10 Frames with Chris Barnes
Seattle, Wash. - 3/11/2009

1.) When did you realize that you wanted to become a professional bowler?
When I saw the arena finals in Erie PA. As a basketball player in a former life, the idea of being in an arena with thousands of screaming fans looked like the ultimate rush.
2.) What was the biggest obstacle you overcame to become a professional bowler?
Perceptions... where I belonged talent wise, where some of the other professionals did as well. Perceptions become reality and when you get over them and see things for what they are you are then free to achieve.
3.) What is your favorite childhood bowling memory?
Watching my dad Phillip Barnes (185 avg.) bowl his only 300 in a family twosome. Of course, I was bowling with my mom and he bowled with my sister Laura!
4.) Finish the sentence: "Growing up, the bowling center was my..."
Saturday mornings... I played basketball, football, baseball, and golf. So whatever sport was in season was what I did first, but bowling was year round. Also why I was a "late bloomer".
5.) Did you have a bowling role model as a kid and if so why that person?
I always loved watching Marshall Holman bowl. Intensity and emotion was never something you had to guess about with him. You never knew what was coming next, but you knew he threw it great!
6.) What is your biggest strength?
I think my versatility and ability to see the lane is probably my biggest strength. It keeps me competitive even when I bowling against someone who is doing the thing they are best at. That being said, if I had not received great coaching, I wouldn't be able to do any of it. So maybe it is the that I can receive coaching (or maybe that they were persistant and talented enough to get through to me!)
7.) What is your biggest weakness?
On the shows, it is versatility. Too many options has on occasion caused some confusion and led to poor performances.
8.) How old were you when you received your first bowling ball and how did it make you feel to have your very own?
I was 8 years old when I received my very first 10lb light blue used Galaxy 300 bought at Hgihland Crest lanes.
9.) What is your favorite bowling ball of all time?
Hard to say just one, but almost all of them have something in common.... I made the shoot for the stars in 1989 with a Columbia 300 Gold Dot. Shot 823 at the ABC's in Corpus Christi using a "Bleeder" yellow dot. Was Bowler of the Year in college using almost exclusively a C300 black U2. Won back to back sweepers at the High Roller using a gold rhino and More Importantly a Columbia 300 Beast. Won both majors and 2 Roll to Riches and now a P.O.Y. using Columbia 300. I obviously am on staff with them now, but it was an easy choice to go there when I stepped back and looked at what I had success with in the past.
Just slightly edging out the others is the Momentum by ..... Columbia 300
10.) What advice would you give to someone who aspires to become a professional bowler?
Versatility.... to sustain a high level of performance you have to be able to adapt to the ever changing environment. For now that means oil conditions, but it could be bowling balls (plastic, urethane, resin) or lane surfaces (wood, guardian, synthetics). I think the best players cross eras and that is what has made players like Walter Ray Williams Jr and Norm Duke the best of the best....