The Competitive Side of Bowling

The WSOB Scorpion Championship Finals were played on the 6th of January. Now for you who may not know what the WSOB Scorpion Championship is or what sport it concerns, it's bowling. Many people believe that bowling is not considered a sport nor do they know how big the circle of players and just how big of a game it is. This specific game that was held on Sunday had four of the current top male players in the world who were fighting for the title and prize of being the Scorpion Champion. Here's a view of the pre-game for this game, if you're interested.

Now bowling might seem like a fun game to play with friends and family but once you're in the circle, you'll realize what a hardcore sport it is.

There have been serious games where celebrities such as Ludacris, Nelly, Lil-Wayne, Chris Paul and more have been partnered up with professional players. Here the celebrities are equipped with real, quality bowling gear and are represented by some of the biggest bowling companies in the world. Check it out when the players - non-professional just as professional - get their strike on! Click this link to see them play like pro's!

Not only do you need a strong mental block to be able to make sure that the opponent won’t psych you out with smug looks or good game. You need a polished technique that consists of accuracy, strength and balance. A lot of players have spent years trying to improve their ways of throwing the ball, trying to reach perfection. Some have played since they could walk, which means, by using the term many people do, they were born into bowling.

There’s more to bowling than walking a few steps, slightly bending down and using all of your force to send the ball away, hopefully striking. There are the small details such as how your pinky is placed, which decides how much power and skid/roll of the ball, meaning how much it’ll turn and what bow it goes in. You also need your middle fingers - the ones you have in the holes of the balls to swipe the ball upwards as you release your thumb and give it the last spurt of power. Now there are so many more things that could be written about bowling, about all the small details players have spent countless of hours trying to perfect and get just right for each throw but it’s too much and possibly for the ones not interested in bowling, boring to read.

Players have to adapt their game and choose the right balls to play with according to the layer of oil the lanes are covered with. There’s oil on the lanes as many of you are aware of - not food or cooking oil. No, it’s a special kind of oil just like the different oil-types are. If the lanes are oiled over 40ft. they’re long-oiled, meaning it’ll have a longer bow and if it’s short-oiled it’ll be a short and quicker bow of roll. See, there’s even the oil bowlers must consider when they play!

What I’m trying to get across is that bowling can be a fun sort of entertainment with your friends one Friday night where you might drink a beer, coke and what not, but the world I live in it’s all about the game, how you play and how determined you are to win. As soon as I put my feet on the wooden lanes, it’s game on and I’ll play as best as I can not only to improve or prove myself - to have fun and do what I’m good at.

To me it is a game, a competitive one just like the WSOB Scorpion Championship, even if it's not on the same level and there’s so much more to it than what most people believe. Maybe reading this will open your eyes to see that some things people consider not a sport, is in fact a lot harder than it looks and that you do actually sweat when you bowl.