Surface and Topography are of importance this week. I came in to
watch the TQR and set down on the high end just to watch the
pins. After two games I was thinking the scoring pace wasn't
very high only to find out I was in the wrong part of the house.
I walked down to the low end of the building and everybody was
striking. As soon as the bowlers on the high end went to the low
end they started striking and just the opposite for those going
to the high end.
The other thing I noticed was the part of the lane the bowlers
were playing. The pattern is 41 feet and ball reaction is
reading earlier to the right than I expected. When that happens
bowlers will not only move right but they will have plenty of
hold.
The tournament is over now and I am setting in the airport
waiting for a connection flight to 80 degrees, SC. All of you
are invited with me if you are as tired of the cold as I am. Not
only is it cold but it has been wet to go along with it. Every
time I go out to the truck I have to worry about bringing the
moisture into the bowlers area. I like the cold when I can play
in the snow but if I am not playing in the snow I would rather
be dealing with sand in my shoes.
Enough of the weather conditions...lets talk lane conditions. I
would be willing to bet that those that made the show bowled
more games on the low end than they did the high end. It wasn't
even the high end. Once the bowlers got past lane 18 I noticed
an obvious difference in the ability to get to the pocket let
alone strike. The biggest trap I saw bowlers get into this week
was the way in which they got to the pocket.
A bowler is going to do what they do best if they can get to the
pocket without any obvious reason to abandon their "A" game.
Surprisingly the right hooked more than normal and most bowlers
have at least 8 board of head belly from the foul line to their
break point. I saw a lot of bowlers using this head belly and
trying to find a ball that got back to the pocket down lane.
When it was close to what they liked they noticed the ball may
not have been getting through the pins as well as they liked.
So their instincts was to try and get it through the pins with
either more hand or more ball. Instantly they were trapped. A
ball that came off the friction too hard was almost sure death
and a hand that was to quick created a similar look. For the
sixth week in a row there was a huge shim for bowlers to take
advantage of. In today's game there is an increasing number of
bowlers who don't use it as well as they need to. If a bowlers
angles were off just 3 boards It was going to be a dramatic
difference. There are several ways to take advantage of a wall
with a hooking gutter. One is to dial in a hand or ball that
created a smoother motion off the dry and square up to it. The
other is to get the ball going at the gutter quicker. Anywhere
in between and the bowler would be forced to use a window
further down lane and many bowlers would have to use a tablet to
keep track of their ring 10's. They would have enough hands to
bowl and keep track of the corners they left. Remember bowlers
most of the time if you are not carrying there is something
wrong it isn't bad luck.
This is a Round Robin format instead of a Match-play format
which makes the left to right issue a little different. The pair
to pair differences were more dramatic on the right and the left
was able to go across the house easier. My lefty Parker Bohn
could not get squared up to the lane like the leading lefties
were doing. I tried several things but nothing seemed to work
for Parker. I saw where and what Patrick and Rhino were doing
but it just didn't work for Parker, he was more comfortable
opening the lane up from further right. Parker got to the round
of 16 but never found a look to compete for more than a couple
games at a time.
A good example of how different the lanes played if you were not
seeing them right was Mika. Mika struggled in the morning block
because he fell into the trap we talked about earlier. In the
late block he started looking for something dramatically
different and instead of having the 11th worst block of the
round he had the 6th best block of the round. On the opposite
end of this was Brian Himmler who fell from 8th to 53rd.
There are many challenges in the sport of bowling but like every
other sport you better not take the game plan too lightly. I
hear people talk about match ups in the sport of bowling and
they should not be so important. Think about that for a moment
and tell me matchups in football, baseball, basketball, hockey
at any level is not important. Getting the big guy on the small
guy..or the quick guy on the slow guy is strategy folks. There
is strategy in all of sports and if you don't want to accept it
you better stay at the recreational level.
Until next week. Plan on it
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.
|
