BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: briandking1906 on October 09, 2013, 03:06:34 PM
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I wanted to get everyone's take on an issue that just about every bowler has to deal with or see on a typical league night:
Please tell me what the deal is with people kicking or slamming ball returns, chairs, tables, or monitors after throwing a bad shot?
I totally understand that everyone wants to do well, and competitive urges can take over during league play. However with that being said, for some time now I have continued to see people get angry after throwing shots (some even after striking), and beat the hell out of the bowling center equipment. Kicking ball returns, slamming their fists into tables or montiors, kicking monitors, slamming balls back into the rack, etc., etc...
Let's be real, 99% of those in leagues are not making their living bowling. They either own their own businesses, or work for someone. And the funny thing about it is that if they actually damage anything, they probably could not even afford to replace any of the stuff they break. In my opinion, rather than making the person look competitive or driven, it makes them look like complete idiots.
There is definitely no problem with showing emotion or being fired up, but taking it out on the machines and tables is just plain foolish. And to top it off, many times it leads to people getting into it with each other due to their behavior which I have seen escalate into fights.
Just my thoughts.
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Cognitive dissonance.
Bowlers thinking they are good and then objective reality (before their very eyes) telling an entirely different tale (they cant repeat shots).
The ball return beating is just a manifestation of the cognitive dissonance. In a state of dissonance, people may sometimes feel "disequilibrium": frustration, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc.
It follows a pattern: one desires something, finds it unattainable, and reduces one's dissonance by criticizing it (in our case, a lot of the time, the lane conditions).
That is my educated guess at least.
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I think actions like this is completely ridiculous, if you want to get frustrated and beat on something no one made you throw that bad shot but yourself. If people would beat on themself instead of a ball return table etc. I seen a guy last year bash a mo niter after not throwing a strike, but what the owner did was priceless. He just simply and calmly walked up and place a bill down for $800 to replace the monitor, smiled and walked away. That was priceless.
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As the others have stated, the explanation is simply that these people can't or won't choose to control themselves. They get mad, and they want to show everyone how mad they are by acting the fool and beating up on equipment. It's no different than a young child throwing a temper tantrum. There's no excuse for it or rationalization that can be done to justify it. It's simply an inexcusable loss of control, and it shows a total lack of respect for other bowlers and bowling center property. Sadly, with all of that being said, as the OP stated, every league has at least one of these guys.
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One of the silliest parts of it is that typically the guys will use the hand they bowl with the hit something.
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Personally, I don't get upset when you 'kick' my ball returns, b/c I will ask you where your car is parked and then go 'kick' your car--it is only fair. Honestly, I don't see the need or reason to 'kick/slap' ball returns etc. They didn't cause it-hit yourself.
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Hard to disagree with the posts on this thread. I admit to having kicked a chair several years ago. Unfortunately, my wife was also bowling and has never let me forget that stupid event. Fortunately, the chair kicking was the worst thing that I have done.
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We have a straight forward rule in our scratch league. Kick or slam the equipment, and the first offense fine is $25.00. Second offense, you're out of the league and out of the house.
I know of one person who was a double offender, and he's gone. The message was sent, and no equipment outbursts have occurred over the past two year. Simple solution, and effective.
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Really is a shame. This has been going on since day one with bowling, I have been bowling almost 40 years and have seen it consistently every where I bowl. I even recall someone breaking their bowling hand by punching the cement block wall while bowling on the end pair of lanes...sad indeed.
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One of the centers I bowl at sometimes leaves their oiling machine along the wall next to lane 16. It isn't close enough to kick or hit while bowling, for example, workers run between it and lane 16 to get into the back.
Anyway, a guy who is about a 180 average bowler, was bowling on lane 16 and left a 10 pin. It was obviously a perfect shot and he got ripped off, so he turned and kicked the oiling machine! The best part about it? The proprietor BOWLS in that league and was 2 pairs down from him. As soon as he heard the loud hollow BOOM, he made a beeline over there and told the guy two things.
1. That the oiling machine cost $28,000 and if there was any damage to it, the bowler would be paying for it.
2. This was that bowler's last night of league in his house, he was not welcome there anymore.
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Good for the owner. There really is only a handful of things that should be auto never allowed back in any place let alone a bowling center, and destroying property is one of them.
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Immaturity and total lack of class. That simple.
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Need to add a like function for this site . . I like this.
Immaturity and total lack of class. That simple.
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Does kicking your own bag or throwing balls in the parking lot count?
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I, too, feel that hitting bowling center equipment, or slamming around your own equipment, is not acceptable behavior for anyone in a bowling alley. It is not only childish, but damages equipment, costs $$$ if you break something, and makes you look like an idiot.
I instituted a rule for the guys on my Monday team that every time they hit something it was going to cost them $5 for the first offense of the night. Second offense cost $10, third offense $20, and so on. The money would be used for something at the end of the season. I collected $50 the first two weeks, and have not collected any the last three weeks. I think it's working.
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Yeah, but the foolish things you did 25 years ago make good stories now.
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Yeah, but the foolish things you did 25 years ago make good stories now.
True.. but how many people are still oblivious to, or do not remember the huge fine and suspension Marshall Holman copped for kicking the foul lights during the finals of an Open on the tour?
As a kid watching that and being shown the tape of it back then and how much it cost, none of us then wanted to cop that, because that's what we thought would happen to us.
Moral: show the bad example early, and in some cases, often, and remind people of the consequences. Quickest way for them to learn to act right.
BL.
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True.. but how many people are still oblivious to, or do not remember the huge fine and suspension Marshall Holman copped for kicking the foul lights during the finals of an Open on the tour?
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bowled against this guy on the other team and it was the funniest thing I've seen in awhile. not a very good bowler,rolled a backup ball up the middle and every split or miss he left he would yell the F bomb really loud and stomped off the lanes. my buddy and I were cracking up the whole night.
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Ohh man well I sadly was one of those angry bowlers in my youth years and even 5 years into my adult career. I was really bad though. Punch walls, lockers, scoring tables(monitors weren't in the center I bowled at), never really kicked anything just punched things. I didn't start dropping foul language until after I started in adult leagues. It was bad enough that I was having a hard time finding anyone to bowl with because they feared my temper snaps on the 1st good pocket 10 of the night.
5 years ago I changed my thinking about getting mad at bad shots and things have really changed for the better. I'm now to the point that nothing really angers me out on the lanes anymore. While my average hasn't improved any, in fact it's a little worse as of right now, I do find that my stress level during the night is much better and I also notice that I'm enjoying my time out at the center.
Now the Wednesday night league I bowl in has 3 of these types of bowlers. It's not always fun bowling against these people because when they start going off it is very difficult to keep my mind focused on the positive things and keep my own negative thoughts in check.
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True.. but how many people are still oblivious to, or do not remember the huge fine and suspension Marshall Holman copped for kicking the foul lights during the finals of an Open on the tour?
Marshall Holman thought the fine and suspension were too excessive also.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19800626&id=ydNWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=O_kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4336,3573726
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kick our house stuff we kick you out !!! end of peoblem