NEWS, NOTES AND HAPPENINGS FROM THE WORLD OF BOWLING /// SEPTEMBER 2011 Bulletin Board


ASSESSING TALENT


The First Bowling Combine Brought College Prospects And Coaches Together Under The Watchful Eye Of The USBC Coaching Staff


Texas, in August to take part in the first Bowling Combine for College Prospects. The combine


M


was for youth bowlers with col- lege eligibility looking to learn about their games and show off their talents to college coaches. Over the course of the two-day program they were put through tests that measured bowling skills, athleticism and bowling IQs. “This has been two years in the mak-


ore than 70 youth bowlers descended on the Interna- tional Training and Re- search Center in Arlington,


USBC coaches conducted the tests.


ing,” said Team USA head coach Rod Ross, who along with program direc- tor Bryan O’Keefe, Team USA assistant coach Kim Terrell-Kearney and USBC performance specialist Nick Bohanan, evaluated the young bowlers. “We tried to develop measurables that took simple bowl- ing average out of the equation. We’re trying to create a benchmark that will allow us to evaluate all bowlers, year after year.” In addition to be-


ing evaluated in the gym and in the classroom, the youth bowlers spent four hours on the lanes. Bowling-specific drills included spare shooting, repeatability in launch, break point and release, minimum


CHART TOPPERS: Click on the play button (above) to view footage from the recent Bowling Combine for College Prospects.


and maximum RPM, and accuracy in in- creasing and decreas- ing ball speed. Each bowler left


the combine with a detailed summary of their results and their Performance Evalu- ation Test (PET) score, information they can forward to bowling programs around the country. The PET score allows bowlers to measure themselves against bowlers at future com- bines and, eventually, against all bowlers. Additionally, the youth bowlers had


6 USBOWLER SEPTEMBER 2011


Youth bowlers received interview time with college coaches.


an opportunity to interview with rep- resentatives from 18 collegiate bowl- ing programs. The combine gave col- lege coaches the opportunity to watch and evaluate players they otherwise might never have been able to see.


“The coaches all agreed that some sort


of uniform evaluation of college-eligible bowlers would be extremely helpful in the development of their programs and the sport in general,” added Ross.


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