People are more likely to bowl if they have fun while they're doing it.  People who bowl well have more fun.  In order to bowl well they need coaching.  

Running a bowling center without a coach is like running a fishing charter boat without teaching the novices how to fish.  Sure you'll get the old pros who already know how to fish, but you'll never get any repeat businesss from your new customers because they won't have any fun if they aren't catching any fish.

If I ran a bowling center I'd have a pro prowling the place offering basic advice to recreational bowlers.  I'd also have several dozen finger tip drilled balls in various sizes available for the pro to use while giving the "free" basic lessons.

Hopefully this would lead to more sales for the pro shop, more interest in the leagues, and ultimately more business for the center.

The main center I bowl at has a summer "league" called "Bowling U".  For $12 you get lessons from a gold certified coach, three hours of bowling, and a pass for 3 games of free bowling for you and a friend to use sometime later in the week.  The pro really helps the bowlers get better, but also encourages the participants to sign up for a fall league.  I signed me and the wife up for it and now she's really looking forward to joining a league with me.

That's just smart marketing.



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(formerly leftyinhawaii)

Having a pro shop, experienced player or even a (certified!) coach in the house rises experience quality and creates an aura of seriousness about the house.

But it can be a ambiguous thing. I have two bowling houses in my area that both fit into that picture, but they could not be more different.

House A is a rather old house with 24 lanes, but:
- owned an run by the current vice amateur bowling world champion
- home of a very big and high level bowling club
- has a pro shop home base with branches in 4 other houses which is run by a Brunswick amateur staffer who knows his trade (also high level player).
- has a bowling school which is run by another amateur player of international format

This is as professional as it can get in Germany, and all the players I got to know there who have international format are very helpful, open for questions.

The other example, house B, is a much more modern, 2 story 28 lane house that does not care for sport bowling at all, it is rather a discotheque with lanes.
They also have a pro shop and a "bowling school", but this is run by a self-claimed "professional" who started the business as a hobby, after retiring in the late 40ies from a well-doted counseler job and settled on bowling instead of golf (no pun intended, just the fact). He is a... idiot, ,liar, and incompetent. Sorry to say so, but he tried to rip me off with some used bowling balls, drilled balls wrong for customers and did not offer and compensation for his mistakes, and the style he teaches in his "school" to newbies who come from disco bowling and are enthusiastic about the sport is just a copy of his' - and it is doubtful, to say the least. I think he and his pro shop just "live" through the customers' lack of knowledge, and any more experienced player shuns this house as well as the pro shops after they get to knwo better...

So, better watch who takes the space, and if it really drives the house's image and reputation
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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany

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Edited on 7/2/2008 2:47 AM