Pro Tip Friday with MDM Coaching: Bowling Doubles

Bowling a Doubles Event

This past weekend, I got a chance to bowl a doubles tournament in Tampa Florida, with my good friend Ashly Galante. Today’s pro tip is all about working as a team to bowl well together. Because many times I have seen in team formats or doubles formats that two great bowlers don’t always work together to bowl well. Bowling a doubles tournament, whether it’s male or female, professional or amateur, communication is the single most important factor. It’s often easier to communicate if your partner is a friend.

Last weekend, I started off bowling pretty well and Ashly struggled initially, but I was there to help and give her confidence in her moves. Then when the pattern got really ugly after game 3, she was there to keep me even keeled and encourage me. Watching her ball reaction helped me see what I needed to do to stay ahead of the moves. When things start to break down, the advantage of bowling doubles is having someone to talk to about transition, see ball reaction, and talk about which balls to throw. If Ashly and I didn’t have good communication, I don’t think we would have made the final match and finished second.

I’ve had similar success in other doubles tournaments where I noticed how important communication was to our success. I’ve been fortunate enough to bowl the PBA Member/Non-Member Regional tournament with Shawn Naumann over five years, when we got two first place and two second place finishes.

When it comes to picking a partner for a tournament, consider who you’ll have the best time with. If you’re worried about being competitive, try to analyze somebody’s game and choose someone with a similar ball roll to gather more information for your confidence and adjustments. Ultimately, doubles tournaments should give you the opportunity to enjoy the tournament because of your partner. When you don’t mesh with your partner, you’ll realize how important it is to prioritize the fun and communication over everything else.