Hall-of-Famer Voss brings bowling expertise to Delphos

By Jim Metcalfe, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Tuesday, July 28, 2009 (6 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Youth bowlers attending Saturday morning’s session with Brian Voss include, left to right, Miranda Perrine, Page Perrine, Voss, Christopher Martin and Caleb Smith.DELPHOS — Brian Voss is a Hall of Fame bowler in both the Professional Bowlers Association and the United States Bowling Congress.
He has been on the PBA Tour since 1982, though he has had an injury-plagued last few years and was given an exemption due to those injuries, and is a 24-time winner on the Tour.
He remains a teaching professional.
He brought his hands-on teaching technique, as well as a little technological assistance — the Dartfish motion analysis software system — to the Delphos Recreation Center Saturday and Sunday to help youth and older bowlers.
Voss especially encouraged the youngsters that attended his sessions.
“You need to work hard and sacrifice if you’re going to gain success, whether in bowling, another sport or life in general. You have to do certain things,” he explained. “This won’t come overnight and it is hard; nothing is supposed to be easy. Give yourself 3-6 months to see progress and improvement; don’t allow yourselves to fall back into old habits.
“I’ve taught you — with this system — the right way to do things in bowling. Now, you can teach yourself and others; it’s up to you. For leaders, tomorrow never comes; tomorrow is here.”
Bowling is like any other sport, according to Voss, in developing confidence and the ability to do things right over and over.
“It has to become almost automatic. What I want to teach is how to gain efficiency on the lanes; it’s hard to develop confidence when you’re making bad shots,” he said. “At the pro level, everyone is efficient and it‘s a battle. Once you gain efficiency, then it’s more a mental battle — with the changing lanes and yourself. There’s pressure every single game; there cannot be doubt at this level.
“It’s much different to shoot well on a normal house lane versus at the professional level, where you can shoot from 35 to 56 games in a given week if you want to make it to the finals.
“Pros are like a baseball pitcher; we can get to the point that we can make the ball ‘talk’. Like a Tiger Woods, he can make the ball do whatever he wants it to do; he has to be at his level. That is nothing but hard work. Just like you have to read the greens in golf, you have to read the lanes in bowling, how they are changing shot to shot. That just takes practice.”
Teaching has gone from old-school to technology, according to Voss.
“It has had to, just like other sports. Nothing will replace the hands-on approach but technology enables bowlers to be able to watch themselves,” Voss continued. “The technology I and other pros use helps us show a bowler his or her form frame to frame and in slow motion; we can give them a three-dimensional look. We can compare their form to the best in professional bowling. I, like many teachers, build the approach from the last step backward. In essence, we have to break a bowler down and then build him or her back up; we work to eliminate old habits — usually bad — and teach them the proper ways.
“Lane machine technology is so much better than in the old days. Before, it was a mop; now they can oil every single board the way they want. The oils are different. There are so many different balls and different composites; there’s a lot of money and politics in the game. They can make a ball that offers a little more spin than another. It’s not always for the better. Personally, I think it takes the skill out of the game a bit too much.
“We have access to a lot of balls; there is a semi that follows the tour. Another one is there for drilling balls.”
Bowling is no longer simply throwing ball after ball, another development in the game.
“Nutrition and training have progressed so much over the last 20 years; we know so much more than we did. Taking better care of ourselves — eating right, vitamins, anti-oxidants — is as important as the bowling,” he observed. “We try to stay in optimal health. There are a lot of injuries in bowling that are simply the nature of the game: wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, back, neck. Chiropractic care and massage is also important in keeping our bodies ready to go on a regular basis. We try to do a lot of preventive care; we do a lot of conditioning.
“The better physical shape you are in, the better off you are going to be. It helps with the physical and mental approach; when you get tired, you want to maintain proper form. Anything to give us an edge.
“You don’t have to be a big, strong guy or gal to be a good bowler. Superior technique, good form, good footwork, good timing and a strong mental approach is what you need. You don’t need to crank the ball. I’ve worked with a 16-year-old girl named Janine who is barely 100 pounds and she is one of the best female bowlers in the world. I use her as an example.”
The bowling powers-that-be, especially on the professional level, are working to increase bowling’s reach.
“The tour now has three international exemptions this year — we’re trying to make it more global. The tour is constantly coming up with different ways to try and bring in more viewers, such as using different formats,” Voss added.
Bruce Van Metre, proprietor of the Delphos Recreation Center, found those in attendance liked what they saw.
“This is the first time we’ve had something like this. The ones that are here really like it and I think they’ll tell others about it; if we do this again next year, I hope the place will be full,” he said. “I met Brian in Las Vegas one time before I went to Dayton to watch a bowling event. I use the Dick Ritger teaching method at the center; Brian’s system is just an updated version of Ritger’s old-school method. Things have changed, so teaching also has to change.
“It’s actually perfect for little kids, like 7 and 8 years old; it’s easier to break it down for younger bowlers because they are just learning the terminology and it offers drills you can do over and over at home.”
According to Van Metre, offering teaching sessions like Voss’s is simply par for the course.
“I thought this would be a good idea. It’s part of the business that you want to make bowlers better so they can enjoy the game more,” he concluded. “They learn a little more and they can teach those they bowl with.
“You get the chance to compare yourself to others, including pros. That’s always interesting.”