Here's the latest article from the Bowling site at BellaOnline.com.

Bowling Finesse or Bowling Power?
After doing a bit of my own "brainstorming," I've settled on the following three areas to focus on when I can get back to throwing my ball again in the next few days: 1) Timing and rhythm, 2) Target accuracy, and 3) Visualization and mindset.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art175371.asp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Feb. 23, 2012)

Bill Vint | PBA Media Relations
Professional Bowlers Association | 719 Second Avenue, Suite 701 | Seattle, WA 98104

PBA Spare Shots

YOUTH MOVEMENT UNDERWAY: TEENAGERS TESTING THEIR SKILLS AT U.S. OPEN

Young bowlers appear to be increasingly eager to test their skills against the most challenging scoring environments the sport can throw at them. Among the 394 players entered in the 69th U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone-Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J., were 11 bowlers ages 17 and under.

Youth bowlers are allowed to bowl in PBA competition provided they have submitted signed parental consent agreements. Bowlers who wish to protect their amateur eligibility are required to designate any prize money earned will be deposited in their United States Bowling Congress SMART scholarship accounts. Youth bowlers also are allowed to bowl as adults if they make that designation with parental approval.

The U.S. Open field included 14-year-olds Kameron Doyle of Brentwood, Tenn., and Maverick Mackovic of Oak Ridge, N.C.; 15-year-olds Daniel Gassera of Port Charlotte, Fla.; Aaron Knoll of Plainview, N.Y.; Kenny Ryan of Ocean, N.J., and Matt Russo of Millstone Township, N.J.; 16-year-olds Brandon Boyer of Hudson Falls, N.Y.; and Tatu Lehtonen and Anssi Valtonen of Finland; and 17-year-olds Douglas Tonucci of Waldorf, Md., and Diante Fields of Mount Royal, N.J.

COLUMBUS XTRA FRAME TOUR EVENT RAISES MORE THAN $30,000 FOR CHARITY

Thanks to the charitable efforts associated with the Xtra Frame Tour Ricart Ford Open presented by Columbia 300 at Sequoia Pro Bowl in Columbus, more than $30,000 was raised to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital of Columbus. Including this year’s donations, four recent PBA events at Sequioa Pro Bowl have generated more than $140,000 for charity in memory of the late PBA Hall of Famer, Don Johnson.

Donations were raised through a number of activities including a “Carni-bowl” kick-off event which featured silent and live auctions, plus a charity match featuring several PBA players.

Fundraising continued throughout the tournament and included a donation from Sequoia Pro Bowl of $5 per pro-am bowler and a 50/50 Super Raffle that collected $8,700. Columbus and Cincinnati youth also were major contributors with eight youth bowlers raising over $500 each to become honorary “Pro’s for the Day” during the Friday pro-am. Youth bowlers raised $7,700. Taylor Knox, a Central Ohio USBC youth bowler from Westerville, was the top youth for the second year in a row, collecting $2,640 by going to bowling centers during league sessions and asking bowlers to support the cause.

To cap off the giving, Columbus auto dealer and title sponsor of this year’s PBA tournament, Ricart Ford, agreed to donate $100 per strike thrown by the PBA players during the championship match. Rick Ricart was on hand and cheered from the stands as each of 15 strikes was thrown, resulting in the final donation of $1,500.

MARCH 2 IS EARLY ENTRY DEADLINE FOR XTRA FRAME DETROIT OPEN

Friday, March 2, is the early entry deadline for the Xtra Frame Tour Detroit Open presented by Track, set for March 9-11 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich. The Detroit Open is the third of four PBA Tour events being conducted during the 2011-12 season that are webcast exclusively, start to finish, on the PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

The Detroit Open presented by Track will offer a $10,000 first prize, a PBA Tour title and an automatic berth in the Round of 36 for the end-of-season PBA Tournament of Champions. The tournament will pay a total prize fund of $66,000, based on 130 entries. The entry fee is $350 for PBA members or $400 for non-members. To enter, go to pba.com, click on “PBA Tour” under the Schedules drop-down menu and look for PBA Detroit Open.

The nine-game qualifying round will be conducted in two sessions Saturday at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET. The top 24 will advance to round robin match play on Sunday. Following a six-game round at 9 a.m. and a seven-game round at 1:30 p.m., the top four will bowl in the stepladder finals at 6 p.m. All rounds will air live on Xtra Frame.

To subscribe to Xtra Frame ($7.99 per month or $64.99 for a full year), visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

PAST PBA CHAMPIONS HAVE UNTIL APRIL 1 TO REGAIN TOC ELIGIBILITY

The PBA recently announced a no-penalty, amnesty program to encourage past members to rejoin. The no-penalty renewal program expires March 31. Reinstatement and/or initiation fees will be waived for those who restore full and standard memberships – a savings of $99 – and an amnesty program will waive up to three months of dues owed for 2010 and/or 2011.

For players who have won a PBA Tour, Regional or Senior title at any point in their careers, the PBA has extended the membership renewal deadline to April 1 for eligibility to enter the 2012 PBA Tournament of Champions.

Additional new membership opportunities are available. For complete details, visit pba.com and click on the “Join PBA” link in the upper right-hand corner.

PAPPAS WINS 24TH REGIONAL TITLE IN SPARTANBURG

PBA Hall of Famer George Pappas of Charlotte, N.C., defeated Dennis Lane of Kingsport, Tenn., 248-238, to win the PBA South Region’s Dave Edwards Toyota Spartanburg Senior Open presented by Etonic at Paradise Lanes in Spartanburg, S.C., on Sunday, Feb. 19. The title was Pappas’ 24th in PBA Regional competition. He also earned $1,700.

Next Sunday (Feb. 26) is the deadline for PBA Regional players to earn points for the Xtra Frame Dick Weber PBA Playoffs presented by Hammer. Events on this weekend’s regional calendar include the PBA Central/Midwest Region Eastown Recreation Center Open presented by Hammer, Feb. 24-26, in Jasper, Ind., and the PBA Midwest/Central Region Showtime Lanes Senior Open sponsored by Allstate Insurance, Feb. 24-26, in Virden, Ill.

The Xtra Frame Dick Weber PBA Playoffs is set for March 30-April 1 at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis. Fifteen players from six PBA Regional programs (East, South, Central, Midwest, Southwest and West/Northwest) will qualify for the playoffs along with the top 66 players on the 2011-12 PBA Tour points list and the top 11 PBA Senior Tour players based on their 2011 points list. The field of 156 will meet in Indianapolis to bowl elimination rounds within their respective regional groups leading up to Regional, Conference and Championship rounds.

The PBA Regional schedule for March 2-4 includes the Midwest/Central Region Plamor Lanes Open presented by Brunswick in Muscatine, Iowa; the South Region New Liberty Lanes Open in Pensacola, Fla., and the Southwest Region Duncan Etonic Open at Freedom Lanes in Duncan, Okla.

For complete Regional tournament schedules and entry information, visit pba.com and click on “Regional Tour” under the “Schedules” drop-down tab.

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Clyde Higa, Bowling Editor
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