Robot vs. Coach – Part 2

In the first article of this series, I kept to the basics and asked ChatGPT for advice on getting started with bowling. For the second installment of Robot vs. Coach, I wanted to get a bit more detailed.

This time, I’m assuming the guise of a bowler with a 180 average who is looking to climb to the 200 average range and wants to learn to bowl on sport shots. Once again, I’ll be asking questions and following up on the answers provided. I’ll summarize the findings and comment on the good and bad that AI has to offer as a coach in this scenario.

Getting started

The first three pieces of advice I received in response to my initial question were to master my spare shooting, improve at lane play, and refine my strike line.

The good

On the surface, this advice is sound. ChatGPT provided the rationale and some basics on improving my spares, but nothing more detailed than what I was provided last time when I was pretending to be a beginner. There was even a glaring mistake that I’ll get to in a bit when we cover the bad stuff.

The advice on improving my lane reading skills also had its strong points. It asked the right questions about the ball hooking too early or too late, and it suggested watching how the ball enters the pocket and reacts at the breakpoint. It also mentioned watching other bowlers’ lines to anticipate transition, which is some really good advice. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any information about what this means or what hooking too early or late might look like.

There was also some good advice on keeping track of statistics and developing some mental game tools, like a pre-shot routine.

The best piece of advice came in the drills section, where it was suggested that I do a drill where I target a specific breakpoint (i.e., the eight board at 40 feet). As you develop from an intermediate to an advanced player, your downlane target becomes more ...