Thoughts From the 2022 US Women’s Open

The amount of preparation that is required prior to an event like the US Women’s Open can easily get overlooked, as most preparation takes place well in advance of the telecast. But aside from the obvious on-lane and mental game work that is required to sharpen skills, this tournament provided another challenge compared to other events: the participants were only permitted to register 10 bowling balls for the entirety of the event.

This rule can create quite the dilemma for bowlers who aren’t 100 percent confident in their knowledge of what each ball does and when they might be in play. So aside from being razor sharp both physically and mentally, bowlers also really needed to know their equipment inside and out. They needed a game plan (or several) and the equipment to match.

Former PWBA Rookie of the Year Jordan Richard, who worked her way to 2nd place after the 56 games of qualifying, had this to say when asked about her strategy heading into this year’s Open: “My plan of attack was to get as many pins as I could [in qualifying] so I didn’t have to dig myself out of a hole or play catch up once we got to match play.” Using a combination of the Roto Grip Rubicon X2 and Haywire, along with a Storm Infinite PhysiX and 900 Global Zen Soul, Jordan averaged 211.16 while putting herself in a great spot heading into match play.

Keeping the ball in play

“I knew the patterns would be hard, so spares were going to be extremely crucial,” Richard said. “My goal was to stay level-headed, keep the ball in play, and stay within myself while fighting for every pin. Splits were going to happen, but I would just focus on getting my count, making my spares, and taking advantage of the good pairs that allowed me to ...