This installment of The One Board originally appeared in Bowlers Journal International, August, 2019
Traditionally, August is the slowest month for bowling. It’s hot, league season ended three months ago and everyone is trying to cram as much summer into their lives as possible before league season begins again in September.
For some, this means digging the three-ball roller out of the basement for the first time since May in the hopes of getting a few practice frames in before they count in September. For others, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get in almost unlimited distraction-free practice as bowling centers typically have more open lanes this time of year.
August is also a time to reflect on our previous season and look ahead to the 2019-2020 league season. What are your goals? Here are a few resolutions we should all make:
Watch More Bowling
To prepare for the upcoming season, why not watch the best in the world ply their trade? Unlike other pro sports that force us to watch months of meaningless games before the finals, bowling only asks us to watch days of meaningless games before the finals. Then, once the finals culminate with an exciting finish, another tournament starts almost immediately.
This year, in the allegedly slow month of August, professional bowling is almost non-stop. There are three PBA50 events, four PWBA events and seven PBA Tour events taking place in August, all of which are being streamed live in their entireties, either on FloBowling or BowlTV. And those are just the professional tours. Other live streams of non-professional events are out there as well as local tournaments you can watch in person.
Watching more bowling will get you excited for your own upcoming season and watching the best in the world might even help improve your game.
Give Humans a Little of the Credit
Even if your league’s average leader has access to more equipment, whether it’s free, discounted or easily afforded by his or her vast net worth, give the human a little credit as well. Just having equipment doesn’t mean automatic success. Knowing which ball to roll and when is a skill. Even if someone’s arsenal is more robust than yours, don’t let resentment ruin your league season. Instead, let your season be ruined by the guy who is never ready when it’s his turn because he has to win another stuffed animal in the crane game.
Be a Part of Being Apart From
Bowlers, particularly those with staff contracts, like to express gratitude on social media. This is good, because people should be grateful for their opportunities. However, too often, bowlers will be grateful for “being apart of such a great company.” We know what they mean, but what they’re actually saying is the opposite, so it’s important to fix this seemingly insignificant grammatical faux pas, even if it’s also a faux pas to use French as part of everyday English (except in Août).
Being a part of a great company is an honor to represent their products. Being apart from a great company is what happens next year when you become a part of a different great company.
Move
When your ball isn’t hitting the pocket or when it is hitting the pocket but not striking, move. If you shot 800 standing in that spot last week it doesn’t mean you should stand there every week. All it means is you were standing in the right spot last week. Find this week’s spot. Even on a house shot, oil moves, different bowlers are on the lanes and things are different from week to week. Being too stubborn means the human with the unlimited equipment will beat you every week.
Have Fun
Believe it: it’s possible to have fun while bowling. While it’s easier to have fun when doing well, it’s conceivable to have fun even when bowling poorly, especially if you’re in a low-to-no-stakes league. There’s no reason to ruin your entire evening because you can’t strike. It’s Crane Game Guy’s job to ruin the evening and he’s doing it flawlessly.