Is bowling a dying sport? How to fix it?

[americantrotter]

I think a lot has been covered here.

But competitive balance is a fair reason. Is the sport accessible competitively for people? Meaning are the right bowlers matched up with the right leagues? More often than not, there just aren't enough fun leagues to get people into the routine of proper league bowling. The gimmicks that bring in the younger crowd are too geared to pricepoints and volumes.

Signing up for leagues is way too difficult and the commitment is way too long. It's all very intimidating for people who don't have a ready made team and who are anything but extremely outgoing.

Price, let's be honest it's epensive.

No frame of reference, the PBA just doesn't spend it's time being anything other than niche. it's happy that way. Short of some radical personality bowling isn't going mainstream via the players. It needs an industry bump. Which brings me to:

The individual alleys have to care about more than just their margins. Planning your business with all bowlers in mind instead of just which timeframe works best. (Open bowling sucks for league bowlers) (League nights suck for open bowlers) Maybe taking reservations or finding opportunities to engage bowlers waiting for lanes. Then during open bowling optimizing lanes for real practice (oil/away from the more recreational of bowlers)

Outreach and education at the local level, with clear support from the national orgs.

For example my alley is poor on so many things but it's all we got for it's type (32 lanes) in my region so I am stuck.

[Greenday]

If the "too easy" sentiment is really true for you, you're consistently in first place in your league, frequently cash out at tournaments, and are flirting with going pro.

Any of those true? I'll bet not...cause none of us are in that shape.

When you can beat everyone in the house, every time, the game is too easy.

When everyone is rolling 900's, the game is too easy.

Your issue seems to be the lane conditions are too easy for you to struggle on....but that's mindset. Who cares how easy a particular shot is? You're not competing against the lane or the scoreboard, you're competing against the other bowlers. Whether you shoot 198 on a tough pattern or 230 on a THS, you still have the beat everyone else. That means every time you miss striking or miss a spare on an "easy" pattern, you're acknowledging that the sport isn't so easy afterall....because someone else is beating you.

My league is four-person teams. Keyword is team. If the rest of my team bowls below their averages, there's little I can do to make up for that. And I don't bowl in many tournaments because there practically are no local tournaments.

Clearly your definition of easy is vastly different from mine. To me, easy = not being challenged to do well. Shooting 200+ to me is doing well. Shooting 300s every game is just plain luck. If it was just a matter of skill, pros would be shooting 300s every single game. If I can get blackout drunk and still shoot over 200 in a game, the pattern is too easy for me to practice sober. My goal is not to beat every other team. If it was scratch singles, it'd be different. But it's not. My goal, as of the past few months, is to get better. That means hitting the EXACT board every single time. That means rolling the ball the same way every single time. Now what is going to help me become a better bowler faster: a THS where I can both miss my target by a couple boards AND not roll it properly but still strike OR a sports pattern where if I miss one single board, my imperfections will be super obvious? One of those challenges me to become a better bowler. I'll let you guess which it is.

[panbanger]

I've been thinking about why I left the sport for such a long stretch. I was in a youth league from the age of about 10 to 16 (1981 to 86). Then me and a few friends re-started our high school's bowling team for a couple years, until we graduated. Then I joined an adult league.

Let me tell you, that was a rough transition. I didn't finish the league. The smoking, the drinking, it just wasnt for me. And I see that in my current league, people under 25 are a small percentage. People under 21, there are maybe 2 or 3 out of about 80 players. Maybe a focus needs to be placed not just on getting young people bowling but keeping them bowling. Something to ease that transition from jr. to "grown up" leagues.

[billf]

It's all about the marketing. One area the PBA has consistently missed with in this area is a good old fashioned rivalry. Rash and Belmo handed them a golden opportunity and the PBA squashed it (at least publicly).

As for making the patterns harder to score on: I'm all for it but the vast majority of THB (typical house bowlers) would rather brag about their pattern inflated average than actually challenge themselves. We all know these guys. They can't adjust, blame all bad games on something other than themselves and won't bowl away from the favored pattern or home center.

[2fingerroller]

So is this about league bowling or bowling as a game in general?

[billf]

In general, I think. It takes the general public to become league bowlers.

[2fingerroller]

Every alley should have a fun league where at the end you get a ball, shoes, or credit at the pro shop. It's how I got started. There's Vegas leagues where your dues cover your trip and hotel. Or trips to amusement parks.

[Greenday]

Every alley should have a fun league where at the end you get a ball, shoes, or credit at the pro shop. It's how I got started. There's Vegas leagues where your dues cover your trip and hotel. Or trips to amusement parks.

Free pizza and beer got me to join my first league. And that league was cheaper than my winter league where we get nothing.

[Judy clemons]

I remember when the bowling alleys furnished nurseries for league bowlers (at no cost) and had fenced in play grounds for the kiddos with slides & merry go rounds. the parents got to bowl with very little interruption from their children because they were playing with their friends they got to see once a week and did not have time for their parents. the food and drinks were affordable enough that you would prefer to eat at the bowling alley every week before or after you bowled (giving team members more social time to enjoy being together)and the food was
really quite good home cooked stuff not frozen pizzas etc...Yes, TIMES HAVE CHANGED, but why not get back to basics? The more things change the more they stay the same. Why not install an inside play ground area (something like McDonald"s w/games ) for 12 and under? REOPEN nurseries for the 3 & under ( for small charge ) young parents would love the opportunity to get out of the house and be able to bowl without having to worry about what to do with the children. then you would have the opportunity to get more kids involved in the
sport of bowling again (train up a child in the way they should go & when they are old they will not depart from it) because they will have grown up with it it would be a part of their life as it was mine and maybe yours. Get the teams back into matching bowling shirts it is a support and motivation for them. Lets not forget the reward patches they come with the territory
everyone wants to get appraised for achievements they accomplish pins & patches are a must in this sport from the 1st 100 score up to and including the 300 mark .

[swingset]

I remember when the bowling alleys furnished nurseries for league bowlers (at no cost) and had fenced in play grounds for the kiddos with slides & merry go rounds. the parents got to bowl with very little interruption from their children because they were playing with their friends they got to see once a week and did not have time for their parents. the food and drinks were affordable enough that you would prefer to eat at the bowling alley every week before or after you bowled (giving team members more social time to enjoy being together)and the food was
really quite good home cooked stuff not frozen pizzas etc...Yes, TIMES HAVE CHANGED, but why not get back to basics? The more things change the more they stay the same. Why not install an inside play ground area (something like McDonald"s w/games ) for 12 and under? REOPEN nurseries for the 3 & under ( for small charge ) young parents would love the opportunity to get out of the house and be able to bowl without having to worry about what to do with the children. then you would have the opportunity to get more kids involved in the
sport of bowling again (train up a child in the way they should go & when they are old they will not depart from it)

Wanna know why they don't furnish all that stuff nowadays?

One word (and it sums up how our society is turning for the worse): Liability.

The cost to insure and cover themselves from mishaps and lawsuits isn't going to be made up by league fees...let alone the build cost, payroll and such for the folks who are hired to oversee the playing kids.

That's a sad fact of today's sue-happy culture. I know, cause I deal with it from overseeing our area's recreation leagues.