Tenpin Daycare

I promised a friend that I would make a long post about equipment advances in sports such as bowling, softball, and golf, and this was about two months ago.  Still haven't done it yet.  I've touched on the subject more than once, but still fell like I have a lot left to share for anyone who cares to read about it. It will have to wait a little more, but I'm hoping to do it within the next couple of weeks, or at least for sure when I have some down-time in Reno at the end of April.

For now, I just have a few bowling comments, as I was feeling nostalgic tonight.  Not about old Yellow Dots and Black Beauties, but rather something that was a sign of the times in more than one way: bowling alley nurseries.

My first memory of a bowling alley was being walked by my babysitter/day care provider to the bowling center's nursery, and seeing the pins in the distance. I was practically hooked on the game right then and there.

League bowling was popular enough back then, and enough women were homemakers, to make it work. The bowling alley I worked at in the early/mid-eighties had such a nursery, run by Vivian. I used the crib mattress in it once in between my college classes and league time.

As radical (laughable? ridiculous?) as it may sound today, I think the concept could work again. Perhaps bowling center proprietors would fear liability too much, but assuming that could be worked out with insurance or what have you (waivers?), I don't see why it couldn't be popular again.  Sure, not as much as it once was, nowhere near in fact, and not necessarily during weekdays. But if a couple of centers in a given Metro area offered it, I think it would have a chance, and here's why:

1) Bowling centers in states with indoor smoking bans, like Minnesota, are child-friendly now
2) Thanks in large part to #1, but other factors as well, bowling centers don't have the seedy "bowling alley" reputation of yesteryear
3) Every-other week leagues, or shorter seasons, could help remedy the big problem most people who are turned off by league bowling complain about, and that is the time commitment required

I'm sure I could think of a few more.  Perhaps my readers who are into bowling could chime in with a few as well.

Bowling Update

To date, I haven't talked too much of my bowling season, either here, Facebook, among work colleagues, etc., because it was, for a while, going horribly.  But I've averaged 228 over my last 7 weeks, raising my average to 213.

Yep, that's how bad it was going.  203 at the low point.

The changes I made started to pay dividends, spare shooting has improved, and now I'm genuinely excited for the trip to Reno because I am having some work done on my equipment.  I am also shopping for a new ball.

I have no illusion that I'll shoot for an Eagle, or even profit from the trip.  But I'd like to think my chances of cashing in some events is much better now than a few months ago.

The thing I find interesting about my equipment changes is that, for the first time since reaching adulthood, I will be narrowing my span by about a quarter inch.  I tested a ball today with a span about 3/8 inch less span than mine, and it went great.  Oddly, no loss in revs, a natural increase in speed, and a nice, effortless roll off my fingers were the results.  Not to mention 8 strikes in 12 shots starting cold.

It's sad that I've been self-taught so many years.  Had I sought the advice of a pro (and this goes for golf, too), I probably would have discovered long ago that a wider span does not necessarily equate to a better, more powerful roll. Yes, to some degree, as compared to a conventional grip, it does.  But there is a point of diminishing returns where one has to start squeezing more and work harder for no better results.

At nearly 47 years of age, I'm glad to know that I can still learn (quite) a few things.  But it's embarrassing some of the things that I should have learned long ago.  And it's a bit upsetting to think that stubbornness and/or whatever else causes me to always want to be self-taught has cost me several years of better results, and the enjoyment that comes with them.