I watched my Gram while bowling stick on the approach and fly down the lanes(no ball thank god) and fall and break her wrist in 3 places. Hasnt been the same since with a loss of strength.
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Oil is served Best with fingers!
Why does the 8 Pin laugh at me!

Sheppy

As short and sweet as I can make it:

Back in 2003 I was bowling for the first time in a new house.  Paid a couple of bucks to get in a side pot, was stringing them along sitting at 204 in the 8th with a spare in the 9th.  Stepped up for my first shot in the tenth; everything was fine until the follow-through.  I felt a searing pain in my hip and abdomen that was sharper and more shocking than anything I had felt in my life.  I collapsed in a pile on the approach.  I couldn't get up so I dragged myself back from the foul line before nearly passing out on the ball return.

Some other bowlers tried to help me up, but I told them not to touch me.  Eventually I got up and sat on the lane seats.  People tried to give me advice - lay down, breathe deeply - but everything hurt like I had a spear stuck in me.  My wife helped me change my shoes and brought the car around.  My teammates put my equipment in the trunk.  The guy running the side pot was gracious enough to give me my cash back - even though I only needed a couple of pins to win the first game

1 poky general practitioner, 15 ultrasound pictures, one CT scan, and $2500 later I learned that I had an intramuscular haematoma - a complete tear of the muscle tissue that had filled with blood - in the inguinal muscles.  Additionally I had first degree strains of my rectus abdominus and adductor muscles in my left leg.  I was out of bowling for 10 weeks.

I finished that league season with just enough games to qualify for PBA membership, a 213 average, high league series (796) and cashed in two PBA events.

Nothing like a forced 10 weeks off to totally reassess your game.

The injury still rears its head from time to time, though no further loss of participation has occurred.
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Nut
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None are more hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free....

"My Karma Ran Over My Dogma"
Jesus is coming!  Look busy!

I, just last week, dropped my ball and reflex went to catch it and smashed my finger between the ball and the ball return. I fractured my finger and of course it was my ring finger:( I'm out only a week until i go back to the doctor. It was definitely disgusting though.

Watched a friend's forearm break in two places in the middle of his backswing. It was horrible sounding and looked even worse. He has since recovered and is bowling better now than he ever did before the injury but it took him nearly 2 years to bowl with a ball of any weight after that.

Also saw a kid with a super high back swing hit his hand on a low rafter at JOG in 08 (I think), it was awful, I believe he broke two fingers and had bad lacerations.

And the worst was a guy stuck, and his knee bent a good 30° in the wrong direction before he buckled to the ground, he tore his ACL and just shredded his knee.

About 10 years ago, my wife stuck on the approach during practice.  She landed straight down on her knees.  The jolt jammed her back and gave her a herniated disc.  She has just started back to bowling a couple of years ago, but still had to be careful with her back.

I have seen or heard of some nasty ones over the years:

Watched a teachers tournament with many novice bowlers one year in front of the pro shop. Lady went over the line when she released it. Did the leg swim for a second or two while sliding and fell backwards very hard. Her head got to the ground first and she was out. Very scary moment as she lay motionless on the approach for about 30 seconds before she started to move her hands, etc.

Heard about a guy at a center in the NW side of C-Bus with notorius bad approaches. I heard on his first full approach shot, he stuck and twisted his knee so bad they had to call the EMT's. I guess he twisted the ligaments so bad, he doesnt bowl to the day.

Same center, they had one dim-witted porter there. They send him down on a ball stuck in the tunnel call. This guy goes down and takes the cover off and sticks his head in the tunnel. Doesn't pay attention that the other lane still has people chucking balls on it. Ball comes down the chute seconds after he sticks his head in the tunnel and just blasts him in the forehead. He was slumped over with his head stuck down in the tunnel. Lucky for him it was in front of the desk and the desk guy turns both lanes off immediately.

A bowler in my split season league on the last day of the first half blew out his calf muscle after bowling 3-4 frames in out of the blue, obviously he couldn't continue and took a blind for the rest of that game. Luckily for him a sub was available. On another occasion in my mixed league I saw an older lady hang up in the ball and went into lane after the ball shot straight up and into the gutter.


This isn't as much a physical injury than it is an emotional one but I heard a story from about the daughter of a bowler I know who had an "injury" during league one night. Unfortunately I didn't visit the league that night to sub...wish I had though. Anyway the young lady gets up to bowl, starts her approach and as she goes into her slide she sticks and falls forward on her knees dropping the ball into the gutter. Pretty run of the mill bowling injury right? Here's the thing, the young woman has quite a "rack" and she was wearing a loose spaghetti strapped tank top, so when she fell forward....let's just say the bowling ball wasn't the only thing being dropped. I'm guessing her bruised knees were the least of her problems at that moment...

In early 70's when I was watching my dad bowl saw an older man, Serf Russell, suffer heart attack and die on approach of lanes 1 and 2. Also saw a guy completely tear his bicep throwing hard at a ten pin, bicep immediately curled up into a ball under his skin.