Bowled Over

Toward the end of our 2009 Christmas Holiday, we slipped over to a bowling alley in Mesa for 10 frames of humiliation. The goal was to break 100 or die of laughter trying. It turned out that Mom and Ben tied for the high score of somewhere around 110. The rest of us slunk out of the alley murmuring face-saving excuses. I have included media for your interest.

The first clip shows Ben's ball delivery technique. Ben told me, "I spin the ball by simply adding a rotational movement around its center of mass. By spinning the ball, I create a parabolic path which is ideal for obtaining a strike". It seems to work for other outcomes as well.



Lindsay's approach is more practical. "Dad, why fuss with all the physics. I just roll it and forget it. That's what bumpers are for."



Becky's bowling footwork comes from years of dance training. She said over and over, "Dad, it's a matter of grace and rhythm...it has to be fluid."



Mom is the pro. She didn't say it but I know she was thinking, "That bowling class I took in Junior High PE is really paying off. I'm tak'in it to these kids. "



Dad proves that once a body is in motion it tends to stay in motion. With an obvious deterioration in skills, Dad made a Yogi Berra observation, "The older we gets, the greater we was."