Question regarding pro shop training

[billf]

I have been considering taking my vacation next year and attending a 5 day pro shop training and certification class through power house. My big question is this; will I learn enough to actually properly layout and drill balls or will I just learn enough to be dangerous? I'm smart enough to know that certified doesn't always mean qualified. I know there is math involved but math, geometry, trigonometry and physics have always come easy for me.

[DanielMareina]

You will be trained well enough to know what you are doing. They do a great job out there. I haven't been myself, but I know a few that have. You will learn everything from measuring someone's hand to layouts and why you use them. If you have the time and money, it will help your bowling a lot. I attribute about 15 pins of my average to knowing why each ball does what it does. It took learning how to drill balls to get that knowledge. I will say, most of the knowledge you will get is from actually drilling balls though. You need to be trained on how to do everything, but as you drill balls for people, you will learn a ton more that they can't teach in the class room. Worst case scenario, you learn a bunch of new info, and have a new life experience. I say go for it Bill.

[eugene02]

a good experience if you are free! why not? if they have it in my country I would go..

[billf]

Thank you Dan. i would just hate to spend the money, drill somebody's ball and screw it all up.

[DanielMareina]

Mistakes will happen. No getting aroung that, but with the right knowledge, you won't have many. I have drilled two balls that were not manufactured correctly, but both were replaced for free. If you mess up on a thumb hole, you just have to put another slug in. It costs $2.75 and takes an extra 15 minutes. No biggie.
I used one ball, and drilled it 10 times all over the ball just to practice. I also plugged and redrilled 9 of my own balls with different pitches to know what each difference would feel like. While doing that, I found out that my pitches were drilled wrong for years. I used to rub my thumb a bunch, and when I was drilling my own stuff I realized I just needed a lot of away pitch. After all that practice, I started drilling balls for customers. Most balls you drill will be plastic, so layouts are not important. People's first reactive ball will be safe layouts, and they won't know if their span is slightly shorter than it should be. Not that you want to not do it perfect, but 80% of people won't know if you make small mistakes. The hard part is matching someone's old ball to a brand new one, and that just takes practice. If you do make a big mistake on someone's ball, just drill another one for them. Take the one you botched, plug it, and sell it for what you paid for it. That way you only lose the cost of a little plug, and your time. Trust me, the 16 to 25 year olds will jump at the chance for a Premeir line ball for $135 instead of $260. Even if it has been drilled once. If you are careful, talk to your customers about what they want, and measure twice cut once, you will be fine.

[billf]

Thank you for not just the encouragement but also for taking the time.

[DanielMareina]

You are more than welcome. If you take the training, and have any questions, I will be glad to help any way I can.

[J Anderson]

measure twice cut once, you will be fine.

Or Measure once and curse twice

[straight1]

Bill,
First, thanks for the great advice regarding my son't future in collegiate bowling. I appreciated it.

Formal training is the way to go if you plan on keeping customers. You will hurt people if you don't know what you're doing. The main thing is learning how to fit a hand properly and giving the purchasers of high performance bowling equipment the proper layout to give them the ball motion they are looking for. Proper surface is also very important. I've been managing my own pro shop for almost 5 years now. I can share some very basic information with you if you like. Email me at mogavero@npgcable.com if you would like to learn some basic fitting and layout information. Nothing huge, that takes hands on teaching in a pro shop setting. You gave me some great advice, just trying to return the favor.

Chuck

[e11lt334]

I just started bowling again 2 years ago after being away from it for 30 years. A lot had changed over those 30 years in regards to bowling. I had a hard time grasping much of the changes in the technology, lane and bowling ball construction, layout, core dynamics, etc. So I took the 5 day course last year at PowerHouse in Hopkinsville, KY and it helped me greatly. My avg. has jumped from the 160's when I started again to 202 at present. I understand alot more than I did before I went and learned how to layout bowling balls, etc. (You get 2 balls as part of the class and layout and drill them yourself). Plus you help with layouts and measuring your classmates too. I took the class to get an understanding of the changes in bowling over the years I was away from it. But I feel you do learn how to layout and drill balls, pitches, ovals, etc. Someone that never has done it might some mistakes at first but the more you do it the better you will get at drilling balls. I thought it was a very good class.