AUSTRALIA'S BEST Jason Belmonte has forged a successful professional bowling career, thanks to his revolutionary two-handed style. Image: PBA LLC
THE BELMONTE FACTOR IN 1983, AGED just 18 months, Australia’s Jason Belmonte first got a taste of the bowling lane (his parents owned the bowling alley in his hometown of Orange, NSW); at the age of 4 (!) he’d won a doubles tournament; by 16 he’d bowled his first perfect game (300); turning pro in 2008 after a decade-long stint as a top
participate in the sport.” Chris says Ten Pin Australia has a threeyear participation plan to boost numbers by 2018. “In order to achieve this we need to develop and promote programs aimed at new bowlers, especially children and people with a disability. We had over 6,500 children participate in our sporting schools program in terms 3 and 4 in 2015 and we are in the development stage of an exciting new eight-week junior program aimed at 6-12 year-olds where they can get involved in the sport and learn more about it,” he says. Ten Pin, though, has a number of aces up its sleeve; it is a very inclusive activity (from the very young to the elderly), and is accessible and can be enjoyed by those with disabilities. It’s an activity perfectly suited to the corporate team-building day. It is not weather-dependent and the social aspect, particularly for the elderly and those with learning or physical disabilities,
amateur, Jason won his first title in only his eighth tournament. He’s been racking up titles (and reached the world No.1 ranking) on the PBA Tour ever since - but there’s a twist in the tale of “Belmo” who has blazed a spectacular trail on the Ten Pin scene by using a unique “two-handed shovel” method of bowling the ball that he developed as a child. Jason says by the age of five he was averaging 118 and had a high game of 175 but his unorthodox technique was frowned upon. “I began to bowl by pushing the ball down the lane with two hands. I continued to bowl like this till I was old enough to pick the ball up on my own. Still though the ball was too heavy for me to lift with one hand, so I would throw the ball down the lane with two hands. I slowly learnt to put my fingers in the ball and by the age four I won my first tournament with doubles partner, Peter Brown (I looked up to Peter from that day forth and still do as a bowler and a person,” says Jason on his website. “My style was still very rough and complicated. Many of the ‘local’ bowlers and even national coaches would try and change me and convert me to the ‘normal’ way of bowling. I’m very thankful that I was stubborn and ignored them; who knows what I would be doing if I had listened.” Jason keeps two hands on the ball through his swing, a technique which causes the ball to spin at around 600rpm - at least 50% more revolutions than most one-handed pros. The extreme spin imparts an amazing amount of energy on the ball, excellent for maximum “pin drop”; add to this Jason’s laser-like precision, no matter what the “oil patterns”, and you get a deadly accurate, winning combination. (At the last second in the release Jason takes one hand off the ball, so technically he is still a one-handed bowler and not breaking any rules). “I have more speed and more power than almost every other bowler in the world but I use less effort. That’s an advantage for two-handed bowling,” he says. “My style is becoming more and more popular around the world. An army of two-handed bowlers is hitting the lanes and I am proud to represent this group.” For more information, visit jasonbelmonte.com
brings a massive mental benefit. And whether you have eyes on the pro ranks or just want to bowl a few balls down the lane with mates, it is a hell of a lot of fun. Of course, like anything, if you want to improve you need to go to someone who really knows their stuff - which is why I rendezvous with WA State Bowling coach Ken Thompson at the AMF centre in Cannington. Ken got involved in bowling in 1976, when his wife took up the sport. He’s been playing ever since (his wife is still involved too) and since the 1980s has been coaching members of the public, kids and the state’s elite junior bowlers. “Bowling is a repetition sport; it’s all about rhythm and timing,” says Ken. “I learned a lot from a real master of the sport, Dick Ritger (Ritger won over 20 titles on the pro bowling circuit and was elected to the US Bowling Commission Hall of Fame in 1984). I went to one of his
BOWLED OVER WA state coach Ken Thompson says timing, rhythm and getting your angles right are the keys to ten pin bowling.
july/august 2016 | PRIMOLIFE
97