Parenting In Bowling

bowlingball.com 10/5/2017

This may not be a common thing that gets talked about in bowling. This may be something that gets pushed to the back burner. However, today is the day I bring this topic to light about the parenting in bowling.

I am a bowler who still bowls JBT events and hangs around youth leagues and tournaments, sometimes volunteering from time to time. I like giving back to the bowling community that served me when I was climbing up the ranks. But as I do climb, I begin to think about parenting in bowling.

Fortunately for me, my dad has been a hands-off kind parent, no matter if I was shooting 70 or 270 as long as I was having fun doing the sport I love. This is not to say that he did not care how I was doing it. e has been more hands on in helping me over the last two and a half years in the transition from one to two-handed. He is my role model that I look up to on the lanes for helping me and being there, but most importantly off the lanes as well.

I see parents at bowling centers all the time as they are ones who not only bring their kids to leagues, tournaments and practice sessions, but are also their biggest cheerleaders, or in cases I’ve seen around, their biggest critics. Some parents are cheering every shot whether it be a strike, spare,or big split They were cheering because they saw their child bowling and having fun. On the other side of the spectrum, I see parents who want their kid to bowl so well, that if they aren’t bowling well, they instantly go on a tirade and start expressing their frustrations, hurled into the direction of their child. They are constantly asking “Why aren’t you doing what you are supposed to be doing in a practice session?”, or “Why aren’t you doing what we practiced?” “Why do I keep bringing you to these things if you aren’t doing good?”

Yes, I do understand that there are parents who don’t push their kids enough or push their kids too hard, or parents who are just happy that their child is participating and embracing the great sport of bowling. A parent like my dad as stated above is one who is just happy I am doing what I love. Honestly for me, I just love bowling, regardless of the score, and yes I know it can be frustrating from time to time, but I keep coming back for more. I go back to the bowling alley even on a day off or when I don’t want to go. I go cause it’s the love and passion I have. Just like a little kid when it comes to a candy store, or a teenager like myself as I’m still 19, who would want to go to GameStop and pick up the latest Battlefield or Call of Duty video game.

I’m not one to tell parents how to be with their kids in a bowling center, as that is not my place to say, plus I don’t have kids of my own yet. But for all the parents in the world of bowling, I can only say one thing: Be proud of your child regardless of the score, ask questions but not be too aggressive or drop expletives. Be a cheerleader, just be happy that you have a child who has found the sport of bowling and that he/she wants to keep getting better.mbrace every shot they throw, and know that with every shot the love and passion grows like a burning fire.

Keeping that drive and motivation is the best piece of advice I can give if you want my honest opinion Subscribe to us here at bowlingball.com to be the first to pre order all new products and read all of our latest articles and stay on top of all things bowling right here at bowlingball.com. It’s where bowlers go.