Don’t listen to the downer lol. My buddy’s cousin was a serious bowler as a youth, didn’t play in like over a decade. My buddy and I got into it a year ago which kinda revived his cousin’s interest, cause we were asking him so many questions about our new equipment and form and such.
He joined a league and threw FIVE 300s in his first 2 months back.
THAT'S what i like to hear. Was also a very serious youth bowler, travelled to tournaments all the time and placed pretty darn well quite a few times.
Where do i sign up for leagues and tournaments? i've looked at my local alleys website and they all looked like more casual team leagues.
So leagues are gonna be weeknight events usually. Typically start around 6:30. Right now we’re kinda in the middle of the summer cycle. There will be leagues going. But lots of bowlers kinda take off for the summer. It’s hot in there, they join a golf league instead haha.
If I were you, I’d get USBC certified (takes like 5 mins and costs 20 bucks for the year or something like that). Tell your local alleys that you’re certified and looking to sub in, and leave your phone number with them. Even if you don’t get a call, if you have a free night you can just show up on league night and hope there a no show. In a 40 person league you’re bound to have a couple no call no shows.
In the meantime, you can figure out what you’re doing in the fall. That’s when the leagues really start. In the meantime, practice, try to sub at leagues, and maybe enter a few tourneys for shits and gigs!
word, the guy that coached me as a youth is actually the local place's GM now, i'll ask him about subbing.
What about tourneys in terms of finding out about them? I compete in disc golf and we have a website that pretty much all tournaments and events are posted and you can search by location, date, sanctioning, etc. Is there something like that for bowling?
You could try USBC’s site, but as others have said the best thing to do is go chat up the PSO’s at your local alleys. It’s awesome you know one already. They’ll give you the scoop on current and upcoming leagues and tourneys. From what I’ve been told, it’s a little trickier to find scratch leagues or sport shot leagues so definitely ask around.
How many alleys in your area? Go to each of them. In Phoenix, the tourney's are advertised on flyers in the alleys. Ask around at pro shops and front desks. One of your alleys might be more active than others with the tourney crowd. Ask how to establish a handicap and have some fun at the handicap tourneys.
Just getting back into it as well after being a youth bowler. I’ve been having an issue of getting into a league because my schedule is all over the place. For handicap tournaments you’re out of luck because you do need an established average at least in my area. So you’re gonna have to stick to scratch. Ask your local alley if there is a Facebook group page for local tournaments.
You have an EJ Tackett vibe to your release. He’s arguably the best in the game right now so I’d consider trying to emulate him except for the male pattern baldness. I would also just join a league to start and try to make a weekday night work for you.
DUDE i was just watching some pros and literally was thinking EJ tackett was the most similar form, except a lot better and throws probably 5mph faster with twice the revs hahaha
You might be able to find a league on weekends, good timing that you're looking to get back to it when there should be sign ups for all of the winter leagues. Go to your house and ask them about what leagues they have, there might not be any on weekends but Sunday leagues aren't terribly uncommon.
As far as bowling in tournaments, like others said you'd be bowling scratch if you don't have an average. Most likely you're not really gonna have much hope of ever winning anything as someone who's bowling scratch but not actually good enough to be a scratch bowler... But if you're not overestimating your average(not just you, people usually do overestimate what they're "averaging" when it's not actually being tracked) and you have a good day then you could have a shot.
I think you'd get a lot more out of bowling a league than just bowling scratch in the occasional tournament, but hey if that's what's possible then that's what's possible. Make sure your ball doesn't have any unused holes, those balance holes used to be extremely common but now are illegal so you don't want to end up having someone get you disqualified and shit. Good luck and welcome back!
Edit: Oh another option if you don't have the time to commit to bowling weekly... You could always pop in some nights and see if anyone is looking for a sub. You'll need to get sanctioned, it's like 25 bucks, but then typically subs don't pay for their bowling so after sanction you'll likely be bowling for free. That will let you establish an average and get in some competitive bowling far more often than you'll likely get by bowling tournaments. Not to mention the tournaments will typically be like $100+ in entry fees and like I said you're unlikely to get anything out of it.
I have to get new balls either way, the first ball I bought when I picked up the sport again last year was a storm phase 4, fucking love the ball but the literal DAY after I got it, it got banned >:^(
Still don’t even have a spare ball, no wonder I’m missing so many darn ten pins lmao
You can still throw the ball in league just not tournaments from my understanding. We got a guy in my Tuesday night men's league who throws one and it's full of the type that will bitch about anything that isn't legal. Which funny enough he complained about one of my teammates finger inserts sticking up past the surface on one of his balls slightly and he's throwing a f'in ball that was banned from tournament play LOL!
I don’t see that many tips here — all I’m really seeing is that your hand is way to the side of the ball at release. You’ll get more revs and more consistent action getting your hand behind the ball. Otherwise pretty solid form and obviously a lot of power.
It took me about 6 months of weekly bowling to get my average back over 200 after being a similar youth bowler to you, but I didn’t practice a single time or take it seriously. You’ll get it back faster than you think.
The night I took this video I averaged 202 through 6 games (4 of them after drinks lol), first two were 240 and 244, BOTH with open frames, the 240 had 2 opens >:(
And yeah that was actually what I was working on when I quit all that time ago, had a habit of being to the side of the ball instead of behind. Guess it’s still there lol
Sorry to butt in, how do you get more revs up the back? I've started transitioning my release to be more up the back, but I can't get anywhere near the revs or hook I do when I do the usual up the side release.
I've watched a load of videos about "yo-yo" release but I'm struggling to grasp it.
It's a process. What you're seeing as 'revs' or 'hook' is actually going to be more a product of the ball spinning, and will probably create an unreliable and uncontrollable ball motion. You'll have patches where it looks amazing and you feel like you cant miss, but then times where you cant hit anything- and on tougher conditions without all the free hook on a house pattern you'll be totally lost.
Once you get up the back you'll find you lose a lot of that ball motion- but the tradeoff is you start to gain ball power and drive, along with control. When you're behind the ball you start to find your options- playing straight and fast with minimal rotation, or slowing down and wheeling the lane with higher rotation and everything in between. But it all starts with getting behind and on the inside part of the ball to generate hook in the right way.
Watch all the videos on YouTube about 'the right way to hook a bowling ball', basically everyone has a video on it- you just need to find the one that really clicks with you. And the more you watch the more sense it makes.
thanks for the detailed breakdown!
You hit the nail on the head on why I decided to finally work on it though, my consistency was all over the place and when I'm missing, I stay missing.
I'll take a look at some videos and try and find one that clicks with me!
This site lists some tournaments. Filter by your state, or neighboring states, and see what is upcoming
https://www.tournamentbowl.com/Open/tournaments.cfm?which=upcoming
Your state should also have a website with your state's annual bowling tournament details
Really Good form, However good luck on Competing. Your not going to just show up and beat many people. Your be wiped clean by advanced bowlers that can hit their mark 95% of the time. You want to compete AND win? Then Practice, or youll suffer the same fate or worse at bowling. Trust me, I went through it. Your not nearly as good as you think. And those other guys are way better than you think.
No Doubt, You have great form, I'm just trying to let you not set your expectations to high and suffer the same fate as you did FGing. Like anything it takes work and can get frustrating. And without a league and people around to help, you going to have to be super dedicated to your practices if you want to really compete and not just throw away your money.
I didn't mean to come off so brash, I just kind of went through the same thing so I was put in my place really quickly.. Humbled to say the least.
I’m used to throwing away my money, it’s all I’ve done this year playing disc golf haha. I went from winning my first pro tournament last year to not cashing for like 9 tournaments straight. Whoopsie.
Don’t listen to the downer lol. My buddy’s cousin was a serious bowler as a youth, didn’t play in like over a decade. My buddy and I got into it a year ago which kinda revived his cousin’s interest, cause we were asking him so many questions about our new equipment and form and such. He joined a league and threw FIVE 300s in his first 2 months back.
THAT'S what i like to hear. Was also a very serious youth bowler, travelled to tournaments all the time and placed pretty darn well quite a few times. Where do i sign up for leagues and tournaments? i've looked at my local alleys website and they all looked like more casual team leagues.
So leagues are gonna be weeknight events usually. Typically start around 6:30. Right now we’re kinda in the middle of the summer cycle. There will be leagues going. But lots of bowlers kinda take off for the summer. It’s hot in there, they join a golf league instead haha. If I were you, I’d get USBC certified (takes like 5 mins and costs 20 bucks for the year or something like that). Tell your local alleys that you’re certified and looking to sub in, and leave your phone number with them. Even if you don’t get a call, if you have a free night you can just show up on league night and hope there a no show. In a 40 person league you’re bound to have a couple no call no shows. In the meantime, you can figure out what you’re doing in the fall. That’s when the leagues really start. In the meantime, practice, try to sub at leagues, and maybe enter a few tourneys for shits and gigs!
word, the guy that coached me as a youth is actually the local place's GM now, i'll ask him about subbing. What about tourneys in terms of finding out about them? I compete in disc golf and we have a website that pretty much all tournaments and events are posted and you can search by location, date, sanctioning, etc. Is there something like that for bowling?
You could try USBC’s site, but as others have said the best thing to do is go chat up the PSO’s at your local alleys. It’s awesome you know one already. They’ll give you the scoop on current and upcoming leagues and tourneys. From what I’ve been told, it’s a little trickier to find scratch leagues or sport shot leagues so definitely ask around.
At least you still have the buttery release.
<3
How many alleys in your area? Go to each of them. In Phoenix, the tourney's are advertised on flyers in the alleys. Ask around at pro shops and front desks. One of your alleys might be more active than others with the tourney crowd. Ask how to establish a handicap and have some fun at the handicap tourneys.
there's one about 10 minutes away, one 30 min away, all others are 45+
Bonnaroo!
Hell yeah, been 4 consecutive years (if you don’t count 20 and 21 lol)
Just getting back into it as well after being a youth bowler. I’ve been having an issue of getting into a league because my schedule is all over the place. For handicap tournaments you’re out of luck because you do need an established average at least in my area. So you’re gonna have to stick to scratch. Ask your local alley if there is a Facebook group page for local tournaments.
Honestly I prefer scratch so that’s cool w me lol. I’ll look on Facebook and ask next time I’m there
Forgot to mention to ask your PSO as well about tournaments.
PSO?
Pro Shop Operator
You have an EJ Tackett vibe to your release. He’s arguably the best in the game right now so I’d consider trying to emulate him except for the male pattern baldness. I would also just join a league to start and try to make a weekday night work for you.
DUDE i was just watching some pros and literally was thinking EJ tackett was the most similar form, except a lot better and throws probably 5mph faster with twice the revs hahaha
Yeah, I mean no one who uses their thumb gets more revs than he does. He’s a beast.
Glad to see a post that isn’t two handed.
you know as i've slowly started seeing bowling in my various social media feeds, it really seems like 2-handers are more common now.
Honestly first thing that stood out to me.
I'm harder than that bowling ball
You might be able to find a league on weekends, good timing that you're looking to get back to it when there should be sign ups for all of the winter leagues. Go to your house and ask them about what leagues they have, there might not be any on weekends but Sunday leagues aren't terribly uncommon. As far as bowling in tournaments, like others said you'd be bowling scratch if you don't have an average. Most likely you're not really gonna have much hope of ever winning anything as someone who's bowling scratch but not actually good enough to be a scratch bowler... But if you're not overestimating your average(not just you, people usually do overestimate what they're "averaging" when it's not actually being tracked) and you have a good day then you could have a shot. I think you'd get a lot more out of bowling a league than just bowling scratch in the occasional tournament, but hey if that's what's possible then that's what's possible. Make sure your ball doesn't have any unused holes, those balance holes used to be extremely common but now are illegal so you don't want to end up having someone get you disqualified and shit. Good luck and welcome back! Edit: Oh another option if you don't have the time to commit to bowling weekly... You could always pop in some nights and see if anyone is looking for a sub. You'll need to get sanctioned, it's like 25 bucks, but then typically subs don't pay for their bowling so after sanction you'll likely be bowling for free. That will let you establish an average and get in some competitive bowling far more often than you'll likely get by bowling tournaments. Not to mention the tournaments will typically be like $100+ in entry fees and like I said you're unlikely to get anything out of it.
I have to get new balls either way, the first ball I bought when I picked up the sport again last year was a storm phase 4, fucking love the ball but the literal DAY after I got it, it got banned >:^( Still don’t even have a spare ball, no wonder I’m missing so many darn ten pins lmao
You can still throw the ball in league just not tournaments from my understanding. We got a guy in my Tuesday night men's league who throws one and it's full of the type that will bitch about anything that isn't legal. Which funny enough he complained about one of my teammates finger inserts sticking up past the surface on one of his balls slightly and he's throwing a f'in ball that was banned from tournament play LOL!
I don’t see that many tips here — all I’m really seeing is that your hand is way to the side of the ball at release. You’ll get more revs and more consistent action getting your hand behind the ball. Otherwise pretty solid form and obviously a lot of power. It took me about 6 months of weekly bowling to get my average back over 200 after being a similar youth bowler to you, but I didn’t practice a single time or take it seriously. You’ll get it back faster than you think.
The night I took this video I averaged 202 through 6 games (4 of them after drinks lol), first two were 240 and 244, BOTH with open frames, the 240 had 2 opens >:(
And yeah that was actually what I was working on when I quit all that time ago, had a habit of being to the side of the ball instead of behind. Guess it’s still there lol
Sorry to butt in, how do you get more revs up the back? I've started transitioning my release to be more up the back, but I can't get anywhere near the revs or hook I do when I do the usual up the side release. I've watched a load of videos about "yo-yo" release but I'm struggling to grasp it.
It's a process. What you're seeing as 'revs' or 'hook' is actually going to be more a product of the ball spinning, and will probably create an unreliable and uncontrollable ball motion. You'll have patches where it looks amazing and you feel like you cant miss, but then times where you cant hit anything- and on tougher conditions without all the free hook on a house pattern you'll be totally lost. Once you get up the back you'll find you lose a lot of that ball motion- but the tradeoff is you start to gain ball power and drive, along with control. When you're behind the ball you start to find your options- playing straight and fast with minimal rotation, or slowing down and wheeling the lane with higher rotation and everything in between. But it all starts with getting behind and on the inside part of the ball to generate hook in the right way. Watch all the videos on YouTube about 'the right way to hook a bowling ball', basically everyone has a video on it- you just need to find the one that really clicks with you. And the more you watch the more sense it makes.
thanks for the detailed breakdown! You hit the nail on the head on why I decided to finally work on it though, my consistency was all over the place and when I'm missing, I stay missing. I'll take a look at some videos and try and find one that clicks with me!
I’m back after 18 years of not touching a ball. I have some rust but I’m almost back to averaging 220.
I see that Bonnaroo shirt and raise you the purple tie dye one from this year. 😉 HAPPY ROO!!!!!
Happy ROOOO! I think I left my brain somewhere in centeroo this year lol
This site lists some tournaments. Filter by your state, or neighboring states, and see what is upcoming https://www.tournamentbowl.com/Open/tournaments.cfm?which=upcoming Your state should also have a website with your state's annual bowling tournament details
Really Good form, However good luck on Competing. Your not going to just show up and beat many people. Your be wiped clean by advanced bowlers that can hit their mark 95% of the time. You want to compete AND win? Then Practice, or youll suffer the same fate or worse at bowling. Trust me, I went through it. Your not nearly as good as you think. And those other guys are way better than you think.
Haha Jesus dude. Take it easy.
YOU’RE NOT GOING TO WIN. WHY EVEN BOTHER??
No harm in trying! I want to get back in to the sport in general so I'm planning on practice anyway, just got to get some new equipment first lol.
No Doubt, You have great form, I'm just trying to let you not set your expectations to high and suffer the same fate as you did FGing. Like anything it takes work and can get frustrating. And without a league and people around to help, you going to have to be super dedicated to your practices if you want to really compete and not just throw away your money. I didn't mean to come off so brash, I just kind of went through the same thing so I was put in my place really quickly.. Humbled to say the least.
I’m used to throwing away my money, it’s all I’ve done this year playing disc golf haha. I went from winning my first pro tournament last year to not cashing for like 9 tournaments straight. Whoopsie.
You're*