~ Will anyone ever surpass Walter Ray's career accomplishments? -- "It was once hard to believe that anyone would equal or overcome the late Earl Anthony's 43 National titles when his greatness was being witnessed. Hank Aaron's home run record once seemed insurmountable until Barry Bonds eclipsed it. Richard Petty's 200 career victories in NASCAR has stood for the better part of two decades now, and no one is even CLOSE to passing that milestone. I'm sure there are some other astounding records out there I'm leaving out. Having to account for some of the differences in the current version of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour from years past, I am hard pressed to come up with any bowler who has a clear cut shot at taking down Walter Ray Williams Jr. and his 47 victories, or his career earnings record, for that matter..."
~ Bowling Manufacturers Set to Do Battle in GEICO PBA Team Shootout -- "Four of bowling’s leading ball manufacturing companies are going to do battle when Six Flags Great Adventure hosts the GEICO PBA Team Shootout in Jackson, N.J., June 11-12. ESPN will air the 15-segment series beginning June 27. For the fourth summer in a row, stars of the Professional Bowlers Association will don shorts and sunglasses, and bowl outdoors on specially-constructed lanes at Six Flags Great Adventure in a made-for-television team competition. The 2010 twist to the Baker team battle will feature Brunswick, Ebonite International, Storm Products and 900 Global – rival bowling ball manufacturers who have selected their own teams...The 2010 GEICOTeam Shootout will use the Baker team format for all matches. In Baker team competition, five players bowl two frames each to complete a game. The Shootout will call for each team to face each of the other three teams twice in “home and away” matches. The “home team” in each match will select the lane conditioning pattern and finishing lane. The head-to-head matches will produce 12 half-hour shows.The standings after the round-robin matches will determine stepladder positions for the final three half-hour shows. The “championship round” will begin with the No. 4 team vs. No. 3. The winner will bowl the No. 2 seed. The championship will feature the semifinal match winner against the No. 1 seed. All matches will be contested on June 11 and 12, with June 13 as a “rain date.” The first two shows will air back-to-back on ESPN on Sunday, June 27, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. The next four shows will air consecutively over a span of two hours on Saturday, July 3, at 1 p.m., followed by four more shows airing Sunday, July 4, also at 1 p.m. The series will wrap up with a five-show, two-and-a-half-hour finale on Sunday, July 11, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern..."
~ Egypt's Mennat Soltan stuns favorites to win women's title in 12th Sinai Open -- "Mennat Soltan (pictured left) from Egypt was the surprise winner of the women's division in the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament while Shaker Al-Hassan cruised to the men's title from the top seeded position Thursday at the International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt. Soltan, who earned the No. 2 seed for the women's stepladder finals after averaging 223.63 in round robin, topped No. 4 seed, Cassie Staudinger, Australia, in a high-scoring semifinal, 258-236, and then flew past No. 1 seed, Zandra Aziela, Malaysia, in the title match, 278-212. Aziela's team mate, Shalin Zulkifli, seeded third, lost the opening match against Staudinger, 213-203. Soltan received $4,500 for the first-ever victory of an Egyptian woman in an international bowling tournament. Aziela pocketed $3,200 for second place. Staudinger got $2,200 for third and Zulkifli garnered $1,500 for fourth..."
~ World Championship winner, Tom Smallwood, joins Brunswick Pro Staff -- "Brunswick Bowling announced today that Tom Smallwood (pictured), rookie-bowler and 2009 Professional Bowlers Association World Championship winner, has joined its Pro Staff. Smallwood, who has three career PBA 300 games, finished the season tenth in points on the PBA Tour. As the fifth earner for the 2009-2010 season, he's earned more than $100,000. Thanks to his win at the PBA World Championship, Smallwood earned a two-year exemption on the tour and a chance to bowl in the PBA Tournament of Champions in January. Smallwood's story has been all over the news media from USA Today to Sports Illustrated to the Los Angeles Times. After a job loss prompted him to enter the PBA Tour Trials in Detroit, he finished third and earned a full-year exemption to bowl..."
~ Former Team USA member takes Open Singles lead at Bowlers Journal Championships -- "Former Team USA member Derek Eoff of Arlington, Texas, may be quiet and reserved in demeanor off the lanes, but while competing, his performance often speaks volumes, and he has evolved into the type of bowler people stop to watch. This week, the 29-year-old right-hander turned heads at the Storm Bowlers Journal Championships, presented by USBC, where he fired games of 258, 289 and 268 for an 815 series and added a 202 for a 1,017 four-game total, which moved him into the top spot in Open Singles. David Ewald of Macomb, Mich., previously held the lead with 992..."
~ The many benefits of league bowling -- "For those of you out there who have never bowled in an organized bowling league, you may have won-dered what it would be like to do so. You may have questions about what a league really is and how you would benefit from the experience if you joined one. The simple answer is that league bowling is a group of people getting together to bowl on a competitive basis. League bowlers consist of people of all age groups, all walks of life, and all levels of athletic skills..."
~ Assess Your Bowlers Learning Styles -- "How do you or your bowlers learn best? Are they an auditory, visual, kinesthetic, or a multimodal learner? As a coach, you have a responsibility to learn about your individual players' learning styles and needs to communicate most effectively. Use the following free learning styles assessment to help you be a better coach and to meet the needs of individual players. This will enable you to express and explain ideas more clearly to your athletes..."
~ Traditional vs. functional training methods: Which does the elite athlete choose? (Training Room: Mark Gerule & Paul Butcher--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 38-41) -- "Regardless of what level bowler you are, it is important to understand what fitness and conditioning program is best for you. By adhering to certain fundamental principles you can increase the possibility that your workout program will produce your desired gains. How will you know which conditioning regimen is best for you?...traditional training and functional training are the two main types of training methods seen in athletic centers today. The authors believe that both methods should be used by bowlers to get transfer of performance from the gym to the lanes. The percentage of traditional versus functional training performed is individually specific and is based on areas of deficiency..."
~ The case for limited layouts: There can be simplicity in choosing your arsenal (Smart Moves: Rob Mautner--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 48-51) -- "The Five Variables...Coverstock...Core Configuration, RG and Differential...Limiting Pin Positions...What to do with a tired bowling ball...How to choose pin positions....Once you have learned to limit the layouts of your bowling balls, ball selection becomes simply a matter of numbers for the ball purchases and lane changes dictated by transitioning oil."
~ Jason Thomas: Chris Barnes: Good or Great? -- "I recently posted a teaser story for the Motor City Open position round re-air on Xtra Frame, which mentions Chris Barnes in the same breath with Walter Ray Williams Jr. as "legends" of the sport. Several fans took exception to this, saying things like, "WRW is a legend, PDW is a legend. Barnes is a top current player but he is not a legend! I am tired of hearing this."Well, I simply could not disagree more. Here's why..."
~ Char Hammel wins USBC Senior Queens -- "Char Hammel of Las Vegas defeated defending champion Janine Primrose of Gardnerville, Nev., in back-to-back matches Wednesday morning to win the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens title..."
~ Milligan is top seed for 2010 USBC Queens finals -- "Tennelle Milligan of Arlington, Texas, was the only competitor to run through match play undefeated at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Queens and finds herself one victory away from claiming her second USBC Queens title. The 2005 Queens champion defeated USBC Hall of Famer Anne Marie Duggan of Edmond, Okla., 793-598, to claim the top spot in the stepladder championship round, which will be televised live on ESPN2 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT..."
~ Webb Wins PBA Senior Columbus Open in Battle of Hall of Famers -- "In a championship match that featured two PBA Hall of Famers, Wayne Webb defeated Mark Williams 264-253 Tuesday to win the PBA Senior Columbus Open at HP Lanes. Striking in the first four frames, Webb held a commanding lead in the fourth frame but let Williams back in the match after throwing a 3-6-7-10 split in the fifth frame which he failed to convert. Williams of Beaumont, Texas, went on to throw eight consecutive strikes to finish the match but Webb was able to get back on track and finished with seven consecutive strikes to pull out the win..."
~ PBA Senior Tour Columbus Open: Webb in his comfort zone in Columbus -- "Wayne Webb is quickly becoming quite comfortable with his new residence in Columbus...Having lived in the Midwest (Indianapolis and the Akron area) Webb said he grew sick of California after seven years and returned to Ohio for one reason: bowling...Webb bought the old Rainbow Lanes on the South Side and has turned it into Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. He is keeping the alley open while remodeling it..."
~ Missouri bowler celebrates 50 years at USBC Open Championships -- "In 1955, Clancy Mueller of St. Charles, Mo., and his high school teammates piled into a car and headed to Fort Wayne, Ind., for the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships...Mueller started his 2010 tournament campaign with a 617 series in team and added 642 in doubles and 607 in singles for a 1,866 all-events total Tuesday. It was his best performance since shooting 1,836 at the 2003 tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., and just the second time in his career that he shot 600 or better in all three events..."
~ The Nuances of PBA Championships -- "Does it strike anyone else as odd that most PBA championships come down to a one-game match? The competitors spend all week qualifying, trying to earn a spot in the best-of-seven match play, feverishly switching lanes and often bowling 40-50 games per week, all in an attempt to get to the one-game finals on Sunday's ESPN telecast..."
~ Shaker Al-Hassan, Zatil Iman lead 16 men and 8 women into second round in Egypt -- "Shaker Al-Hassan and Zatil Iman, Malaysia, led the men's and women's division of the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament as the field was cut to 16 men and 8 women Tuesday at the International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt. Starting from scratch, Al- Hassan (pictured left) combined six-game series of 1457 and 1449 for 2906 12-game total, an average of 242.17, to lead the top 15 men plus the next local bowler into Wednesday's Round 2. Reigning European Bowling Tour Masters champion Paul Moor, England, was second with 2841 and was followed by Malaysians Mohd Nur Aiman and Adrian Ang in third and fourth place with 2821 and 2778, respectively..."
~ Gadgets and gizmos: Part 1: Cool coaching tools (Nuts & Bolts: Susie Minshew--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 5-10) -- "Wherever I travel people ask about my coaching tools, where you can get them, and how to use them. Get ready for some great fun..."
~ Where did the bowling season go?: These and other questions older bowlers should be asking themselves in the off season (Senior Spotlight: Jack Schmid--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 15-16) -- "In the April 2008 issue of BTM, I wrote about what we may want to consider when the bowling season was over. It is that time again, a couple of years later, and I would like to offer you some recommendations that may prove useful..."
"It is no wonder that a bowler who uses alcohol and bowls on an easy house shot averages 200 and yet gets completely destroyed at the USBC Championships." --Mark Gurule and Paul Butcher, Bowling This Month (March 2010)
As you may know and as I mentioned in a previous entry, you can drink alcoholic beverages down on the lanes this year at the USBC Open. I wrote that I don't like this new rule at all. I think it could lead to slippery or sticky approaches and cause some bowlers to misbehave in ways that undermine the dignity and integrity of this revered tournament.
However, some may drink alcohol at the tournament because they believe that it will loosen them up and enable them to bowl better. There's an article in the March issue of Bowling This Month that addresses the common observation that some people actually score better after they've "had a couple." Perhaps we've even done it ourselves on occasion.
The article lists several reasons why this might happen:
1. Alcohol may soothe one's anxieties or "nerves" and relax one's hand and body.
2. Alcohol may cause "alcohol myopia"--i.e., keep one "in the moment" and narrowly focused on the bowling task at hand instead of allowing extraneous perceptions and thoughts to cause distraction.
3. Alcohol may spur people to socialize more instead of sitting and brooding on their mistakes and overanalyzing their games.
4. Alcohol may reduce or eliminate deleterious fear of failure.
5. Alcohol may increase one's feeling of "well being."
Indeed, at first glance, these modifications seem part of what one sports psychologist calls an "Ideal Performance State," and this, in turn, might tempt some of us to drink alcohol during bowling competition. However, the article gives us ample reason to reconsider this idea.
The article points out that we generally see scores improve under the influence of alcohol only on easy house conditions that allow wide margins of error and require few adjustments and not on more challenging "sport" or PBA oil patterns, and that we never see professional bowlers sipping beer or wine while vying for regional or national PBA titles. This is because alcohol, despite the potentially positive effects listed above, demonstrably reduces the "precision, equilibrium, hand-eye coordination, judgment, ability to process information, focus, stamina, strength, power, and speed necessary to perform at one's best in bowling or any sport."
The article ends on this sobering note:
"In conclusion, use of alcohol while bowling may improve performance for some on a typical house shot over a few games. But drugs and alcohol have no place for bowlers who hope to be competitive in a variety of environments and situations...It is critical to note that athletes can achieve all "Ideal Performance State" characteristics without drinking and are much better off doing so sober."
So, before you crack a cold one at the nationals in Reno this year, you might want to give it some serious second thoughts if you wish to bowl your very best. And why travel all that distance and spend all that money to do anything less?
