Bowling Bytes--4/15/10

~ On the lanes with George Gohagan III -- "In the coming months, we'll talk with some of best-known bowlers at the USBC Open Championships and get their thoughts on their time at the tournament and what it takes to succeed on the championship lanes. This week, we heard from two-time champion George Gohagan III, who helped Browning Pontiac of Eminence, Ky., to the 2006 Regular Team title and the Team All-Events crown at the National Bowling Stadium in 2007..."

~ Derek Hartnell, Jennifer Wright earn collegiate MVP honors -- "Newman senior Derek Hartnell and Pikeville senior Jennifer Wright were named Most Valuable Players for the 2009-10 collegiate bowling season by the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association. Hartnell and Wright were honored along with the rest of the All-Americans at the Night of Champions banquet held Wednesday in conjunction with the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships, which open Thursday at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center..."

~ Bowling Puzzler XIII: The Sleeper Cell -- "...The 3-9 spare leave is one of those non-split leaves that behaves like a split in that it is very difficult to pick up. The 3 pin stands directly in front of the 9, with the latter usually referred to as a "sleeper" pin. Two other leaves have identical morphology, the 1-5 and and 2-8. There are two ways sleeper leaves can be picked up. One method is bring the ball into the front pin at an angle, striking it obliquely. If the ball has enough momentum and/or spin, the ball will also strike the sleeper pin. In this type of shot, the ball takes out both pins. The other way to complete this spare is to strike the center of the front pin, so that the sleeper pin is taken out by the deflected front pin. This puzzler concerns the second approach..."

~ Questions on accuracy, Mark Roth and condition breakdown -- "Q: I have a terrible time hitting my target; I’m missing it 20 percent of the time or more. It’s getting very frustrating. Any suggestions?...Q: If you were going to recommend one of the bowling camps, which one would you choose? I am a higher average bowler and I want to improve to a level where I can compete successfully in tournament competition...Q: I recently bowled in a tournament where I was throwing the ball all over the place. Sometimes I missed the headpin, and other times I was through the nose. I think I was playing the right line, because some of the bowlers who shot well also played that line. Do you have any ideas for my situation on that type of lane condition?...Q: I am relatively new to the sport, and have been reading a lot about it. A number of bowlers have said that Mark Roth changed the game. Can you tell me what Roth did differently that set him apart from other professional bowlers?...Q: I bowl in a league, and it seems that the line to the pocket changes drastically from the first game to the second. What is the cause of this drastic change in how you have to play the lane?..."

~ The Superstar Effect -- "Competitors playing a match against Bobby Fischer, perhaps the greatest chess player of all time, often came down with a mysterious affliction known as "Fischer-fear." Even fellow grandmasters were vulnerable to the effect, which could manifest itself as flu-like symptoms, migraines and spiking blood pressure. As Boris Spassky, Mr. Fischer's greatest rival, once said: "When you play Bobby, it is not a question of whether you win or lose. It is a question of whether you survive." Recent research on what is known as the superstar effect demonstrates that such mental collapses aren't limited to chess. While challenging competitions are supposed to bring out our best, these studies demonstrate that when people are forced to compete against a peer who seems far superior, they often don't rise to the challenge. Instead, they give up..."

~ Natural Bowling -- "There is a reason our eyes are drawn to certain athletes as they perform. Watching John Daly cream a golf ball, Barry Bonds hit a baseball, or Tommy Jones strap on the first shot of any game all have some things in common. First is undeniable raw power that you could hook a voltage meter to. Second is the near flawless execution of movement in harmony with what the laws of nature demand. Usually we think of these qualities in terms of the physical game…and we should. Virtually all of the coaching help offered in this magazine is designed to get you and your bowling ball delivery integrated with gravity, the lanes, and the pins. But few athletes appreciate that there are mental game frames of mind that will set you up to maximize this physical game training. The intention of this month’s work is to prepare you to harness maximum technique in order to learn the power in your own natural bowling..."

~ A pushaway drill to improve your swing and timing -- "I would like to share with readers a very effective drill that I developed to aid bowlers in improving their timing and freeup their swing. The value of this easy-to-use drill is the fact that it can be done at home in the living room or basement. With just a 10-minute commitment each day, you can improve your setup, pushaway, timing, and free your swing..."

Lessons Learned While Bowling With a PBA Hall of Famer (Bowlers Journal International, April 2010, p.58) -- "When I was a little girl, if someone had told me that one day I would win a mixed doubles tournament with Hall of Famer Brian Voss on live TV, I would have laughed and called them crazy. This is the story of two professional bowlers coming from two totally different places with one common goal..."