When I first told my 12-year-old daughter, Leah, that we were going bowling, she eyed me suspiciously. I knew what she was thinking: "Dad feels it is his duty to teach me about the old days. First it was The Beatles, then tie-dye shirts and now bowling." Leah was right--to a point. I do feel an obligation to pass on the transcendent experiences of our culture. But this was something more. Since turning 40, I have had a burning desire to reunite with the highlights of my youth. And bowling, I imagined, would be a blast from deep in my past.
And so, as we entered our local bowling center, I tried to prepare Leah for what I expected would be an encounter with Ralph Kramden, Ed Norton and some of their cigar-smoking cronies. Instead, we were met by a crew of wholesome eight-year-olds who were ricocheting lightweight balls off foam bumpers set in the alley's gutters and screaming as the pins tumbled down. There was not a cigar in sight.
Unlike the bowling alleys I remember, which appealed to a weeknight bowl-and-beer crowd, this bowling center (and, I soon discovered, the industry as a whole) was reaching out to families. Those anti-gutter-ball bumpers (and similar guardrail-like devices used elsewhere) now make the game a breeze for kids as young as four. To attract older kids to the game, lanes now host events with names like "Rock and Bowl," featuring light shows and hip music. And for us memory-challenged parents, the industry has even come up with automatic score-keeping systems that never forget to mark down who nailed that spare last frame.
Even though the game is so straightforward that many casual bowlers simply choose to learn as they play, Leah and I sought out some start-up pointers from Scott Hamilton, codirector of the Dick Ritger Bowling Camps, a leading teaching school based in Ithaca, New York. Hamilton walked us through a key first step: selecting the right ball.
The house balls in bowling centers vary considerably by weight and finger hole placement, he said. You want to find one that you can grip and swing comfortably at your side. As a rough rule of thumb, the ball's weight should be your body weight in pounds divided by 10. If the ball is a struggle to lift and swing, choose a lighter one. Kids should have the lightest bowling balls--the 6- to 8-pound models. At some centers, you have to ask for these at the main desk.
Pay attention to the size of the finger holes as well, said Hamilton. Your middle and ring fingers must slide easily into the holes, up to the second knuckle. Your thumb should fit in loosely and allow your palm to rest flat against the ball. Another important consideration, particularly for 12-year-olds, is that the ball should be brightly colored and should clash with your clothing, like the neon orange beauty Leah chose.
With a few pointers from Hamilton on the four-step delivery, Leah and I were ready to roll. Sure, we had our share of gutter balls and dreaded 7-10 splits, but with practice we soon began to revel in the thunder of our balls hurtling down the 60-foot hardwood lane and the crash of the pins scattering helter-skelter. We discovered, to our delight, that using a heavy object to knock things down satisfies some deep, primitive urge. "I love that moment of suspense when the ball is rolling down the lane," Leah said. "I feel like Fred Flintstone. Ball knock down pins. Ugh."
That primal pleasure, in fact, helps explain the game's long and colorful history. An early version using stone balls and pottery was played in Egypt as far back as 5200 B.C. In the fourth century, German churchgoers, as a test of their faith, rolled a ball down the aisles at a pin that represented evil. Bowling games featuring various numbers of pins were popular throughout medieval Europe, including a ninepin game credited to Martin Luther.
This was the game that was brought to New Amsterdam (New York City) by the Dutch in the 1600s--and was eventually outlawed for the betting that came with it. The ban was circumvented by adding another pin, creating today's tenpin game. In the last century, North American variations have emerged, most notably candlepin and duckpin.
Today, as Leah and I discovered, bowling's seamier associations are indeed ancient history. These days, the game is noteworthy for offering an opportunity for parents and kids, so often divided by our interests and skill levels, to play together. And, at an affordable $1.75 to $3.50 a game, it's even cheaper than an evening at the multiplex. But bowling's greatest appeal to families may be this: Where else can you parade around in harlequin-colored shoes, frantically waving your arms and wiggling your backside, and have your kids actually cheer you on?
Marty Kaminsky is a writer and third grade teacher living in Ithaca, New York.
