Par bowling then and now

[fortheloveofbowling]

Sometimes there are discussions about the old days versus the current game of bowling in relation to scoring. I thought i would start this not to detract from any ones game but to try to define the comments we occasionally make. I've always believed that in the interest of retaining our fellow bowlers we should always encourage and congratulate them in relation to their skill level. In my league we have bowlers from 160-230 and i will congratulate the any bowler who shoots well over his average the exact same way as i would the 230 guy with a 275. I know that lower average guy is thinking that was a good game the same as the higher average guy. Do i sometimes think to myself about a guy averaging 195 that he would struggle to hit 175 30 years ago? Sure, but i'm not going to say that because i want him to be happy about his game and continue to compete and improve. I do however understand the frustration of some guys that have been around for a while in relation to scoring and the higher level of the game.

There was a book published in 1976 i believe titled PAR Bowling that ended up selling almost 1 million copies. This book was my bowling bible when i first started really getting into bowling but as our sport has evolved much of what was standard teaching then has become outdated. The definition then of par bowling was 200 and still to this day in scratch tournaments we refer to our scores as over or under compared to that number. What people need to understand and respect about the past of this sport is the fact that now par is probably 225-240 in 90%-95% of house shot leagues. In the past there have been instances when huge scores were shot. The Buds team series in 1958 that held up for decades and billy hardwick still has a pba scoring record from 40 years ago. There were plenty of honor scores in leagues then as well but not nearly the amount and a lot of times were just that one perfect night. Today we have the opportunity more often to score higher on a consistent basis. I'm not going to get into what i averaged 25-30 years ago but i threw it much better then and averaged less. A couple of examples though are my mom and aunt. My mom averaged between 185-190 throughout the 60's, 70's, into the early 80's before she retired from bowling because of a ankle injury around the age of 50 and is in her local hall of fame. She only used rubber and plastic because by the time urethane came out she didn't have the ball speed any more for those balls. But when i think back and remember her playing down and in from the 8 board with a hard rubber brunswick fireball and hitting half pocket and carving out the 10 i think damn she threw it good. In her prime today would average 215-220 easily. My aunt set a house record of 774 in a large house in the late 70's that stood up for a little over 15 years. This woman never averaged 200 in her life but had a full roller and ball motion i can't even do justice to describing. The only thing i can compare her rare ball motion with today is tom smallwood. God i would love to see her today because this lady would average 230-235.

Those 2 examples are the definition of the difference between then and now. If someone asked them about their average they might think hey that is not to bad not realizing they would get beat like a drum by these women who never had a 300-800. Bowling different era has helped me to be honest with myself about not what i bowled but how i bowled. I believe participation in not only scratch but all tournaments have been hurt because of the lack of success when people leave there home house and find that they are not as good as thought. I can assure you 80% of the time driving home i'm thinking i can't believe i shot that compared to how i threw it. Again, i do not intend to detract from any ones average or scores because if you are proud of your accomplishments that is great and i wish you continued success. I will say though that the complex bowling balls and the information that has to be learned is a challenge today that didn't factor back then.

Those ramblings are why some of the older better players will sometimes get annoyed. Also, if some players today realized that 4th arrow shot with 5 revolutions they just threw that snapped out the 10 on a half pocket shot probably would have left the 5-7 or 8-10 back then it would help their game. They might be encouraged to work on their release instead of thinking that was some power there! So when guys on here talk about easy scoring, realize they are right.

[J Anderson]

You're not the only one with these thoughts. A much younger friend of mine wears a T-shirt that reads "230 is the new 180"