2 handed bowling

[tracy]

what is your opinion of todays pba and the 2 handed bowlers that claim that it is the future of bowling? i can say to you that "i don't like (2 handed bowling) at all" . it's not like the men or women bowlers tour of the 70's , 80's and 90's. bowling back then , you could watch a bowler and learn something and they even had the average builder during the show but watching todays broadcast, i didn't learn one thing watching those two bowlers. what is your thought about the 2 handed bowlers?

[J Anderson]

what is your opinion of todays pba and the 2 handed bowlers that claim that it is the future of bowling? i can say to you that "i don't like (2 handed bowling) at all" . it's not like the men or women bowlers tour of the 70's , 80's and 90's. bowling back then , you could watch a bowler and learn something and they even had the average builder during the show but watching todays broadcast, i didn't learn one thing watching those two bowlers. what is your thought about the 2 handed bowlers?

I have to admit that I almost deleted the show after watching the first match. After Fagan lost there wasn't any one that I really wanted to watch. I did fast forward through the all two handed game. Was that a record for the lowest winning score in a final match? I can't believe that the PBA gained any fans today.
I don't care what these bowlers do in their spare time. Why not have them try to explain how they can get so many revolutions on the ball?

[onefrombills]

I do have to say that No i am not a fan of the 2 handed style as well but it has caught on and in todays "bowling" kids wanna see a big hook and with the res ya get from 2 hand is no diffrent from 2 fingers......Look at Jim Pratt he was a match short of winning a PBA title and with Plastic as well. Should we condone theses bowlers for doing something diffrent.....I dont think so I just wanna see how they throw the ball in 25-30 yrs from now.

[bowl1820]

To me two-handed bowling is a fad. It's something new and showy, it's getting a lot of buzz. So you have a lot of bowlers wondering is this something I should be doing? Am I going to get left behind and get outscored if I don't do it too?

It's like when bowling without the thumb was the new kid on the block. There was a lot of talk wondering is this something I should be doing? Am I going to get left behind and get outscored if I don't do it too?

Did everyone gone to thumb-less bowling? No.

The classic style's of bowling have shown that they can stand the test of time.

What I'd like to see a bowling show of accuracy, you know robin hood having the target moved farther away and then splitting the arrow in half.

Get Walter ray, Duke, Weber etc. out there and throw a dime on the lane at 15'-30'-40' and see who rolls the ball over it.

Get some buzz going about accuracy, not how much more power you can get on the ball.

Show how to throw a straight ball and pick up the 10 ten. So they don't have to complain how the plastic ball hooks to hard and they miss it. because all they can do is crank a ball with a lot of rev's. If they try to throw straight they are all over the place.

[The Mayor]

I don't believe 2-Handed bowling is a fad. I just believe it's a different style just like bowling with a thumb, or with no thumb. However, I do believe it's here to stay. Unlike no-thumb bowling, 2-handers have the 2nd hand to act as their "thumb." Bowlers that use 3 fingers use their thumb as the balance during the swing. No-thumb bowlers don't have this option and are generally inaccurate. However, 2-handed bowlers have that option along with the rev rate of a no-thumber.

Also, when someone is learning to bowl, what is the thing they have the most problem with? Getting the thumb right. Whether it's too big or if they can't get it out, it's a problem for everyone even up to the highest level. 2-handers will never have this problem. They will never squeeze, hang up or drop the ball due to the thumb. This is an extreme advantage.

Do I believe this will overtake one handed bowling? No. Do I think it will be around for a long time. Yes. 2-Handed bowling isn't for everyone. You have to be very athletic and have great flexibility. Look at Belmo and Osku, extremely athletic and repeat shots extremely well. They are very, very accurate and are the best of the best that 2-handed bowling has to offer. (Not to mention, Osku's backup ball is almost as good as his normal shot).

There will always be conditions where 2-handers will dominate, but others where they will struggle due to their rev rate. One handed bowling will always be the most widely used form, but 2-handed bowling will continue to grow. Those that can do it successfully have quite an advantage in certain parts of the game.

[tracy]

great replys. i also remember back in the late 70's that i would go to the library and rent a video of marshal holman doing nothing but delivering the ball to music for a whole 1 and a half hrs. the idea was to watch his timing,swing and his release. i hope i didn't give my age away saying that i used a vcr....remember them?lol. but anyways, i also beleive that it (2 handed bowling) will be around for awhile too, just like they said rap wouldn't be here for long and look at it today. until next time......good bowling to all

[richc]

All very good comments - bowling has been cyclic for many decades - soaking bowling balls in chemicals to reduce the surface hardness, the advent of urethane coverstocks, synthetic lanes surfaces, old wooden surfaces with lacquer finishes, with non-red label finishes, and with urethane finishes, new types of oil with varying degrees of viscosity, new lane machines which are computerized and can control the cleaning of a lane and the oiling pattern applied to the lane via computer chips, and new lane oiling approved procedures by USBC which directly affect the increased pace of scoring we have seen from 1993 to present time. We see extremely live flat gutters cleared for use which increases pin carry in centers using the new flat gutter system.

It is of no surprise that the 2 handed bowler has developed because the power game has become popular and readily visible on PBA Tour telecasts for the past 25-30 years. The 2 handed bowler is the evolution of the power player along with the combination of the technology in bowling balls. We are not likely anytime soon to see a reversal of manufacturing trends. Power games are here to stay in the foreseeable future.

That being stated, the talented players using direction games, up the board players with low or modest rev-rates, will continue being a a viable force in professional and top amateur level competitive bowling. There exists room for a variety of styles and applications in the game of bowling and bowlers probably should adhere to the style they think best serves there own needs, 2 handed or otherwise.

Bowling is not the only game or sport which has seen changes over the years. As example, football players are big and fast which has forced rules changes to avoid injuries at the collegiate and professional levels. The playing fields have seen changes to include grass, artificial turf and turf which requires little or no maintenance but plays like grass fields to help athletes avoid injury.

Basketball has eased the rules of the game for show and for the delight of the fans. Traditional basketball where "traveling" was called far more frequently than today is a thing of the past.

Wrestling and boxing have expanded into the Ultimate Fighting competitions now enjoying vast success on TV.

I guess we can all think of changes, whether we think of them as good or no so good,which are part of the world of sports. There will likely never be a return to old rules and forms of competition. It should, therefore, be no surprise to any fan of bowling or any other sport that changes do occur and we will continue to see sports evolve over the next tens of years.

I have been an avid sports fan for more than 50 years and enjoy watching competitions between the best at any level and in any sport. As a personal preference in bowling, however, I enjoy the traditional approach to the game. Always will. Thanks.