Bowling Quote of the Day--Why Coaching is Undervalued

"Bowling remains stagnant in regard to the number of bowlers who truly embrace the value of coaching. Inflated scores on 9-to-1 ratio house patterns have inflated egos while technology has duped bowlers into believing that their game can be improved by simply purchasing the latest and greatest bowling ball on the market."

--Joe Slowinski

Bowling Bytes--5/7/10

If you want to know more about Walter Ray Williams Jr's great season; upcoming live streaming on Bowl.com; who won this year's PBA Steve Nagy award; how Bo Goergen fared this year at the USBC Open after shooting a record high 863 last year;, the new bowling center in New York City's Times Square; release, carrydown, and adjustments; the viscosities of different lane conditioners; and how one participant in this year's USBC Masters prepared for and fared in this hallowed tournament and what he learned and you can learn from it all, check out today's bowling bytes below.

~ PBA Spare Shots: Walter Ray Williams Jr. Concludes Remarkable 2009-10 Season with Statistical Sweep -- "At the ripe old age of 50, Walter Ray Williams Jr. has already used up every superlative you can attach to his record-setting career, and that makes his sweep of every major statistical category during the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season even more stunning. With the completion of the DyDo Japan Cup, the PBA’s statistical season officially ended in the earnings and average categories. Guess who won both?..."

~ The 11th Frame: A first step to simultaneous Player of the Year crowns? -- "If ever an individual sports victory could be expected, it's the Senior Tour debut of a great athlete. It becomes even more expected when the athlete still is at the top of the "regular" sport --something rarely seen in golf or bowling, the two sports with the most active Senior circuits. So it's far from a surprise that Walter Ray Williams Jr. -- the reigning Player of the Year on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour -- on Wednesday won his PBA Senior Tour debut. But that doesn't make it any less noteworthy: No bowler of golfer has ever been Player of the Year simultaneously on the "regular" and senior tours..."

~ Upcoming live stream events -- "A busy schedule of live streaming events are on tap for bowling fans over the course of the next week on BOWL.com. We will have complete wire-to-wire coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open starting Friday morning, while also streaming live coverage of the USBC Open Championships. Here’s the upcoming schedule..."

~ Canada's George Lambert IV wins Steve Nagy Award -- "After finishing second in the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Trials in Allen Park, Mich., last May, native Canadian George Lambert IV expressed his desire to become the first bowler from his home country to win a PBA Tour title. He is now the owner of one of the PBA’s most prestigious honors, but it isn’t the one he had in mind.Click the link below to download the file. Lambert, a 10-time member of Team Canada and a former collegiate star with Wichita State University, has been selected by his fellow exempt tour players as winner of the Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award. He is the first international player to win the award in its 44-year history..."

~ Defending champion helps team into top spot at USBC Open Championships -- "Last year, Bo Goergen (pictured left) of Midland, Mich., rolled the highest series in 107 years of United States Bowling Congress Open Championships history and took home the 2009 Regular Singles title, but something was missing. The 49-year-old right-hander finally accomplished a lifelong goal by winning an eagle, the coveted trophy given to tournament champions, but he knows the accomplishment would be five times more satisfying if he could share it with his teammates. Now, Goergen may have that chance after helping Northern Lanes Pro Shop (right) of Sanford, Mich., into the top spot in Team All-Events with a 10,284 total at the National Bowling Stadium on Thursday night. It was the eighth-highest total in tournament history and topped Linds Lakers 1 of Minneapolis, which previously held the lead with 10,187..."

~ QubicaAMF selected to equip new Bowlmor Entertainment Center in Times Square -- "QubicaAMF Worldwide, a leading manufacturer of bowling and amusement products, has announced that it has been selected as the bowling equipment supplier for the new 50 lane Bowlmor Times Square bowling center, which will be housed on the third and fourth floors of the landmark, 15-story New York Times Building on West 43rd Street in the heart of New York's world famous Times Square..."

~ Questions about release, carrydown, and adjustments -- "Q: How do you get the ball to skid farther down the lane without moving your line or changing bowling balls?...Q: What is carrydown and how do I move when this occurs?...Q: I bowl in travel leagues and tournaments. What is a good system for making moves on the lanes when they transition during competition?...Q: I am a new PBA member and recently bowled in one of the new PBA Experience leagues. For the most part, my ball rolled perfectly straight. I played all different lines – with the same results. Can you give me some ideas about bowling on these types of bowling conditions?...Q: I watch the PBA television show on a regular basis and I have one question that constantly comes up in tight matches. Sometimes it seems that the bowler throws a perfect shot and they leave a 10-pin. Is there a reason for this or is it just bad luck?

~ Viscosity of common lane conditioners -- "I prepared a chart of the viscosity (cps) values for the most common lane oils. This is not exhaustive but will give you a sense of the variation. And, as you can imagine, this will impact your ball reaction. Lower viscosity oils will cause more skill while high viscosity lane conditiones are more durable. But, most importantly, with higher viscocity oils there is more resistance. Consequently, the ball will slow down faster and hook sooner than a lower viscosity oil. Our sport is complex and most be considered a sport. Click the link below to download the file. Viscosity of Common Lane Oils (1 page - small file < 8kb)"

~ 2010 USBC Masters: A day-by-day account of how I prepared for and bowled a "major" (Erik Vermilyea: Sport Bowling: Bowling This Month, April 2010, pgs. 9-14)

-- "Well, the 2010 Masters has come and gone. As you already know, Walter Ray -- "Well, the 2010 Masters has come and gone. As you already know, Walter Ray Williams claimed his second Masters title. I was in Reno with the other 267 competitors who, like me, were trying to win the beautiful trophy. Here is a look at how I prepared for this major tournament as well as a day-by-day look at the competition--what I did right, what I did wrong, and what I learned for the next time. By incorporating some of these strategies into your practice plan, you will be better prepared for the next big tournament..."

Bowling Bytes--5/1/10

~ One for the lefties -- "...Three years ago, I interviewed a young bowler who got off to a rough start in his USBC Open Championships debut, but drew on his raw talent and pulled things together in time for a top 10 finish in singles. He was excited, nervous, overwhelmed and really just trying to prove himself. His goal was to earn a spot on one of the elite tournament teams, which he knew would come with time and experience. I've seen him at various events since, talked to him on occasion and seen his game evolve as he tests himself against different types of competition. I saw him walking around the National Bowling Stadium last week. He's usually pretty quiet, but always friendly and polite, and this year was no different. We chatted briefly, and I wished him luck and went on my way. This year, he finally got the invitation he'd been hoping for, and was scheduled to shoe up with an experienced team. If it were me, I would've been painfully nervous about letting my new teammates down, and he very well might have been, but I did not get to see him before his team event. Whether he was nervous or not is irrelevant, however, as nearly shooting 800 and leading your team into the top 10 is the perfect way to prove to yourself and your teammates that you belong..."

~ Three bowlers roll perfect games at USBC Open Championships -- "The second half of the 2010 USBC Open Championships is underway, and the scoring pace has picked up as three bowlers rolled perfect games at the National Bowling Stadium. Ken Konczos of Sagamore Hills, Ohio, rolled the 11th 300 of the year in his final game of singles Thursday night, while Matthew Randall of Allen Park, Mich., tossed the 12th in his last game of doubles Friday afternoon. Rodney Machacek of Lincoln, Neb., followed suit three games later to make it a baker's dozen..."

~ Mansour Al-Awami posts big scores on his way to the title in ABF Tour Egypt leg -- "Mansour Al-Awami (pictured left), Qatar, averaged over 245 en route to win his first career Asian Bowling Federation Tour title in the 2010 Egypt leg Friday at the International Bowling Center in Cairo. In the championship match, Al-Awami defeated Jassem Darwish (right), Kuwait, 237-200, to wrap up the title..."

~ Elite Level Conditioning Tips -- "You bowl all year round, but certain segments of your bowling calendar are busier/more important than others, right? Then you need to match your training with your bowling calendar to make sure you are at your best when it matters most. Periodized training will help you do so..."

~ The Need for a Scientific Approach to Our Sport -- "Ironically, the title of my monthly contribution to the Asian Bowling Digest suggests that bowling is a sport. And, from my 37 years of experience in this addictive enterprise of bowling, including 25 years as a coach, I believe bowling to definitely be a sport. Yet, the truth remains that bowling is understudied from a sport science perspective. We, as a tenpin community, really don’t know much about what is needed to enhance human performance, whether it be an in-depth biomechanical or physiological understanding of bowling..."

~ An early swing can bring early elimination: Without synchronized timing of your arm and leg, it'll be tough to hit the ideal release point (John Jowdy, Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 52-54) -- "A free armswing is one of the greatest assets for a solid fundamental game. Free armswings are the trademarks of bowling stars like Chris Barnes, Parker Bohn, Norm Duke, Pete Weber, and Walter Ray Williams...to name a few..."

Bowling Bytes--4/29/10

~ Kulick takes 2010 USBC Queens title -- "Kelly Kulick proved she could beat the men earlier this year and Wednesday she came out on top against a field of the top women bowlers in the world, earning her second United States Bowling Congress Queens title. The Union, N.J., native climbed the five-player stepladder, winning four consecutive matches, and defeating top seed Tennelle Milligan of Arlington, Texas, 232-188, to win the Queens at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center..."

~ "Mt. St. Marshall": The man behind the volcano that was -- "The car fire that firefighters squelched outside the Hilton Inn Lounge in Akron, Ohio, just up the block from Riviera Lanes where the next day a 21-year-old Marshall Holman would win the first of his two Firestone Tournament of Champions titles, raised no one from their seats that night. “They had stayed in their seats while the fire department extinguished a pretty good car fire in the hotel driveway,” writer Doug Bradford observed of the bowling royalty mingling in the lounge. The figures crowding the lounge after a final round of match play that Friday night were characters that defined an irreplaceable era of professional bowling — Billy Hardwick in his “rainbow trousers,” Dick Weber with his “ice cream suit” and the peroxide-brightened hair that prompted Tour pals to dub him “The Blond Fonz,” Earl Anthony chatting with the Ebonite execs whose contract offer would soften his resistance to “PBA School” in a few years. If any of them thought back to that driveway fire after Holman sealed his historic win at the 1976 Firestone Tournament of Champions and considered it a sign of things to come, they would quickly find that they were on to something — something the PBA Tour had never seen before. The fire Holman brought to the lanes the following afternoon would do more than raise people out of their seats; it would raise hell..."

~ Minnesota team back on top at USBC Open Championships -- "After an uncharacteristically poor spare-shooting performance left them just shy of the Regular Team lead at the 2010 USBC Open Championships, the members of Linds Lakers 1 of Minneapolis easily could've lost their focus on the tournament lanes. Instead, the group turned to 124 years of Open Championships experience and averaged more than 226 during doubles and singles to take over the top spot in Team All-Events with a 10,187 total, the eighth-highest in tournament history. Red Carpet Lanes of Greenfield, Wis., previously held the lead with 10,131..."

~ Hall of Famer Nancy Chapman dies at age 80 -- "Nancy Chapman, a member of the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame, passed away Wednesday, April 28, at the age of 80. The Oneida, Wis., native was inducted into the Women's International Bowling Congress (now USBC) Hall of Fame for meritorious service in 2002..."

~ USBC Convention opens in Reno, Nev. -- "The 2010 United States Bowling Congress Convention and Annual Meeting takes place this week with a theme of "Moving Forward Together." This year's convention will feature workshops that will cover such topics as growing membership, coaching and future initiatives. At the USBC Annual Meeting, delegates will vote on 24 proposed amendments related to bylaws, league rules and tournament rules. Additionally, delegates will elect four members to the USBC Board of Directors..."

~ It's down to four women in 12th Sinai International Open -- "Zandra Aziela, Malaysia, Mennat Soltan, Egypt, Shalin Zulkifli, Malaysia, and Cassie Staudinger, Australia, will battle it out for the women's title in the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament Thursday at International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt..."

~ Michigan Bowlers: Take Your Last Puffs -- "Saturday, May 1, 2010 is the beginning of a smokeless Michigan. At least in public establishments. As a resident of and bowler in Michigan, this will be one of the best days of my life. Cigarette smoke has always bothered me, and I will not be sad to remove cigarettes from the classic bowling smell: cigarettes, oil, fried food, stale beer. Instead, I'll return home from the bowling alley with a new and improved bowling smell: the same as before, but without the most offensive of the aromas..."

~ Tommy Jones: The Interview, Pt. 2 -- "Yesterday Tommy Jones discussed last season's struggles and why he will return to the Professional Bowlers Association spotlight in 2009-'10. Today, Jones goes farther back to the days when he spent Saturdays dreaming of the glory that his idols Marshall Holman and Mark Roth owned when he was growing up, explains how he developed his high-rev style, why the mantra "straight is great" continues to hold true in the era of the "rev rate," and much more..."

~ A How-To For Adjusting Ball Speed: The Importance of Ball Speed Change and a Research-Based Method to Change It-- "Many bowlers arrive at the Kegel Training Center with a strong desire to increase their rev rate. These individuals perceive higher revolutions as a panacea or the ultimate solution for improving their game. Yet, in reality, the ability to manipulate axis of rotation and ball speed would result in being able to alter their ball motion significantly more..."

~ Analyzing the lane graphs of the Hoosier Classic: What the data reveals about how the lanes will play (Coaching the Youth Bowler: Dug Barker--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 21-25) -- "...One of the items every team discusses before competition begins is the lane graph and charts as they apply to the team. This is the subject of this article. I am going to provide an overview of lane graphs and charts from the perspective of a collegiate coach..."