BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Smash49 on September 08, 2012, 05:04:30 PM
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Ok I know this area is more for adults than youth but the questions out to everyone. If you are a coach, parent, bowler or in any way associated with you bowling what is the aspect you hate the most of youth bowling as it is now.
Smash49
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There are too many unqualified coaches hanging around almost all youth sports. Reduce
their numbers. It is "youth" bowling.
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lol, actually have coaches who can bowl on something besides a THS.....
And yes get rid of the " parent-coaches " who think they know everything... less is sometimes MORE...
but besides that, i would have them bowl on challenge or sport patterns all the time.. which most do now anyways...
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Thanks for the input. I am working on a project at the moment and doing a lot of surveys and gathering info.
Smash49
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I look to the actual houses for what I'd like to see changed; more programs, discounts, and specials that allow kids to practice for cheap would benefit the game a lot, especially if this could be done on sport patterns. Everytime I go down to practice it either costs an arm and a leg, or it's the same 2-3 people who are always there. You can't grow youth bowling if 90% of youth bowlers only bowl league once a week.
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If only one thing it would be like some one has said above parent-coaches I had so many probs last year with a few parents that after I had told there kid something would call there kid over and tell them to do something way dif it got so bad that at one point I told the father if you know sooo much about bowling you should coach next year so I dont have to spend all of my free time with these kids.That ended that and his kid bowling for our center did not want it to come to that but having a 144 avg bowler telling my kids what to do is ridiculous.
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Make bowling as much fun as you can for it to remain a lifetime sport. As a parent
be as supportive as possible and always praise the effort--not the result. If you are
proficient as a bowler, still only offer advice when asked.
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I'm a certified coach, and love coaching in the youth bowling club. Only thing is that I'm not the best bowler, and my body doesn't listen to my brain all the time, but I do know what I'm doing. I teach youth and my heart is to keep bowling fun and competitive. It's a dying sport and I'm doing what I can to give back.
One of the houses give the youth bowlers in the youth league a .25 cent discount on each game. Big woop! Make it affordable for the ones that want to bowl more and the sport could be more popular. Bowling 4-5 games at $20a pop per kid and next thing you know they're not coming anymore due to cost. Isn't it better to fill the houses up and make a smaller profit than to have in empty and go negative?
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Personally, as the youth sport bowling coach for the largest youth program in the State of Florida, I woud say never let them bowl on a house shot.
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I'm with MrPerfect....get them off the house shot.
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There needs to be a mentoring system in place for coaches and I agree the pattern should not just be THS.
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What if you did completely way with handicap and based a system on achievement. What this is leading to is there are a couple of us in our area that want to radically change youth bowling as you know it. We have been frustrated with social leagues, coaching(bad, good, improper etc.) When we finalize everything we will make an announcement. Our plan and ideas we think will jump start a lot of youth bowlers with something that they have been wanting and have been unable to get. We also think it might just stun the coaching world a bit too. All I can say is it will be a totally different mindset from what there is now.
Smash49
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Some of you guys are still missing the point, judging by your replies. It is not
about YOU and what you are doing. Noone also cares about what shot they are
on---just have FUN.
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That is an interesting comment.... Are youth bowlers having fun in their current leagues? What do they want? What do they think about the way things are run today? What do they think about the coaching they are getting and is it even wanted or needed?
Smash49
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Most of my experience comes from being a high school baseball coach for 21 years
and from teaching physical education for 30 years. I also have a MS in physical
education. All of my training and observations have proven to me that less is more.
The least coaching, for many, and the least adult involvement, gives the child the
most fun in the activity. This is not always true of course. Many of the comments
on this subject, from adults, come with a great deal of selfishness and comments
about what "I" am doing. Again, it is not about you. Give students basic parameters
and then wait to be asked.
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Most of my experience comes from being a high school baseball coach for 21 years
and from teaching physical education for 30 years. I also have a MS in physical
education. All of my training and observations have proven to me that less is more.
The least coaching, for many, and the least adult involvement, gives the child the
most fun in the activity. This is not always true of course. Many of the comments
on this subject, from adults, come with a great deal of selfishness and comments
about what "I" am doing. Again, it is not about you. Give students basic parameters
and then wait to be asked.
Your last statement goes against your argurment. "Give students basic parameters and then wait to be asked." So how do you give "basic parameters", seems to me that what's coaching is all about. I come from an area where the youth program is basically a 3 game league for kids. That's it. There is no coaching. I am a level 1 coach, but I took the course to teach my son. I only coach to my son. If someone asks (which hasn't happened yet) I would gladly help out, but I stay on the outside in this league. Why? Because there are plenty of parent know-it-alls in this league.
What I see in this youth league is bad habits in bowling. I see kids throwing the ball so many different ways at sometimes its actually amazing to watch. You might state, big deal, let them throw it whatever way they want (they are having fun). Well the problem with some of the styles is not about scoring or lack of scoring, it has every bit to do with their health. If some of these kids keep throwing the ball the way they do now eventually they are going to hurt their backs, elbows, and/or wrists. Some of these kids are trying to turn the ball so hard, they twist themselves into so many positions it makes me cringe just watching at times.
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For me it is the same thing I want for adult leagues, which is to toughen the shot. In the league my son bowled in last year, half the league averaged over 200. Half of those kids didnt look like they were even trying. They are playing a breakpoint anywhere from as inside as 12 and outside as 3 and still hitting the pocket. One kid shot a 300 and he has a ring and yet the only 2 boards he hit consistently both have arrows on them. It is terrible what bowling centers are doing with house shots. The kids are getting spoiled by the cake house shot and then when they go bowl a tournament and that 215 league average all of sudden goes down to 170 for the tournament, they dont have the mental capacity/maturity yet to handle something like that. Some kids do, but most dont. We need to stop spoiling them.
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Let me ask. If an Elite youth training program was developed minus the league trappings would anyone be interested?
Smash49
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Could you explain a little more?
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I am developing a program to teach advanced youth bowling. No averages, no recap sheets, no sanction cards or the overhead to worry about. It's going to be hands on and classroom with top line coaching. Demonstrations, information and practical practice on real conditions. The goal is to create the best youth bowlers in the country. A majority of the scholarship money is in tournaments and many youth programs are a waste of time. They do not give what is needed to many developing youth bowlers. Is it for everyone? No. But for those that want to compete, it's going to be the best place to learn if you want to get into the best tournaments and be competitive.
Smash49
Oh and it's about the same price as bowling most youth leagues!
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This is a good topic...I don't have many good things to say about the USBC normally but Chad Murphy has had some interesting ideas. Making the Pepsi tournament scratch is a nice step.
Teen Masters is an amazing program....What Gary Beck is doing with limited equipment and now limited ball tech is what the game needs to grow...it might be too late though.
As for you guys screaming about taking away the house shot from kids...Every great bowler I know agrees that practice on EASY conditions is key to developing a free loose armswing that allows you to use area when it is there. To develop a top level youth bowler they need exposure to everything from dead easy walls to U.S. Open hard and understanding of what they can and can't do on those shots and everything in between.
Some times even the hardest sport patterns open up, and when they do, you have to know how to use that area and strike. The house shot teaches you to strike when the oppurtunity is there.
My daughter is 11 and practices 10-12 hrs. per week. We split it up, about 5 or 6 six hours each between easy and sport conditions. So far the results have been very good.
This theory is not mine alone...these theories have been passed along to me from some of the best youth bowlers ever including Sean Rash, Diandra Asbaty, and others.
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Depending on who is running it I think there should be multiple traning camp and events for our youth to go and learn about bowling and how to bowl properly. There are way way way to many "coaches" out there that think just because they have been teaching for 10, 20 and even 30 years they are correct and know what they are doing. I dont want to name or call any of the coaches out that have won awards as coaches of the year for youth because it is an accomplishment but I think there should be seperate awards in that department for helping for youth leagues, youth tournaments and other way for the youth to get better and actual well educated coaches. One coach that recieved this honor has done an amazing job expanding youth programs in the area and I commend this person for that but as an accomplished bowler and person with experience in the shop and coaching it kills me to watch them teach. They dont fit well and the problem is the kids dont know any better because thats what they have been taught.
Its to the point where these coaches can cause serious injury to these youth bowlers before they are in their 20's. i have seen it in the past few years. Even if they sarted at 8 or 9 they shouldnt have finger, hand wrist and arm problems at 16 which is what I see more and more. I think more well educated coaches are needed.
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I'm a certified youth coach, and the problem I see most is an issue with youth's sportsmanship and courtesy. I always focus on that before anything else, and I think it would benefit everyone if more people did.
That being said, parents trying to coach their kids really doesn't seem to work well. Every once in a while it does, but most of the time, it just confuses the kids, depending on age of course.