It’s mid-morning in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and the warm-up window has officially closed. Practice is over. The Bill O’Neill short, the Danielle McEwan medium, and the EJ Tackett long oil patterns have all been tested, tracked, and respected. Now, the lane machines are humming—laying oil with quiet precision—as the players settle in.

Bella Love and Lindsay are sitting together, staying loose and focused while roll call begins. The energy in the building has shifted. The noise has faded into stillness. Everyone’s in their own mental space now. It’s the pause before the pulse picks back up.

Bella moved through each pattern with intention—starting on the short, then onto the medium, then the long, before circling back to the short again on lanes 7 and 8. She finished her reps beside Gage, Rush, and others, reading the lane, making notes, staying dialed in. Calm. Collected. Strategic.

Lindsay worked with equal focus—quietly refining her lines, gathering feel, and syncing her process. Her chemistry with Bella was smooth and steady—two players sharing space, sharing information, and growing stronger through it.

Practice is done, but everything that matters is just beginning. The prep is now internal—staying loose, managing breath, visualizing, trusting the routine.

At 11:30, the first ball goes down. Until then, it’s rest, hydration, and readiness. The boards are oiled. The patterns are in place. The mental game now takes the lead.

This is the line between preparation and performance.

And Bella and Lindsay are ready to cross it.