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- January 2017
Did you ever stop to realize that one of the most incredible inanimate objects of all
time is a bowling ball?
Many millions, probably more than a hundred million bowling balls have been
manufactured since the early groping days of the sport nigh a century ago.
Where are they now? It seems to be part of an unwritten code not to throw bowling
balls away. Seldom do you see bowling balls offered for sale at flea markets or ga-
rage sales. Often bowling balls are handed down from generation to generation.
Every bowling ball has been loved, hated, patted, booted, praised, scorned, prayed
to in heavenly manner and sworn to hell. Some bowlers talk more to their bowling
balls than they do to their families. Long before pet rocks there were pet bowling
balls.
A bowling ball almost always has and continues to be one of history’s great bar-
gains. Most have good guarantees and survive two or three human lifetimes.
If the cost of a bowling ball is rated over its useful years, there never has and
probably never will be a piece of sporting equipment to match it.
No matter how many bowling balls you may have, and most bowlers are moving
into the two and three each category, including junior, it’s oh so hard to part with
them, as a general rule. I’ve seen bowling balls heaved into rivers and oceans and
garbage dumps, but that’s the exception.
Pros are almost fanatic when it comes to bowling balls. Some have had more than
200 in his garage, practically every one he ever owned. I don’t know of a pro bowler
who doesn’t have a solid store dozen balls scattered around the home or stashed
away with relatives, friends or neighbors.
Now for the big questions, what do you do with old bowling balls, and what uses
have been made of them in the past? First of all there is no such thing as an old
bowling ball just mature specimens' of a too often overlooked art.
I’ve seen bowling balls used a fill in construction work and also seen them tossed
into a concrete wall, mixed with the soft cement in the form.
Bowling balls have been used as decorative and useful objects between fence
posts or on lawns. Bowling ball have been attach to chains and used as battering
rams or dropped down through chimneys to help clean them or force objects down.
Bowling balls have used as weapons, man against man or man against machine.
Criminals have used them to knock down doors and also to break some sturdy
showcase windows. Bowling balls have been made into lamps, fish bowls, door-
stops, plant holders, center piece decoration for tables and in many ways as
weights to hold down everything from paper to boats to cars.
Bowling balls are used in other sports in addition to bowling as imaginative minds
sighting bowling balls come up with all kinds of new games. Bowling balls are re-
vived periodically by bowlers since every bowler figures that every ball always has
some life left, and most of the time they’re right. Many so called old, discarded balls
have won major championships with the help of a bowler.
One of the most beautiful uses of bowling balls came when they were used to form
the largest set of rosary beads ever on the
lawn of a religious building.
Of course the silliest I’ve heard about is
using a bowling ball as the focal point of a
roll on deodorant—-for elephants.
Life is short, for people and things, but
bowling balls seem to roll on and live on in
one form or another for close to forever.
Spot Bowling
Suppose you took a rifle and tried to hit a two-inch target 75 feet away.
Think you could do it?
Rolling a bowling ball at a spot that size can be nearly as difficult. Yet
people who look at the target pin during their approach wonder why they
never improve, while their friends who use the spot-bowling system con-
tinue to improve.
Spot bowling means aiming at a target only 15 feet down the lane. You’ll
remember that I told you in an earlier lesson about the importance of start-
ing at the same spot on the approach each time, walking straight to the
foul line and delivering the ball so it rolls over the second arrow.
Spot bowling is an extension of that system. It involves using an area
between the second and third arrows during each delivery for strikes and
spares. (Remember that left-handers count spots and arrows from their
side of the channel.)
Suggestion: Let you arms and hands relax at your side. Now, swing
them alternately up to your face. See how they come up into the hand-
shake position? See how your thumb is at 11:00?
You can get out your electric iron and practice the bowling swing. Your
hand naturally falls into nearly the same position on the iron’s handle as it
does in the bowling ball. This practice swinging is especially good if you
turn your hand over too far in bowling. If the sharp point of the iron isn’t
pointed straight ahead at the follow-through, you’ll know you have failed to
keep you hand in the shake-hands position with your wrist locked.
If your foot work and arm swing are now consistent and you release the
ball the same way each time, you will understand which direction to move
for spare-shooting. I recommend using the five-board area between the
second and third arrows, even for converting spares on the opposite side
of the lane.
If you bowling ball has dots or emblem marks, you can use them to im-
prove the ball’s effectiveness against the pins. Near the end of the trip
down the lane, the dots or emblem should revolve steadily in the same
position until the ball hits the pins. If your thumb comes out of the ball at
10:00 or 11:00 (1:00 or 2:00 for left-handers), the dots or emblem should
revolve steadily at that position. Turning over the wrist at delivery causes
the thumb to come out of the ball at 6:00.
An effective ball should do three things: Skid, roll and hook. And it must
go past the arrow 15 feet down the lane and into the area between the
arrows and the head-pin about half-way before it begins to hook. Naturally,
if the ball is hooking at the arrow area, you probably will pick off the 7-pin
instead of hitting the pocket.
Now be honest with yourself in answering these questions: Did I look at
the second arrow before I started my delivery? Did I really roll the ball over
the second arrow? Did I see what the ball did after it left the second arrow
area? Where did the ball strike the pins? Did I stay at the foul line at least
until the ball hit the pins?
Be sure your body leans forward over the foul line and your head is over
your sliding foot. This will also help you keep your balance. Therefore, you
will have better control of the ball, making it so much easier to hit the spot.
Did the ball take the 5-pin when you hit the 1-3 strike pocket? The 5-pin
is the key pin. If you leave it consistently on the strike ball, your angle is
wrong. Check two things? First, the thumb after delivery; then, whether the
ball went over the arrow.
Helen Duval’s Bowling Tips
Idle Bowling Thoughts
By Chuck Pezzano
(reprinted in honor of his dedication to bowling)
