Old-Timer Thinking

There's some things I'm learning about the modern sport of bowling. These "things" are some finer details that have to be tuned up in my style if I want to keep elevating my game. They are not easy to tackle because I learned how to bowl in the rubber bowling ball days, and even the "urethane era" of 20 years ago is now considered the "old-style" of bowling. The technological improvements in bowling ball specifications, lane construction, and oiling patterns have made it necessary that some ancient habits need to be discarded.

I won't go into detail about the developments over the years because if you are interested, you can go on the internet and read up on them. Suffice it to say that hard rubber bowling balls, wooden lanes, and oiling the lanes from gutter to gutter and from the foul line to the end of the pin deck are now part of bowling folklore, never to be seen again in modern bowling centers.

"The times they are a-changing" and you cannot rely on 20-years ago thinking in order to bowl better in this modern era. Many of the basics and fundamentals I learned to bowl with are not necessarily the basics and fundamentals of today. What I am going to point out to you is very likely going to make some of the "old-timers" at your local bowling center vilify me as a know-nothing, crazy nut who doesn't know what he's talking about. I can only say that my readings, observations, and discussions with coaches of the modern game pretty much verify my writings.

Bowlers can all agree that a rubber bowling ball will not out perform a reactive-resin bowling ball and that bowling on a wooden lane is quite different than a synthetic lane. Why then would some of them continue to believe that the theories of old will out perform the newer, up-to-date theories? I'm not saying that all of the old basics and fundamentals are of no use; I'm saying that we need to get out of blindly following them without question and take a look at some of the new ones that are working for today's bowlers.

Let's take a look at a "Choc-List" of old-timer thinking:

1) You only need one bowling ball. This is fine for recreational bowlers and the ones who only want to remain at one level of bowling. If you do become a little more competitive and recognize that you can get your scores and averages a bit higher than where you are now, at least get a spare ball. To go a bit further with your bowling game, start checking into the different ball surfaces and weight blocks as well as different drillings to maximize your scores.

2) Keep your shoulders square to the pins. If you watch old videos of the PBA Tour from the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's, you will see many "square-to-the-pins" pros; if you watch the pros on the PBA tour nowadays, you will see that many of them are dropping their shoulders. From what I've researched, the reasons for the dropped shoulder are: better leverage at the release point because your ball is closer to the body's center of gravity, the ball is placed on the lane smoother, and your margin of error is greater.

3) You've got to put a lot of lift into your ball. When you had hard surfaced balls, you had to "kick" or lift the ball as it left your hand in order to get it through the oil and insure that it was spinning and rotating as much as possible when it hit the pins. With reactive resin bowling balls and their weight blocks and softer surfaces, you don't want the ball to over- or under-react as it leaves the oil and makes contact with the part of the lane that is not being oiled. By lifting (i.e., "spinning") the ball a lot, you enhance the chances for it to be out of control as it makes its way down the lane. If it is spinning a lot through the oil, what will happen when it hits the friction of the dry part of the lane? Have you ever spun any kind of a ball through the air and watch the reaction as it hits the gound?

4) You need to pitch (loft) the ball out on the lane. In the same vein as lifting the ball heavily, the more you loft the ball onto the lane, the more unpredictable it becomes. If you were to watch a slow motion video of a ball that is lofted, you would see it bounces several times before it finally enters into its skid. Again, watching the elite bowlers on video, you will see a large majority of them minimizing their loft as much as possible.

Throughout the history of any sport, the changes in technology have always dictated a "fresh" approach to the game. The bowler who can maximize the reactive resin bowling ball's reaction to the oiling pattern is the one who will win. The one who can adapt their style to the demands of the "newer" game will be the one who wins continuously.

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)