Personal Reflection

                The internet has a huge effect on my everyday life due to the fact that I already do some online marketing for some bowling companies across the United States. In addition to my marketing work I do these college courses that take me online every night it seems like with a few breaks here and there. In most cases the internet is the gateway to so many things. I am currently a Amazon Prime member which gets me free 2 day shipping one almost everything I buy however I am not in full swing yet even though my wife is an experience Amazon shopper. I will also go online to research products that I will eventually buy in person at a store like Home Depot or Wal-Mart just to make sure I chose the appropriate product for me.

                I would say that my wife and I together would buy more online then we do in the brick and mortar stores just because we like taking advantage of the free shipping and with the Prime access there are many products that are even cheaper. Amazon also has added on items which makes them dirt cheap when you are already buying a few products.

Growth

We all experience some type of growth as we get older and Bowling Not bombs is no different. In order to grow we need a influx of capital and new ideas . In the next few month BNB will be migrating to a permanent web page and have a new staff of writers as well. We won't disclose the names as we want this to be a surprise for you and keep some anonymity in tact. But rest assured this is a positive change and one that will keep us sustainable for the next few years. We want to not only compete with the big guys but be the place you come to for bowling news and views and as always a bit of irreverence included.

Signed
BOWLING NOT BOMBS

It’s not the Lane it’s the operator!

It’s not the Lane it’s the operator!

We have all heard bowlers complain that “ the lanes suck!” or “ the ball sucks “ . What are we really saying when we say that? What we’re really saying is that we didn’t prepare for that night of bowling. Whether we needed a better nights rest, less coffee, or to realize we needed to change equipment when things started to go wrong. Its always easy to shunt the blame.

Lets take the first and most important factor in having a good nights sleep, don’t bowl tired. Bowling tired does affect the outcome of your game . One by not being able to concentrate on making good shots. We tend to slow down and over compensate, this can and does make us do things we normally would not do, and reenforces bad habbits. Try to get a decent amount of sleep to be at your best and if you have to travel any length of time make sure you have some down time to get the ROAD BUZZ out of your head. Walk around and get something to eat, try not to consume too much caffeinated drinks as that can have a negative effect on your game as well.

“ THE BALL SUCKS” What we are really saying here is that the lanes have changed or “ transitioned “ and its probably time to try a different ball or make a move on the approach. Don’t be afraid to make a BIG move , 3-5 boards can be the difference in finding a new line or if that big of a move is not needed small moves can make the difference in finding the right angle to the pocket but it might take more time. If none of your moves have worked then its probably time to change balls. Depending on what is happening and what you feel comfortable with (yes sometimes comfort in a ball makes all the difference) move to a different ball.

Try to keep an open mind when it comes to your game and the little things that can go wrong. Many times it is not one large problem that is happening but several small things adding up to one aggravating night. Take a deep breath and remember your basics. Go back to your starting points and remember your fundamentals, this can help in finding the small stuff by making you aware of things that are going on with your form, steps on the approach or wrist position. Use your practice time to work out those little problems, having someone that knows your form, in practice can be a great help. If you must, set up a camera and record yourself bowling. Then you can watch where your mistakes might be and correct them the next time you go to practice.

Remember even the PROS have bad days. We all do, so all you can do at times is just GRIND it out. Remember , practice practice, but practice well. Work on what you need to work on and don’t worry about the score. Your score will come .before you know it your scores will be back to the level you want and higher.

Lastly is DON’T try to over think each and every shot. Remember the good shots and put the bad shot or frames behind you. Being aggravated just makes it worse. There will be days when whatever you try and whatever you do, NOTHING seems to go right, just learn from the experience, practice, practice, practice. There will be better days, the longer you dwell on the negative, the longer your slump or problems will hang around. Bowling is 90% mental, if that 90% is negative you can bet that your game will be 90 % negative as well!

Bowling Summer Boot Camp

In preparation for the next round of tournaments i have embarked on a " BOOT CAMP" mentality for my training for the next few summer months. Everything from eating better to workouts will be in a more "Boot Camp" mode. I will post updates as to progress and if you want to join in as well i will post the workouts and some of the recipies for mealplans that i like and think those out there would like as well. Here is week 1 work out this one is a killer to start. I will be finishing up winter leagues this Thursday and i have started this workout twice a week until my body catches up ( I am 51 ) and you have to be careful not to injure yourself with the added exercise. If you have any suggestions feel free to post them here.

For my mealplans i am cutting down on sugars and changing the bad carbs to more good carbs such as rice and pasta. Adding more fruit and better protien sources such as chicken and fish, It is amazing how much food has to be eaten in a day eating in this manner but with some organization it is manageabe.

Is my Bowling Ball ORGANIC?

Is my Bowling Ball ORGANIC?

Of course not. We here at PAP couldn’t help, but now ask the question in this day and age of GOING GREEN and jobs moving off shore, there are certain ball manufacturers moving their factories south of the border or overseas. Wouldn’t it be advantageous to move towards a green or greener way of manufacturing bowling balls?

A little background of our modern high performance balls are made of a Reactive Resin Urethane. The “ Plastic“ ball are actually a Polyester material . Lets start with the bowling balls its self. Is it possible to manufacture a High performance ball greener? With the very nature of the chemicals used in the process it does seem very doubtful. First marketed in the early 1990s, reactive resin shells—used to help improve ball friction—are a mixture of urethane and a proprietary ingredient that generates surface porosity while the polymer base cures. Ball makers mix isocyanates and polyols to form the base urethane resin, but companies are unwilling to reveal the exact identity of the various reactive plasticizers ingredients they use. Some research has brought up a few plasticizers i.e.

Diisooctyl phthalate (DIOP), all-purpose plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, rubbers, cellulose plastics, and polyurethane.

What happens to a bowling ball when it dies? Is there a bowling ball graveyard or could this ball be brought to a Recycling center that could re purpose it? Let’s say crush it down to make park benches, garden hoses or rubber mats etc.. I would defiantly buy a ball from a company that says it recycles or re purpose its balls. This could be a public relation home run for those companies that are under the scrutiny of the public for recent events. I would pay an extra 5 bucks like a core deposit on a battery if I knew that this was going to the recycling of my ball. Also that I would get that 5 bucks back when I turned it in to be disposed of.

Well forget the ball for now. Lets look at the box it came in. I know that cardboard is recyclable , so why don’t the ball manufacturers at the very least SAY they are using recycled cardboard for their boxes? This alone would be great PR for the companies and most of us would love to see the companies CARE about the environment by recycling. All it would take would be to print on the box “ Made of recycled materials” .

What about the core, rules say it cannot be made of metallic materials so what does that leave, Plastic! Well if it is plastic or rubber couldn’t that be recycled or made of recycled materials? That could be a great selling point for a company, that it uses recycled materials. If the core can be recycled then why not turn in the ball somewhere and cut the cores out and recycle? I know what you are going to tell me then all the equipment would cost us more . What costs more, a 10 to 15 dollar increase in the cost of an already 160 dollar ball, or perhaps it might bring balls down a touch in price. It wouldn’t be a nice thing to learn that we have a landfill full of non biodegradable bowling balls that can’t be disposed of because we didn’t recycle them when we had the chance and the technology.

We now end this column with the same question we started with” Is my bowling ball organic?” If we have the technology to recycle bowling balls or use recycled materials in our equipment then why haven’t the bowling ball manufacturers done so? Do bowling ball companies have a plan to go GREEN? I think with your help and comments, we might be able to make them aware!!!