Ted Thompson

"I have no special gift - I am only passionately curious". Albert Einstein
Some refer to John Davis (pictured) as a genius in the field of lane maintenance and bowling. Davis however will tell you the same as Einstein; it was his fervent curiosity that led him to his inventions and a successful career in the bowling industry. His curiosity is even ingrained into his company's mission statement – "we research the sport of bowling to find solutions, create products, and provide systems to enhance the sport of bowling."

When reading about USBC's recent quest to coach the two-handed style of bowling, I could not help but think back to some articles that were shared about the early days of the ABC and how the leaders of the time governed the game. In those very early times of governance, when the game was still being defined at a rapid pace, a new crop of hotshot bowlers came into vogue because some of the more ingenious players figured out how to make exotic bowling balls and use them to their advantage. Those early high tech balls were known then as 'dodo balls' and the players that used them were called 'dodo bowlers.'

There are many debates on what makes up the game of bowling on bowling forums and in bowling circles. These discussions usually revolve around scoring pace, high tech balls, blocked lanes and even styles of players. But it seems to me, everyone, including sportswriters, tournament organizers, proprietors and even the leaders of bowling are confusing the issues when the real question we need to be asking and answering is, "What is bowling supposed to be, a test or a contest?"

The playing environment of bowling today may be as complex, unpredictable and chaotic as any time in the history of the game. We're not talking about the weekly league or club game where the participants just want to have fun. We're talking about professionally maintained and controlled tournament environments where bowling sports people compete. This is the second in a series of articles that will try to shed some light on many of the variables in the current game of bowling.

The 2008 ETBF European Youth Championships at famed Tali Bowl in Helsinki Finland showed what can happen in the modern bowling environment when all parts of the scoring environment are predictable and at a high level. During the Championships, 12 of 15 girls scoring records were broken and 11 of 15 boys scoring records were broken. There were also five 300 games during the Championships. However, the closer you look and dissect the possible reasons why those records were broken and scores were achieved, the less anyone should be surprised.

The playing environment of bowling today may be as complex, unpredictable and chaotic as any time in the history of the game. We're not talking about the recreational league or club game where the participants just want to have fun and the conditions are designed as such. We're talking about professionally maintained and controlled tournament environments where bowling sports people compete.

While surfing the World Wide Web recently, I came across a March 2007 Golf Digest Feature article by golfing great Jack Nicklaus and his "state of the game" thoughts about golf.
Although many in the world of bowling may be tiring of the constant golf to bowling comparisons, while reading Nicklaus' commentary I could not help but realize the similarities and challenges the two activities have in common.

Federations, coaches and players throughout the world continually practice for WTBA championship events but are they preparing correctly?
In August of 2007, the WTBA Women’s World Championship will be held in Mexico and in this article we will try to shed some light on some of the challenges slower ball speed players face and suggest an “outside of the box” approach to prepare for the short oil conditions.

An ultramodern proprietor, Ronald Dol of Bowling Dolfijn, along with avant-garde event organizer Luc Jensen of The Netherlands, and the forward thinking European Bowling Tour (EBT) have just completed a major bowling tour event which employed lane conditions like never before, at least on purpose.

At various high level events the last five years, dual conditions have become more common. These lane patterns are categorized as long and short or could also be referred to as "inside" and "outside". The long pattern normally ranges from 42 to 44 feet in length and the short pattern ranges from 32 to 35 feet in length with both of these lengths having very similar required ball motion characteristics.