8
- October 2017
Helen Duval’s Bowling Tips
Call: (925-266-1972) Website: BAY. ABTBOWLING.COM
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2018 U.S. Women’s Open To Feature Select Field,
Guaranteed Prize Fund
By
ARLINGTON, Texas -
When the best female bowlers in the world hit the lanes for
the 2018 U.S. Women's Open, it will be as part of a select field, a change being
made to help celebrate the prestige of the event and mirror enhancements intro-
duced for the upcoming 2017 U.S. Open.
The 2018 U.S. Women's Open will be held June 23-30 at Boardwalk Bowl in Or-
lando, Florida, and feature a prize fund of more than $143,000, with the winner tak-
ing home $20,000 and the coveted green jacket.
The event will be the second of four majors on the 2018 Professional Women's
Bowling Association Tour schedule and will feature an invitation-only field of 108
competitors, who will be selected based on their on-lane performances during the
2017 calendar year.
"The response to the changes at the U.S. Open has been terrific, and it only made
sense to make sure the two tournaments mirror each other as closely as possible,"
United States Bowling Congress President Frank Wilkinson said. "These events are
revered for their long and challenging formats, and the competition will be even
more exciting and intense with the best of the best out there."
(Continued next column)
The operation of the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Open is a collaborative effort by
the International Bowling Campus' USBC and Bowling Proprietors' Association of
America and jointly funded by the two organizations.
Among the qualifiers will be the points leaders from the PWBA Tour and top per-
formers at a variety of USBC and international events, including the World Bowling
Tour, USBC Queens, USBC Women's Championships, Intercollegiate Singles
Championships sectional qualifiers and Junior Gold Championships.
Additional spots will be awarded to the Team USA women, Junior Team USA girls
and recent U.S. Women's Open champions. A qualifier will be held on-site prior to
the official practice session of the U.S. Women's Open and used to fill the field.
Bowlers qualifying on multiple lists will be placed on the list with the highest prior-
ity, beginning with the PWBA Tour points list.
"We definitely are excited and proud to be a part of continuing the future of the
U.S. Women's and U.S. Open, and we know the centers hosting these events are
looking forward to welcoming the best in the world and helping showcase their talent
in such a special way," said BPAA President Nancy Schenk. "The new format helps
to increase the level of competition at this prestigious tournament and makes the
U.S. Women's Open one of the most elite competitions in the world."
Competitors again will bowl 24 games of qualifying over three days, and as was
recently done at the 2017 event in Plano, Texas, the number of competition lanes
will be limited to just 24, so all bowlers will visit the same lanes and see them the
same amount of times during qualifying, with each experiencing the three phases of
the oil pattern - fresh, burn and double-burn.
Invitees will have until April 1, 2018, to accept their invitations before the spot is
offered to the next eligible competitor. Bowlers still are responsible for paying the
$400 entry fee. All unclaimed spots will be filled from the on-site qualifier.
A complete explanation of the list prioritization, and what happens if an invitee de-
clines, plus tournament rules, can be found in the tournament rules at BOWL.com/
USWomensOpen.
The location and timing of the tournament will require some additional adjustments
to the 2018 PWBA Tour schedule. Those adjustments will be announced at a later
date.
How High or Low Should I Hold the Ball
Several articles in this series have discussed holding the ball properly and where
and how to hold the ball. But these columns have not covered the extremes of ball
positioning in your stance.
Basically, there are three positions to hold your ball in your stance. They are all
acceptable and workable if you make certain adjustments during the pushaway.
The most desired position to hold the ball in the stance, as it seems everything
falls into order more simples, is with elbows close to the body to help support the
ball and your bowling forearm on your right hip with the ball slightly to the right of
center, enabling you to push the ball out and down in a straight line toward the tar-
get, not at an angle.
The pendulum swing alongside your hip will be free and easy and you won’t have
to move your hip out of the way of the ball’s path. Your non-bowling hand supports
the ball and you are comfortable and balanced. You will now be ready to push the
ball out and step together in the most important “first movement”.
Some bowlers hang the ball from their shoulders. Many people do this and have
fair results. However, I feel this position is tiring, as the dead weight of the ball will
increase the tension across the neck and shoulders. I don’t think you can last as
long or be relaxed using this position.
Your hands actually press against the sides of the ball instead of supporting it.
Supporting the ball takes the pressure off your hands and arm. From this position
you must lift the ball up as you take your first step. The lift then becomes the pendu-
lum swing. So, you see, if you don’t lift the ball when you start your approach, guess
what you do with the ball and your body? In order to bring the ball back to swing it,
you must pull it back, therefore pivoting your hips and shoulders. Of course, the ball
is now behind you and it’s really a problem to get it swinging straight. You may be
doing exactly this and wondering why you don’t have proper control of the swing.
The third option is that of holding the ball right under your chin. Now this is fine for
the bowler who wants to put a little more speed on the ball or possibly help the coor-
dination of the ball and your body to the foul line.
If you do have to or are in the habit of holding the ball high under your chin,
please don’t push the ball up and out into the pendulum swing. Just push the ball
out and down into the swing with your first step.
I definitely recommend starting with the ball in this under-the-chin position for little,
short, easy-going people. Just by starting with the ball higher you will add speed to
the ball without forcing it.
One more tip: When you practice, concentrate.
