Bowling is one of those activities everyone thinks they're good at.It looks so easy on TV, and when you think about it, how hard can it be to knock down a few hapless blocks of wood with what amounts to a lethal weapon?
But when you finally get around to hitting the lanes for your nephew's birthday party, you remember that bowling is pretty dang tough. It can be embarrassing, really, although it usually makes for some good laughs.
But I digress. What we're really trying to decide here is whether bowling is a sport.
Why Bowling might be considered a sport
Let's start with the customary "it's on ESPN" argument. The four-letter generally stays within the vicinity of real sports coverage, although ESPN2 is less credible and that's usually where you find bowling.
Bowling is also competitive and has objective standards for excellence: an average in the mid-200s with an occasional 300 is nothing to snub your nose at.
And finally, there's that heavy ball, which is presumably the reason bowlers wear those sexy wrist guards. When it comes to bowling, threat of carpal tunnel is a serious occupational hazard.
Why Bowling might not be considered a sport
By my definition (you can review the original What is a Sport? debate, if you'd like), an activity has to involve competition and require physical fitness for excellence to be considered a sport.
No argument for criteria #1.
The physical fitness element, however, I have a problem with. A particular bowler may be in tip-top shape, and the activity itself may even be considered a workout. But you would have a hard time convincing me that a physically fit bowler has a leg up on the competition.
Rolling a 12-lb. ball does require a modicum of strength, but more strength or even incredible stamina does not equal more closed frames.
Final Ruling: Bowling is not a sport
Percent certainty: 100 (incidentally, that's about my average score. Yep, that's how I roll.)
19 comments:
Anything that you can drink beer and eat fried food while doing and not adversely affect your performance should not be considered a sport.
I'll take a physically fit person over an out of shaper in any physical challenge. Stamina is huge for the mental part of any game. Same with golf. It may or may not directly affect your physical capabilities, but it may mess with focus. Does that make sense?
Exactly how hard do people think it is to throw a 12 lb. ball? Because I throw a 15 lb. ball. Do you think that tough? I've been bowling for 5 or 6 years now and it's the only sport that keeps me in shape and my mind focused. I believe that people who take up bowling as a sport typically have a sharper mind than people who just bowl as an activity. People who bowl as an activity have no idea how challenging it is because they only do it once a year. Try throwing a 15 lb. ball down a lane two or three days a week and about fifty to a hundred throws a day. I'll listen to people when they start doing that.
In response to tyduffy;
I don't know about you, but when I bowl, my scores definitely decrease when i start eating fried food. Also, i have yet to see any pros on the tour drinking beer at the event. Considering the close association between beer and bowling in most minds, i'm sure that many of them would be fine with being sponsored by beer companies and drinking their products if they didn't adversely affecting their performance. I think you're having a hard time differentiating between recreational bowling, including leagues, and professional bowling.
In response to the original post and its proposition that physical shape does not adversely affect performance. In answer to this i will again look to the pro tour. As a general rule, most of the players on tour are in fine physical condition. Now of course there are exceptions, but I have yet to see any completely unfit person put up obscene scores. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any professional bowlers who are in worse shape then athletes i've seen in other sports. Also in personal experience, after a 3 game series I definitely feel something. It's not enough to completely wear me out, but it definitely works muscles and requires some fitness to be successful. I bowl roughly 4-5 times a week for at least 3 games each time. This leads to me throwing a 16 pound ball for an hour straight during practice, and for several hours with negligible breaks during league. I definitely would struggle with this if i were in much worse shape.
Your average is 100, and your telling me that bowling is not a sport? Here is the problem with this method of thinking. You have not the simplest idea of what it takes to be a 200+ Bowler. The adjustments you have to make and mentality, of the game its self is incredible. I am personally a 186 average bowler. I thought, that I had a great shot at being a Pro bowler, and yet I still do, but what you DONT KNOW, is there is something different between your TV,and the lanes that are present. It is called Sport-Bowling. To experience: Pride; Challenge; Skill; Ability; Accuracy; Competition; Credibility. This is the chance to see just what you have in the sport of bowling and in what areas you need to improve. You see your statement is absolutely incorrect. Your arm, has to be in an exact motion to throw a decent shot. From using special equipment (bowling balls) with tips in them that adjust how it comes off your finger, to the way you might rotate your wrist to get that additional spin, or the motion in which your elbow moves, can all vary your bowling shot. Every situation has to be well thought out. If you bowled on a PBA Experience lane, you would be hopeless. Your precision would end like a man chopping his arm off by not paying attention. Every shot you must adjust, and re-think the velocity, speed, adjustment to the lane, conditions, scoring, points, and many various little things, that you a viewer of bowling has never even came close to experiencing. P.S. If bowling isn't a sport, the Super bowl, can be put down the drain. Bowling has the biggest tournament of over 14000 teams, than any SPORT, in the entire WORLD!
I totally agree with some of the other posters. How can you say that someone who is physically fit doesn't have an advantage over someone who is not? Being able to position your knees in the right away before release requires someone to be in shape. Holding and throwing a heavy ball down a lane require arm strength. I am not that strong and my arm always hurts after bowling. This is a disadvantage to me just as arm strength is an advantage to someone else.
why is golf a sport but not bowling and there is also competion, bowling is on espn every sunday and you try throwing a 16 pound ball well over 50 times its physical mental just like everyother sport
i just want to state that bowling is a big physical activity. i dont know if anyone has said this already and im sorry if they have, but, if you take a bowler that has worked their arms and legs everyday and put him/her against one who has sat around on the couch, see which bowler will be able to bowl the greater amount of games. the person who is in better physical condition will be able to stand bowling more games.
bowling is on all the espn channels. also i have family who golf and they talk about everybody drinking while golfing and golf is considered a sport so you cant say that bowling shouldnt be a considered a sport because you can drink alcohol while bowling. i agree with the other couple of people who say they bowl i bowl with a 14lbs. ball and im a girl and i bowl twice a week for my high school team which my high school isnt supporting me and the other person. which has brought up all my anger about people not considering bowling a sport. we went to state and bowled 9 games in 2 days. just saying to the people that dont think it should be considered a sport i think you should really reconsider it.
i believe bowling is a sport. let me see the guys/girls in other sports do what i can do. i doubt they can.
Not sure where you got your facts, but bowling is broadcasted on ESPN (original) not ESPN2. If you are to be the deciding factor then maybe you should be more involved in the game before judging. Try bowling 40 games over a 3 day period and then have to perform on TV Sunday afternoon. Bowling does take a physical fit person to perform. But based on your definition, any sport can be played recreationally without any physical fitness. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!!!
Remember, if you don't participate in a sport avidly then you have not room to speak. How can you comment on something that you have very little knowledge about? I don't think it's possible unless you study enough. Even then, you wouldn't know have it really feels.
I myself am a PBA member and carry a 217 average. I have been bowling for a decade now and I would have to say "it wasn't an easy task". Part of what makes bowling a sport is the mental aspect of it. Once you get to a certain level in bowling you won't get any better unless you know how to play the mental part of the game. As a certified coach I know and understand the ins and outs of bowing and everything it entails.
The fact of the matter is bowling is competitive and fun in nature. It does take skill in the physical and metal aspect.
Just to put the cherry on the top, I would like someone who doesn't think bowling is a sport to beat me at it and then I will agree with you. I bowl at Lava Lanes Bend in Bend, OR.
Thank you everyone for this lovely conversation!
Bowling is a sport. Its all over Espn. So to me its a sport.
Bowling isn't a sport. these comments made me laugh. go talk to a REAL athlete an ask them about what a real sport is. There's no "mental aspect" to bowling. A real "mental aspect" to a sport is to keep going no matter what, even if you feel like you can't do anymore, like you body may give out at any moment and you don't pay any attention to injuries or fatigue. Golf is not a sport, Bowling is not a sport. Get used to it and shut up. ALL the bowlers who think its a sport are stupid and need to realize that, your just like fanboys for a shitty game.
It is a sport! Lifting a 15-lb ball is not just lifting 15-lbs. its lifting 120-lbs. you have to realize there is gravity involved.
ok i am an 18yr old girl about 5'1 in height. i bowl every saturday morning on a legue with all boys. i throw a 14-lbs ball down the lane at at about 13 mph. not very many girls my age can do that. i have gotten 1st team all-conference 2 years in a row in high school. i also played at the end of last season with a severely sprained right wrist. so you can say all you want that its not a sport but i say that it is.
Scientific Peer review articles say that strength, aerobics, etc are NOT reliable predictors of bowling performance. The author is correct.
Bowling isn't a sport but baseball is? In bowling you throw ball after ball and knock down pins. In baseball pitchers throw ball after ball and strike out batters. Starting pitchers throw an average of 100 times a game and warm up throwing 100s of pitches. Bowlers throw 100s of practice shots and throw 80-100 shots per series with practice frames. What's the difference?
I'm a 16 year old girl. I weigh 95 pounds but i still throw my reactive 14lb ball at top speeds of 18mph. That's pretty hard for someone of my weight. I shoot a 180 average modestly and have been competitively bowling for a long time. I placed 7th in the state for people in my grade bowling for my high schools bowling team which by the way has won more then our football or baseball teams combined. I beat out thousands of other bowlers and to be able to say that i made it that far is a pretty damn good accomplishment. To hear people say that this SPORT is not competitive is complete bullsh*t. All summer i train my ass off going to different coaches to prepare for my season. I work harder then any other athlete at my school and have the achievements to prove it. I go through weight training and do exercises daily to perfect my game. Not only is bowling a physically demanding sport, because when you are bowling twenty games in 3 days it takes a toll on you, it is also one of the toughest mental games considering the large margin for error and how you don't always have a team to pick u up after making a mistake. People like u couldn't handle a game bowling at the level of competition i bowl in everyday. I don't see u putting up any good argument on why bowling isn't a sport so why dont u actually learn something about the sport.
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