By J. Lloyd

The history of bowling dates back thousands of years. It is believed by many that a passion for hitting a bowling pin with an object actually struck humanity sometime in the Stone Age. This passion has never gone away, as evidenced by the worldwide popularity of the sport.

As man evolved, so too did the game and its trademark bowling pin design. Whereas the first pins likely were made of stone or another crude material, the pins of today have come a long way. Modern pins are precise creations typically made of wood. Each one is uniform in design specification down to the thickness of the necks and the height they stand.

The history of bowling marched forward from the Stone Age into actual royal courts. The first mention of the game in written history involves English King Edward III who, in 1366, actually banned the game to force his soldiers to focus more on their archery practice. From Edward’s court, the game moved on to the time of King Henry VIII. It was in Henry’s time the game became one enjoyed greatly by nobility.

In Colonial America, the game made an appearance and was often associated with gambling. The bowling pin count in this earlier form of the game involved nine pins, rather than the 10 of today.

The game enjoyed widespread popularity that stuck following the invention of the automatic bowling pin spotter in the 1940s. This little creation revolutionized the game and made it much easier for frames to be reset. The game has become so popular, in fact, that bowling pin set ups can now be found in almost every country in the world, with an estimated 95 million fans across the globe.

The standard bowling pin of today has come a long way, as well. Rather than stone or crude wood, a typical American bowling pin is made out of fine maple wood. This type of pin is created using a lathe to form the shape. Once this is done, the wood is coated with plastic and then covered with gloss. The idea is to create a uniform set up that is fairly standard from alley to alley.

The American bowling pin is a pretty strict creation. The standards set by the American Bowling Congress call for very stringent specifications. A standard bowling pin stands precisely 15 inches in height and is not more than 4.75 inches wide at its fattest point. They weigh in at less than four pounds a piece.

Although the standard American bowling pin is what is found in most alleys, there are other options out there in pins. The games played with them are a bit different, but they still revolve around the same concept of bowling to knock them down. Other types of pins used in bowling games include the candlepin, the duckpin and the set up for five-pins.

Bowling is a sport that has been enjoyed by people through the ages. From the days before recorded history to the modern, computerized alleys of today, the heart of the game has always involved a bowling pin in one form or fashion.

Get all the latest in bowling know how from the one and only true source at http://www.bowlingquestions.com Be sure to check our our bowling pin page.

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When you first arrive at the venue for this annual tournament you realize that this is different from any bowling tournament you have ever participated in. Everything runs like a well oiled machine.

This annual tournament runs every day from January to June each year in a different host city. The venue will usually be in a convention center, except when the tournament is held in the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. The lanes are completely assembled and installed at the tournament site.

More than 10,000 teams of bowlers will participate in a typical year, bowling a team set, singles set, and doubles set. Some of these teams bowl the same 2 days each year, in fact whole squads can be the same from year to year. Many bowlers make this an annual event, with many of them receiving longevity awards of 25 and more years.

The action starts outside the squad room where each bowler must submit each ball that he is going to use, to be weighed, balanced and checked for proper size before it can be taken to the squad room. If a ball fails any of the checks, it could be adjusted on the spot, or taken out to one of the vendors in the shopping area. If a ball does not pass, it cannot be used in tournament play.

Once in the squad room bowlers will find where their team is to sit according to the lanes they are assigned to bowl on and assemble for the announcements and introductions. Team pictures will be taken, bowlers can enter brackets and side pots if they wish.

The first time you march in a long continuous line out to the lanes to the accompaniment of music with the lights dimmed is truly a thrill you will not soon forget. Bowlers are introduced to the audience, the national anthem is played, the lights come up and practice begins. You will usually only get 2 balls per lane, so try to pick up the line quickly.

The shot will be challenging, however the oil pattern that is being used is depicted in the mezzanine area, and also on the USBC website, you should be sure to study it just to get a clue to where you will start and how you should expect the ball to react.

If you do find your line quickly, you could score well, if you do not, you may be in for some frustration. Many bowlers will average 20-30 pins lower than their typical league average, almost what you might expect from a sport league shot. However there are almost always some national honor scores rolled at this tournament. The shot is fair but challenging and everyone bowls on the same condition.

Conduct on the lanes is closely monitored with no smoking or eating allowed, and the only thing you can drink in the water that is provided. You cannot use powder anywhere in the bowling area and nothing can be applied to your shoes.

So after you finish your team event, and depending on when your singles and doubles event is scheduled, you should have time for meals and time to take advantage of local entertainment. The cities that the USBC tournament travels to enjoy a huge economic boost, and many merchants will have special deals for bowlers, be sure to keep an eye out for them.

All of the major bowling equipment manufacturers will have booths in the vendor area, this would be a good time to buy new bowling balls, shoes, bags or whatever, selection and pricing is usually outstanding.

The USBC tournament, or the ABC tournament as it was previously known has been conducted every year, except during World War 2, every year since 1901. Visit the official USBC website at bowl.com for historical information, records and much more information.

If this year will be your first USBC, good luck and enjoy the ride. If you have been there before, congratulations on another one and have a great time.

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If you suffer from shoulder pain, back pain, arm pain, wrist pain or any other pain consistently after bowling maybe you should look at your bowling ball for the cure.Ten pin bowling balls are available by weight in, 1 pound increments, from about 6 pounds up to the maximum of 16 pounds. Beginning or younger bowlers usually start with a lighter weight ball, and as their skill increases, or as they grow they move to a heavier ball. Many bowlers get to a ball weight that they feel is their maximum weight and stay there for many years.

Many mature male bowlers, I would even say most, use a 16 pound ball. For many of them this is the correct weight for them, and for just as many it is probably too heavy. Male ego being what it is prevents them from thinking of changing to a lower weight.

There is a myth among bowlers that by changing to a lighter weight ball they will not be as effective at carrying the corner pins, or they will not bowl as many strikes. At some lighter weights this may be true; however that weight is much lighter than most bowlers think. In reality a properly delivered 12 pound ball is as effective as a properly thrown 16 pound ball.

Most bowlers are not aware of the intense exertion a heavy bowling ball can put on their joints, many of them, are afraid to change to a lower weight. And they are not aware of how much less pain they will have, and how much better they may bowl, using a lower weight ball.

Using myself as an example, I have been bowling competitively in leagues and tournaments for more that forty years with an average of between 185 and 205. For most of that time I used a 16 pound ball. A few years ago I noticed that after league bowling my shoulder would hurt for a couple of days afterward, sometimes to the point that I could not perform normal household chores. Of course I bought into that myth about not being able to carry as many strikes, and having one of those aforementioned male egos, I suffered for more than a year before thinking of changing.

Then there is also the cost of changing that needs to be considered. I had about 6 or 7 bowling balls, and a couple of favorites all were 16 pounds, I toyed with the thought of buying only one lighter ball, but felt that this would not really help as I knew I would need to change balls as lane conditions dictated. I bite the bullet and bought 4 new 15 pound balls, and gave away all of my 16 pounders, even the favorites.

And what was the outcome of this experiment? My average has remained about what it was, and even a little higher, I have no more trouble with corner pins than before and still carry my share of strikes, some of my team mates would say more than my share. And I have no shoulder pain, even after a 6 or more game tournament, and to my wife’s delight I no longer get out of the household chores.

Since I changed to the lower weight a few of my team mates have also done so, one even went from 16 pounds down to 14 and he is bowling better than he ever did.

My advice, if you are experiencing pain from bowling, ditch the myth and the ego, go down at least one pound in weight and enjoy bowling more.

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By Jim Newell

There are a number of things you could work on and all of them would make a difference in your bowling scores, and therefore the enjoyment you get from the game.

However if you at the raw beginner stage, you will probably get the fastest improvement in your scores and most benefit from learning and concentrating on executing a proper controlled approach and delivery.

Many new bowlers do not know the correct number of steps they should take for their approach and delivery style, they do not know what style has the best possibility of producing the best results for them, they do not know the proper sequence, they do not have a sense of what the timing should be. Many new bowlers are very erratic in what they aim at, or do not know what to aim at. They are not aware of how their ball will react with the bowling lane. Many try to make the approach too fast, or too slow and throw the ball either too slow too fast. These errors compound to cause an approach and delivery that is not efficient at getting the ball on the lane, in a position where it has a chance to get to the pins properly.

First you need to determine how many steps you will take and where you should stand on the approach to begin. Most new bowlers should start with 4 or 5 steps, stand on the approach with your back to the pins with your heels at and on the approach side of the foul line, take 4 or 5 long casual steps away from the foul line. Now turn and face the pins, look for the set of alignment dots on the approach that are in front of you and align the toe of your right foot with the center dot, the center dot is usually a little larger than the others. From this position start a normal paced slow approach to the foul line, be sure you walk in a straight line, you want to slide to 3 or 4 inches short of the foul line with the foot opposite of your dominant hand. (if you are right handed you will slide on your left foot).

As you take your first step forward, you want to be pushing your bowling ball away from your body and letting it start to swing down, on the next step your arm swings straight back to about waist high and then starts straight forward, as you begin your slide the ball should be just approaching the level of your ankle, as the ball crosses just above the foul line , with your thumb at about the 1:00 position the ball slides off your thumb and the off your fingers. You should be aiming at the second arrow from the right gutter, if your ball crosses that arrow it should somewhat naturally angle to the strike pocket. If your ball stays right of the pocket on the next ball move your feet a board or 2 more to the right, use the same target and watch where your ball hits. If your first ball goes to the left of the head pin you want to make adjustments to the left, again only a board or 2 at a time.

As you practice this smooth controlled approach and delivery, you will find the spot to start your approach on that works best for you. Starting from a set spot each time you bowl will allow you to adjust to the lane conditions you are on, lane conditions do change.
The important part of this lesson is to stay calm and relaxed throughout the entire approach and delivery. Watch some of the better bowlers in your bowling center for visual clues. Ask to have a bowling coach work with you to fine tune your approach.

Watch this video for an expert approach.

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Many of the various bowling information sources suggest that practice will help you improve your bowling game and help you raise your bowling average. They are right, concentrated practice will improve your game.

The kicker is that bowling requires a lot of equipment in order to practice effectively. First you need a bowling lane and pins, a few bowling balls, bowling shoes, etc. Not things available in the typical home.

There is however a readily obtainable way to hone your swing mechanics, spare shooting angles, and strategies without leaving the comfort of your living room.

Enter the Nintendo Wii™, one of the newest electronic home game systems on the market and the sports pack of games that comes with it. Included are a few bowling games that can actually give immediate quality feedback for a variety of bowling skills.
Now before you get really excited, this would not be a substitute for learning the game of bowling, you will still need a real bowling alley to learn the basics.

The movements involved with the Wii controller are very close to the actual moves involved in the release of the actual bowling ball, wrist movement is very similar, in order to make a good delivery in the Wii game you have to “release” the ball at the bottom of your swing, this is identical to real bowling. In my opinion the more you play the Wii bowling game, the more smooth and accurate your swing mechanics will become, you will learn more about spare angles and how ball speed and hook affect how the ball hits the pins. These are skills that are transferable to actual bowling.
The scoring functions on the Wii game are accurate and exact, so you get the added benefit of learning how to keep score. Yes I know that most bowling centers offer computerized scoring, however there are times the computers are not working, there are also instances when they are not accurate, knowing how to keep score is still important. You can “bowl” by yourself or against up to 3 other players.

Featured in the Wii bowling suite of games is a “billiards” game that has you shooting at a 1 pin spare, then a 2 pin spare, followed by a 3 pin spare and so on, this game does make you think about spare angles, and how the ball hooks and hits the pins. Planning how you are going to make these spares is identical to the planning and ball movement in actual bowling. Also included are an obstacles game and another game that adds a row of pins to each additional frame, getting up to really ridiculous numbers, these 2 game while entertaining do not really depict real world ball movements and are not much use as training devices.

The Wii system, because the controller senses actual body movement is very popular with the younger crowd and is also becoming very popular with older people, now being used in many retirement or nursing homes as a way to keep seniors active.

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Recent statistics suggest a mean bowling average for all bowlers in the US at somewhere between 150 and 155 per game. Bowling at this level can be accomplished with converting about 50% of your spares; however most bowlers will also throw 1 or 2 strikes per game.

Raising that average to the 175 to 190 level only requires that you start throwing 3 to 4 strikes a game and convert about 60% of your spares. This could be accomplished by most recreational bowlers with practice and some instruction on picking up your spares.

Moving your average above 190 and up into the 200’s will require rolling 4-6 strikes per game and converting about 90% of your spares. If you want a game over 200 those strikes must include at least one double (2 strikes in a row).

From the above it is easy to see that can raise your average the quickest by learning to pick up a larger percentage of your spares. Of course it never hurts to have a good mix of strikes as well.

Below are some interesting facts and oddities about bowling scores.

How hard is it to throw a 300, or perfect game? It is estimated that there are 4 million plus avid bowlers in the US, if each of those bowlers, bowl an average of 20 games per year (which would be a very conservative estimate) that means that there are at least 80 million games bowled in the US each year.  In a typical year there will be between 40,000 and 50,000 perfect games bowled, according to the USBC, the official keeper of annual sanctioned game statistics. So doing a little math shows that 0.0005 to 0.0006 percent of all of the games bowled in a typical year might be a 300 game.

Is it harder to bowl an 800 series than it is to bowl a 300 game? To bowl an 800 series you have to average over 266 for your 3 games. According to USBC statistics a typical year will yield 11,000 to 15,000 800 series. So yes it is about 4 to 5 times harder to bowl an 800 series, than it is to bowl a 300 game.

If someone offers to teach or show you how to bowl 300 every time, or to average over 260, think of the above statistics, and don’t waste your time or money.

A 279 game requires 10 or 11 strikes and can be scored by bowling 11 strikes and one 9 pin count spare anywhere from the second to the ninth frame. It can also be bowled by having a 9 pin count and converting the spare in each of the 1^st and 2^nd frames and then striking all remaining shots, or by having strikes in each of the first 9 frames, a 9 count on the first ball in the tenth, converting that spare and then a strike on the last ball.

The rarest score in bowling is a 292 game, which requires 11 strikes in a row followed by a 2 count on the last ball, and has only been accomplished about 20 times.

For more information on bowling records go to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) site at http://www.bowl.com

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Bowling shoes have come a long way, at one time the only difference between the bowling shoes you rented at the bowling center and the bowling shoes you owned was that yours were not of mixed colors and they were made to be worn by right or left handed bowlers.

Bowling shoes are really specialty shoes, they are constructed specifically to perform certain functions, as well as protect the approach surface. For a right-handed bowler, the left foot is your final step toward the foul line; the left shoe is designed to slide to the foul line. The right shoe is designed to provide traction to facilitate the that starts your approach. For a left-handed bowler just reverse the above.

Just a few years ago you had very few style choices, your bowling shoes were either black or white and had a leather slide pad on the slide shoe, and no modifications to the push-off shoe.

That has changed; today there are now more manufacturers of bowling shoes, offering many new styles, and a wide price range. If you are a recreational bowler, you will benefit from having your own shoes just because you will have a consistent fit and feel. You will become used to how they slide and have a more comfortable and natural approach.

If you are bowling in a league or if you are a competitive bowler you will want a bowling shoe that offers more features. Bowling shoes made for competitive bowlers offer such “accessories” as changeable slide pads, and changeable heels on your slide shoe, this allows you to customize your shoe to exactly how you would like it to perform, or to make adjustments for changing approach conditions. The traction shoe is equipped with a positive traction toe or sole, which will promote solid consistent, push off to start your approach. One top company even offers a “shuffle” shoe style for those bowlers who tend too shuffle their approach steps. These bowling shoes are going to cost a bit more, however they will also give you years of performance.

Many bowlers will use a “slide sock” that is designed to slip over the slide pad to allow for more slide on sticky approaches, this device is especially useful on synthetic approaches.

There are also “wet socks” available to slip over your slide shoe when walking outside of the bowling approach area, this protects the slide pad from getting wet.

If your bowling shoes are ready to be replaced, or if you are looking to make a first time purchase, check with your pro shop for your choices.

For great online selection and service check the link below!

bowlingball.com offers the largest selection of bowling shoes on the Internet.

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By Jim Newell

The correctly executed bowling swing and delivery is a simple, smooth, in control, and accurate method of getting the bowling ball from you to your strike target. When done correctly, and on a trajectory that takes advantage of the current lane conditions, more strikes and hence higher scores will be the result.Most bowling swing and delivery faults are created by the bowler, some are unconscious and others are purposeful.The most egregious of the purposeful faults has to be trying to throw the bowling ball without using the thumbhole. Unless you have a physical handicap or injury that prevents you from using your thumb, there is no reason to attempt this delivery. You lose a lot of control, you have to work too hard to keep the ball and yourself balanced. It is almost impossible to cover most spares effectively, and the ball usually lacks power and energy at the point of impact with the pocket. One of the characteristics of this type of delivery is that the ball approaches the pocket at a huge angle. Contrary to popular opinion, the smaller the entry angle to the pocket, the more effective you will be at getting strikes. Younger, less accomplished bowlers who are showing off and think it looks cool attempt this style of delivery. Very few advanced bowlers ever use this technique, I can only think of one or two professional bowlers who used the no thumb delivery, and they were not superstars.One of the most common swing faults is not keeping your arm close to your body during the swing. Some bowlers will swing their arm away from the body on the back swing, which results in the extra step of trying to make a smooth forward delivery at the target during the forward swing. Often this extra step will result in a shot that is pulled across your body resulting in a backup ball or just seriously off line to the target. Another result could be hitting your leg or ankle with the ball on the forward swing, making it almost impossible to keep the ball online to the target.