This is a week that will highlight a wood surface, burnt track,
a lower scoring pace, multiple angles, and different lane play
strategies for qualifying and match-play.
When you have the opportunity to bowl on a wood surface you
realize how important the surface is the sport. Each year there
are fewer and fewer wood lane surfaces. It has even gotten to
the point that many bowlers think that bowling on wood is not
real bowling. I really struggle with these mentalities. Wood is
just another course variety that is a part of this great sport
of ours and I will miss it when proprietors are forced to cover
it up with synthetic panels. Our sport needs a range of
standardization to work within...but variety of courses is how
we separate skill levels of players. There is a dramatic
difference in how wood effects ball reaction and lane
transitions. Physical game strategies and equipment strategies
take a different direction.
You will see a different group of bowlers bowl well this week,
simply because a different group of bowlers will have natural
matchups. But it is always interesting to see that their is a
group of bowlers that wind up near the top no matter what the
environment is. This group of bowlers are the icons of our
sport.
Along with a wood surface comes a more obvious "track" area on
the lane. The track area is the area that receives the majority
of wear from balls being rolled down the lane. Synthetic panels
have them to but they are more obvious on wood. The track area
at Stardust Bowl II is wider than most. There will be bowlers
who will find reaction in the track but with the rev rates and
ball choices of most players we will find the majority of the
PBA players moving right or left of the track. In a league
environment bowlers migrate to the track because there is so
much "yank" or hold built into the pattern. That is not the case
with this weeks Chameleon pattern with Absolute Control oil.
There will be some left for the weaker hands that can play to
the right of the track. It will not be a good place for the
higher rev rates to look for reaction. The higher rev rates will
take advantage of the track area late in the block assuming they
don't destroy the middle part of the lane on the fresh. My
experience tells me that will be a tall order as most bowlers
jump left much sooner than they should simply because their
physical games and lane strategies are geared around down lane
reaction and creating increased entry angle and "continuation"
That paves the way for the qualifying rounds to be played deeper
than the match-play rounds.
I will have to stop for now as it is time to get up to the bowl
for the first round of qualifying. I will get back with you asap.
On a Brunswick side look for these balls to come in play.
Sidewinder
Wizard
Twisted Fury
Pearl Fury
Fury
and a few appearances by the Vapor Zone and Absolute
We would see more Twisted Fury's this week if I had any to work
with. My shelves are empty of Twisted Fury's and I will not have
any to work with until next week in Vernon Hills, Illinois.
Surface prep is going to be very crucial this week. A small
change will very critical in ball reaction. I am thinking once a
player find the ball that looks right to them...they better have
the same ball with a slight surface variance.
Bowler development
The invisible course in bowling can be as easy or as
difficult as desired.
This invisible course is what makes bowling so unique when
compared to other sports. The playing surface in all other
sports is either regulated to very tight specs for consistency
across competitive environments...or the course challenges are
visible to the human eye. Bowling is an obstacle course that
bowlers must use their physical skills and probing tools to
challenge their opponent.
Many bowlers deal with the invisibility in different fashions.
The first thing I teach my students about the game is that
bowling is...always has been...and always will be about
transitions of this invisible course. What other sport can boast
the skills required to deal with an invisible course.
Imagine playing any other sport with the invisible challenges
bowling deals with...it will bring a smile to your face.
Football, Baseball, Basketball, Golf, Hockey, or any other sport
you can imagine would take on a totally different look if they
had to deal with a constantly changing environment that is
invisible to the human eye.
A bowler is required to use a combination of repetition,
versatility, creativity, feel, observation skills, knowledge,
experience, and a type of mental thought process that separates
our sport from any other.
A bowler is challenged to commit their strategy and execution in
an environment of constantly changing obstacles. Bowling has a
recreation is quite simple but bowling as a sport is not a game
for the mentally weak.
The bowler with physical skills is at an elementary level of our
sport and unless he or she realizes what the sport of bowling is
about they will plateau. There are a lot of bowlers who get to
this level and simply do not fair well when they are challenged
with what sport bowling is all about.
Great bowlers are artists with the ability to see, feel, and
trust what their senses are telling them. The creativity and
feel of a great bowler is a product of the development in their
human senses. This requires a level of focus and confidence in
human senses that rivals that of any sport. Bowlers who have
reached this stage of development get feedback that is then
processed through the mind to develop strategic Game Plans.
As a bowler moves up the competitive ladder he or she will find
that being physically better then their opponent is much more
difficult. At the elite level of our sport bowlers learn to
appreciate the mental challenges or are sent home looking for
answers. Some minds just do not deal with a constantly changing
invisible environment very well.
The uniqueness of a great bowler is easier to identify by their
mental makeup than their physical makeup. Confusion is the
number one enemy of a bowler. Sorting through information and
making decisions with commitment is a common trait of a great
bowler.
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