Do you remember what bowling was like before you had a clue what you were doing?

[jaypeesmith]

I was thinking the other day about what a difference a year makes. Actually, less than a year for me. Outside of strike, spare, split and gutterball, I had no idea about most bowling terms. I didn't know about coverstocks, cores or weight blocks. I just thought that you buy a heavy ball, throw it as fast and as hard as you can and knock down pins.
Heck, I didn't even know why people would own more than one ball.

Now, several months and several balls later, I look back and laugh. It's a cool journey so far.

Anybody else here go from being the occassional "house ball" bowler to being an avid bowler? If so, what do you remember about you life before becoming a "real" bowler?

[GrumpyCatFace]

I’ve been on the same journey since November. I can’t believe how much my knowledge of the game has increased.

I signed up for a league on a whim, and threw my back out in the first three shots. But I’m no quitter, and came back the next week. Now I’m on my second ball, and my average is nearing respectable levels.

I started out throwing a house ball straight at the middle of the rack. :)

[Phonetek]

Since Jan when I joined here to now I've learned more about bowling than I knew my entire life. Part because of this board and the obvious which was getting a job at a bowling center. I learned a ton about the pinsetters and lanes themselves of course. USBC, rules, ball specs and all the things like rev rate, pap, axis tilt, flare and a 100 other things that I said months ago would never matter but now do.

I've also learned about the business end of things and how to run one. Now also being part of designing a new center from the ground up and eventually running it. Not to mention all the people here that I enjoy seeing the next thing they have to talk about or comments to my posts. Plus I'm told I make a killer Bloody Mary. My life has changed 1000% these past 8 months for the better and I owe it all to one thing. Friends that came in from out of town trying to figure out something to do on a cold January day and one of us said. "Hey, how about if we go bowling?" Bowling IS my life and not just the game and I couldn't be happier.

[djp1080]

JP, I've bowled in leagues from the time I was a youngster. Stopped bowling for 30 years and got back into it about 8 years ago.
Yes, a nice 16 pound black ball, throw it hard, squeeze it till it hurt and fire it down the alley with as many revs as you can and knock the heck out of those pins.
Just one ball and never use tape. Clean it in one of those machines at the alleys if it looked bad.
Studied electrical engineering in college and helped folks make their machines work better than ever before using motion control equipment. Sized up motors to match their mechanics and performance. So a lot of these technical specifications on bowling balls make some sense to me as I dealt with inertia and friction, radius of gyration, etc. :)
I've taken my knowledge to another level in bowling and have learned a lot over these past few years. It's been fun and still learning. It's just as good a hobby as I've ever had.
Am I a real bowler? Don't know about that. I just do it and do my best each and every time I show up for league... :)
Good luck...

[J Anderson]

Am I a real bowler? Don't know about that. I just do it and do my best each and every time I show up for league... :)
..

Sounds like my definition of a real bowler.

[boatman37]

I have been bowling in leagues since 5th grade except for a 16 year break from 2002 to 2018 due to an injury. During that time I really didn't bowl at all, either for fun or league. I really don't remember ever using a house ball except for the few times I went in that 16 year span. Pretty much my whole bowling life has been leagues and always had my own equipment.

[Albundy]

Me too! Since November. My average has gone from 185 to205 in less than a year with some real professional lessons and having another strike ball at my disposal for the first time. I bowled at a different center in the fall and used a different ball. I did pretty good before but now I know sometimes it wasn't me it was my ball that was causing me to struggle. I found when my back swing got too high it drifted to the right. I lowered that and have been throwing more with my legs. Also learned how to shoot spares properly and practiced it.

[JasonNJ]

There are days I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. =P

[Eddy]

There are days I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. =P

I know that feeling well.

[JerseyJim]

I started bowling when you had one ball. My first ball was a Brunswick Black Diamond (hard rubber). It has been a long journey since then.

[Eddy]

My first ball was back in '73 when a lot of casual bowlers had their balls drilled by a sporting goods employee at the local department store. Ah, good memories with my Dick Weber rubber ball.

[Phonetek]

My first ball was back in '73 when a lot of casual bowlers had their balls drilled by a sporting goods employee at the local department store. Ah, good memories with my Dick Weber rubber ball.

Correct me if I'm wrong but when I was a kid I think I remember seeing bowling balls sold at Kmart? I don't know if they drilled them or not. Maybe only during the "blue light specials"

[Florida Bowler]

Correct me if I'm wrong but when I was a kid I think I remember seeing bowling balls sold at Kmart? I don't know if they drilled them or not. Maybe only during the "blue light specials"

I remember that as well. They had the measuring ball with all of the holes in it, so I'm pretty sure they drilled it also.

[boatman37]

My first ball was a Brunswick Yellow Dot. It was a blue swirl type pattern. Pretty sure it came from K-Mart (or some other department store) and think they drilled it too. I was about 10 and threw a straight ball so didn't really matter. This would have been about 1979ish.

[jaypeesmith]

Correct me if I'm wrong but when I was a kid I think I remember seeing bowling balls sold at Kmart? I don't know if they drilled them or not. Maybe only during the "blue light specials"

Apparently so...


https://s8.postimg.cc/w1rm47xhh/kmart_bowling.png

[Phonetek]

Apparently so...


https://s8.postimg.cc/w1rm47xhh/kmart_bowling.png

prices like that would be nice.