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Science

The Man Who Broke Bowling (gq.com) 60

theodp writes: In The Man Who Broke Bowling, GQ's Eric Wills profiles professional bowler Jason Belmonte, whose two-handed bowling technique made him both an outcast as well as one of bowling's greatest, changing the sport forever. Unlike the rest of us, a 7-year-old Belmonte was unconvinced by the taunts used to prompt kids into switching from bowling two-handed to one-handed ("It was, Come on, you're a big boy now. It's time to bowl properly," Belmonte recalls). As a result, Belmonte was able to develop a 600-rpm throw when most pro bowlers averaged 350-400, imparting a spin that "sends the pins into concussion protocol." Wills writes:

"When he first alighted on the professional bowling scene, Belmonte resembled an alien species: one that bowled with two hands. And not some granny shot, to be clear, but a kickass power move in which he uses two fingers (and no thumb) on his right hand, palms the front of the ball with his left, and then, on his approach, which is marked by a distinctive shuffle step, rocks the ball back before launching it with a liquid, athletic whip, his delivery producing an eye-popping hook, his ball striking the pins like a mini mortar explosion. Not everyone welcomed his arrival. He's been called a cheat, told to go back to his native Australia; a PBA Hall of Famer once called the two-hander a 'cancer to an already diseased sport.'

If you're interested in more on the technical aspects of bowling -- Belmonte's installed a tracking system in his parent's bowling center back in Australia that generates reams of data he can sift through to find areas for improvement -- Wikipedia goes into some of the physics of bowling balls.

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The Man Who Broke Bowling

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  • Make me wonder (Score:4, Interesting)

    by DarkRookie2 ( 5551422 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @01:51PM (#63646844)

    PBA Hall of Famer once called the two-hander a 'cancer to an already diseased sport.

    Makes me wonder.
    Are there scandal with player smearing nacho cheese on each others balls.
    Or maybe some beer that accidentally got on the right part of the floor to mess with someones shot.
    Or jealous lovers catching SOs polishing someone elses balls.

    You don't think of corruption when you think of bowling.

  • If that's really such a big deal, just change the rules to only being allowed to use one hand.

    • by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @02:04PM (#63646872) Journal
      If that's really such a big deal, just change the rules to only being allowed to use one hand.

      That is the only way around this because the rules [pba.com] explicitly cite two-handed bowling as being allowed (Rule 10).
    • by turp182 ( 1020263 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @02:06PM (#63646880) Journal

      The article points out that at the moment of release he only has one hand in contact with the ball.

      He has two hands in contact for longer than other players and doesn't put his thumb in the ball. That's it.

      • Well, there we go, make that thumb-thing mandatory and you're set.

        If that's really a problem, there will be a solution by analyzing his technique and outlawing a crucial part of it. Wouldn't be the first time a sport invents a "lex $playername" because a certain player developed a style that would essentially make the sport uninteresting to watch because it's no longer a challenge to succeed. Especially if the competition is not against each other (like in, say, tennis or boxing) where the athletes compete

        • by tragedy ( 27079 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @02:36PM (#63646938)

          Or, everyone could just learn to play that way. Who doesn't use the Fosbury flop these days in the high jump? Are track and field events "diseased" because of it?

          • Are track and field events "diseased" because of it?

            Diseased is perhaps a bit strong, but I've always considered discus to be highly degenerate.

          • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @03:24PM (#63647098)

            Sure, but it depends on what the change would mean.

            The Fosbury flop actually added complexity to the sport and made succeeding actually more challenging. Before, the high jump was mostly a feat of strength, while today it's a matter of body control. You need to get your body across that bar in a fluid motion where you have control over a lot of muscles just to pull it off. Far more challenging than the old style which was mostly a feat of raw strength.

            There is also no "limit" in high jump. If you pass 6 feet, you pass 6 feet. If you pass 7 feet, you pass 7. If you pass 20 feet, you pass 20. A better technique means that you can jump higher, yes, but others can still beat that. In Bowling, there is a perfect game. Once you reach that level reliably, there is no way to improve on it. If it becomes trivial to reach a perfect game, the game loses its challenge.

            • by tragedy ( 27079 )

              If you pass 20 feet, you pass 20

              You're also Spider-man.

              A better technique means that you can jump higher, yes, but others can still beat that. In Bowling, there is a perfect game. Once you reach that level reliably, there is no way to improve on it. If it becomes trivial to reach a perfect game, the game loses its challenge.

              A better technique in bowling doesn't automatically win you a perfect game though. There's still a lot you have to do aside from just a throwing technique that gives you more power and spin. Plus players win perfect games all the time without this technique. Perfect games just aren't that rare. Even amateurs who don't know what they're doing sometimes get them. If you do achieve a perfect game, your next goal can be two in a row, then three in a row, and so on and so forth. If we wan

              • by demonlapin ( 527802 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @04:36PM (#63647244) Homepage Journal

                Even amateurs who don't know what they're doing sometimes get them.

                I know, we don't RTFA, but I read this earlier today when it popped up on HN. One point from the article: amateurs get them on lanes that are designed to be played by amateurs, which are treated very differently from lanes for competition.

                Even fairly poor bowlers like me know that you throw a bit to the right, spinning to the left (if right-handed), in order to curve in between the 1 and 3 pins. A lane set up for amateurs will have lots of oil in the center of the lane and almost none at all at the edges - so if you throw it down the middle, it will keep going straight, and if it wanders off to the side, the ball's rotation will get some traction and curve its path back toward the center. And less oil at all the farther down the lane the ball travels.

                Competition lanes have extremely variable oiling that is the bowling equivalent of how "fast" the greens are playing on a golf course - something that changes from day to day and indeed throughout the course of the day, and thus requiring the player to adjust to the conditions.

                • by tragedy ( 27079 )

                  That is informative, but I don't really see how it's relevant. You're saying that conditions to score a perfect game get harder as you progress so that there are actually different levels of perfect game to aspire to. That's the opposite of an argument that there's nowhere to go in bowling after you've scored a perfect game.

            • Sounds like an issue with the game, not an issue with the player.

            • As Spinal Tap showed us, up the game with a randomly placed eleventh pin.
            • by Mal-2 ( 675116 )

              There's still a patch for difficulty: the conditions. That's why the various oil patterns already exist, and that idea can be taken considerably further. If, for example, they used an oil that gets dragged down the lane more easily, the conditions would deteriorate more rapidly and it would be much more difficult to maintain perfect trajectory for 12 consecutive strike balls. Or limit the hardware: the ball is allowed to have the weight off-center, and it generally does, which greatly affects how it wants t

          • Fosbury was insanely controversial when he did it. They seriously considered taking his medal, and banning it for "cheating". Belmonte was never remotely as controversial as Fosbury was. Yes, there was a lot of eye rolling, and "tutting" about "the spirit of the game" - but you can't argue with results. It doesn't matter whether people think you look ridiculous, if you can get 6 degrees into the pocket, you have a significant statistical advantage, and you win ... a lot.
            • by tragedy ( 27079 )

              Fosbury was insanely controversial when he did it

              Sure, but it came to nothing because no-one could find any rule that he actually broke and varying techniques for clearing the bar already existed. Also, like you said, you can't argue with results. So it's now pretty much the standard way of performing the high jump. They could have always split the sport into forms that allow the flop and others with strict form requirements. Maybe they did and I just don't know enough about the history of the sport. If that's the case though, it still seems like the flop

          • There were several techniques for the javelin that were more effective but banned because they had the small downside risk of killing spectators.

            However- in this case, it doesn't sound like he is risking hurling a bowling ball into the adjacent lanes or the spectators and it's within the rules too.

        • Apparently there's other players who do not use their thumb. But reading the article, I don't get the impression that this guy "broke bowling". He is doing well with an unusual style, and the comparison with Tiger Woods and his insane backswing is an apt one, but it's not like he's utterly trouncing his opponents.
        • It doesn't really need to be "fixed". There were some minor rule changes, but they were fairly esoteric - you are no longer allowed to have extra holes in your ball. If you have 3, you must use 3. If you only use 2 fingers, you can only have two holes, etc. Most of the challenge, especially at the pro level, is focused on how to overcome lane conditions, and how to adapt to the way the other bowlers on your pair change the initial oil distribution in the course of play. High revs make some conditions and oi
      • by EvilSS ( 557649 )
        He's just doing two-finger bowling, but unlike almost everyone else who does it (myself included) he's supporting the ball with his offhand during the swing. And yea, you can generate a hell of a lot of spin with it. Hell Mike Miller used to use it in the early 90's on tour. Honestly, this whole thing feels like a tempest in a teapot.
        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          This happens all the time in eSports. For example, someone figured out it was faster to strum the back of the controller in Nintendo Tetris, rather than trying to tap the d-pad, allowing previously unbeatable levels to be cleared. Some people were annoyed, but most just leaned the new technique to stay competitive.

          You just have to deal with it. These things happen in sports.

    • Then have bowling go back to its slow irrelevant death?
        The opinions of a Luddite that can't keep up with disruption and the techniques of a new generation of competitors is as worthless in sports as in tech.
        Disruption is not only good for it, it may be the only thing that at least temporarily saves it.

    • If that's really such a big deal, just change the rules to only being allowed to use one hand.

      The bowling version of the Eddie Gaedel rule...

  • This is just the next step in the practice of oiling the bowling alley most of the way to the end so as to allow the ball to go straight and then curve sharply. This has dramatically changed scores as it made strikes a lot easier (the curve allows hitting at the perfect angle to get a strike).

    • Except for two things: 1. They purposely don't do this in pro competition. There are many different oil patterns used. 2. The bowlers aren't in control of the oil pattern. The people running the contest are.
  • Video (Score:5, Informative)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @02:15PM (#63646894) Journal

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    First is conventional bowler.
    Second is Belmonte, about 25 seconds in

    • by eepok ( 545733 )

      Holy crap! That's a lot of spin! It's like the ball bounces off an invisible wall or something!

    • ahah, I thought I had seen him bowl on TV... was flipping through channels a few weeks ago and saw PBA bowling so I stayed to watch, as I hadn't watched any for some years. I was intrigued by this fellow with the two handed throw and the ridiculous bite when his ball hits the wood just in front of the pins.
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      First is conventional bowler.
      Second is Belmonte, about 25 seconds in

      Honestly, his technique was much less weird than I thought it would be (yes I am a bowler... a VERY BAD bowler).

  • by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @02:24PM (#63646906)

    He's not bowling two handing granny style, I don't think he's going to add double or even 50% more energy to the ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • Re:Not granny style (Score:4, Informative)

      by abEeyore ( 8687599 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @04:36PM (#63647246)
      It's not about initial energy imparted. It's waaaay more complex than that. Bowling balls have offset cores. Higher revs mean that the ball reaches stability faster, and burns less energy doing so, so that when you reach the end of the oil, and the cover stock grabs on, there is more energy left than there is for a low rev bowler.

      Secondly, the optimum impact angle for the "pocket" behind the head pin is 6 degrees. That's more or less impossible to do with a huge hook down lane. You'd have to be three lanes over to get that angle without it. Higher revs, and more energy left means it will snap back more, meaning it hits harder, at a more advantageous angle.

      More revs also mean you can throw harder, and still have the ball react the way you want it to, so you can use more of the lane than a low to mid rev bowler.

      Bowling is way, way more math and physics than you ever imagined. I talked about cores, but not about cover stocks, or how you drill the ball relative to the core to make it behave in particular ways, or why two handed bowlers have developed ways to reduce their revs for certain conditions.
      • by Mal-2 ( 675116 )

        Two-handed bowlers almost always have the ability to throw a normal one-handed spare ball as well, because it's often necessary to throw straight at something.

  • Don’t want to get Munson’d.

  • Just look at Jason's last name. He's descended from a line of Vampire Hunters.

  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Friday June 30, 2023 @03:00PM (#63647008)
    professional bowling is very, very different than what you do on Saturday night. For pros put oil down on the lane that makes it much, much harder to hit the pins. You have to ask them to change the oil pattern if you want to try it.

    Also the scoring is set up so that your score shoots up very quickly with a little bit of practice before leveling off (I think around 240 for a dedicated hobbyist but don't quote me on this).

    I suspect this is a trick to encourage newbies. I now going from 240 to 300 is a lot harder though.

    Buddy of mine was good enough that with more practice I think he could have gone pro, but it's surprisingly expensive to get that practice and except for 2 or 3 guys nobody makes a living.
    • The top 15 prize winners from 2020 [flobowling.com] were above median income, and I imagine anyone who's doing it competitively had sponsorships as a primary source of income.

      I don't know how many professional bowlers the world needs, but it seems like it will support several dozen to a few hundred. I don't really care for the sport, but if someone can make six figures from what most would call a hobby, I won't begrudge them that.
      • I only know what my buddy told me. But Median Income isn't all that good a metric these days. That's around $33k/yr. That won't get you a 2 bedroom apartment in most cities.

        It's like playing in a metal band. Even the bigger ones often have day jobs.
  • As an avid, amateur bowler who regularly goes to league, I think two handed bowling is completely fine. The people that don't like two handed or complain are your classic boomers (literally) who don't like to see change. Even though he bowls two handed, Jason Belmonte is still incredibly skilled and earned his accolades. Just using two hands doesn't somehow make the sport any easier or a person better. It's just a style and you still need to understand the game and how it's played in order to do well. Ther
    • Belmonte is a huge PR boon for the game. My partner plays in the lower echelon tournaments, and while some of the other pros dont like him very much, whatever issues they had with his style, and two handed bowling are long over. He's been around long enough that there are two new generations of pros after him, and many of them are two handed. It's just old news.
  • When he first alighted on the professional bowling scene, Belmonte resembled an alien species: one that bowled with two hands

    First of all, Belmonte used to bowl with one hand and I've even heard some people claim that he criticized two-handed bowling before he adopted the approach. When he did start bowling with two hands, he wasn't even the first to do it in the PBA but this article makes it seem like PBA bowlers had never seen such a technique before. Don't get me wrong, Belmonte is a beast and his suc

  • Or he just showed up a bunch of people, like that guy in golf or Prefontaine. If those pro bowlers want to compete, they should shut up and adapt or lose. If they want to say "You're playing wrong," they should button up the rules.

    But this has happened before and this time we are going to find out how the professionals wish to now define bowling, faced with a new possibility. I used to have a friend who bowled left-handed, outhand where his thumb left the holes last and some lanes wouldn't let him. Wasn't
  • They just need to team him up with Jesús Quintana. Remember him from the Big Lebowski? https://media.vandalsports.com... [vandalsports.com]
  • "Not everyone welcomed his arrival. He's been called a cheat"

    If it doesn't violate the rules, it's not cheating...and apparently it doesn't violate any rule.

    Either amend the rules or admit that the guy found a legitimate way to bowl that produces better outcomes (higher scores).

  • Oh the irony, the people who read that magazine are the same ones who picked on the nerds in high school!
  • I'm 65 and Ive seen this back in the 80s in beer league play. Very rare to see a guy play that way but Ive seen it he had a good Average too. It took me years to get to 205 Average and changing the ball and a fingertip ball drilling but that was beer play never shot a 300, 279 was my closest in league play, 299 in practice.
  • I can't stand it when people don't bother to understand the words and the terms they use.

    And Jesus... the 90's called, they want their website back.
    • by Mal-2 ( 675116 )

      In speech, it very frequently is "RPMs" or "RPM's", in the verbal form of "rip-ems". Athletes don't care about conservation of plurality, unless they also happen to be pedants.

      • by PJ6 ( 1151747 )

        In speech, it very frequently is "RPMs" or "RPM's", in the verbal form of "rip-ems". Athletes don't care about conservation of plurality, unless they also happen to be pedants.

        I see you're a subscriber of the descriptive model. So if enough people are wrong but keep repeating it, it will be correct!

        Damn those people who think they're right, those elitists who... graduated middle school.

  • Veritasium has a video on bowling that goes into the physics, ball technology, lane oil, and so on. it's very informative and surprisingly interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

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  • Bowling purists.

    The only "pro" sport more laughable is cornhole.

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