On Bowling

This afternoon, as part of an effort to build staff morale, my organization had us go bowling.

I used to do five-pin bowling in my early teens. I got my game up from awful to above-average, but I had to give it up when my mom scheduled piano lessons and decided piano-playing was a better hobby than bowling. (I don't think she took piano teachers into account, but let that pass.)

What we did this afternoon was 10-pin bowling. 2 balls per frame instead of 3, and balls with holes in them. I bowled my expected score (not quite the bottom, but close enough) and came away with a few observations:

• It's a lot easier to toss the ball when your thumb doesn't get stuck in the hole.
• This is one of those games where you're not competing against other people, but against yourself. You're trying to control your arm, wrist, grip, and shoulder enough to throw the ball in the right direction and keep it straight.
• 10-pin bowling demands customization if you want to do well, unlike 5-pin. In 5-pin, the ball doesn't care if you're left-handed, or how big your grip is, or your arm strength.
• Hot pink is not a normal color for a bowling ball. Ditto Day-Glo orange.

I could go on about this, but I need to go soak my thumb in something.