I had a patient the other day who had injured himself during bowling years years ago. So we talked about bowling during his exam. And one of many things that struck me during our conversation was, he mentioned he was semi-pro. He thought about the PBA with an average of 210 in the late 70's early 80's. He mentioned some pros whom he was friends with including the great lefty of all time. And was in San Jose when Mark Roth and Marshall Holman won the columbia doubles tourney.

Anyway, I'm not sure of the requirements for holding a card back then, but being 210 in those days was really really good. He stop bowling because he couldn't throw, or will not throw "high technology" balls. Then he went on to talk about how bowling lost its popularity. To join a league there was a waiting list of some sort.

Oh, and he said, back in the day most PBA bowlers wore a brace or glove and most of them DID NOT NEED IT!

I was just starting to bowl in the early 80s.  I can remember looking in the Association average book, and finding the bowlers who held a 200+ average.  In the entire book, there were only a handful of 200+ bowlers.  Today if you don't carry a 200, you suck, whereas in 1980 a 200 made you elite.

I can agree with the old guy not liking high tech balls.  Just look around the next time you are bowling league.  How many of those people swinging the lane, or the even the ones with no hand throwing up and in, would be able to throw those shots if not for the ball in their hands.  Bowling has gone from just a select few being really good based on talent, to a huge share of players being really good based on vastly improved equipment.

"Cheater Balls!!!"  ......unfortunately, there is no going back.

thanks for sharing this 

I, too, met an interesting older fellow yesterday. 75 year old man watching me bowl, commenting on how crazy my equipment is compared to his day (60s-70s) as I was covering all sorts of boards. I couldn't remember the last time I had a conversation with the elderly, so I did my best to take the time to listen (like a child under the old oak tree), even as I was on the go.

Like mentioned above, he stated how everyone was going straight and that ~200 avg bowlers were kings. We briefly agreed that the sport is declining as we've witnessed $100k perfect games decades ago turn into "nothing"... and $100k decades ago was worth ALOT compared to $100k in this economy.

can't ignore the obvious that year in and year out we are losing our values. one can deny it, but take a look around