I was a high school bowler before coming to Morehead State University to bowl. I was a decent bowler and even played in a regional tournament once. However, the transition from high school bowling to Collegiate and Sport bowling is quite a tough one, one that I never once imagined I'd have to make.
Oil Lane Patterns
The biggest difference between high school bowing and Collegiate/Sport bowling is the types of patterns you use. In high school bowling, especially in Kentucky, you would experience just one type of lane pattern: house. House patterns are typically very long patterns meant primarily for straight bowling (normal, everyday bowling). For someone in Kentucky, who wants to bowl collegiate, this transition is tough, because in collegiate bowling, there are hundreds of different types of lane patterns to use.
Commonly, the PBA uses different sport patterns, depending on the tournament! Some of those include long patterns (Chameleon (43'), Shark (43'), Scorpion (47'), short patterns (Cheetah (35'), Wolf (32') and even medium patterns (Bear (40'), Viper (39'). The length of an oil pattern will determine how your ball will perform. If the pattern is long, the ball is less likely to hook (curve), and if the pattern is short, your ball is more likely to hook.
Having the right ball.
If you're like me, using the house balls is beyond ridiculous. Often times they don't fit your hand like they're suppose to. For me, I went through 3 balls before finding the right one to use during collegiate bowling. Two of those balls turned out to be house balls, so I found out that that was part of the reason why I wasn't performing like I should have. I now use a Virtual Gravity Nano from Storm as my strike ball and an Maxim from Ebonite, both 14 pound balls.
Tournaments
These aren't your average high school tournament.
Tournaments in high school were not as frequent as tournaments in college are. College tournaments happen every weekend, but you may not go to all of them. It depends on your university, really.
Typically, these tournaments consist of a full day to do five or six games, with 5 bowlers playing in each game. That determines you place for the baker games that usually happen the next day. You usually play 16 games, though some tournaments have more, some have less. While you're performing all of these games, your individual game scores are being kept for individual placement.
Pretty complicated, right?
Repetition
Repetition is key to being successful in sport and college bowling. Once you are consistently getting the same shot, no matter how many pins you knock down, you can compete in pretty much any tournament you want to.
This is the problem with high school bowling as it relates to repetition: the coaches more than likely don't know the game of bowling. Most of the time, it's okay. However, when you transition from high school to college, finding that only thing you're consistent at is being in consistent, it's can be a real struggle trying to figure out where you need to be.
Frustrations
Bowling is a frustrating sport. There is stigma around it being easy, but honestly, people who don't do this as part of their daily routine have no idea how difficult and frustrating it can be. It's easy to start beating yourself up when you can't seem to strike or if you keep throwing the ball into the gutter or you can't pick up your spares. It's really easy to be frustrated.
Bowling isn't exactly an easy sport to begin with -- especially when you're playing it like the sport it is. There is so much to bowling besides just throwing it down the lane and knocking down pins. Bowling is a sport of technique, of strategy, of knowledge, and of repetition.
