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Tour Information Q&A [1-20] [21-40] [41-60] [61-80] [81-100] [101-120] [121-140] [141-160] [161-180] Mike February 20, 2007 Des Moines IA I recently watched the "League of Ordinary Gents" documentary. Very interesting, but it was from 2003. Where's a good place to find updates on everything since then? Much respect. - Mike Pearce Hi Mike, Try www.pba.com or my website, www.walterray.com. Frank February 17, 2007 Grandville MI Mr. Ray, You are a joy to watch on t.v. You almost bowled a 300 game going into the 10th frame. My wife and I rooted for you. I am 31 and stopped bowling 10 years ago because of twisted thinking. For the last 2 years I've been bowling again with my family. using house balls without my thumb in the hole, I usually always bowl at least one 200. Yesterday I bowled 235,215,181. I enjoyed bowling since I was 5. I make about $35,000yr. in a lab. Is it possible to make this and more if I go PRO? What is the cost to go pro? Cost meaning looking when you started bowling to pro, what will it cost me? What do I have to do? What will I have to give up? What is the investment financially? Can I walk away from my job, be a fulltime bowler? Hi Frank, Going pro isn't quite that easy. Bowling a couple of 200 games won't make you very competitive in professional bowling tournaments. I would suggest joining some good leagues with the best players in your area, preferably a scratch league if they have them. When you have an average of over 200 or preferably 220, check out PBA regional tournaments on www.pba.com and bowl in a regional to see how you compare. If at the end of a year you are the number 1 player in your region you will have earned an exemption to go on tour without having to give up your job. There is money to make bowling professional, but I suspect that you have a ways to go. Learning how to bowl with your thumb in the ball will be better for you in the long run. Larry February 7, 2007 Belleville IL I am finally going to live out a dream I have had since High School. I am applying for my PBA card. How would you suggest I begin this adventure? Hi Larry, Check out www.pba.com and the regional schedule in your area. Bowling on tour is not that easy. To be competitive on tour you need to be a top player in your region. If you are very successful in your region, you may even win an exemption to the tour as the top point winner for each region earns a tour exemption. Good luck. You could also try the TQR in Indianapolis and the PBA World Championships in Grand Rapids, MI. That would give you a taste of what the tour has to offer in competition. Bruce January 30, 2007 Phoenix AZ Hello congratulations on another good year out there. This your I am a PBA rookie I was wondering what kind of advice you could give someone like me.I will be bowling a lot of the west coast regional stops and the Masters this year. Would just like to get some pointers and things to expect. Hi Bruce, Bowling in as many tournaments as possible will help you learn. I would practice on the toughest shot that you can find. Learn how to play all sorts of different lines, even if you hardly ever need to use them. Learn how to make all of your spares. Scott January 26, 2007 Cincinnati OH WRW- How does qualifying work on the PBA Tour? Do you switch pairs after every game? How many players are on your pair? Are you with different players if and when you switch lanes? Also, what happens at the Pro-Ams? Thanks! Scott Hi Scott, In most tournaments qualifying is a set of games where every game is on a different pair of lanes. After the first game, there is no practice in between games unless there is a break down of more than 15 minutes. Normally there are 4 bowlers on each pair, but some tournaments may have 3 players per pair. Once you start a tournament, the qualifying is with the same players until a cut is made. The players are randomly put together by computer. They used to try and keep the slower players from being paired together, but I don't know if they do that any more. The pro-am is fun event where the amateurs get a chance to bowl with the pros. Usually there are 7 amateurs to a pair and one professional. Most of the pro-ams we bowl they 9 pin no tap which really helps the scores. The pros move every 5 frames or every game so you either get to bowl with 3 or 6 different pros. The amateurs also bowl for money and get handicap. Sometimes their scores are added to what their pro partner's bowl. It is also a really good time to get autographs and pictures of the professionals. It is a time for the pros to relax when they bowl. Andrew January 22, 2007 Anaheim CA Hey Walter Ray! Good job at Fountain Bowl today! It was a shame that you had that 4-9. I was rooting for you the whole time. Anyway I was wondering where you went afterwards because I was looking all over the place for you so I could get your autograph. Where did you go? Anyway, I hope to meet you next time you come back here. Best Wishes Andrew Hi Andrew, I went out to eat with my family after the show. I am sorry you missed me. I came close, but needed a couple of better shots. Jason December 7, 2006 Bohemia NY Hi Walter Ray, congrats on finally breaking the record. I was wondering as to how you are able to throw the ball so straight on any lane condition where most other bowlers now play far more hook. You seem to be the only bowler who always sticks to a straighter approach, regardless of lane conditions. Why is that? Also, I've been curious as to exactly what went through your mind in the '05 Atlanta Classic after you made the Big Four and the crowd went wild. Did you ever think you would make one of those splits when you first started your career? Hi Jason, I learned to throw the ball straighter after a couple of years on tour. There were a few tournaments when I had trouble keeping a white dot on the right side of the head pin. I have learned that I can strike while throwing the ball straight. Most of the younger players don't think that they can strike while throwing the ball straighter, so they would rather hook the ball even if the lane conditions don't call for that. There are times that I do hook the ball, but I don't have near the rev rate that the young power players do and never will. I use less speed to hook the ball, so I don't get the pins to dance around quite as well. Picking up any 'impossible' split is basically luck. Some players throw the ball hard enough that the pins will bounce out of the back on a regular basis, but I don't. If you remember I still lost the game by over 20 pins, so the spare really didn't matter. I have pretty much picked up every split out there except for the 5-7-10. Ray January 10, 2007 Princeton IN Mr. Williams, I have been bowling now for over 17yrs. I feel that I'm ready to start trying out for the PBA, once I meet all the requirements. My question is, I've seen a lot of "young guns" on the tour, but I wonder if there is any seasoned bowlers just starting as well that we don't hear about? I know the thought of being a 32yr old rookie is odd, but this is my goal, and I wish to keep after my goal and become a PBA bowler... Hi Ray, 32 isn't too old to be a rookie tour player. But getting on tour is very difficult. You will want to bowl regional tournaments for a couple of years to gain experience. That will also give you a gauge to see how good you really are. Good luck. Adam January 3, 2007 Australia Vic Hi Walter Ray, I'm Adam and I am 17 years old. I'm from austraila. What i would like to ask you is how hard is it to make the pba. my avg is 182 ohk to low it make it to the pba. it my dream to play in the pba and one day i would love to there bowling with worlds grates. do you think a aussie like me could make it to the pba? i know it takes lotss of hard work and all but im more then happy to put the sweet blood and dries into it. it would be garte to hire and see how u think about this. thnxs for your time and good luck this year in 2007 Hi Adam, It is very difficult to bowl on the PBA tour. You will want to increase your average at least 50 pins a game. Learn how to throw the ball straight for strikes and to pick up your spares and also learn how to hook the ball for strikes. Good luck and keep trying to improve. Mike November 30, 2006 Elmwood Park NJ Hi Walter Ray, The PBA had drummed up a fair amount of hype concerning your pursuit to become the all time titles leader. Was there any disappointment that it happened in Japan at a tournament that was not broadcast live? Hi Mike, It was a bit disappointing that it wasn't on live TV, but you can't control live sporting events. And I wouldn't give it back. K. November 26, 2006 Beaverton MI I just watched Wes Malott win his 1st title. I watched him bowl against you last year and must say he drives me nuts with his slow play. He fiddles with the tape, throws fouls, looks to his left then to his right, (I kept saying, Just Throw the dam ball,( to myself) Then he beat you! I was ready to clean his clock, do you ever get to that point? Hi K., Bowling against Wes doesn't really bother me except when he starts to throw too many strikes, which has on occasion. There are many other players who are much slower than Wes. I do wish that the PBA would enforce their slow play rules, but Wes isn't really a problem in that area. Collin October 25, 2006 West Lafayette IN I am a young college player loking to make a living as a professional bowler. With the changes being made to the prize funds do you still feel it is possible to make a living as a professional bowler, or is it time to stop chasing the dream and start investing in something more concrete. Thanks for your time and good luck on your upcoming season, I'll be pullin' for you. Hi Collin, The lower advertised prize funds are disappointing. It has always been tough to be a professional bowler as only the top 20 or so make a good living at it. With the exempt tour another 40 or so break even or a little better than that. I would definitely recommend that anybody get a good education before trying the professional tours. Hopefully the PBA can continue getting more sponsors and then the prize funds can return to the higher numbers. If they get enough sponsors, they should be able to get more events. Also, regardless if bowling is a sport that you may or may not be able to make a good living at shouldn't stop you from enjoying the sport that you love. Enjoy the competition that you are in. If you happen to make it to the big time, I hope that you and any other player will be able to make a good living. Best wishes. Ron October 27, 2006 Manhattan KS Hi Walter Ray, I saw the taped Japan Cup the other day on ESPN: 1. I found it very interesting that they said you had gone to Japan every year since the tournament's inception. I guess you had gone something like 22 or 24 times. I think they said Pete Weber and Parker Bohn III were next with like 14. I know that one thing is says is that you have been very good for a long time to be asked to do that as you have to be among the leaders in points. But apparently, there were some years that some people voluntarily didn't go. (I assume Pete Weber and Parker Bohn III are among the top 16 in points almost every year. Please forgive me if I make any mistakes. I'm trying to remember what Dave and Randy said about the tournament off the top of my head.) So I take it you must really like Japan a lot to be willing to make the long flight every year? Could you explain a little bit about the tournament's history? I know it's sort of curious to me that almost all the other tournaments are here in the U.S. (I think there may have been a tour stop or two in Canada), but the tour drops everything and heads off to Japan every year and seems to be pretty psyched about doing so. Do they pay your travel and expenses to go over there? 2. Apparently, in Asia, bowling is really huge. Maybe more so even in countries like Taiwan or Singapore. It seems like in Asia bowlers are almost treated like rock stars. Is that accurate? 3. Man, that seemed to be a nasty lane condition in the Finals. Nobody seemed to be able to get much going. It seemed the first game you sort of struggled, but then Pete and you really put on a show in the finals. That very straight shot you play-is that what you try to do on very tough lane conditions or would you consider that to be more of your preferred shot? I find it interesting sometimes where you will do things that other players aren't doing (like where everybody else is playing inside). I always remember Mike Durbin on ESPN saying that "Walter Ray always finds a way to get it done." I find it particularly interesting where say, everybody is playing way inside on the shark pattern and you will move way, way to the right and try to throw it as straight as possible. I was wondering if you might speak to your strategy in the Japan Cup and in general where you seem to just completely ignore what the other players are trying whereas most players seem to be somewhat uncreative and simply play where everybody else has been trying to play. Thanks. Ron Hi Ron, The Japan Cup has been going on since 1985. Typically the top 16 players are invited. There expenses are paid and guaranteed money. In the first 7 years the money wasn't that great (around $15,000 for 1st). So several players did opt to not participate. But Pete Weber and Parker Bohn along with myself along with quite a few other bowlers really enjoy bowling in Japan. The fans and people are great. The tournament is Japan is a special event. Most players feel it is a privilege to bowl in the Japan Cup. I don't think that bowlers are quite treated as 'rock stars' while in Japan, but we are treated well. Japan also has food that I enjoy which is difficult to find in the states. The lane conditions were actually pretty easy in Japan. However, the players were just a bit off on the TV finals so the scores were quite a bit lower than they should have been. I found the line that I played on the TV finals in the last 5 games of the 52 games of the tournament. For most of the tournament I played up the channel, but really didn't think like that reaction at the end of the tournament. Most of the other players were hooking the ball quite a bit so they were playing deeper inside hooking the ball. Since I throw the ball straighter, I tend to play right of most of the other players. I was actually surprised when Pete was playing 'my line' in Japan. I didn't throw the ball very well in the first game against Ryan and was lucky to win. I bowled much better in the game against Pete. Scott October 3, 2006 Cincinnati OH Hello WRW, I haven't heard any announcement regarding the new Round Robin format. I understand it is different from the old round robin format. Do you know the details? Also, do you what former touring pro Ron Williams is doing now? Thanks, Scott Hi Scott, The PBA is going to have 5 regular events using the new Round Robin format. The difference from the old round robin format is that there will be a cut half way through match play and not every player will bowl against all of the other bowlers in match play. But I think that it is much better than the elimination format where a bowler only bowls against 3 different players to make the TV finals. I don't know what Ron Williams is doing these days. Hopefully I will get a chance to see him when we bowl in the Dallas area this February. Bruce August 11, 2006 Kansas City MI Hey Walter Ray, I was approached by another PBA member after making what I thought was the proper way to not "double jump". I waited for all bowlers to my left and right pair, on my pair after my partner to my right bowled, I got up to bowl. The bowler to my left pair that had a spare to pick up hollered at me "it's not your turn". Needless to say, I had to take a deep breath to keep my PBA Regional card at hand. I just said well go ahead then. Was I in the wrong and did I double jump? Makes no sense to me after reviewing the rules and bowling in several regional events for years. Hi Bruce, The PBA double jumping rule seems complicated to 'rookies', but once you get the hang of it, it is fairly simple. Double jumping is bowling on your pair immediately following somebody else on your pair without waiting for someone on both the pair to the left and to the right to bowl. Since you bowled after your 'partner' to your right bowled, you may have double jumped the player on the left. It is also possible that the other player was mistaken. I wasn't there, so I don't know for sure. The opposite problem is also frustrating when a player won't bowl when it is their turn. Scott July 31, 2006 Cincinnati OH Walter Ray, I just read on PBA.com that the Round Robin Match Play format is returning to the Tour this season for 5 events, while the 11 events will feature the elimination Match Play. I'm curious as to your thoughts regarding this. Is the PBA finally listening to the players and fans? Let's hope so- Take care, Scott Hi Scott, With the return of some round robin match play formats, maybe the PBA is listening to the players. But since there or more elimination formats, I don't think they want to concede the formats completely. Of course there are a few players who like the elimination match play formats. I don't happen to be one of them. More importantly though the PBA needs to find more sponsors. And hopefully we will have plenty of fans watching to help with the ratings. Antonio June 26, 2006 Hi Walter Ray, I 've always felt that Earl Anthony is arguably the greatest bowler who ever lived. But then you came along and dominated the Tour like he did winning Bowler of the Year 6 times. You even tied his record now of 41 titles. However, during an interview prior to your breaking the record, you mentioned that you didnt mind being second to Earl. Can you elaborate on what you meant by this statement? I shared and admired that answer coming from a righty (I am a righty myself and feel the same way). I can sense that there's a sense of reverence or respect there for a legend, that a lot of right handers don't (like for instance Randy Pedersen.) I am however curious of how you thought of his game mentally and physically from watching him play and how did u fair against him before? I know its tough to compare bowlers on different eras, but how would you think you'd fair against him if you played at each's prime? Do u see some similarities with you and Earl's games personally? Any differences? Thanks Walter and I hope you get the 42nd title next year. Big Fan of Earl and Walter , Antonio Hi Antonio, I still feel that even if I do get more titles than Earl Anthony that he was a better bowler than I am. He only bowled 14 years on tour and less than 400 events. I am on my 24th year and over 600 events. I did get to bowl against Earl but I only bowled against him less than 10 times. I don't even remember how I fared, but I would guess that he beat me more times than I beat him. Earl didn't really look as impressive from a power point of view, but power wasn't a big part of bowling back then. He was extremely accurate, which is something I try to do. Jason June 15, 2005 Reno NV Hi Walter Ray! First of all, congrats on title #41! Now, my question: Given that the scoring pace seems to go up each year, why is it that they announce the lane conditions in advance? Wouldn't it be a truer test of skill (not that it isn't already, mind you) if guys (and gals now w/Kelly Kulick) needed to just bowl on an unannounced pattern? What is the logic behind that? Just curious... Hi Jason, I think that has come from the lane men trying to let the bowlers know that they are doing the lanes the same from day to day. So they would put up graphs of measured amounts of oil on the lane. That seems to have evolved to set patterns which are 'announced' for each tournament ahead of time with detailed graphs of what the pattern is supposed to be. Of course there are other factors such as the lane surface and who started on certain pairs which make a big difference Scott April 26, 2006 Rockford MI Hi Walter Ray, I missed seeing you in Grand Rapids due bowling tournaments I was in on Saturday. I did get a chance to see the live tv broadcast but unfortunitely you did not make it. My question is I have been consistantly getting better over the years. My average went from 180 a few yrs ago to this year 201, 212, and 214 in the three leagues I bowled in. The 201 average was on a sport condition. I have thought about obtaining my PBA Membership and bowling in some regional tournaments and bowling in qualifiers when the tour is in Michigan. What kind of average do you feel bowlers now need on a league shot to compete on tour? Is the PBA shot much different than a sport shot? How different are the regionals compared to the tour. I've seen the patterns and they look tough. Thanks Hi Scott, Averages are really hard to gage as they depend on the lane conditions. Typically though, league averages are 10-20 pins higher than regional conditions which are a few pins higher than tour conditions. Some sport conditions are easier than PBA conditions and some are tougher. Again it depends. To be really competitive you might want to average over 230 on house conditions. However, I would recommend bowling in PBA regional tournaments as a non member to see how you compare. It is also the best experience you can get, bowling in tournaments. If you do well (cash) then you would probably do alright for yourself to become a PBA member. Good luck. Ron April 8, 2006 Manhattan KS Hi Walter Ray, I suppose this is a very complex question that might take 1000 pages to answer in full, but I was very shocked and puzzled by the turn of events over the last few years in the PBA. You know, where the telecasts for decades enjoyed great ratings, beating almost all the so-called "big" sports handily. And the purses were getting bigger and bigger. (I think Del Ballard, Jr. won 100K for his U.S. Open win in 1987, I believe.) You know, everything seemed very bright. Then, in the course of a few years, the PBA is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and extinction, with people winning 18K for first and stuff like that, and the PBA being sold for 5 million which seems incredibly paltry as I think this includes licensing/merchandising rights and everything. (I think the Washington Redskins and New York Yankees are valued at like 800 million each.) I guess I just don't understand how everything went south so fast. I know it was very moving to me when ABC did its last telecast and Chris Schenkel (may he rest in peace) seemed to be truly all broken up. You know, there was nothing fake about that. I know it's sort of puzzling to me, too, as a lot of the bowlers and announcers are the same from both the successful years and the lean times. What do you consider to be the causes for this downward spiral? Bad marketing? Retirement of a number of its top stars? Bad financial planning? I know often I feel like bowlers and bowling really suffer from an image problem that is very difficult to shake. (Such as in "Kingpin," for example.) Thanks. Hi Ron, This is a very complicated situation. But the main culprit is cable TV. Back in the 70's there were only 3 main networks and bowling through the PBA had a very successful show on Saturday afternoon from January to April. The ratings were pretty good. Despite the successful ratings the tour never did have sponsors for every tournament. I think that has to do with bowling's poor image in mainstream business and Hollywood. Bowling not being a country club sport hasn't helped. The CEO's, presidents, and officers of companies tend to belong to country clubs and would rather push their advertising dollars into projects they had an interest in even if it lost money for them. And then there is the down turn of competitive bowling. Even though there are many casual bowlers out there, most of them don't know who the top bowlers are. That has even translated to the people who work at bowling centers. There are many more complex reasons, but I believe these are some of the main reasons. Tour Information Q&A [1-20] [21-40] [41-60] [61-80] [81-100] [101-120] [121-140] [141-160] [161-180] | ||