RobbieB
Rodentus scientificus
This has been bugging me for a while. A lot of discussion goes into the question of why bowling is struggling, and has done so for a number of years. There are a number of factors, and I think the two main ones are the equipment revolution, and the associated lane conditioning problems, and the more fundamental shift in society as a whole, where we have seen a paradigm shift in what people do with their leisure time.
First, let’s look at the equipment. In the heyday of bowling, there was basically no advantage in the different brands of bowling ball. This meant that the average league hack had exactly the same ball as the elite bowler. The gap between them was purely due to the skill of the athlete. More importantly, one ball would last several or many seasons. All a junior or youth bowler had to do to reach the top level was work on their game and get better at executing. Now, that is not enough. To a great extent, bowlers can’t just buy one ball and work on their physical games. More importantly, beginning and novice bowlers who buy a plastic ball simply have no chance of improving past a mediocre standard on modern conditions because of the lack of feedback from plastic balls – until they spend more on a resin ball.
In 1980, an aspiring junior could be faced with buying a new ball, bag and shoes, which would – or should – last at least a few seasons. Nowadays, to be remotely competitive it’s 4 balls, plus the associated bags, of which you will replace at least a couple a year and probably all 4. We have turned a relatively inexpensive sport into one which is simply prohibitive for many people, especially as the costs increase dramatically only a short distance into their improvement curve.
There’s a big difference between telling someone who wants to improve “come to training twice a week” and “first you need to buy a better ball or two”. The corollary to this is that with modern balls and blocked lanes, the gap between the average league bowler and the high average bowler has blown out enormously, which devalues the achievements of both groups. When 200 was par, it was a great game for the average bowler. It still is for the 150 average bowler using a plastic ball, but seeing people average 230 around them takes a bit of the gloss off of it. In a way, resin balls have made the ‘bread and butter’ bowler that the centre relies on thirty pins worse than they were 30 years ago. So, not only are they not getting better, they perceive themselves as getting worse!
Maybe we should ban plastic lol.
The societal issue is more complex. The advent of social networking has made one of the reasons why people bowl less relevant. People like company. In the old days of mostly five person team bowling, it was as much a social occasion as a sporting event. People had time to have a chat, catch up with the gossip, and generally unwind. Bowling was, for our league bowlers, simply a part of their social fabric. Now, people use Facebook for the same interactions, and the demise of team bowling in favour of smaller teams discourages the social side of the sport. Add to that the fact that our lives are more fluid, making people less inclined to commit for long seasons, and you have another piece of the puzzle.
So, with lower numbers, and labour, rent and power costs increasing, its little wonder centres are struggling. I put forward a suggestion recently to the TBA regarding increasing dues to support the Tenpin Bowling Show and in effect have a weekly TBA Bowling program on digital TV, allowing TBA and the centres to run ads that would reach most of the population. The response: ‘We are only an administrative body’. Sigh.
Bowling centres are generally cheerful places, but they are also the best kept secret in leisure. A nationwide ad campaign could be based on the old ‘Cheers’ theme – ‘Go where everybody knows your name’ and push bowling as simply a way to make friends and reconnect with people. It would cost TBA less than $5 per member. Would they get it back in increased membership? Probably. Would the centres help fund it? I think so, if it was marketed to them properly. Should this have been done a few years ago when bowling was humming along and the centres were doing well? Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
A little more than 2c worth. Oh well.
First, let’s look at the equipment. In the heyday of bowling, there was basically no advantage in the different brands of bowling ball. This meant that the average league hack had exactly the same ball as the elite bowler. The gap between them was purely due to the skill of the athlete. More importantly, one ball would last several or many seasons. All a junior or youth bowler had to do to reach the top level was work on their game and get better at executing. Now, that is not enough. To a great extent, bowlers can’t just buy one ball and work on their physical games. More importantly, beginning and novice bowlers who buy a plastic ball simply have no chance of improving past a mediocre standard on modern conditions because of the lack of feedback from plastic balls – until they spend more on a resin ball.
In 1980, an aspiring junior could be faced with buying a new ball, bag and shoes, which would – or should – last at least a few seasons. Nowadays, to be remotely competitive it’s 4 balls, plus the associated bags, of which you will replace at least a couple a year and probably all 4. We have turned a relatively inexpensive sport into one which is simply prohibitive for many people, especially as the costs increase dramatically only a short distance into their improvement curve.
There’s a big difference between telling someone who wants to improve “come to training twice a week” and “first you need to buy a better ball or two”. The corollary to this is that with modern balls and blocked lanes, the gap between the average league bowler and the high average bowler has blown out enormously, which devalues the achievements of both groups. When 200 was par, it was a great game for the average bowler. It still is for the 150 average bowler using a plastic ball, but seeing people average 230 around them takes a bit of the gloss off of it. In a way, resin balls have made the ‘bread and butter’ bowler that the centre relies on thirty pins worse than they were 30 years ago. So, not only are they not getting better, they perceive themselves as getting worse!
Maybe we should ban plastic lol.
The societal issue is more complex. The advent of social networking has made one of the reasons why people bowl less relevant. People like company. In the old days of mostly five person team bowling, it was as much a social occasion as a sporting event. People had time to have a chat, catch up with the gossip, and generally unwind. Bowling was, for our league bowlers, simply a part of their social fabric. Now, people use Facebook for the same interactions, and the demise of team bowling in favour of smaller teams discourages the social side of the sport. Add to that the fact that our lives are more fluid, making people less inclined to commit for long seasons, and you have another piece of the puzzle.
So, with lower numbers, and labour, rent and power costs increasing, its little wonder centres are struggling. I put forward a suggestion recently to the TBA regarding increasing dues to support the Tenpin Bowling Show and in effect have a weekly TBA Bowling program on digital TV, allowing TBA and the centres to run ads that would reach most of the population. The response: ‘We are only an administrative body’. Sigh.
Bowling centres are generally cheerful places, but they are also the best kept secret in leisure. A nationwide ad campaign could be based on the old ‘Cheers’ theme – ‘Go where everybody knows your name’ and push bowling as simply a way to make friends and reconnect with people. It would cost TBA less than $5 per member. Would they get it back in increased membership? Probably. Would the centres help fund it? I think so, if it was marketed to them properly. Should this have been done a few years ago when bowling was humming along and the centres were doing well? Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
A little more than 2c worth. Oh well.
