What it do? I know we have a few bowlers (10 Pin or 5, doesn't matter.)

I'm a league bowler, bowling a 179 average, nothing special etc. High game is 269, with a 6 pack start off.

My favoured ball is my Absolute Inferno which gets me enough zip when it hits the wall.

Post your games, series' etc.

Edited because I type like a retard.

my avg. is a 199 and i bowled with a hammer super flip from like 6 years ago

high game is a 290 in which i hit the last 11....

i don't bowl anymore since my team sucked for the past 3 years and we can't smoke in the bowling alleys in jersey anymore

the end

I hope we have lots of bowlers on this forum. My high game is 267, high series is in the 650s. Though I did bowl an 802 in 9 is Fine.

I current throw a Ebonite Total NV, though I use my friends Hammer Black Widow.

Does wii bowling count?

I got 190 at Finchley Megabowl once... I was pretty hapy with that. Even got them to do me a print out of my score to take home, lol.

300 is my high game.. obv brag. Had an 800 series that day too ( man I was hot). My average topped out at 208 but I haven't bowled in a league in a few years. Got burnt out. It's like I hit this wall, were I wasn't quite good enough to hustle make serious money ( there's a lot of bowling action in the Pac NW, strangely enough, if you know where to go) but I was too good to be a social bowler, if that makes sense.

i don't know about where you are, but here they have men's leagues that are pretty competative. My hubby used to bowl in a league with the avg ranging from 175 + and they had pretty good high game and high over sidepots that meant everyone could have a chance at them. It was both social and competative and he really enjoyed it. The pots were way worth winning

well, I'm more talking about heads up games between me and another guy. That's where the real action is at. I know the movie king pin ridicules it, but there seriously are people who bet big time money on bowling. I was just never consistent enough. I had an extremely high variance in my games, so It was hard to handicap me. The key to being a good hustler is being able to A) bowl extreme consistantly.. it's not so important how high you score, but to be able to repeat that score B ) to convince people to give you a higher handicap than you deserve ( thus where the edge is created) and C) being to shoot what ever you want. YOu never what to beat a guy's ass, you want to beat him by just enough to win the money, but that's it. It's an art, really, and I wasn't good enough to practice it.



The 300 game/800 series is one of the weirdest things to happen to me. It was actually a few years before I hit my "peak" average. I just had a freakishly good after noon. I actually hit 23 strikes in a row, over the course of three games. I remember thinking in the 6th frame of the second game ( the second was my 300 game), when I had hit 12 strikes in a row, that it was such a damn shame I hadn't started off the day like that. By the 8th frame my team had stopped talking to me and by the 9th the whole league was milling around for me. The entire alley stopped during my 10 frame, everyone was watching me. It was really, really weird. The whole day, not only did I never have an open frame, I never had to pick up more than 1 pin! Not one split, not one multi pin pick up. The only pin I left all day was either the 7 or the 10. it was so, so strange. It was pretty much the only time in my competitive sports life that I was " in the zone" I felt like the bishop from caddyshack.

I got burned out as well, but a couple years ago my average was 195, my high game was 273, and my high series was 724.

I was on a league when I bowled the 724 and was going to stay in the league just so I could get the trophy for having the best series during the league. Well sure enough two weeks later a dude rolled a 726 and I quit the league the next week and haven't been back since.

The vision I have in my head of Mac is aesthetically the bowling type, but actual personality-wise, the only time I can picture you doing it is ironically or as part of a Big Lebowski-themed party or something.

when I had long hair and a beard, I once went as the dude for halloween, with the robe and flip flops, drank white russians the whole night, and got head from a girl creatively dressed as a naughty devil, whom was also large stoner, and a huge fan of the big lebowski. Perhaps this is part of my extreme love for the movie, is no other movie has given me so much, while asking so little.

I used to bowl a lot but haven't done it recently.

For you serious bowlers...do you bowl it straight, or do you spin the ball?

I kinda hope this is a joke ... but yeah ALL serious bowlers spin the ball.

two high games, 171 and 190. I was drunk both times.

I had a run last year where we were bowling once a week but I hadn't bowled for 20 years. I always equated it to being trailer trashy, but I found that I enjoyed it. Me and my friend went once a week, sometimes twice a week for 8 months straight. What made it funny was that we refused to buy shoes or a ball. I found a nice house ball, but it disappeared and we probably spent so much money on rental shoes that we coulda bought the top of the line shoes.


When my knee gets better, we might join a league, but we want to be the only two members in the whole league that use house balls and house shoes. He's good, I'm not. But that's why they have handicaps.

I bowled a 206 when I was 8. Still my high game though, haven't bowled much since I was that young.

Being a little drunk is a prereq. of bowling good. The key is to get to a nice equilibrium. I don't bowl great stone cold sober, and I bowl terrible when I'm really drunk (it's rare for me to be really drunk, however, since I am a large guy and never drink that many drinks to get that drunk). The key is getting a little drunk, a little buzzed. Not so drunk that it effects your hand/eye severely, but with a nice enough buzz that you don't get nervous or get the yips, and you can bowl a nice, relaxed, easy game. Plus, bowling is a social game, and basically a drinking game, so it's all part of the atmosphere. I think since I cut down on my drinking that it had alot to do with me quitting bowling, actually. Bowling alleys are basically really large bars, and I frankly needed to cut back on my drinking, and going to a place filled with functional alcoholics really didn't appeal to me.

fyp

PS..i remember the days before reactive resin.

lol

I APPROVE OF THIS THREAD!!!

A little bit about me and my bowling-

I've been bowling juniors competitively since 13 (I am 21 now), I've done travel leagues around my state, as well as Upper Midwest Tourneys (Minnesota Juniors Bowling Tour, 3 titles won), as well as the Junior Bowlers Tour - South West.

My ND Travel Team has won 2 state titles, I have made 4 singles state finals, been to the Jr Gold Championships 3 times (not like mens, you have to EARN your spot to this....)

Last year I averaged 210+ in 4 different leagues at 4 different alleys.

I started up North Dakota State's collegiate bowling program (ranked top 25 in country last 2 years) and we travel around the country to bowl.

I started up and coached my old high school's bowling team last year.

I'm no baller like BigD though, I only have high game 299 and series of 776 (259 259 258 lol)

Oh yes, under my bed, I have 21 bowling balls.

I've bowled for the last 17 years, and my high point was coming 3rd in the U-18's as a 16 year old at the Canadian nationals, which got me an appearance on the TSN pins game. (Canadian show)

High game is only 289, and I have a feeling the 300 will never come. High series is 754. I'm currently throwing a 15 lb. Storm Paradigm. (I know, time to upgrade) and my average is 201.

For anyone who remembers Mike Miller, I throw the ball without my thumb in it like Mike which generates a ton of hook which I thought was cool for show early on, but now it's just meh.

At least you're consistent.

I know I've bragged about my bowling in other posts, but what a great thread! I've been bowling leagues since I was 5 (I'm 26 now).

I finished this past season averaging 223, 217, and 215 in all 3 of my leagues, in 2 different houses. I've had 5 career sanctioned 300's and 2 sanctioned 800's with a high of 817 this season (279-280-258).

I might be considered to be awesome by some "non bowlers" but in reality I kind of suck. I'm competitive locally in scratch tournaments but don't win often. With technology in bowling these days, it is very easy to average over 200 on a house condition because the ball does all the work. I, like rivergirl, remember the days before reactive resin, although I was a bit too young to bowl with it competitively. I wish bowling would go back to primitive technology but that will never happen.

I also bowled on scholarship at Morehead State in Kentucky. I was on the B team but our A team made it all the way to the college finals and lost to Wichita State on the ESPN. After that, I got burnt out and basically took a year off. It helped a lot to get refreshed but other than leagues, I don't bowl too many tournaments anymore. Just an occasional one here and there. I used to bowl a couple every weekend but now I only bowl maybe 2 a month which is plenty. I'd rather play poker if there is a game going.

I'm like FARGO with the bowling ball thing. I probably have about 50 balls in the garage, basement, and closets, lol. It's sad.

Nice to see we have a strong contingent of bowlers here. Bowled my Monday trios league last night. Bowled a solid 548. Looks like I'm second for most improved by 2 pins which is sucky but meh.

Also, bowler on my little brothers team hit a 298. 12th ball was thrown about 2 boards to wide.

i avg about a 120. go me

Bowled for the first time in ages last night. Bowled a 145, 169, and a 156. Boy, am I rusty. I needed to be drunk, obv.

Suck terribly at bowling- only broke 200 one time- but I did work at a bowling alley from the age of 17-19. (Saw a 77X series and one 299 game, but never a 300 or an 800 series rolled in my 2 years working there)

Easily, without any competition, the funnest job I've ever had. All we did was sit around bullshitting, listen to the jukebox, bowl, play poker and drink. It's where I first seriously cut my teeth with cards. They would all bet on bowling, then I would take it all from them afterwards playing Stud. Our card game was pretty sick- dudes blowing paychecks, etc. I was the youngest "regular" by at least a decade in that game...

A couple times, I've seen cheap bowling alleys for sale in small Midwestern towns. I swear to god, my dream is to just liquidate all my shit, buy a small town bowling alley and spend the rest of my life sucking at bowling, eating deep fried snack bar food and beef jerky, playing video games and running a card game. I could be totally content doing that.

This will piss off bowlers but I honestly think if I practiced for maybe 6 months... I could beat most anyone at bowling.

It's like one of the easiest sports that there are actual pros doing it for a living.

I bowl. Have been bowling for almost 18 years. Used to work in a pro shop - was offered my own, but the pay was ridiculously low, so I had to say no, even though it was easily the most fun job I ever had.

Hollywood, I'm not going to get into an argument with you, but you're wrong. Maybe on a house pattern you could overpower it and neutralize a good player's edge, but if you get on a real tough pattern, a PBA pattern, I guarantee you that you could not beat an actual bowler who knows what they're doing.

That's a bold statement. You have no idea what kind of bowler I am or how long I have been bowling or the number of Pro-Am's I've actually bowled in.

Your post implied that you're not a bowler. Bowling in pro-ams doesn't mean anything. I have a cousin who average 109 that bowls in Pro-Ams.

true dat.
I bet I could beat your cousin.

LOL.. I used to bowl but haven't in years but I stand by my statement.
Easiest sport to be a pro at.

You couldn't be more wrong.

House shots are easy but the pro's are that good. I average 220+ normally in league on a house shot but am bowling a PBA Experience league this summer. In this league we bowl on the PBA oil patterns and rotate between the 5 of them every couple weeks. I am at 192 for 24 games in that league. I sub in a different house in the same type of league and am at 199 for 9. The pro's would be averaging 220-240 on these patterns.

The pros are on a whole different level. They are so accurate and versatile that it's ridiculous. They really have bowling down to a science based on equipment, hand positions, oil transition, who they are following, etc.

Even if you did nothing but bowl for a year and got the best coaching money can buy, I still don't see you coming close to winning a PBA regional, yet alone a PBA national title.

BTW, there is not much money involved in becoming a professional bowler. The prizefunds suck and the endorsements for making TV shows are just as bad.

Well..I stand by my previous statement... haven't bowled but maybe 6 times in the past 10 years.... went out yesterday and bowled 3 games: 192, 245, 210

Easiest sport to be a pro. You are correct...the money sucks.

Hambone........awesome name or stupid?

Discuss

I do agree that it's easy to become competitive and bowl scratch tournaments because of the equipment these days. You can coach a beginner up for a few months and can get them to average in the 200's easily in no time. Kind of sad really.


Worst.

Term.

Ever.

I tend to agree. Any idea how the name came about? I don't tend to associate pork products with bowling (other than pork rinds (SP?))

Do you mean at FCP or "most anyone" in general?

I prefaced my statement with the fact I knew it would piss off a few people..(bowlers) .. and to be honest...was talking out of my arse mostly with an ounce of belief. After seeing some of the replies.. I thought i would test my theory.

Now I'm very sure that my statement was correct. If I took it seriously, obtained a good coach and had the time... i could beat most anyone in the US.

Not every time.... not everyone.... most people.

I almost agree that given the time and dedication anyone could beat "most" people.

However, you're statement of it being the easiest sport to turn professional is rediculous for the reasons that Cbass has given.

The pros are pros for a reason. Most people if given the time and proper resources can train and become quite good at anything, but to turn pro is sometimes another step that most people can't take. IDK and I kind of don't care but I know that pros in any sport are way better at what they do than 99.9% of the rest of us. the other .1% are the ones that they are competing against.

What sport is easier to become a pro at?

And here we must define "sport" and DARTS isn't one.

Golf? Not a chance. No matter how good a coach and how long you practice...golf is not something that can be mastered by many.

Football? Not a chance for most... size and speed and competition without injury... low percentage.

Baseball? Too much competition and not easy to master.

Basketball? See football

Tennis? Not likely. Very physical and most people couldn't even return ONE serve at 100mph


Help me out... what sport is easier to become a pro at?

Actually I think you need to define easier. I know 100% that it was easier for Ladanian Tomlinson to become a professional football player than it would for him to be a professional bowler ... but given the time and dedication and training he could probably become quite a good bowler, but who knows maybe he doesnt' have what it takes to be a professional bowler. There are certain people that things come quite easily to them and it is known as natural talent. They need their coaches to develop this talent into something tangible and therefore they become pros. I think the main thing in each endeavor is that they all give 110% to thier particular sport. They eat, drink, and live whatever sport it is and in that I think it comes down to that dedication for every "pro" in the sports world.

You are only thinking in the terms of what is most grueling and in that you are thinking that there is nothing else that defines these other sports except the toughness of mastering it. However, I believe that there is more to it than that.

I wish that I had the resources to give you all the training and all the equipment to see if you could back up your statements. It would be a fun prop bet ... if I was a very rich person.

Dangit... good one. Didn't think of it like that.

Clarification: Bowling is the easiest sport for me to become a pro at.... or anyone who was not born with some sort of God-given size, strength and/or speed.

Do you consider fishing to be a sport? Cause it seems prety easy to ride around in a boat with a case of beer.

And why would you exclude darts? If you are including bowling, I think the inclusion of darts is a must.

Which would be harder to master.....bowling or darts?

I have a man crush on the guy (even though I have no idea what he looks like) who calls out the dart matches they show on ESPN sometimes........I love the way he says...ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY!!!!!!!!!

Awesome! lmao

Fishing has too many intangibles ... Darts.... I would listen to an argument about darts.

For the youth bowlers, they have "hambone" patches they give out when you get 2 strikes in a row. This has been out for a few years now I think.

But when they got rid of Dave Ryan on the PBA telecasts they replaced him with Rob Stone. Stone knew nothing about bowling before going into the booth and he was very fascinated about the term "turkey" for 3 strikes in a row. So he wanted a nickname for 4 strikes in a row, which is normally just called a 4-bagger. I guess he pulled the term hambone out of his ass. The pros hate it but the fans started coming in with hambone signs. He really made a mockery out of it, but if it gets fans involved and more people to like bowling, then who cares?

Pete Weber got 4 in a row on one show this year and immediately did a crotch chop and yelled "here's your hambone Rob Stone!" It was quite funny.



About the pro bowling thing, it really is hard to do. There isn't as much weight lifting and conditioning involved as in other sports like the NBA, NFL, etc, but it has it's own grueling aspects. These pros practice at least 10-15 games a day which I would dare anybody to do on their own for a few weeks in a row. Let me know how your thumb and hand feels when you are done. I say they practice "games" but in reality they just throw shots and don't keep score.

When I bowled in college, for the most part I practiced everyday. We had our own lanes on campus (6 lanes) and we could oil them anyway we liked. We also did a lot of accuracy drills where you'd set up 2 cones at the arrows (15 feet) and then another set of cones about 35-40 feet down the lane. The object is to roll the ball between both sets of cones (which are not in a straight line) without touching them. It's a very tough task for an average bowler to do but I would predict that the pros you see on TV could do this easily 8-9 times out of 10, if not a perfect 10. We were all struggling to make it through the cones a few times and we were the #2 team in the nation.

My old roommate at college is currently on his way to becoming exempt on the PBA tour. He was on the CBS show a few weeks back where there were 16 bowlers bowling for $50K, or whatever it was. I've never seen someone more dedicated to anything in life as he is to bowling. He literally practices more than anybody (even the exempt pros) and it has started to pay dividends for him. He is currently on Team USA and was the national amateur champion last year. Back in school I'm pretty sure he threw over 40 strikes in a row at one point in practice which is just plain sick.

Does your roommate do any of that outdoor bowling?

I've been seeing lot's of that on lately. That looks tricky... it usually looks windy.

what do you think is harder to do?

bowl a 300....

hit a hole in one...

I really hope you're joking.

I never knew there was such a thing as different "oil patterns". Found this link interesting.

Lane Conditions and Oil Patterns

Ya. Basic things like short patterns and long patterns allow for style variation. Did you think the bowlers just said "TURN!" it the ball did it?