This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Bowling for Speed
Aug
18
2009
We enrolled the kids in a Kids Bowl Free promotion, which entitles them to bowl up to two games per day for free (shoe rental not included). We paid extra (another $20 or so) for bowling for the adults too. So any day we want during the summer, we can go bowl and not pay any lanes fees.
Before this summer, I bowled rather infrequently, maybe once a year. We have gone bowling a couple times this summer, not a lot, but enough to get our money’s worth out of the deal. It had been a while since I had been in a bowling alley, and they added a new feature since I last bowled: speed readouts.
Now when you bowl, you get not only your score on the screen but also the speed at which you threw (or rolled or whatever) the ball.
Here’s a hint: don’t pay attention to the speed.
Unless maybe you’re trying to win a bet or something. Because, at least for me, speed and accuracy are inversely proportional. The faster I threw the ball, the fewer pins were hit. Here’s a good example. In this first picture, I was bowling normally, just aiming for the center pin and bowling at my normal speed. I got a strike.
In this second picture, I was still aiming for the center pin, but I was also concentrating on throwing it as fast as I could.
I got a 1 and a gutter. Not how you want to follow a strike.
How fast does a bowling ball go? My normal speed was 16-17 mph. I have no idea what a good bowling speed is. Is 17 mph a slowball? That was with a 16-lb ball. I topped out at 19 mph with a 13-lb ball.
And here’s a tip: always cut your thumbnail before going bowling. Because if you don’t, the ball will trim it for you.
He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left.
2 Samuel 16:6
