What does the BEST of the BEST PRO Bowlers Lose First!!

**MICHAEL** · 06-13-2012, 01:13 AM

I some times wonder, just what would keep a good bowler from lasting into his mid 60's if he is healthY? All other sports, Track,,, Baseball,,,, Football,, even golf to degree,,, Like Tom Watson lost his ability to Putt when his game started going down hill. In bowling, What is it that starts to leave with age? I know I am a new bowler,,, Just a couple years under my belt,,, I am 63,,,, and endurance is not a problem with me, I work out, do cardio machine for 30 minutes..
good heart rate.....I bowl better now then I did back in my 20s! But to be fair, I just bowled on two leagues in the early 70s for two years!
What is it that the BEST of the Best,,,, top 20 or so bowlers lose, and at what age does it usually happen. Have their been PBA bolwers win tournaments in their 60s, 70, or even 80s?? (

**GeorgiaStroker** · 06-13-2012, 01:26 AM

Not sure about bowling but I seem to remember Muhammad Ali talking about this in boxing. He said First your reflexes go then your legs go then your friends go. We did have some some guys in our league that were well into their 70's and 80's. None of them were going to win on the PBA but they were decent bowlers. Better than me anyway. lol

**J Anderson** · 06-13-2012, 07:57 AM

My guess is that with the dozens of games they roll each week between practice and competition their joints wear out, and they become prone to repeated bouts of bursitis and tendonitis. With the pain, they cut back on their practice time, and what had been automatic becomes a challenge.

Most likely there is an unrelated mental component. It may be that with age we can no longer maintain the intense focus needed to be an elite athlete.

**billf** · 06-13-2012, 08:48 AM

Johnny Petraglia just won an event in Dayton a few weeks back. The joints and arthritis would be my guess. At some point the speed drops and with it the carry needed to hang with the young guns on a weekly basis.

**The German Shepherd** · 06-13-2012, 09:51 AM

My thoughts exactly. Petraglia does keep himself in great shape with his karate and such. I was talking to a friend of mine who used to be a touring pro, and he told me that the arthritis in the joints and loss of ability to "hit" the ball with the same authority is what did him in...

Jay

Originally Posted by billf

Johnny Petraglia just won an event in Dayton a few weeks back. The joints and arthritis would be my guess. At some point the speed drops and with it the carry needed to hang with the young guns on a weekly basis.

**TheSheibs** · 06-13-2012, 01:17 PM

My grandfather is now in his mid-90s and just starting to show since of being old. He bowled until he was 88. Reason he stopped bowling was that he started to struggle to hold the ball. His form, and focus were fine, but he couldn't grip the ball to get it down the lane with the same speed as he used to.

My league, actually a teammate, has a member who is 80 and still bowls 200+ games and doesn't have any problems throw three games.

I think that each person is different. I came across a post on another forum of a guy turning 100 and was still bowling. Granted his average dropped from in the 200s to being in the 180-200 range. But he was still bowling at that age. So I think it is something that we all will find out on our own when it is time to call it quits.