im new to this site and this is post.

I have been bowling since well the 60's ive bowled with rubber, plastic,urethane all the way up to the new high tech balls of today. Ive had lots of success in the game with many honor scores shot before and after the introduction of resin and pearlized and hybrid covers and weight blocks. But i cant help but be amazed at the state the game is at now when a person starts bowling and averages 200 in their first season its one of three things, phenominal talent, tons of practice, or a product of the what most of us a have became accustome too as a THS. My question for you is how far is this game going to advance. Ive bowled with the several former touring players in my days and asked them this question 20 yrs ago, one said "i see scores continue to climb, true talent being replaced with the ability to turn the ball" another said " as long as they continue to tranform the game luck and chance will play major roles in determining who wins". So what do you think the game is going to be like in twenty years?

While I was spending hours of reflection on this question, trying to find a way to hack my reply down from a page long, multi chaptered dissertation, Smash has summed it up most efficiently and eloquently.

 

 I'm afraid that, if things don't change, bowling won't exist in another twenty years. If it does, it surely won't be in the form or format that we see it in today.

 

 

 

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"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein
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In 20 years everyone will still be making bigger hooking balls for "todays new oils". Everyone will be scoring higher then ever. At least three 900s a year will be shot. 800s and 300s will have increased exponentially. USBC will still be the governing body. Chris barnes will be the President of USBC.

 

 

"Get out of bowling what you want because that is all there is." 

In addition to the comments mentioned above, I would like to add a few thoughts.

 

In the past 20 years, 5 different houses have closed up in my county. With the economy as bad as it is, I really would not be surprised if a couple more shut down in the next 20. Same thing for the stand alone pro shops too. There are only a couple shops operating in the area that aren't part of a bowling center. With the decline of active bowlers and the rising costs of running a business, the independent pro shops are really struggling to survive.

 

The pro tour as it is today is a mess to say the least! You see a lot of the same people week after week. ESPN needs to quit recording shows ahead of time and then showing them well after the tourny has been over for a while. In this day and age of modern technology we already know who won and what ball they were throwing when they won it. Where did the live telecasts go? And who is doing the schedule? Remember when the tour was a real tour that went all over the country and not just a showcase for some place in Nevada? If this trend continues, the pro tour won't be around in 20 years or even 10 for that matter!

 

In the next 20 years, the bowling ball companies will still continue to do their usual thing. Every few seasons they will produce a new and "revolutionary" ball that will drive up averages a few more pins and give the average bowler a better chance of scoring higher. I really don't have an issue with this as long as the bowling centers change the oil patterns to match the changes and keep the shot competitive for us. I hate to say it but I think we will see more balls produced outside of the U.S. due to rising production costs. I am a Storm / Roto guy and I hope they keep production in Utah for a very long time.

 

I have been bowling for the past 35 years and I plan on bowling for at least 35 more. As much as the game has changed and as much as I complain, it still is as much fun for me now as it was then. I still love the competition with other bowlers like me. I enjoy meeting my friends every week and forgetting about work and other streesful things for a few hours. In the end we are all reading this and complaing for the same reason.

It's because we still love the game.

I believe you will continue to see a decline in sanctioned bowlers.

 

Because the number of regular bowlers will dwindle, bowling centers in smaller population areas will disappear and the number of centers in larger population areas will decline some as well. The scoring pace will continue to go up as centers feel high scoring attracks bowlers and they are right.

 

Bowling will have gone from a game of the masses to a fringe recreation.

 

The PBA will go to just a few national tournaments around a couple of majors (US Open, Masters). The regional tour will continue pretty much as today.

 

As long a bowlers think the latest ball introduced is better, the manufactures will continue to introduce a steady stream of "new" balls.

 

And as long as the emphasis seems to be on equipment rather than a bowlers skill this trend will continue.

 

 

 

 

 

Totally agree. From the local situation here, I'd say that bowling will prevail, but it become more and more entertainment-oriented. Most lanes around here that popped up cater to social bowlers or are part of casinos. Prices are high, sport standards are low. I see less and less houses keep up sport bowling standards, and this gap is IMHO growing.

 

Another basic thing I fear is what 9~ mentioned: lack of new bowlers who are interested in the sport, not wii bowling. This affects other areas, too (like model kit building, a personal hobby which also loses battle against effortless virtual distractions and against lack of of dedicated concentration on one thing for more than 30 minutes...), though, so youth programs are IMO a VERY important basic initiative for bowling as a sport.

 

Besides, I am amused to watch (we get telecasts here from time to time, but with huge time lags) how the PBA goes on or better turns into a mummy. This is no sport, it is just entertainment where some talented people get paid for rolling equipment of certain companies. You see the same faces again and again - it is boring to me. I wonder how long this actually CAN go on?

DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
2010/11 Benrather BC Club Champion
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Sanctioned league membership is probably close to bottoming out.  I don't think it goes much lower, but will never recover to 1960-80 levels.  PBA tour best chance to recover is to go international and merge with organizations that are relatively healthy around the world.

 

In short, bowling will look a lot like golf with only a relatively small percentage of particpants being members of sanctioned ( USBC, USGA ) organizations. 

 

Biggest danger to competitive scratch bowling at local levels is that proprietors may consider such a niche group to be too unprofitable to even support.