what is power and where does it come from?

It seems so many coaches have different philosophies or teachings on power.

^^^^^tommygn

Women have beaten men on tour.

I disagree about two hand bowlers on tour. They wouldn't be on tour if they sucked a little.

How many women have won a PBA national title in how many attempts??? 1, Kelly Kulick

Stephanie Nation, Kelly Kulick, Liz Johnson, Liz Kuhlkin, Danielle McEwan, Lynda Barnes, Clara Guerrero, just to name a few, ALL have more fundamentally sound games than Anthony Simonsen,  Kyle Troup, or Shawn Maldonado, yet two of those three two handers have national PBA tour titles, and only Kelly Kulick has EVER won on the men's tour. Add to that, those three two handers I just mentioned haven't been bowling on tour for all that long.

I'm no advocate for two handed bowling, in fact I'm a traditionalist when it comes to how the game should be taught, but it's hard to argue against the numbers.

I'll take any one of those women listed above in a C.A.T.S. shoot out against any of those three two handers.
 ...But when it comes to stringing strikes and being able to move in deep on a lane where rev rate, axis rotation, and speed are needed, well.....

Thought this subject was to define "power" not who is the best bowler.

The 2 handers I see on TV can repeat much better than people think
 super high rev rates much like high swing speed in golf magnifies small variations in release. Only two hander who has really dominated for any length of time is belmo.

Many of you people aren't old enough to remember, but we went through the same thing with the cup wristed one hand power players in the early 80's.  I wont name all the strike or no count one hit wonders who nabbed PBA titles between 1980 and 1988, but it is comparable to the less talented two handers who are winning now.  Strokers like myself wrung our hands and bemoaned the demise of the game. 

The truly talented power players of that era continued to evolve their game.  Ironically, the introduction of the resin ball did more to restore some balance to the game than any other factor.  Thanks to resin, the finesse players upped their carrying percentage enough that the power guys could no longer afford to blow spares right and left while out striking us strokers by an absurd margin.   

What really happened is that us strokers adapted to some degree and managed to learn stronger releases, while the power guys learned to shoot spares.  Power is still an advantage, but it wont keep you at the top without some accuracy and the ability to adjust to the extreme differences in oil patterns we now have

The two handers high speed, high rev rate release doesn't read the front of the lane, near as much as what most traditional bowlers ball does. It's much easier to create the proper axis tilt on the ball when your thumb isn't in the ball. Their ball reaction doesn't see the early hook in the heads, so their moves aren't as sudden and quick. Combine that with the fact that the high powered release and ball speed will also break up splits easier, and they aren't shooting at the designer spares as often. 
Back in the day when guys like Dennis Jacques,  Marshal Holman, the higher rev guys of the 80's, would over hit a ball, they payed the maximum price for the miss, that is unless they got it to cross over. You can add Bob Vespi into that category, in the early 90's. Granted, there were weeks that their ball would lay, and strike, and weeks it wouldn't. There was "next week" in an effort for all styles to have a look, and have a chance to really have the best ball reaction of that given week.
 In today's game, the slicker lanes and lane oils and the even faster ball speeds with higher rev rates, don't pay the price as often for missed shots, so it becomes an illusion that they are better spare shooters, and more accurate.

When you only have so many tournaments a year to bowl, the advantage is magnified.


Kegel did a study a few years ago on lane topography, and ball speed was the biggest factor in ball reaction seeing the differences from lane to lane. Higher ball speeds, although affected, didn't show as drastic of a difference from lane to lane, as a slower ball speed bowler will. They also concluded that straighter trajectories through the front of the lane also was more beneficial. Bottom line, if you can produce a lot of speed, revs, and have a cover stock that keeps angles in front of you, you are going give yourself the best chance of maximizing your scoring potential from lane to lane, and from pair to pair.


I didn't include Belmo in the above examples of guys, as he has clearly refined hid game, and actually posts shots. But I will ask this, do you think he was really "hitting" the ball when he was being tested on C.A.T.S.? Do you think he was throwing the ball with loft and high revs and axis rotation like he does when he gets in to 6th and 7th arrow? This is when the two handers excel. They can get the ball to corner, or they can zone back right, and throw urethane, and still get it to hit.

I don't think it's the same as the power players of the 80's.


Here is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Watch how high the ball hits the pocket and strikes. That's big four for most everyone else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEI69YFm9uo

Interesting. I agree on the importance of speed in today's game. There are exceptions of course, but make no mistake, those who can throw with both, a combination of velocity and revs will have the advantage. I was at the Pa state tournament yesterday and
the kids who had both were carrying strikes I can only dream about, especially on the lighter hits. Back in the 60's, it was the opposite. You generally had to throw the ball slower due to the equipment, lane conditions and pins that existed in that era.
I have the velocity, but not the rev rate. I usually perform best when the lanes get a good "burn" built in. The younger guys create as much, if not more motion on the longer and higher volumes than I do on the dry.

The real shame of it is, with the strength of today's bowling balls, you think we would want to teach the youth how to bowl, more like the 50's, 60's and early 70's. Teach the importance of posting shots, and repeating shots, so that you can pursue the game for a lifetime, just as the game was intended. If one wishes to over hit the ball, so be it, but make that the exception, not the expectation. The sport seems to be on this "grow the sport" through the youth, but what happens when the youth become 45, and they quit, because their bodies won't allow them to create the proper ball speed that is needed, for the way the game is being taught. No more senior leagues, no more life long participation sport. We live in an era that a bowler COULD learn a game that they can compete at for a lifetime, without having to over hit the ball. We just need the lane conditions to be for it, not against it. As long as they keep putting more and more oil downlane, the high rev, higher speed players WILL be advantaged. Just my opinion.

I've coached youth bowling, for going on 20 years now. There isn't a flood of bowlers coming into bowl, because of the two handed bowling. There is just kids who already have been bowling, now trying to bowl two handed. The other thing is, parents are getting their kids started MUCH too young, and with TOO heavy of bowling balls, so as for the need to bowl two handed just to get the ball down the lane.

Some good posts here. 

While speed and revs can create some impressive strikes (explosions) I haven't seen it to be an advantage with single pin spares, as an example.  I've said it many times here before, so before we all go out and rebuild our games, just "bowl like you do".   

There's no harm in trying to maximize what you can do, consistently, just keep it within yourself.  We're all built differently and are different mentally, too. 

Sure, it can be intimidating watching pins fly all over the deck, but I don't have to do that.  I just need to knock 10 pins over (and no one trips more 4's than I do) and then I'm even. 

In fact, I've seen many a power bowler obliterate the pocket and leave a solid 9, or a blower 7, and shake his head in disbelief as I trip the 4, or better yet have a SLOW messenger tap the 10 and carry it.  Advantage me...

Indeed, the power games of many younger bowlers can be a real advantage,  but that's not an option for me anymore, so I don't worry that I can't excel at it.  I need to learn how to manage friction and read ball reaction to maximize what I can do, and enjoy the challenge.