BELMO'S SUCCESS FUELS WORLDWIDE INTEREST IN TWO-HANDED BOWLING

elsie

Active Member
Emerging interest and debate about two-handed bowling will be further fuelled by the recent successes of WBW 2007 World Bowler of the Year, Jason Belmonte and Team USA member, Cassidy Schaub.

Described as a ‘young gun’, 24 year-old Schaub from Ohio, USA rolled a 290 game to win the Boot Hill tournament in Las Vegas, while Belmonte avenged his 250 game runner-up finish at Boot Hill with a stunning victory against all-comers three days later in Las Vegas at the Mini Eliminator event.

24-year old Orange bowler, Jason Belmonte, is famous worldwide for his ‘footy pass’ delivery and the question increasingly discussed in bowling circles is whether two-handed bowling is revolutionising the sport.

"In the 1960s, track and field star Dick Fosbury invented a new technique by rolling over the bar backwards…the "Fosbury Flop" was so successful that it became the standard method for high jumpers," commented USBC Communications’ Patrick Brettingen recently. "In tennis, players experimented by hitting backhand shots with both hands on the racquet instead of just one. That gave players more power, and the technique is common practice today," he continued.

"The sport of bowling also has pioneers. Today, many young athletes worldwide are shunning the traditional one-handed style and using two hands to swing and deliver the ball, giving them incredible rotation and striking power never seen in bowling," added Brettingen.

The success of multi award-winning Jason Belmonte and 2006 Bowling World Cup champion Osku Palermaa from Finland has made an indelible impact on the sport, and to accommodate the new crop of bowlers who are emulating the success of their two-handed delivery, the USBC Coaching program - which trains and certifies bowling coaches - is researching and developing methods for teaching these athletes.

"The two-handed delivery is a hot trend in bowling today," said Rod Ross, head coach of USBC Junior Team USA, the U.S. junior national bowling team. "This is a style to be reckoned with. It's here to stay."

Belmo and 20 other bowling legends from Scandinavia, Europe, Asia and South America recently participated in a 5-day international coach/instructor training seminar at USBC headquarters in Milwaukee, and Belmonte has also been recruited as an international spokesperson for youth and the burgeoning two-handed approach delivery.

"USBC is proud to team up with Jason as a spokesperson," said USBC Chief Operating Officer Kevin Dornberger. "Jason embodies a bold new direction for the sport of bowling. He's young, athletic and employs a new, powerful two-handed style that's appealing to many youth bowlers."

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