Is summer the slow season for league bowling?

[Hammer]

I know that some folks here would say that every season at this stage is slow for league bowling. To me I think it would be summer because a lot of folks go on vacations during the summer. Because of that there would be a lot of folks missing time on summer leagues and maybe there would be a lot of folks pre-bowling. I personally have never been on a summer league. Too many things to take care of around the house and summer is a good time for that. Has anyone here bowled on a summer league?

[zdawg]

Never bowled on a summer league but about to. Speaking for my team (5 mixed hndcp) only myself and my buddy are bowling this summer, and the team size for our league drops from 5 per team to 4. I think that indicates that there will be less teams, as our winter league had 22 teams of 5 per team.

[bowl1820]

I use to bowl summer leagues, but quit awhile back it got to be kind of a grind.

The summer leagues do drop down some in size. As for folks pre-bowling more in the summer, there really wasn't a lot of it no more than during the winter.

One thing about summer leagues is the shot is usually different, due to the warmer weather and they adjust the pattern accordingly. There are also fewer tournaments during summer.

It's a good time to sub on leagues people go away for a couple of weeks, that way you can keep your hand in. Good time for practice also.

[classygranny]

I usually bowl in the summer, since it's got some air conditioning at least. Truthfully, I tend to use the summer league sessions to work on a major overhaul if I want to make a change. Last summer was going from 4 step to 5 step. This summer...hummm...need to work with my coach to see what we might want to do this summer. If nothing major, it gives me a chance just to tweak some minor things as it seems so much more relaxed than the winter leagues.

[RobLV1]

I love summer leagues! This summer I'm bowling in two recreational leagues with my wife; one senior league at noon, and one open handicap league at night with a good friend of mine, who is also my coach, ball driller, and golfing partner, who also averages 240 by the way, and one individual league on a sport shot. Personally, I'm looking forward to getting away from high-average senior leagues with all of the whining, bellyaching, and general bitching about just about everything.

[Kells]

My first league ever was a summer league. It's great for new bowlers because it's usually not as intense as a fall league and it's a great way to get new gear in ball leagues. I'm doing a summer league this year to practice and fine tune my mechanics for next season.

[vdubtx]

Summer has become the slow, get my game better season. Last year I took off and got some lessons and made some tweaks. Tweaks put into action via lots and lots of practice. Then when Fall leagues started, was a better bowler because of it. I do sub once in awhile during the summer, but we take vacations etc for a few weeks and hard to pay for the few weeks we are gone when that is about 1/4 to 1/3 of the season.

I agree Kells. Summer leagues are great for beginners and new league bowlers.

[RobLV1]

Summer is a great time to work on your game, particularly if you set a clear goal for yourself. Personally, my goal for the summer is to perfect my "B game" release so that I can vary axis tilt and axis rotation at will.

vdubtx: It might be a good time for you to work on cutting down on the drift?

[tccstudent]

we have one summer league around here that is pretty big but it is unsanctioned it is a ball league where they do give away a pretty good ball the last few years was (DV8 your choice of any, Meanstreak or Meanstreak Brawler) This year is the mastermind or the genisus

All the other leagues generally are pretty small
This summer I am bowling this ball league and a PBA league

[circlecity]

I would think most leagues do slow down or are smaller in the summer. I'm bowling in 2 leagues this summer. A monday league with my daughter and a Sport Shot league. Looking forward to the sport shot.

[swingset]

In my area, summer leagues are a real challenge to fill. Not many do very well. I can't bowl weekday nights, so finding a weekend summer league is next to impossible. Bowled one last year but only 16 people total showed up for it, so we bowled a singles double/bracket deal (under cosmic lights, no less). It was fun but most years I can't find a league to bowl in, so I just practice occasionally and switch to golf and motorcycles to keep me entertained.

[Aslan]

Never bowled on a summer league but about to. Speaking for my team (5 mixed hndcp) only myself and my buddy are bowling this summer, and the team size for our league drops from 5 per team to 4. I think that indicates that there will be less teams, as our winter league had 22 teams of 5 per team.

I don't know. I think it's probably the same as winter…if your center stinks…it'll stink a little more in the summer. But if your center is strong, it'll stay strong in the summer. I guess I'll see as this season goes along, but in my Friday winter league we had 12 teams. The summer league I'm currently in has 22 teams. 5-person teams.

Now, I will say that one of the more popular centers in the area, when I inquired about their popular Thursday summer league, said they go from 5-person to 4-person in the summer. So I think that is common (as Bowl1820 mentioned).

[Jeral999ok]

I know that some folks here would say that every season at this stage is slow for league bowling. To me I think it would be summer because a lot of folks go on vacations during the summer. Because of that there would be a lot of folks missing time on summer leagues and maybe there would be a lot of folks pre-bowling. I personally have never been on a summer league. Too many things to take care of around the house and summer is a good time for that. Has anyone here bowled on a summer league?

I enjoy the summer leagues. Like TCCStudent says, with the ball league and PBA Experience League, but instead of the ball league this year, I just taking my winnings from my 2 winter leagues and buying a new ball, use it to practice in the PBA Experience League and join a sanctioned money summer league and practice 1 night also. So that's 3 weeknights of bowling and weekends for the house and yard.

Jeral

[J Anderson]

I've bowled summer leagues three times, a PBA Experience league, a 4 person mixed league, and a TBNA doubles league.

In general there are fewer leagues in the summer and the number of bowlers involved is smaller. The exception is the sport league which goes from about 16-24 fanatics in the winter to 36-48 bowlers in summer. The explanation I've heard is that in winter we bowl about the same time as a popular big money league. A number of those bowlers look at the summer league a a chance to improve their games.