Darrin Emperato knew it was time for something different.

Years of running to the foul line and stopping on a dime had taken a toll: this season his knee began to ache. In an effort to improve his stamina and brighten his outlook over the long term, he decided to make drastic changes.

Clearly, he was ready for such an undertaking. He’s been the longtime coach for junior bowlers at Starlite Lanes.

Emperato, a right-hander, began by moving slightly closer to the line. That immediately led to shorter steps, which in turn slowed down his approach and took stress off his sliding foot and knee.

He also held the ball lower in his stance, resulting in a better release and a more direct line to the pocket. The pieces were in place, but he was paying a price.

Because he had overhauled his game, his average dropped about 10 pins from his usual 220-plus.

“It bothered me a little bit, but I knew I had to change things,” he said. “Now I had to believe what I’d been telling the kids all these years: you have to get worse before you can get better.”

Slowly, Emperato saw signs of improvement. He rolled a 700 series recently in the Luke Bianco Memorial League at Starlite Lanes.

Then last week, everything clicked. He rolled games of 257, 245 and 300 for an 802 series. It was the second time he had cracked the 800 barrier.

“The line didn’t move all night,” he said. “Everything was good, and I just kept hitting the pocket. I was cupping the ball and slowing everything down.”

While Emperato knew all along what was happening, his teammates were slightly confused. They thought he’d rolled 252 his opening game.

So when Emperato reeled off 12 straight strikes to finish his match, they figured he had come up just short of the elusive 800.

“They congratulated me, but they were saying it was too bad that I just missed,” he said.

But soon everything became crystal clear. And Emperato, recognized as one of Auburn’s most consistent shooters, was back.

He still has goals to accomplish. He’s even added an extra night of bowling at Falcon Lanes to get acclimated to different approaches.

“I think that will help me with all the big tournaments coming up,” he said.

Specifically, he was referring to The Citizen Masters.

It’s an event he has always enjoyed, but also been frustrated with. Three times he has finished ninth, just one victory away from bowling in the magical final weekend.

Emperato doesn’t have illusions of blowing through the field when the tournament kicks off a few weeks from now. Still, he hasn’t given up on the idea of making a deep run, either.

“If you can get to the final eight, you can win it all. I’d like to give Mike Ryan (the defending champion) a run for his money,” he said whimsically.