Back in the 1960s and 1970s, the Aussies led the brigade into the U.S. Tennis market. Names like Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, and John Newcombe were synonymous with winning. Greg Norman led Australia onto the golf scene with a number of masterful performances. And now comes another Aussie, Jason Belmonte, entering the pro bowling scene. In actuality, ladies pro, Carol Gianotti was one of the first high-profile Australian bowlers, but Belmonte has burst onto the scene not only as a representative from the Australian continent, but he’s also sporting a dynamic innovation on the tenpin bowling scene–the two-handed delivery. Just as tennis icon and legend, Jimmy Connors, brought the two-handed backhand into the game and set a new standard for tennis, Belmonte’s new style is a drastic change from the conventional hook-ball thrower, and is quite possibly establishing a new benchmark for high-revs in bowling.

Although Belmonte’s style bucks tradition and is new to the tenpin bowling world, the sport of duckpin bowling is not surprised at such a variation, as the 2-handed delivery has been witnessed on the duckpin pro tour since the mid-1980s. In the modern small-ball bowling era, the first player to use a 2-handed delivery in professional competition was trailblazer Eddie Wirt. Wirt carried a 140+ duckpin average in numerous years of league play and was a member of the duckpin Pro Tour. Noted for extreme accuracy, Eddie perfected his unorthodox style while laying the ball almost directly down on the foul line and into a roll. As time has progressed, two other young superstars in the duckpin game have mastered the 2-hand bowling motion, breaking the ‘140 average’ barrier–James Taylor and Chris Harwood. Taylor made a splash on the pro tour, and nearly won an event at Riviera Bowl in Pasadena, MD back in 2001, finishing runner-up to Bryce Kasalonis. Laurel, Maryland’s, Chris Harwood uses the 2-handed delivery, and has been a force in professional events since the mid to late 1990s. A tremendous talent, Harwood is the premier 2-hander in duckpins at the present time. It should be emphasized that Chris is known as a sharpshooter just as his predecessor Wirt, demonstrating superior accuracy with spares, and at times has been known to string strikes–his most recent highlight occurring in the last game of the qualifying round at Hagerstown’s Long Meadow Bowl in 2009, when he climaxed his 8-game block with a sensational 5-bagger en route to a 222 game.

Being on the unconventional side, the 2-handed style in bowling does require developing this method in the early stages of a bowler’s development, as it can be very taxing on a person’s anatomy (especially the back) if attempted after a player is accustomed to a one-handed delivery.

COMPARISON
Tenpinner Jason Belmonte (Photos courtesy PBA LLC)
Duckpinner Chris Harwood

Shown here are the tenpin and duckpin pros’ similar approaches using the 2-hand method. The major difference in the 2 bowlers is that Belmonte’s tenpin delivery generates an extreme number of side-revolutions on the bowling ball, allowing it to curve at the desired point down the lane, thus optimum for striking. Harwood’s ball reaction, when compared to Belmonte’s rotation, appears to be more of a flat delivery, as duckpins demands a different line to the headpin when attempting to procure consistency on the object pin. The 2 bowlers look very similar from the front as we analyze their deliveries, although there’s a distinct difference when viewing them from behind. If you were to watch videos of the 2 bowlers from the rear, you’d notice that Belmonte’s left-hand gives the impression of functioning as a support guide from the side of the ball, as his right hand ultimately generates the rotation, while Harwood’s right and left hand stay with the ball all the way through his roll.

While the bowling motions of these talented players appear unorthodox, there’s no arguing the results they have achieved. Just another remarkable example of how everyone is different, and if positive numbers and statistics are generated, no one can say that there’s a right way and wrong way to roll a bowling ball.

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Aside from the Chevy Chase Country Club with its 8 ‘alleys’, the bowling center in which I’ve bowled that had the least amount of lanes was Walkersville Lanes, which isn’t too far from Thunderhead Bowl and Grill (about 30 minutes). ‘Walkersville’ has 10 lanes of duckpins. Most of the large bowling centers where I’ve played have ‘maxed out’ at 48 lanes, and were mostly AMF/Fair Lanes centers. However, I did bowl a few times at a place known as Greenway East in Baltimore back in the late 1980s, and it had 68 lanes (51 duckpin and 17 tenpin). But a fire ended up closing down those lanes in the 1990s, I believe.

Although a 10-lane bowling establishment might seem on the small side in comparison to what we see at Thunderhead Bowl and Grill, there are quite a number of alleys across the United States that have less lanes. As of 2019, there were around 195 6-lane centers in the nation, and about 460 8-lane houses. Conversely, on the larger side, there were over 130 establishments with at least 50 lanes. To give an approximate breakdown, there were a little over 65 centers with 50-58 lanes, about 45 or a little more that housed 60-68 lanes, and around 8 or so that had 70+ lanes, and an additional 9 with 80+ lanes. In regard to the 70+ lane centers, three of them exist in the state of Indiana – 1 alley has 70 lanes (Chippewa Bowl in South Bend), and 2 centers with 80 lanes (Western Bowl and Woodland Bowl, both in Indianapolis). Topping the list, however, Michigan had the only 90-lane center at Thunder Bowl in Allen Park.

In 2019, I compiled info on the bowling establishments on the North American continent. Overall, there were over 4,300 bowling alleys in North America, and more than 3,800 of these were in the U.S. There actually may have been more than 500 in Canada, however – I was doing a mass mailing and didn’t go too deep above the northern border of the USA.

Thunderhead Bowl and Grill, with its 28 lanes, ranks around 1,100th of these 4,300+ bowling centers in regard to size, so Taneytown is well-represented with its accommodation of the sport of bowling to the community.

The most common sized bowling center is that of a 24-lane center, in which there were roughly 562 of them across the country.

Other approximate figures that might be of interest are as follows:
10-lane centers: 200
12-lane centers: 450
14-lane centers: 60
16-lane centers: 486
18-lane centers: 85
20-lane centers: 215
22-lane centers: 50
24-lane centers: 562
26-lane centers: 60
28-lane centers: 63
30-lane centers: 40
31-lane centers: 5
32-lane centers: 390
34-lane centers: 32
36-lane centers: 106
38-lane centers: 18
40–46 lane centers: 310
48-lane centers: 74

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On Saturday, I took my portable lane to the Business Expo, without the intent of selling a service, but more so to entertain the kids who were in attendance (I was supposed to attend last year, but couldn’t make it to that one).

The event started at 8:30 am and lasted about 3 hours. There were a lot of vendors in attendance, with tables set up for the different businesses, such as insurance agents, investment brokers, local engravers, and even a spot for high-profile personalities, like Pennsylvania Senator Doug Mastriano. I didn’t have a lot of time, nor opportunity to mingle, but did speak with a representative of the Waynesboro Community Concert Association, which is scheduled to host the Kenny Rogers band with Don Gatlin, and also Jackie Wilson impersonator, Chester Gregory. as well as a number of ladies’ musical groups, ranging from country to the classic era of 1950s and 1960s.

In the neighboring areas to where my bowling lane was set up, were wonderful attractions for the kids, including a balloon artist, and a photo area in which children could have their pictures taken with characters adorned in princess outfits.

The bowling lane was very enjoyable to host. Mine wasn’t a situation in which there was a constant line of kids wanting to try out the bowling lane. However, neither was there an extended lax time between visits from youngsters, some of whom were accompanied by parents, while others ventured out on their own to play the game of bowling.

Duckpins were featured on the 24-foot lane, and three duckpin balls were provided, and also three English skittle balls, which are a little smaller, more of a grip-able rubber, and weigh about 2-1/2 pounds.

I set up the lane initially, a day before the event. Once the lane was assembled during this “preview”, one of the kids who was there with her mother was interested in the idea of bowling, and came over to watch. I then set up the pins, and upon looking up, there was a 2nd youngster, and soon after a third one had arrived, which was gratifying for me to see interest in the game. All three were sisters and brothers, and ended up being steady players on Saturday.

I had to construct a makeshift backstop for the balls and pins when I left on Friday evening, but was able to have it ready for Saturday, and it worked surprisingly well, with foam rubber as an effective cushion for balls that occasionally charged beyond the pin deck.

In prior versions of this portable bowling lane, each sectional piece was on the heavy side. The latest rendition of the “Rent a Lane” is much lighter, and has been designed to assemble much quicker than prior attempts – this version takes about 12 to 15 minutes to set up.

The portable lane is of regulation width of 42″ between the gutters, and the pins are spaced the same as you would see in a legitimate bowling establishment. However, the Rent-a-Lane is normally only 24 feet in length. Because it is in 4-foot long sectional pieces, it can be expanded to the length of a regulation size of 60 feet from foul line to headpin, simply by adding 9 more of the ‘segments’. However, in order to completely replicate it to being comparable to that of a normal bowling alley, it would need the help of a professional builder, and the use of pinboys would be required, as opposed to automatic pinsetters. But, to end on a positive note, the good news is that if our glorious sport does fade, the portable lane concept offers an opportunity for keeping duckpins in the public eye.

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This one is the flip-side of the old vinyl 45 RPM of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”. I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saoBGKDtjZQ

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Shown below is a comparison between the Lawn Bowling ball and a Duckpin ball. You’ll notice that the Lawn Bowling ball is more of an oval shape, whereas the Duckpin ball is completely round.

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