Foreword - Not long ago, bowling was a far different sport than it is today. The introduction of the Automatic Pinspotter was one of the reasons for the changes in the game. Such equipment made possible round-the-clock bowling and this new concept led to profound changes in the basic character of the sport. In a short time, millions discovered the game that had been around for centuries.

Acknowledgments - The author wishes to take this means of thanking the following for their fine contributions to this book, recognizing that they, too, ore sincere in their efforts to promote our great game of bowling: AMF Pinspotters, Inc.; American Bowling Congress; Woman's International Bowling Congress; Ed Elias, secretary of the Professional Bowlers' Association; and others —among them, a very tolerant wife who contributed good cheer while the book was being prepared and smiled despite a thoroughly disarranged living room where most of the writing took place.

01. Introduction - Meet the author and panel of champions. If your score is usually in the lower brackets, careful attention to their advice will certainly improve your game

AUTHOR HANK SAYRS, Milwaukee, Wis.—Born Aug. 19, 1904. Graduated after attending high schools in Houston, Texas, and Waukegan, 111. Became sports editor in Waukegan, III., in 1921 and began a direct affiliation with bowling two years later. His first league average was 168 which improved continually until the season of 1943-44 when he temporarily quit bowling.

02. Bowling - If you're serious about the sport, there no reason you can't be a fine bowler
 
The first bowler may well have been Neanderthal Man hurling a rounded chunk of wood at an assortment of dinosaur bones. We don't know for sure. We do know, however, that implements of a game much like our modern tenpins were found in the tomb of an Egyptian child who lived in the year 5200 B. C.

03. Equipment - Ownership is not absolutely necessary. Essential accessories are available at any lanes. But in time you may want your own shoes, ball and bag. All of them are reasonably priced
 
One of the wonderful things about this sport of ours is that the participant is not required to go out and purchase a lot of costly, ornate equipment.

04. Stance - There are three basic types of stance, l† is important that you standardize your own and let comfort be the factor that determines it

Because it is the first step in bowling, the stance is one of the most important phases of the bowling game. It's the point of origin and should be standardized.

05. Pushaway - Pushaway comes on †he first step and must be a smooth motion for the sake of balance

Dick Weber: I take live full steps, none long. But. teaching. I stress the four-step approach.

It's taken for granted now that you have paced off the number of steps from the foul line that you deem sufficient and have taken your stance. Rock back and forth a few times to make sure you're comfortable.

06. Three-step Delivery - Opposed by our panel of experts, the style is employed by some women and powerful men and warrants consideration
 
Probably because three comes before four, the three-step delivery will be the subject before your panel of champions now. We can honestly think of no other reason.

No real controversy surrounds this type of delivery; it's just that the style is suited to only a few.

07. Four-step Delivery - Out on one, down on two, back on three, and slide!" That's it}recommended for beginners, favored by the champions
 
Taking four steps on your approach gives you smoothness, helps your coordination, gives you sufficient time to master release of the ball and radiates rhythm throughout.

08. Five-step Delivery - The first step of this delivery is usually a shuffle, with other phases much like those of the previously-described four-step method
 
The five-step delivery probably has the most friends among bowlers who are on the short side and utilize an extra step to give them a bit more rhythm and speed.

09. Laying It Down - How far over the foul line? How to release the ball to impart that special hook stuff for the highest pinfall? Here are the answers. They deserve careful study by the serious bowler

Pat Patterson: I try to have my thumb at 11 o'clock and merely make sure of getting it out over the line.

10. Backswing - The backswing that is higher than shoulder level invites trouble and the follow-through should be completely comfortable and natural. Don't pose as if awaiting the photographers
 
The elements of this chapter might well be viewed as the bread—toast, if you prefer—that sandwiches the preceding discussion of ball release.

12. Ball Action - On release, the bowling ball behaves in one of four ways. Consider these actions, the cause and effect of each one
 
All of a sudden, you find yourself at the foul line with a bowling ball in your hand. What's going to happen next? One thing is sure.

13. Straight Ball - Though you will probably abandon i† as your game improves, the spinless straight ball is †he preferred delivery for †he beginner

Ed Lubanski demonstrates release of the straight ball below. Action of ball is diagramed at left. In sighting, aim it fairly high on the head pin.
 
Although delivery of a straight ball i. carries with it a great deal of weight on the bowler's wrist, it still is the No. 1 delivery for the beginning bowler.

14. Hook Ball - Preferred by all top bowlers, it is delivered with a handshake gesture, nets top pinfall
 
Of one thing there is no doubt: the hook ball is the best delivery in bowling. The finish of the ball's course guarantees more pinfall, and to throw it is as easy as shaking hands with your best friend.

15. Curve Ball - If breaks left, as does the hook, but in a wide sweeping arc, and can fell substantial quantities of timber. But it is difficult to control, not recommended by our experts can occur where there is a lot of speed and a ball doesn't go anywhere.
 
The one word "control" is the main reason the curve ball gets short shrift in comparison with the hook.

16. Backup Ball - Unorthodox, it is also called the reverse hook. An explanation seems warranted, if only to point out its many disadvantages straight down and into the 1-3 pocket.
 
Nobody is particularly fond of mosquitoes, coral snakes or sharks. But there are such things. Likewise, there is such a thing as a backup ball. Frank Clause of the AMF Staff of Champions prefers to call it a reverse hook.

17. Spare Shooting - Pick up 20 pins per game by converting two combinations you've been missing. Here's how
 
One thing has been stressed so far— that has been, hitting the strike pocket and the importance of strikes. Of course, strikes are important. They are so important that certain topnotch bowlers are heard to remark after missing a one-pin spare: "You can have the spares; I'll take the strikes."

18. Spot bowling - How to pinpoint your delivery while sighting the 1-3 strike pocket 60 long feet away? The vast majority of bowlers who carry 200-plus averages use this method

In preceding chapters, the author and panel have taken you through the fundamentals of good bowling. If you've heeded the lessons—and we've done our job properly—you've probably decided that there is quite a bit to this sport of ours.

19. Reading Lanes - They differ greatly, with marked effect on the ball's action. Here's how to compensate

Weber: I throw first from a particular spot, then make adjustments by moving feet to right or left.
 
Bowling would be far too easy if all you had to do was to throw the ball and chalk up strikes, regardless. But that is even more unlikely than a naturally purple cow, or a pennant for the New York Mets.

20. Teaching Children - Most learn best from an outsider. Investigate the junior program at your neighborhood lanes

Timing, and the straight ball are stressed to youngsters by such able instructors as AMF's June Llewellyn.

There was a time when children were expected to be seen and not heard. But in this day and age that certainly is not true.

21. ABC Story - Since 1895, the American Bowling Congress has worked for stability and progress of the game and for protection of all competitors

Millions of Americans try their hand at tenpin bowling each year.

22. WIBC Story - Woman's International Bowling Congress, world's largest sports organization for women, has given much †o our great game

The Woman's International Bowling Congress, Inc., is the largest sports organization for women in the world and is recognized as holding jurisdiction over women who bowl in sanctioned leagues.

23. Stars of the Lanes - An impressive gallery of champions, with brief career notes. They, too, warrant attention, as panel members would quickly point out

In other areas of this book, attention is naturally focused on members of the panel. The author and the editors are indebted to them for their generous assistance which made this book possible. But they, alone, do not comprise AMF's Staff of Champions, as they would be the first to mention.

24. The PBA Story - The Pro Bowlers Assn. has done much for our sport and helped pros achieve proper status

Ed elias, whose headquarters are in Akron, Ohio, is the hard-working secretary of the Professional Bowlers' Association which, along with the National Bowling League, are two of the newest organizations in the great sport of bowling.

25. Bowling Classes - Where to turn for additional instruction as proficiency and enthusiasm increase? The AMF Clinic has helped thousands of bowlers. Don't miss it when it is held near your home town
 
A how-to book on bowling—or any sport, for that matter—has its limitations.

26. The Greatest - Now, as always, the debate waxes hot and heavy. Herein, our quota of heat, as well as light

Unless otherwise indicated photos courtesy American Bowling Congress

James Blouin: Serious only when the stakes were big.

27. Keep Score - It's simple. Your fellow bowlers have every right to be irritated if you don't know how. There's no reason for it but sheer laziness

When bowling with a group, do you regard scorekeeping as a task? How many times, when bowling in league play, have you run into people who won't keep score—mainly because they don't really know how?

28. Bowling Records - Team competition: Classic Division: high series (six games) by Don Carter Gloves of St. Louis, 6,248; high series (three games) by Fresno Bombers of Fresno, Calif., 3,244; high single game by Fresno Bombers, 1,162 (all in 1962). Regular Division: high series (three games) by Pfeiffer Beer of Detroit, 3,243 (1959); high game by Falstaff Beer of San Antonio, Texas, 1,226 (1958).

29. Bowling Terms -

A. B. C.    American Bowling Congress, governing body of the
sport.
Alley         The strip of wood, usually maple and pine, sixty-
                 two feet, ten and one eighth inches long, on which
                 the game is played. Also Drive and Lane.

30. Thrills - King-size helpings of each are served in †he wonderful world of bowling. Our championship panel recalls their most noteworthy
 
Every bowler who has run the low-to-high-average gamut has had his or her share of amusing incidents, thrills and embarrassing moments in bowling.

THE END