What is the reason you bowl in tournaments

[wchester]

I want to know why you shoe up and compete in tournaments. Is it strictly for the fun of it all, or is it for the potential windfall should you win it all.

What is 'your' deciding factor, for whether to enter a tournament or to give it a miss? Please make a selection from the four choices in the poll and post any additinal reasons here in this thread. Your feedback could be used to change the face of the Australian Tournament scene.

 

[willey]

For me it has always been EGO. I wanted to compete and see how good I was against the Competition, I never entered any top Competitions until I was 30, I thought I needed to mature before I Competed.

Any Centre I worked in, I always tried to convince the Manager, that the most important thing for successful Tournaments, was to stroke the EGO. I would try to convince them the Tournament did'nt finish when the last ball was bowled, the winner had to be in the Spotlight, as this would work on everyones else's EGO.

I worked in a few Centres that set Records in Qualifying( these only got beaten by Centres that cheated by using Open Play Games to boost thier numbers) such as 1599 entries in a National No-Tap, 401 entries in the SPC Qualifying.

willey.

 

[Potter]

hmm hard one i just enjoy bowling. love to win but dont get to upset if i dont. its just the pure love of the sport that makes me bowl in torneys.

/moneys good to.

 

[mongoliantreesloth]

I don't bowl tournaments. I'm simply a social bowler who plays in a social league. I don't enter tournaments because I'm not good enough, I don't have the time spare to make myself better and if I entered a tournament I'd just be giving money to someone else and if that were the case I'd sooner it be to a charity.

 

[JWhitty]

There's a windfall in tournaments around here? That suggestion's just simply silly...

 

[~Mrs STORM~]

Because I can.
I love to do it and love everything about it.
I get to do something I love, then there is also the social side off the lanes.
I just wanna improve and the only way to improve is to get out there and bowl, which is what I do.
I dont care about the money, if I manage to cash I see it as a bonus and a reward for the hard yards Ive been putting in over time.

 

[rpac23]

I enjoy tournaments.

It's always good to hit the lanes against some of the top bowlers (locally and nationally).
I entered this years NSW Open for two reasons. 1, to participate and watch how others cope with the conditions (mind you, at 165 ave at the time, i didn't do too bad) and 2, to watch some of the nation's best battle it out. I found watching George Frillingos and Jason Belmonte quite interesting, because seeing is beleiving!

I found for my game, bowling the NSW Sport Series was the best for me, only place that I can keep up with most of the players.

So yes, I do it for self satisfaction!

 

[Cam S]

I don't bowl tournaments. I'm simply a social bowler who plays in a social league. I don't enter tournaments because I'm not good enough, I don't have the time spare to make myself better and if I entered a tournament I'd just be giving money to someone else and if that were the case I'd sooner it be to a charity.

Im not having a go at you here matie, but i think this is an attitude alot of regular league bowlers have now and why we dont see tournament numbers grow. I see so many people in the centre i bowl in spend major dollars on every ball that comes out only to use them in their home centre for league.

Theres heaps of tournaments that cater for the 150 - 180 average bowler espeically up here in qld. I wish sometimes people would back themselves and have a go. The more people competing the better our tournaments are, i think many of them would find if they bowled one they would catch the bug and bowl more because tournament bowling is addictive.

The reasons I bowl tournaments

1) Im a competitve bugger and will have ago against anyone even if i know they are twice the bowler i am.
2) You meet some great people in this sport and theres always someone/s that will give you a good laugh
3) I want to expose my game to different conditions and try to learn more

 

[Ososober]

i bowl in tournaments because i wish to see the sport to grow and continue to grow, not just to encourage league bowling, but to take the next step up.

there are tournaments available for all averages, and if there are not, then speak to your center managers, your association reps, enough talk about tournaments helps gnerate more tournaments.

 

[Brenton_Davy]

There's a windfall in tournaments around here? That suggestion's just simply silly...

There used to be, but I guess i spoiled that for everyone else....

I nominated the self challenge option, but there is more to it than that. The money is an important factor andI won't bowl in a tournament, especially if it is interstate, where I don't feel it is financially worth my while. There is also an ego factor involved. I don't think anyone succeeds in elite sport without having some sort of an ego. Some just show it more than others.

One reason I always enjoyed going to Perth for tournies was the social factor. Perth bowlers still know how to enjoy themselves outside the bowl. They throw great barbies, golf days etc, all in conjunction with the tournaments, especially the sadly missed Perth Cup.

I guess what I am saying is, there are several factors that influence my decision whether or not to bowl in a tournament. As far as fame and recognition from my peers......

I'm a lefty for goodness sake. I never get any recognition from my peers.!!

 

[tonx]

None of the above.

I bowl to be able to bowl against bowlers that are either at, or well above my level. There are almost no scratch leagues, so the only way to compete scratch against other competitive bowlers is to bowl tournaments.

If there were several scratch leagues that I could access, I would only start to bowl tournaments if my results in the scratch leagues were consistently in the better end of the field and I wished to challenge myself furthur.

I will look at a tournaments prize fund as a value proposition. I won't pay 600 bucks to get to and enter a tournament where first pays 1000 and second pays 500. But I will enter a low cost tournament even if the prize fund was small, but other good bowlers are entering.

Even saying that if there *WAS* a million dollar tournament tomorrow that I could get to, I would attend it. I think almost anyone would on the off chance they got lucky.

I hope this was a sufficient answer.

 

[xballs]

I'm a lefty for goodness sake. I never get any recognition from my peers.!!

That's not True Brenton - I recognise that You are one lucky bugger - always expecting strikes even when you just touch the head pin - usually on the brooklyn side. :violin:

On a serious note - I just like to challenge myself against the best (yes that includes you Brenton) . But I have to agree with Brenton money is important - I don't like travelling to tourny's when my expenses are going to out way my possible winning.

Dave

 

[Hooligan]

Didn't know how to express my thoughts on this until I read the post by Tonx.

So.... what he said, it's about competing, not ego or money or recognition.

 

[tonx]

Didn't know how to express my thoughts on this until I read the post by Tonx.
So.... what he said, it's about competing, not ego or money or recognition.

You made it sounds alot simpler than I did. Thankyou for that

 

[Jasonguru]

For me its definately bowling at different locations and testing myself and my abilities against others. I recently bowled the pitstop at bathurst, and this was my 1st tournament (aside from state league) in 12 years. i havent been in the best of health either and am recovering from serious illness and a double dislocation plus ligament ruptures in my ring finger. i also had dual knee surgeries about 18 months ago. this was a great test of my fitness and skill.

i was getting a tad stale of bowling league week to week and wanted to see how i measured up. i tought my league average was good enough and even though i didnt bowl quite to my average, was very happy with how i went in the event.

after giving the game away for 9 years and coming back to bowling about 2 year ago, so much has changed in this aspect of our sport. the lanes were easier early, but got tougher late in the day. and this is also a test in itself.

the challenge of fronting up to a centre you havent bowled at before or for some time, and trying to bowl at the highest level possible with the best bowlers around pushing you along is what its all about at the end of the day for me.

 

[twenban]

I have to agree with Brenton, you bowl for many reasons and money is one part. Ego, self-satisfaction, accomplishment, fun, meeting great people, travel.

Being good at something is quite special, then turning that into success is very satisfying. You get to do a lot of special things through bowling, you are able to "not" lead a "normal" life.

Bowling allows "ordinary" people to lead "extraordinary" lives.

It was a lot of fun ... I am very thankful to bowling.

 

[Greig]

For me is was about improving my game.

I first started bowling in ATBA tournaments to bowl with the best player in the State

Just to be on the same lanes as some of the best bowlers in the state was exciting for me.

I knew I wasn't going to get near the cash, so money was never an issue.

Just to talk to some of those guys, learning all I could, was great.

Then when I made my first cut, it was just such a thrill.

So, self improvement, that was it for me.

 

[happychicken]

I went number 2 but the money would be good also

 

[jason_doust]

Bowling allows "ordinary" people to lead "extraordinary" lives.
It was a lot of fun ... I am very thankful to bowling.

It still is a lot of fun. Terry and I have had this conversation before and we agree on just about all of his points, but it is this last one that is the clincher. We've both been to places and met people that we never would have because of bowling. It is the source of so many great tales, wonderful and awful, but rarely ordinary.

To answer Wayne's question though, I'm voting for option two as the most correct for me. Although it's the challenge of competing/shotmaking and the thrill of rising above when the chips are down that I come back for. I do however, always look to see at what point I can recover my expenses. It does influence my decision.

In the words of LPBT star Kim Adler "I have bowling. And for that I am thankful."

 

[Brenton_Davy]

What can I say.

Bowling has given me a chance to see people and places I might never have experienced. A chance to pit myself against the best in the world and come away feeling good about myself and my game. As Terry Wenban said, its given an ordinary person like me a chance to do extraordinary things that I probably would never have got to do otherwise.

Bowling has given me a circle of friends I would never have otherwise had, its given me a career, a profession and a passion.

Most of all it has given me my family.

I owe bowling just about everything.