Article Contents

  • 1. To bowl!
    • 1.1. Sheer enjoyment
    • 1.2. Time for experimentation
    • 1.3. Tournament time
  • 2. Taking a break!
    • 2.1. Physical injuries
    • 2.2. Mental recovery
    • 2.3. Too much of a good thing
    • 2.4. Making some changes
  • 3. Parting thoughts

We share a passion for a unique sport, one that can be enjoyed year-round. However, I’d like to pose a question to you, dear bowlers: just because you can bowl all year long, should you do so?

Putting this into perspective, what is the goal or purpose of bowling beyond the typical league season, especially knowing that you intend to return? Is bowling’s off-season from leagues a time to bowl unabated, or would it be better served by taking a much-needed break? Let’s explore this subject to see if we can shed some light on our off-season bowling goals and motivations, and so we ask the question: to bowl, or not to bowl?

To bowl!

There are a few reasons to continue bowling all year, not the least of which is sheer love of the game. Why stop when you’re having fun? The off-season can also be used as an important period for making changes to your game that you couldn’t make during the competitive leagues season. As I’ve said before, important league nights and tournaments are not the time for experimentation, but the off-season is.

Sheer enjoyment

Excluding what we do to earn a living, the basis of any activity we perform are the feelings of pleasure, enjoyment, and fun that we expect and hopefully experience more times than not. I have often opined (tongue firmly in cheek) that bowlers are masochists at heart, as we enjoy beating our brains out to figure out the correct adjustments for a given outing. And then we return the next week to do it again. That said, the fact remains that we love what we do on the lanes. If we did not, or if things have reached the point where bowling is no longer pleasurable, we would not shoe-up on a regular basis, ...

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Joe Hoenig

About Joe Hoenig

Joe Hoenig is a USBC Silver coach and a graduate of the Dick Ritger Bowling Camps. A Licensed Master Social Worker by profession, Joe works full-time as a Clinical Trainer and Educator for a health insurance plan and takes his love of teaching and bowling onto the lanes, coaching both youth and adult students of all ages and skill levels. Additionally, Joe is a volunteer coach for the Suffolk County, NY Bowlympics youth travel league, which calls South Levittown Lanes its home.