Hey SrKegler,

I go out week after week because I enjoy spending time with friends, who, along with me, for 2 3/4 hours foolishly believe/hope that we will carry dead flush pocket shots ~40% of the time and that this just maybe...........MAY BE THE WEEK THAT THE OPPONENTS' LUCK RUNS OUT!!!!  Maybe we won't be subjected to 80% crossovers carrying and Red Sea parting face shots carrying every time.   Maybe this will be the week that the string of 160's shooting 580 series will end.  Maybe this will be the week where I don't leave three 9pins in 3 consecutive 10th frame first balls to lose each game by 9 sticks.  Maybe this will be the week that you actually have to hit a mark to get the ball to the pocket instead of "wing it out to the gutter".  (Actual quote from opponent last night!)  Maybe this will be the night when I don't have to listen to an opponent (21mph ball speed, straight up 1st arrow, hand right up back of ball, has never made the 6-10 by hitting both pins with the ball....you know, that guy!!) speak to his teammates about carrydown and entry angle.

We haven't been successful for the past 33 weeks.
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Golf is the only sport where you shout "Fore!", shoot six and write down five.

I sat out this past year. Still trying to find a reason to come back. I would like to compete on the Sr. Tour but I got 6 years before I get old enough. I just cant find the reason to bowl. I suppose if there were people I wanted to be around that might help...or if there was a really good league to bowl in... but they have long since vanished. I feel ya... and the almost 20 weekly leagues fees is enough to break the bank when you include drinks, snacks, brackets... it simply is not that much fun either.
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Bowling Tips and Articles at: www.bowlingknowledge.com
IRC: Internet Relay Chat on Dalnet #striketalk. 24x7x365

Why..........?  why does anyone do anything? because they enjoy it, even when they struggle, the still get satisfaction out of the little successes, the 2 balls a game that you really throw well, increasing your avg every year, etc, whatever it is, it keeps you coming back.  Even if you are a high avg bowler who can shoot 300 once a season or once a month, I don't believe like there is any feeling like shooting a 300.....am I right?
 
why reccomend  anyone take this sport up?  easy, they can compete at high level their whole life if they choose to.  this isn't baseball or football, where you reach your 40's and you probably have no outlet for playing the game, this is like golf, play as long as you still are having fun.  I am 47, been bowling for over 30 years, probably will be bowling until I can't anymore.  I still play softball on a slowpitch team, if I didn't pitch I am sure that I couldn't still play with these guys.  By the way, I am  a pretty good pitcher and I owe it to bowling, except for the 5 step approach, throwing a bowling ball and pitching a softball are pretty much the same.
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Pedro....meet Carlos.
Carlos, meet Pedro...now go win the world series

I bowl for the personal challenge - I just picked the sport up again last year.  I used to bowl during the summer when I was younger - it was cheap and a good way to keep me out of trouble.  A nice distraction from TV and video games.  I'd have to say I bowl for much the same reason I play pool.  Its very much a challenge - the rules and layout are consistent, but the conditions can vary from game to game (with pool and bowling), house to house (again, with both), and the only constant is my ability (or lack thereof!).

I will admit that leagues require a lot of commitment, and the cost can get a bit steep when you start eating and drinking.  You have $16 for league fees, and figure another $10 if you plan on getting food and drink (assuming hamburger, fries and soda - even more if you want beer!).  But, it gives me (and the wife) a chance to drop the kid off at the sitters and enjoy a few hours doing something we both like.  Sure beats sitting at home in front of the computer or TV.

I guess if I got to the point that I didn't find any challenge in bowling then I would stop and find something else to try.

I am doing this for petrsonal challenge, too. I have been bowling for a bit more than a year, and I like it very much. You have some physical exrecise, it is about physics, you need a mental approach to it, and every lane you play might bear a new challenge - either just in training witgh friends or with tournament conditions. I am about to enter local league this fall, and I am looking forward to it despite the fact that there will be some very... motivated players around who do not seem to see fun in the sport, but just the opportunity to win and "be better". But this cases you'll find anywhere, so what?
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DizzyFugu --- Reporting from Germany

Team "X" league website: http://homepage.mac.com/timlinked/

"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream..." - Edgar Allen Poe

Pardon me for being the eternal optimist ... let me take a shot at your very valid concerns.

99.9% of us will never make the tour.
  - 99.9 percent of us will never do a lot of things. Wanting to be professional is a grand goal, but even a love for the game can keep a person coming back.

Scores and averages are meaningless. Tournaments now a days are based on who matches up to the condition and gets the carry that day.
  - Isn't being able to match up to varying conditions part of the game? Adapt or be left behind. Personally, I've always loved a bone dry boards night at the lanes when all the "big scorers" can't get their ball down the lane because they're tossing balls gutter-to-gutter and refuse to adjust. Scores and averages are not meaningless as long as the high score wins at the end of the night.  Besides, even if you're not competing with those around you, there's always the competition of trying to best yourself.  If you've lost that desire, too, then I can't help you.

Leagues are almost all handicapped, even if you win its a hollow victory. If you win because you're the highest average team then you should have won anyhow. If you win because of handicap it's not really a win.
 - There are still scratch leagues. Also, keep in mind that handicaps are there to allow people to compete while learning the game. No one starts off a 200-average bowler. Even if you have a handicap you still have to bowl near average to compete. So your argument there is moot. Even in a handicapped league, the best bowler there should win often with consistent scoring.

I've watched the game evolve from a game of consistency, speed control, tilt, roll to simply throwing it somewhere to the right (left) and watch the ball automatically hit the pocket.
   - or is the term you're looking for "de-volve"?  I haven't been bowling that long in leagues, but I can already see the leaps and bounds in ball technology, etc..  The game still involves everything you mentioned, if it didn't we'd all have a 300 under our belts already.

Why would you recommend anyone take up this sport?
- To have fun. To compete with yourself and others. To not be home with a "honey do" list.

Other than personal satisfaction whats the point.
- That is the point of doing anything in life.

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I'm not a pro ... but I play one on TV!

was just wondering how this concept of stand left, just throw it right, and it will automatically hit the pocket for a strike, come about.  most of the people i bowl with, even with the latest strike bombs, when they try to do this, are lucky to hit the pocket more than twice in the same game.  does it not still require the proper release, roll, speed, etc?  if this were true, wouldn't even most seniors and kids average over 200.  i coach juniors on saturday mornings and a lot of them stand left and throw right.  most of them average less than 150.  just wondering...