Any bowlers on here - I'm really missing bowling

[Big Kahuna]

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else on here is an avid bowler? All of our alleys have been shut down for a while and we probably won't get to bowl for another 6 months. I'm missing it a lot.

I've been bowling league for 26 years and the current shutdown is really a bummer.

In my current arsenal -

Hammer Reactive Wheel (2004) - https://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/hammer/5298/wheel.html

RotoGrip DareDevil (2018) - https://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/roto-grip/13069/dare-devil.html

Radical Katana Dragon (2018) - https://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/radical/14181/katana-dragon.html

Current looking at picking up a 900 Global Volatility - https://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/900-global/15629/volatility.html

 

[Crawdad]

League bowled from 1979 to 2010. A few local tournaments here and there. Managed a pro shop for a friend of mine from '99 to '08. Fitted and drilled a few thousand balls. Not bowling any longer but I feel your pain........

73

 

[Big Kahuna]

Wow - that's awesome! I always wanted to learn more about the drilling and get my own setup for drilling in the garage but then I figured I'd just be buying new balls every month and it would cost too much

Yeah not bowling this year was weird after doing it for so long. I would bowl three times a week most weeks. I'm saving a ton of money though (Beer gets expensive when you drink as much as my team did). Maybe my liver is healthier right now.

I also miss moonlight bowling for $$$. We still have one place in the town 45min south of me that does that and it's always a good time and get to meet new people.

Here's a vid of me testing out my latest bowling balls -

And YES my shoes I own are house shoes - I got so used to a full leather sole that I hated all the higher end shoes I tried and eventually went back to the basics.

 

[Crawdad]

Nice game you have. Looks like you have a medium rev rate with about 15-16 mph avg ball speed with about 45 degrees of axis rotation and 5-10 degrees of axis tilt. All good. Were the back ends a little slick (carrydown) that day when you shot the video?

I get what your saying about shoes but you're losing a little bit of leverage on your release because of them. You'd be surprised at how much difference a sticky rubber sole on your right shoe makes. Sorry, it's the coach in me coming out after watching your video.

Drilling accurately requires a mill/drill press @ a few thousand $. Do you have any centers near you that you can go practice in? Don't want to get rusty.

73

 

[Big Kahuna]

Wow you nailed it! I’ve been trying to increase my rev rate. Going to try a 14 lb ball as I’m getting older and a little different layout on the new one. Other issue with the shoes is a recent ACL replacement. My “pro” shoes were putting more stress on the knee so it’s slippity slide for now nothing open around here, total shutdown. You can eat outside but that’s about it.

 

[Crawdad]

Big K,
Roger on the ACL, I QSL why you wouldn't want sticky. Your rev rate matches up pretty well with your ball speed. I played around with 14 lb for a while, makes you feel like superman, but I left more weak 10's on flush pocket hits, they deflect more than 15 lbs.
If I was still bowling I would have gone to 14 by now no doubt.

You're rolling the ball quite well after having that kind of surgery. Have fun.

73

 

[Big Kahuna]

Ended up ordering the 15# in the volatility. They discontinued that ball but it sounds like a monster on oil which would be helpful for me for tournaments when I normally have to slow down or decrease my angle.

Sad part will be waiting to actually use it

 

[Crawdad]

When there's Small Craft Warnings in the middle of the pattern the most important factors are ball surface, ball surface and ball surface. RG Differential / Track flare Potential matters too but only with the right surface. Low RG core designs with higher RG Diff #s rev up quicker and work a little better on oil, with the right surface texture. End of rant.

73

 

[DXman]

Hay Big Kahuna- long time bowler here!

Captured my first state championship back in 1965. I was 17 yrs old then and took the high game and high series out of 400 bowlers. My game was 279 and series was a 634.
Got two trophy's for the effort. I also have the newspaper article with my picture in it.
Oh - and the tournament was in Everett.

Since then I went on to compete in the adult leagues, which in my last year of bowling was in a 3 man scratch league. There on the last night for the 1st place trophy, I hit a 274 game and got my highest series every - 712 for 3 games. Our team got 1st place too!

I had to quit the game when I was around 35, was having a big problem with my left leg causing a lot of pain.

Some day I will show you the newspaper article when you have time.

I've had several games in the 260's also and I did end up with a 196 average at the end of the season.

 

[Big Kahuna]

DXman how did we never talk about this before? We must have been too busy talking radios all these years. I had no idea you were a state champion. Have you tried bowling again in recent years? It would be fun for us to hit riverside sometime for a couple of games. Before the shutdown I was doing the moonlight money bowling down there on Fridays.

No bowling right now so just been surfing. Went yesterday during that snowstorm!

73's

WR721

 

[DXman]

I will scan the news article and send it to you....

My bowling ball is now a permanent fixture in the wife's flower bed, last time I looked at it, there were several large cracks around it.......

 

[Big Kahuna]

Awesome I'd love to see it!

 

[DXman]

Awesome I'd love to see it!

You should have it by now.........

 

[jessejamesdallas]

Use to bowl all the time...Me and my wife bowled 2 to 3 sometimes 4 times a week in different mix leagues and at several different alley's around town...

Sadly every one of the bowling alleys we bowled at all closed within a 3 or 4 year period, and were torn down...
Buckner Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Don Carters, Jupiter Lanes , Big Town, Bronco Bowl, AMC in Irving...and I know I'm leaving a few out...

At one time I don't know where any bowling alleys were still open anywhere in the Dallas area! But they have been making a come-back, I know where 3 New ones are located, problem is they are all 30-40+ miles away from where I live on the other side of Dallas.

Haven't been bowling in so long now my ball probably has dry-rot.

 

[Slowmover]

Use to bowl all the time...Me and my wife bowled 2 to 3 sometimes 4 times a week in different mix leagues and at several different alley's around town...

Sadly every one of the bowling alleys we bowled at all closed within a 3 or 4 year period, and were torn down...
Buckner Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Don Carters, Jupiter Lanes , Big Town, Bronco Bowl, AMC in Irving...and I know I'm leaving a few out...

At one time I don't know where any bowling alleys were still open anywhere in the Dallas area! But they have been making a come-back, I know where 3 New ones are located, problem is they are all 30-40+ miles away from where I live on the other side of Dallas.

Haven't been bowling in so long now my ball probably has dry-rot.

My bowling at Preston Forest count? About once per decade I’d wander back in and wonder why am I here?

It was a nice place. Long, long gone.



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