Bowling Through Time – Part 5

The 2000s sit in an interesting position in this series. Reactive resin was now established, the modern one-handed game had largely taken shape, and many of the best players in the world were still those who combined accuracy with enough rev rate to get the most out of the equipment. Yet another major technical shift was beginning to appear on television and in international events, but this time, it wasn’t coming from the equipment side. A biomechanical evolution was about to take place as two-handed bowling moved from being unusual to being visible, and the players who made it visible would influence a generation to come and possibly change bowling forever.

Bowlers

The bowlers with the most singles titles on the PBA Tour during this decade were Walter Ray Williams, Jr. with 14, Patrick Allen and Norm Duke with 13 each, Tommy Jones with 12, Pete Weber and Chris Barnes with 10 each, and Mika Koivuniemi and Jason Couch with eight each.

Once again, the leading title winners were players who blended accuracy with rev rate, although rev rates were generally increasing compared with previous decades. Williams, Weber, and Duke were still present near the top of the list, demonstrating their remarkable longevity. Alongside them, a new breed of one-handed power players emerged, including Tommy Jones and Jason Couch. In many ways, they were the Mark Roths of the reactive era. Both had high backswings, plenty of speed, a suitable rev rate to go with it, and the ability to create shapes with ball speeds that previous generations could not.

Behind them in terms of speed and rev rate were players such as Barnes and Koivuniemi, whose games appeared more controlled, refined, and less flamboyant from a technical point of view than those of Jones and Couch. With that said, one thing ...