Day #2 (BOWLING): "Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you’d like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)"

Bowling.

That's right...just like The Dude.

The last time I bowled, I rolled a 176, 185, 171, and 210.  

How did I get so good you may ask?  Two main factors...Zen Buddhism and a course I took at OSU.

FACTOR 1

Let's start with the easier explaination...OSU bowling (1 credit hour in Fall 2003).

I needed one more credit hour to be a full time student that semester and keep my "good grades" scholarship of a measly $800 per semester.  But back then, that was a pretty good sum.  The class met twice a week for 2 hours per period.  We learned how to line up the arrows on the lane depending on what pins we wanted to hit, how to strike the front pin so it would have a higher probability of a stirke, and how many steps to take before releasing the ball.

If you haven't noticed, there are arrows or dots all over the bowling lane, which help you line up your roll.  Lets start with the approach. 

Approach:

Most professional bowling advocate for a 4 step approach like this:

However, I have always used a three step approach that starts on the left foot instead of the right foot. 

 It gives me a nice flamingo dance pose finish with my right foot sweeping behind my left and my right arm straight up in the air:

If you notice, my hips sway far left with the three step approach, allowing my swinging arm to flow freely (and hopefully, accurately) with the ball.  This leads us to finger grip styles.

The Grip: 

There are three main ways to hold a bowling ball, all of which I use none.

the conventional grip

If you have ever used a house ball at the bowling alley then you are familiar with the conventional grip. In this type of grip, the fingers and thumb are inserted into the bowling ball up to the second knuckle joints. Typically, it is recommended that bowlers learn this type of grip when they first start bowing because it is the easiest grip to use and it provides the most control on the ball. This grip also provides a greater feeling of security and confidence.

the fingertip grip

In the fingertip grip, the fingers are inserted into the ball only up to the first knucke joint. This increases the distance between the fingers and the thumb which gives the fingers more time in the ball. Because the fingers stay in the ball longer, more ‘lift’ is given to the ball giving it more power when it hits the pins.

The fingertip grip is harder to control than the conventional grip but gives more power when the ball hits the pins because of the spin that is imparted on the ball. More strength and control is needed when using the fingertip grip so it should not be used until a bowler has reached full control over the conventional grip.

Here is what these two grips look like from a cross-section:

the semi-fingertip grip

The semi-fingertip grip is very similar to the fingertip grip with one slight difference. The fingers are inserted into the ball so that the lip of the finger hole is halfway between the first and second knuckle. The extra bit of finger in the ball gives more feeling of security as the conventional grip while still having the power of the fingertip grip. One drawback is trying to maintain the grip so it doesn’t slip to the first knuckle.

But what does Brandon use?

An unorthodox THUMBLESS bowling grip!!!  But really, who needs thumbs?

Not this guy:

Not Apes:

Oh wait!  Oh my god!  What is he doing?  NOoooo....

Thumbless Grips force the bowler to bend the arm in order to cradle the weight of the ball in the palm instead of the fingers.  It is more comfortable for me since I have looooong arms, but the technique reduces the length of my pendulum.  

It may be less accurate at first, but damn!  It really helps me spin the ball and give it a lot of hook, which is what you need in your roll.

**Fun Fact**

Bowling lanes are oiled, but in different amounts on the lane.  That way, a bowling ball can spin and not curve at first, but then break left or right fast when it gets to the end of the lane.  "If the lane is 60 feet long from foul line to the head pin where the pocket is located, then it is important to learn that the lane oiling machines typically applies oil to the lane surface with the heaviest concentration of oil from the foul line to about 20 feet distance past the line and from approximately from about the 10th board from both edges of the lane toward the center of the lane (in most house conditions), commonly referred to as the "front-end" of the lane. 

The second twenty feet of the lane, commonly referred to as the "mid-lane", has a less concentration of applied oil to the lane surface, and the "back-end" of the lane, the final 20 feet of distance to the head pin is clean and dry with no oil applied as to allow the bowling balls to grip the surface of the lane and if the traveling bowling ball axis is tilting, the ball can hook toward the head pin and the pocket."

The Roll:

There are a bunch of arrows to consider on a bowling lane like this:

As a right handed bowler and a spinner, I like to release my ball around the 15 to 10 dot and then have it continue to pass through the 2 or 1 arrow if the lane is really dry.  If it is dry, my ball will probably break harder at the back end of the lane, so I start close to the 10 to 5.  Hopefully, my ball will behave like this:

The Strike:

If I do everything I planned to do in my footwork, swing, direction, and power, my ball should break away (turn quickly) and do this at the last second:

Notice how the ball influences the rest of the pins!!!

If the ball comes in too high (striking pin 1 right in the middle) it will cause a split.  It changes the arrows above so that the pins don't cascade properly.  The 2 and 3 pins shoot out sideways, ricochet over the wall and only clear out middle pins.

Conclusion:

There are so many other things to consider with bowling when applying these rules to bowling 2nd frames.  Remember, always clean up your frames with spares.  It's what separates the men from the boy, the women from the girls, the tops from the bottoms!~?#!$!%@  What?

 Oh no you didn'!

FACTOR 2

Being Zen About It

Like other sports that rely heavily on form and not a lot on strength like golf and archery, bowling is all in your head.  From a Buddhist perspective, this argument could be made about all reality.  But since I'm feeling like I'm about done with this blog post, we're gonna skip the long explanation.

When I set up for the roll, I stand relaxed in position to begin my swing.  I focus in on the front pin, center on the right side of the first pin, and let the ball sink just a little in my right hand, lowering it to just above the top right arch of my stomach.  I don't roll until I feel myself let good of rolling right.  So sometimes I just stand up there and breath for about ten seconds or more.  This can be an eternity for the people bowling behind me.  But forget them!  I'm cool with them taking their time.  

That's one reason why I love bowling.  Because every time I get up there on the line, I fight my desires...I feel what it's like to let life just flow through me instead of always trying to control how things go.  In Buddhism, we talk about emptiness and meditation theoretically, but this concepts are real and can be felt and experienced.  Bowling helps me become familiar with a more sublet side of myself.  Some people call it being in the zone, but I see it as letting my ego get out of the way so I can just be.

Wait what?  Monkeys have thumbs!  Shit !#$@

You're right dude...let's just roll.


PS: Everything else you ever wanted to know about how to bowl is here: http://www.bowlercentral.com/RonClifton.htm