Pool & Bowling

Donny Lutz

Donny Lutz

Ferrule Cat
Silver Member
I know there are lots of folks who are or have been both bowlers and pool players. I think it might be an interesting thread comparing the two sports:
Differences, similarities, experiences, gambling, leagues, tournaments, etc.

I was introduced to both by my father. I fell in love with both at age 12. I was much more of a "natural" at pool, partly because a 16-lb ball was a lot for a 90-lb, 4'10 kid to handle...but I chose bowling as my first sport because it was on tv, and was exploding in popularity.

So let's hear your stories!
Warning! I have LOTS of stories to tell.

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
(former AJBC Bowling Instructor)
 
Bowling here is my first love followed by pool in a real close second.

Bowling: 3-300's, 1-800 (812), State Team Champs, 1 Top 25 finish Nationals Singles 220 ave. over 20 years. Been bowling since I was 6, am 38 now. USBC Bronze level Instructor.

Pool: Been shooting ever since I could walk. I had a table growing up. i have had several top 20 finishes in open and team singles, no top state awards yet.

I enjoy gambling at both sports and have made more bowling of course than pool and have lost my share as well. Gotta love late night action on the lanes after closing time.
 
Donny Lutz said:
I know there are lots of folks who are or have been both bowlers and pool players. Differences, similarities, experiences, gambling, leagues, tournaments, etc.
Donny L
(former AJBC Bowling Instructor)
Click to expand...

Similar in that they are boths sports, but you dont have to be an "athlete" to play either one.

Bowling different in that: almost impossible to cheat, less gambling, more family friendly and less drama over-all. Less intimidating. No defense and less strategy. Easy to play with people of different abilities.

I played in a couple bowling leagues, generally a good time.

Overall I see bowling as less stressful and more social.
Pool is more competitive and more satisfying to me.
 
Don't have to be an athlete?

michael4 said:
Similar in that they are boths sports, but you dont have to be an "athlete" to play either one.

I guess not. You don't have to be an athlete to play football, baseball or basketball either. I was thinking more on the lines of people who try to excel at their chosen sports. Nowadays, most of the top bowlers and pool players take conditioning rather seriously

Bowling different in that: almost impossible to cheat, less gambling, more family friendly and less drama over-all. Less intimidating. No defense and less strategy. Easy to play with people of different abilities.

You're quite right, the big difference in bowling is that there's no defense. But there is actually quite a lot of strategy in bowling.

I played in a couple bowling leagues, generally a good time.

Overall I see bowling as less stressful and more social.
Pool is more competitive and more satisfying to me.
Click to expand...

Whether it's competitive is entirely in how you approach it. I found bowling very competitive as well.
 
Donny Lutz said:
I know there are lots of folks who are or have been both bowlers and pool players. I think it might be an interesting thread comparing the two sports:
Differences, similarities, experiences, gambling, leagues, tournaments, etc.

I was introduced to both by my father. I fell in love with both at age 12. I was much more of a "natural" at pool, partly because a 16-lb ball was a lot for a 90-lb, 4'10 kid to handle...but I chose bowling as my first sport because it was on tv, and was exploding in popularity.

So let's hear your stories!
Warning! I have LOTS of stories to tell.

Donny L

Some bowling centers/alleys had pool tables , i didn't bowl alot but did take advantage of rent-a-lanes , usually from 11to 1 in the morning. Bowling centers tended to be all in one entertainment centers , in the early to mid 70's , with arcades and some with batting cages. Could spend all day there if you had the money. Also grill food and beer. Tables tended to be AMF'S at the places i went.
Click to expand...
 
In terms of popularity ...

Bowling is an open environment, fun for the family. Laugh, jump up and down and cheer for your shot.

Pool is an intimidating game where you are usually confined to a much smaller less defined space where you dare not shout out and jump around.

Bowling success usually comes ( at least in terms of hitting a respectable number of pins) within minutes of playing for your first time.

Pool success when playing for the first time usually results in embarrassment and uncomfortable feelings.

On the other hand, the rewards for the difficulty of playing pool well are far more rewarding than the redundancy of bowling.
 
A buddy and I had a standing thing on Thursday nights to meet a couple guys who bowled in a mens league and take their money on the pool table:thumbup:
 
More on Pool & Bowling

3andstop said:
In terms of popularity ...

Bowling is an open environment, fun for the family. Laugh, jump up and down and cheer for your shot. Pool is an intimidating game where you are usually confined to a much smaller less defined space where you dare not shout out and jump around.

If you've ever taken part in league play locally or been to a national pocket billiards event (especially team events), you will see folks laughing, jumping up and down and cheering.


Bowling success usually comes ( at least in terms of hitting a respectable number of pins) within minutes of playing for your first time.

Success is of course a relative thing. What do you consider a "respectable" number of pins? Two? Six?

Pool success when playing for the first time usually results in embarrassment and uncomfortable feelings.

Sorry, don't quite follow your thinking here. Success usually results in embarassment?

On the other hand, the rewards for the difficulty of playing pool well are far more rewarding than the redundancy of bowling.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments, but I'm looking for responses by folks who indulge in both games, like them both, take them seriously, and would like to comment on the original post

Donny L
 
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michael4 said:
Similar in that they are boths sports, but you dont have to be an "athlete" to play either one.

Bowling different in that: almost impossible to cheat, less gambling, more family friendly and less drama over-all. Less intimidating. No defense and less strategy. Easy to play with people of different abilities.

I played in a couple bowling leagues, generally a good time.

Overall I see bowling as less stressful and more social.
Pool is more competitive and more satisfying to me.
Click to expand...

Bowling and pool are both sports, maybe it's the lack of effort that you put into these sports that would have you saying something like that.
 
Donny Lutz said:
I know there are lots of folks who are or have been both bowlers and pool players. I think it might be an interesting thread comparing the two sports:
Differences, similarities, experiences, gambling, leagues, tournaments, etc.

I was introduced to both by my father. I fell in love with both at age 12. I was much more of a "natural" at pool, partly because a 16-lb ball was a lot for a 90-lb, 4'10 kid to handle...but I chose bowling as my first sport because it was on tv, and was exploding in popularity.

So let's hear your stories!
Warning! I have LOTS of stories to tell.

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
(former AJBC Bowling Instructor)
Click to expand...

I grew up bowling but for whatever reason lost interest in the game. I had a 185 average when I was 14. High game 265. Not amazing but not terrible. I tried bowling again for a season of league but it just didn't seem as much fun as pool to me. I was introduced to pool much later and have been playing ever since.

Bowling and pool have several similarities. Both require good hand eye coordination to send a ball down a chosen line of aim consistently. Also judgment to impart required spin to achieve desired result.

I feel both sports can be very fun when a league is involved. Meet good people, compete, etc.

I like the strategy required in pool. I also think pool requires much more precision than bowling does. I play better pool than I bowl so that may be another factor as to why I don't bowl very often. I haven't looked at my bowling ball in years whereas I play pool basically every day.
 
It was in a bowling league where I first learned the meaning of the word 'sandbagger.'

Yes, it is possible to cheat in bowling with a loaded ball, although you can get caught in some tournaments.

I don't know about the present conditions, but I remember in the past that it was possible to manipulate the lanes by blocking them with specific oil placement. I guess that could relate to pool with someone who has their favorite house trick table that they like to trap an unknowing opponent on.

There are backers and railbirds in both games. There are tournaments and leagues in both.

There are mathematical systems for both games.
 
FranCrimi said:
It was in a bowling league where I first learned the meaning of the word 'sandbagger.'

Yes, it is possible to cheat in bowling with a loaded ball, although you can get caught in some tournaments.

If you mean an over legal weight, yes. I had a friend (and a great bowler) who had a 17-lb ball (one lb over limit), that he used sometimes as the weight was rarely checked other than at some national events. If you mean a counter weight (originally to offset the weight lost by drilling finger holes), that is perfectly legal, - different weight configurations for different lane conditions.

I don't know about the present conditions, but I remember in the past that it was possible to manipulate the lanes by blocking them with specific oil placement. I guess that could relate to pool with someone who has their favorite house trick table that they like to trap an unknowing opponent on.

"Oil tracking" is legal up to a point. Blocking usually refer to "sand-blocking" by which you actually sanded a small area in front of the pins to increase the friction, and hence the drive of the ball through the pins, - strictly illegal.

There are backers and railbirds in both games. There are tournaments and leagues in both.

There are mathematical systems for both games.
Click to expand...

Anyone out there as old as I? When I began bowling automatic pinsetters were just being invented. We had mechanical racks that the pinboys placed the pins into, then pulled a leather cord to drop the pins onto the pin deck. Bowling was 25 cents a game, of which the pin boy got a dime. I set pins myself for a year.
At that time there were no bar boxes for the pool players, only 9-footers and bumper pool. The pool halls were mostly restricted to 18-years-old and up, as they served beer. Booze bars required you to be 21. But they'd let kids play in the pool halls during the day. When I was 17, I altered my Demolay (junior Mason) picture ID to make me 18, so I could play at night as well.

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
 
Donny Lutz said:
Anyone out there as old as I? When I began bowling automatic pinsetters were just being invented. We had mechanical racks that the pinboys placed the pins into, then pulled a leather cord to drop the pins onto the pin deck. Bowling was 25 cents a game, of which the pin boy got a dime. I set pins myself for a year.
At that time there were no bar boxes for the pool players, only 9-footers and bumper pool. The pool halls were mostly restricted to 18-years-old and up, as they served beer. Booze bars required you to be 21. But they'd let kids play in the pool halls during the day. When I was 17, I altered my Demolay (junior Mason) picture ID to make me 18, so I could play at night as well.

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
Click to expand...

I dated a pro bowler for 5 years and I threw a full fingertip as well, but not at pro level. We were good friends with Mark Roth, Johnny Petraglia and a lot of the NYC area top bowlers.

The load I'm referring to is a weighted plug and is definitely illegal. Blocking was the term we used to describe setting a particular path to the pocket. If you caught the particular track on a blocked lane, you would hit the pocket. A lane could be blocked for a righty or lefty but not for both. It could be blocked for an inside path or an outside path. I don't know if sand was used, never heard about any sand, I only know that oil was placed in a particular layout.
 
I'm curious- Which game is harder to become great at? Which takes more natural ability? On a 1-10 scale compared to pool in difficulty?
 
donny mills said:
I'm curious- Which game is harder to become great at? Which takes more natural ability? On a 1-10 scale compared to pool in difficulty?
Click to expand...

I'd say pool is a lot more difficult than bowling, and for some of the reasons already mention here. Not a jab at bowling, heck, there are dozens and dozens of sports more difficult than pool.
 
donny mills said:
I'm curious- Which game is harder to become great at? Which takes more natural ability? On a 1-10 scale compared to pool in difficulty?
Click to expand...

I think bowling is more difficult on many levels. Take the equipment, for example --- A serious bowler usually starts with a double ball bag and then increases it from there. Carrying that around is hard.

Your car trunk gets loaded with bowling balls, your thumb will swell and bleed. Installing a bowling lane in your home is most likely out of the question. Sending a 16lb ball flying through the air to a spot on the lane with just the right amount of speed and sidespin is incredibly difficult. You have to wait after each shot for the pinsetter to do it's thing, and then wait for the ball to return to you. Bowling is much more expensive than pool.
 
I started bowling as a junior, around 11 or so, and bowled seriously until I was 19 or 20. Won a lot of trophys in leagues and tourneys, was good but not great, usually averaged between 200 and 205 in various leagues, as high as 208 in one league. I really enjoyed it, especially in Wisconsin in winter when there was nothing else to do... :)

I bowled in a charity event in college, was on my 14th or 15th game, and I developed a small blister on my thumb. I Nu-skin'ed it up, thought I was good to do - until a few frames later I ripped not only the Nu-skin off but a fresh layer of skin with it... That sidelined me for a few weeks, and wouldn't you know while I was hanging out in the rec center at school, a friend of a friend came down, said hi and went to the pool tables. We got to talking, next thing you know I had a stick in my hand and was trying to play. I saw him a few days later, played some more.

Pretty soon I was playing 6 - 10 hours a day in between (or instead of) classes. Color of Money came out that same year, and I was hooked. Bowled another year or two, but not much since then, been pool and other sports instead.

I think they are similar, just like other individual sports, requiring high degrees of accuracy and concentration. Funny how competing in one helps but when you start competing in the other you still have to go through those same learning jitters etc.

Oh yea, and I use CTE for both - center to the edge of the lane and back into the pocket... :thumbup:

Scott
 
Pool is harder

donny mills said:
I'm curious- Which game is harder to become great at? Which takes more natural ability? On a 1-10 scale compared to pool in difficulty?
Click to expand...

If pool is a 10 in difficulty, I would say bowling is a 7 or so.
Pool is a small muscle game; bowling is a large muscle game.
Back problems can arise in both, but knee and ankle problems are more critical in bowling.
Bowling requires much more coordination and timing.
The knowledge required to be a top pro bowler, while extensive, is finite.
There's no limit to the knowledge what can acquire with pool.
Substantial strategy in bowling, countless strategies in pool.
With pool, playing on your "home" table is an advantage; with bowling, it can be a huge advantage.
While heat and humidity do affect how a table plays, the effect is more drastic on the lanes.
That question about natural a ability is a tough one. I was definitely more of a natural at pool,- made a few dollars my first year. My progress was much slower at bowling. But I probably came closer to becoming a pro bowler, because I worked at it until I retired at age 30.
I'd have to say it's easier to become a Hall of Fame bowler than a Hall of Fame pool player.

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
Former AJBC Bowling Instructor
 
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