I understand the concern and the discussion. But you only get one chance. Get all you can when you have a talent like that as it can't be taught. Maybe he won't be able to bowl when he's 50 or maybe he'll never have a problem his whole life.
Kidlost,
You stated you would not want that motion on your arm long term. I have no idea how old you are but are you saying if you had the natural talent this kid has at 17 you would change what you do so you could bowl league when your 60?
32 in October. Talent isn't measured in an arm swing. This young man didn't walk onto the lane and start out the gate throwing the ball this way. It was learned.
High revolutions is great. We all love having them or want to get them. Especially on THS where you can miss any where and recover. That isn't required in bowling to compete on the PBA, or in other tournaments where there are flatter patterns ect.
Any body that has been to a bowling coach, or other setup like kagel where they measure a large variety of different things including RPMS all will say the same thing. RPMS is the number that matters the least.
RPMS isn't talent. bowling is no different then any sport. There are a lot of different ways to do something. Lots of different forms, techniques ect. All can work, even when they are out of the norm compared to what is say "proper" form.
All have their different prices. Baseball and pitchers are a great example. You can do everything right and still have problems, you can be different and throw side arm or ect and quickly escalate the time frame before you start having problems because of ware and tear. ( i have seen that before, it sucks)
At 17 I'm sure it is great to throw the ball this way, and people love to watch it and say great things. It doesn't equal talent. It doesn't define your game. I've not looked to see any other video of him. I have no idea of his consistency, spare game or anything else. What I can see of his form looks great.
Just off the slow motion vid of the RPMS I noticed his arm swing. He reminds me of Tommy Jones and many others after him that throw the ball very similar with that arm motion. It has a whip motion to it, and has been described that way by many, to others trying to learn the same style.
Just a simple statement of a concern for the long term effects of that on a bowlers arm. (nothing more, nothing less)