Pressures of College Bowling

[mrbowling300]

I was speaking with someone in my league about his kid who bowls for a college on scholarship, and some of what he is telling me is so shocking. The players cannot make adjustments on their own without the coaches approval. The have to play the line that the coach tells them, even it its not the best line to score on. His kid was using a 14 pound ball, and was forced to go 15, now she is having wrist problems. If anyone complains, of course they won't get to bowl. If anyone doesn't cheer their teammates on loudly, that doesn't sit well with the coach. It sounds like a dictatorship to me, that the confidence players have in themselves gets hurt. Seems very cut throat. Has anyone else heard of this?

[J Anderson]

I completed the USBC Level 1 Coaching program last year. I realize that this does not make me an expert on coaching, especially since I haven't really put it to use. That said, much of what you have heard about this coach seems contrary to what I was taught.

One: The first concern of a coach is the safety of his or her players
Two: While you should encourage your players to root for one another, mainly by setting a good example, its counter productive to try to make them do it.
Three: The coach may have a point on determining what line his players use. A friend of mine was on a team of five 200+ average lefties. They finished at or near the bottom because each one insisted on playing his best line rather than what was best for the team. So instead of breaking down the lanes in a way that made thing easier to adjust as the night went on, they made it impossible to predict how the balls would react.

[The Mayor]

All coaches have a different way of doing things. I don't agree with the method this coach uses, but that's because bowling is unlike any other sport. Bowling really is an individual sport. Even in a team setting where you're bowling baker, it's still an individual throwing each frame. What makes a good coach is someone who can let the bowlers play to their strengths and then improve them from there. There are several programs who want their bowlers to be "cookie cutters". Certain programs want every girl wearing a Storm Gadget type wrist device. Put a Robby Revs on Kelly Kulick and she'll throw it like crap. She already throws it great so why inhibit that? There are certain times where a bowler just isn't seeing the lanes right or the coach has experience in adjustments on a certain condition or in a certain center. But to not be able to move without approval is just crazy. Sounds like he just wants all of the power and the credit. My guess though is that this team isn't winning the national championship any time soon...