I can rememebr a time when I was just 5 years old, and my little kindergarden friend was begging me to join a bolwing league with her. Her name was Ashley Novak and we are still friends today. When I finally said yes to her I never realized it would turn out to be one of my favorite things to do, or that I would still be doing it today.
The leauge that I joined was at May City Bowl, on the other side of town, because it was closer to where both of us lived. We got put on a team with some other kids who were only 5 and bowled every Saturday morning at 11:00, with bumpers of course. I remember just learning how to bowl and barely being able to throw a 6 pound ball down the lane. Every Saturday I got a chance to improve and coaches were there to help us and show us how to walk up and swing at the same time and how to move our feet and things like that. When we were that young we just threw at the bumpers and hoped to knock down some pins, not really putting much thought to it. But we sure got excited when we got a strike!
Eventually I turned 7 years old and it was time to move up and go without bumpers. I was really scared at first and when it was time to sign up for that year I begged Tom (the owner of the bowling alley) to let me and Ashley stay on the bumper leauge for one more year. He said I should just try going without and so that was what we did. I'm pretty sure the first day of that league Ashely and I both bowled about a 15. It was okay though because our averages could only go up from there. It got to the point where I looked forward to coming to the alley every Saturday so I could try to bowl better than before, and for me it was something really fun to do.
Every week I had to use a house ball that was different and didnt really fit my fingers right. My parents decided to get me my own bowling ball. It was brand new, had bright purple sparkles, and even had my name engraved in it! I was so proud to show up each week carrying my own ball and it actually helped inproved my game too.
The coaches at Mays continued to help me and they thought I was odd because I throw what is called a backup ball, and basically my ball just curves the opposite way than it is supposed to because my wrist turns the opposite way.
My favorite coach, who also coaches the Jefferson girls bowling team, named Virgil, had me stay after league a couple of times to try and help me and get me to throw a normal curve. Sadly, it never worked.
I still throw that backup ball today, but it actually works well from me. My average score has improved greatly from when I first started. Obviously, because just like with every sport practice makes perfect. I now know how to throw my ball accurately. I stand on the left side of the lane and my ball curves into the left side of the pocket. (More bowling terms, I know... There is a bowling dictionary if you are interested HERE) I know which mark to throw at for each lane condition, but a lot of it takes trial and error at each lane to see what your ball will do.
For me, bowling for school was something I always wanted to do but was hesitant because it kind of is known as the nerdy sport. But I am over it now, because it is something I am good at, and we can have so much fun. We go on road trips to the different alleys, and blast music in the bus the whole way. It is always nice bowling at home though too, because we bowl on the same lane conditions for practice. You definitely have a major advantage when you are the home team.
For anyone that is interested in learning how to bowl, I would say that it is easier to start when you are young. The key is to find someone that knows what they are doing and talk to them. You have to remember though that everyone has their own style, so what is considered to be prefect bowling style is not the same for everyone. The only bad part about starting when you are really little is that you can sometimes learn bad habits. I have a bad habit of pulling my arm more than I need to in my release, which kind of makes my swing different each time. My other really bad habit is walking to the left. Every time I take my 4 steps up to the lane I walk at least 5 boards left. It wouldn't be so bad if i walked the same number left each time, because then I could adjust my mark accordingly. But no, I walk sometimes 2 boards left and sometimes 8 boards left. It ends up being really hard because a board is only an inch thick. So you are talking a difference of 6 inches, which doesn't seem like very much. But in bowling being off one board at the foul line can make you miss your mark and literally throw your ball into the gutter.
Bowling really is a science, and there is so much to know and learn. I am just scraping the surface of things there are to know but each opportunity i have to learn I try and take it all in. I really want to be a bowler all of my life, until I end up being 90 and cant even throw a 6 pound ball anymore.
I would say I learned so much and 10 years later I am glad that my friend Ashley made me join a bowling league with her. You never know, I could go to college and bowl there as well. Wherever it takes me, I am very glad that I started and I am actually proud to say I am a Kennedy bowler!
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