Bowling Bytes--5/4/10

~ The 11th Frame: Could it be the last U.S. Women's Open? -- "It has to be a gloomy setting for the U.S. Women's Open, which starts Friday at Cityview Lanes in Fort Worth, Texas. Looming over the event is the cancellation of the 2011 U.S. Women's Open, which was announced last week by the financially strapped United States Bowling Congress. The big question is whether a sponsor can be found to rescue the event for future years, and perhaps even 2011. The event's demise also could make for an especially competitive tournament, as the world's top women bowlers vie to win the possible final U.S. Women's Open..."

~ Mike J. Laneside: To Hambone or not to Hambone -- "It is Shakespearean comedy or tragedy of epic proportion depending on your interpretation of ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Rob Stone’s catchphrase for throwing four strikes in-a-row. Whether it is actually really fun or disturbing the sanctity of bowling, the great fans of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour regularly gather at television finals shows with their signs either celebrating or cursing The Hambone. As You Like It...Do you disappoint the fans who celebrate four strikes with cries of pork’s tastiest cut? Or do you satisfy Troilus and Cressida, or Troy and Cassie for that matter with a stout “four-bagger” even though that is really an old baseball term applied to the lanes? What’s a humble sportscaster to do as I ponder this conundrum for a Twelfth Night?..."

~ Keith Sharp Leads After First Round in Senior Miller High Life Classic -- "Keith Sharp of Orlando, Fla., averaged 247.7 to lead after the first round Monday in the PBA Senior Miller High Life Classic at George Pappas Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C. Sharp had games of 247, 239, 266, 255, 258, 258, 256 and 203 for a 1,982 pinfall total to hold a 57-pin lead over Dave Flemming of Fairborn, Ohio in second...Reigning PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr., making his Senior Tour debut, finished the round in 11th with a 1,861 pinfall (232.6 average)..."

~ 2010 USBC Hall of Fame Profiles: Kim Terrell-Kearney -- "If Kim Terrell-Kearney’s leap from a teenager whose interest in bowling “faded through high school” to the USBC Hall of Fame seems implausible to you, don’t worry — it seems just as implausible to Kim Terrell-Kearney...Since her days as that young college star who was just trying to make sense of things, Terrell-Kearney’s dreams have compiled the itinerary of a traveling diplomat, from her San Francisco youth to the head coaching position at Delaware State University and, most recently, to the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas, where she works with Team USA Head Coach Rod Ross..."

~ John Jowdy elected newest member of Bowling Coaches Hall of Fame -- "Longtime bowling coach, writer and industry advocate John Jowdy (pictured left) has been selected as the 2010 inductee into the Bowling Coaches Hall of Fame in recognition of his superior coaching contributions to the sport...John Jowdy began his coaching career instructing and training youth bowlers in San Antonio in the 1940's and 50's, and since the late 60's has coached over 100 professional men and women bowlers...As a writer, Jowdy's columns appear in dozens of bowling newspapers and magazines as well as on Bowlingdigital.com and he is the author of two books on the sport, Bowling Execution and Bowling Execution, Second Edition..."

~ The 11th Frame: Hooray! Jowdy elected to Bowling Coaches Hall of Fame -- "It's quite possible that John Jowdy has impacted the careers of more top bowlers than any coach in history. In his long career with Columbia 300, Jowdy traveled the PBA Tour and provided coaching to hundreds of pro bowlers, from great stars like Marshall Holman to lowly journeymen like myself...Jowdy was best known for his emphasis on not "hitting up" on the ball at release -- eliminating lift, which had long been a fundamental of bowling. The advent of exotic bowling ball technology made hitting up a negative and Jowdy would tell students to release the ball like a jet landing on a runway..."

~ Dennis Eklund ends Super Six title drought in Orgryte International 2010 -- "In a title match between two members of the Swedish national team, Dennis Eklund defeated Martin Larsen, 202-195, to win the Örgryte International 2010, the third stop of the Swedish Super Six Tour 2010..."

~ Chris Barnes--The 40-Year-Old "Version" -- "One of these days, people will truly see themselves laughing at what they say or feel in regard to Chris Barnes when his career accomplishments and active participation as a professional bowler comes to its nadir..."

~ Chapter 5: The Information Age -- "...I like big data sets. I like searching for patterns and trying to explain them. I think data analysis is probably one of my greatest skills if not my greatest. I see the potential for study and analysis in many mundane things. I'm not sure exactly when I saw the potential to study bowling, but it was around the beginning of December 2008 that I started doing so..."

~ Any 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: The Pro Level: Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 52-54) -- "A free armswing is one of the greatest assets for a solid fundamental game...Nonetheless, free armswings can sometimes contribute to sub-par execution..."

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..."

The Real King of Bowling

I am really excited! I just watched a live bowling match for the ages. It was at the USBC Masters in Reno. Chris Barnes was bowling Wes Malott in the winners bracket in a three game total pin match. Barnes had trouble carrying strikes the first two games and Malott jumped out to a 54 pin lead going into the final game. It really looked like Chris, as great as he is, was out of it against last year's PBA Bowler of the Year and "King of Bowling" Wes Malott. The commentators were speculating that if Barnes shot a 270 game and Wes faltered a little, Barnes could still pull it out, but I don't think they seriously believed that this would happen.

Well, Barnes moved his line left and proceeded to pack every ball solidly in the pocket for about as perfect a 300 game as you'll ever see and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in one of the most impressive clutch performances I've ever seen. As Xtra Frame's redoubtable "bowling doctor" Jeff Mark said, there has been nobody in Chris Barnes' league for the past three or so years, and he just showed as emphatically as one could ever hope to why he's the best bowler in the world.

And Xtra Frame just proved, as emphatically as possible, why it's a true bowling fan's dream. For just $65 a year, you can see what I just saw (although the service is free all this week) and much, much more over the course of a season, and, as Jeff Mark said today, you can learn enough by watching the bowling and listening to the expert commentary of guys like Mark and guests like Ritchie Allen, John Jowdy, Mark Baker, Sean Rash, Parker Bohn, Wes Malott, and Chris Barnes, more than enough to recoup your expense several times over if you bowl good leagues or tournaments.

I can't wait for this evening's matches that will decide who makes it to the televised finals Sunday. By the way, look out for Walter Ray. The 50-year-old wonder of wonders is steamrolling his way through match play right now, having flattened his latest opponent, Mike Scroggins, into a pancake and tossed him out of the winners bracket with a 778 series after destroying Tom Smallwood and eliminating him from competition with a 734 series in the match before that.

The Cream Rises and a Bowling Legend Speaks

After 40 games and the second of three 8-game rounds of match play, the cream is rising to the top of the field. Chris Barnes has vaulted into the lead by going 7-1 in the round and averaging a sizzling 249 for the last seven games on difficult lane conditions. Behind him is a veritable dream field of Pete Weber, Tony Reyes, and Wes Malott followed by Kelly Kulick who still has a chance to make it to the top four of Sunday's televised finalists. Walter Ray is way down in 13th, but he still has an outside chance to come on strong to make it into Sunday's telecast and win the one major tournament he's never won during his fabled career.

But what I enjoyed most about watching the second round of match play live on Xtra Frame today was listening to "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark talk with the legendary bowling coach and writer John Jowdy. Jowdy, who will turn 90 in a few months, has coached a Who's Who of bowling legends, been one of the sport's finest writers, and has met just about everyone and seen just about everything in the sport over his very long and storied career.

He and Jeff Mark talked about many things this afternoon, but one of the highlights was his list, in order, of the top five bowlers of all time. First was Earl Anthony, followed by Walter Ray Williams, Don Carter, Dick Weber, Mark Roth, and Don Johnson. He was especially impressed by Walter Ray's longevity as a very competitive bowler on tour and opined that the PBA will never see anyone like him again.

When asked how someone aspiring to become a professional bowler should prepare for the challenge, he strongly advised them to bowl leagues and tournaments on tough sport conditions and to seek the best coaching available. "If you're going to spend $200 on a new bowling ball, spend it on a good coach and keep your old ball," he suggested. Good coaching that builds good habits will get you a lot further than the fanciest new ball.

But even though he thinks the USBC coaching certification program is good in theory, he has reservations about how well it actually works and thinks that some coaches, like Mark Baker, who have never been USBC certified are the best of the best. He believes, and Jeff Mark agrees, that the best coaches combine theoretical knowledge with actual experience at the highest levels of competitive bowling. In short, the best coaches are or were players who can also share invaluable knowledge with you about subtleties like "touch" and "feel" in the heat of competition. Mark also suggested that although many of these top flight coaches are difficult for the regular bowler to access on a one-to-one basis, one can benefit from bowling clinics in which these great coaches regularly participate.

Jowdy also praised the free armswings of guys like Brian Voss and Norn Duke and suggested that those who want to bowl competitively for a long time and not suffer all kinds of problems with broken down bodies should emulate these styles. He and Jeff Mark agreed that what the smoother stylists may sacrifice in power and the short term success that power may bring are likely to more than make up for it with competitive longevity and bowling fitness, unlike guys such as Mark Roth who, even before his devastating stroke, had to undergo surgery on both knees and other medical interventions for the wear and tear he put on his body with his very aggressive style. Yes, he, unlike most power stylists, enjoyed tremendous success on tour, but was it really worth it? asked Mark rhetorically.

Jowdy also talked about the heydays of the TOC at the Riviera Lanes in Akron Ohio and other great eras and moments of bowling history. It was a very entertaining afternoon of bowling and conversation with a bowling legend.