The sport of bowling...is it dying?

[jermarace miller]

Easy question; there's no beating around the bush on this one. Are we "the bowlers" the venom, the poison, the virus. No I am not talking about skill level, yet more of the intelligence or the attitude the bowlers have to the game, centers, and to fellow bowlers. I do not need to provide an example to this since most have seen some type of incident (besides sandbagging) that made you think about it twice. Could we "The venom" become "The cure" to put a stop to whats aling it? This is only a question that I ask you recieve your opinion.

[F.O.X]

in order to solve a problem, one has to first admit that there is a problem. "if" there is a problem, what ways do we go about resolving it? what maybe a problem to you and i, may not be a problem to someone else. there lies the true problem. we all know the majority rules....... that is why the majority of the house conditions are the way they are. the "majority" has made the situation the way it is due to mindset and lack of understanding.

[jermarace miller]

Is it that people are blinded or just look away. So is the mindset of bowlers of "now" have decreased since the bowlers of "then"?. I truly believe that more knowledge of the sport needs to be pumped not only in the youths but the adults also. No age is beyond that of gaining more knowledge, some adults (not all) do believe that they know everthing when infact they know little.

[F.O.X]

mindset is a funny thing...it depends on "what" type of bowler you're dealing with.
one type is the once a weekend "MAYBE" twice a week 9-5 individual that comes out to "have a good time, I don't want to work hard" bowler.
type two, is the individual that is trying to better their knowledge of the game. they seek to excel at what they are doing. as my mother told me, "if you're going to do something, try to do your very best at it."
this type person, may bowl multiple times during the week, seeks instruction, reads and acquires knowledge for the task at hand. this person may even have a competitve side which will drive this person to excel more. REMEMBER, NO ONE LIKE TO LOSE, BUT IT IS PART OF ANY GAME WE MAY PARTICIPATE IN. YET, HOW WELL ONE PERFORMS, DEPENDS ON "HOW" MUCH ONE HAS PREPARED.
within these two types of bowlers , there will be "variations" of the two. the "real" problem is, which type do we have more of?
type one will be your "SCORERS", they seek maximum scores with minimal effort in their game. type two, will be your "BOWLERS". the individuals that try to improve their games through knowledge and understanding. acquiring information on the sport and their style of bowling, so that they can excel under all conditions.
yet, knowledge is a funny thing. once you acquire knowledge, NOW YOU CAN "SEE" THINGS A LITTLE DIFFERENT. you're not blinded by difficult situations, because now you know how to deal with it to some degree. you can "recognize" the difference of good and bad, easy and hard, through the things you've learned.
the question falls back again to, which type of bowler do we have and who's the majority?

[Wayne Gibson]

There is so much more knowledge out there now than there was then. Thanks to the internet and coaching clinics and more people willing to share. That is a double edged sword tho , since there is more misimformation at there also. The youth programs are better now because of the more scholership tourneys available. Attitude wise don't see near as much now as it was back then. Yes there are moments where someone may get upset and say a word or 2 that in some towns may get them in trouble. That is going to happen and I've been guilty of that when bowling terrible.

[jermarace miller]

well when I talk about attitdue I do not me the cussing, stomping, or hitting.

[Wayne Gibson]

What type of attitudes are you talking about?

[Martin "BLUFLAME" Seay]

I think that the problem is perception vs reality.

Perception: People look at bowling as it is not a sport. People go play a few games and drink a fee beers and think there is nothing to it. Reality: Bowling is as mentally demanding as physical. Try bowling 6+ games with sound form and see if something starts to get sore. There is so much to learn about the sport. It is kind of the same perception as golf.

People think its walking with a stick. Then they realize Tiger can bench 350lbs. Reality will always lose to perception.

[Chase]

Martin I agree with you. It is the perception that has everything so crazy as far as attitude.

The majority of people (especially kids) that occasionally go bowling are simply looking at bowling just like playing a bigger "GAME" to have some fun...just as if they were at Dave and Busters rolling the balls with the skee ball game. They don’t look at it like a sport at all.

I use to play tennis when I was younger... and you would never see anyone on the court playing around like you see people do in a bowling center on the lanes. I mean... kids will try almost anything on the lanes...including walking halfway down on the oil, to throwing the bowling ball with a soda in one hand...and a piece of pizza hanging out of their mouth. And if the ball goes into another lane... they are like "oh well.. hahahaha"

I mean, would you ever see someone on the 9th green of a golf course beating holes in the ground with the opposite side of their club? I would hope not.

So, it’s definitely perception. I am sure you have went bowling before…and there have been times when a group on “non-bowlers” are bowling next to youi, and they look at you in amazement that you can make the ball “curve” (as they call it…lol).… and then if you throw 3 strikes, then might ask you, "... are you a professional or something?" …lmao.


Anyway...so - is the "sport" of bowling dying? I don't know...maybe.

I know for me personally, I am learning to have more fun in THS leagues...but, at the same time, I am bowling in a PBA Experience Sports league to (hopefully) become better.... so I can compete better for next winter season in both leagues & tournaments...and also be better on tournament conditions.