8
- JANUARY 2014
Bowling is one of the most documented of sports since it became organized. We
have all of the records of what transpired from the time the American Bowling Con-
gress was formed in 1895 and from the Women‘s Bowling Congress in 1916 as
well as the other bowling groups founded later.
There are voluminous tournament records to tell you about the events that fol-
lowed the first ABC tourney in 1901.
But we have only dribs and drabs of what bowling was like in the earlier years,
every now and them a new tidbit of bowling history turns up. Stories about the
Civil War have often revealed bowling notes. For instance, in 1861, an artillery
group was shipped from Petersburg, VA to Norfolk, VA. The report noted, ―After
they stepped off of the train in Norfolk, some of the men camped in their tents
while others bunked in an old tenpin alley.‖ Imagine and ―old‖ tenpin alley back in
1861.
In 1864 a popular resort in Kittrell‘s Springs, NC was utilized as a hospital. After
the war, and after various uses, it was reopened in 1872 as a vacation haven. The
owner announced, ―Pleasure seekers may find healthy, pleasant, quiet retreat.
We have a large ballroom and good music with Croquet, Billiards, Ten-Pins,
Shooting Gallery and Bathing.‖
So bowling was alive and well and an attraction, at least a century ago.
***
Butch Soper had one of his long part of a century pro career in 1994 at age 45
including a 300 game on TV. Soper comes up big for the little guys. (5ft 6‖ and
less than 150lbs) When he first started bowling he was so small that he used both
hands to roll the ball. He preceded the two handed stars by more than 20 years.
***
The nightmare that haunts all top bowers is that their last big game will be their last
big game.
***
The Bowling Hall of Fame and museum is a firm fixture in Texas. But before that
site was settled upon, a total of 31 cities in 17 states expressed interest in being
one of the finest of all sports museums.
***
Nothing shortens a long bowling story more quickly than the unexpected arrival of
the bowler who unknowingly was the central figure of the former long story.
***
An older league bowler won the admiration of all the other bowlers in his league
when he went back to school to study languages and math. With great sacrifice of
time and money we won advanced degrees. He felt those 10 years of night school
were well worth it when he was the only team captain able to put his teams lineup
down in Latin and keep score in Roman numerals. He continued to feel good
about the whole thing until that fateful day when he walked into the bowling center
and on one set of lanes was an engineer‘s league, right next to the doctor‘s league
which was in turn next to the priest‘s league.
***
When you finally mentioned the late Billy Hardwick in the early 1960‘s, it was usu-
ally followed by a chuckle. He was so bad in the beginning that first he was ad-
vised, then urged, and then begged to quit for his own good. He didn‘t earn a
dime the first year, and the odds seemed to be that he wouldn‘t earn a dime in the
next 50 years. But he stuck to it, earned millions and millions of dimes and
enough titles to be elected to both the ABC and PBA Halls of Fame. He was also
voted 12
th
all pro.
So never laugh too easily and too hard. Often, today‘s clown, laughing stock or
unknown is tomorrow‘s hero. And it‘s the last laugh that counts the most. Harwick
was truly a man for all bowling season.
***
Extreme Pushaway
Are you becoming eager to get to the foul line? Let‘s start where we left
off last month, with you holding the ball about waist high, supporting the ball
with your non-bowling hand and holding the ball in line with your bowling
shoulder. By all means, be comfortable.
There's trouble ahead if you now push your ball in the wrong direction.
The proper pushaway is out and down, back and roll.
Perhaps you hold your ball quite high, like under your chin, in your stance
position. Then you may push or lift the ball up in the air. When the ball goes
up, it breaks your line of vision and concentration on the target.
As they say, what comes up must come down and down it comes—wow,
is it heavy! Now your body is down on the first step, which is wrong, and
this usually causes you to finish up at the foul line at the delivery point, sort
of like the Statue of Liberty.
Many people have no pushaway and drop the ball to the end of their arm.
Again the ball is heavy, and to get swing on it you pull the ball back. This
makes your hips and shoulders pivot around and causes the ball to swing
behind you in the backswing. The ball is not doing the work—you are—and
you are making your first or second step tougher than necessary.
When you pull the ball back, another problem arises. You will probably
break your wrist—that is, not keep it straight—and cause a bad release. But
more about that later.
Now for the right things to do. Hold the ball as described in the first para-
graph. Shake hands with the ball; check the wrist to be sure there are no
wrinkles; keep the thumb at 11:00. Squeeze the ball slightly with the two
bowling fingers. Keep the two outside fingers firm and on the ball.
This technique firms up the wrist—did you notice? Maintaining a firm wrist
all through the arm swing will result in a better lift and finger feeling at the
delivery point.
How many of you don't feel the ball coming off the two lifting fingers?
Keep saying every time you deliver the ball, "Did I feel the ball off my fin-
gers as I released it?" But more on that subject in a later lesson.
Now that you're holding the ball correctly, with both hands, push the ball
out slightly, at the same time trying to match the movement of the ball and
foot. The first step must be a slow and gentle, short step.
Visualize the beginning of a circle and picture the arm as a pendulum
from the shoulder. Remember, the ball and foot must go forward together.
For good timing and coordination, if you are right-handed, the ball and right
foot go together. Left-handers move the ball and left foot together.
Try saying this aloud in practice: Push the ball out (1)...down (2)...back
(3)...roll the ball and slide (4). This is obviously for a four-step delivery.
Other deliveries will be explained later.
Well, you‘re at the foul line finally. If you want to deliver the ball, that‘s
okay. Keep practicing and practicing until next month, when we will learn
about how to walk straight, why you should stay at the foul line after deliv-
ery, four check points and how to keep from drifting.
Helen Duval‘s Bowling Tips
Idle Bowling Thoughts
By Chuck Pezzano
