Bowling: What is Perfection?

One upon a time, the goal in bowling was a 300 game - 12 strikes in a row, and it was something of a monumental feat to achieve one.  Those few who achieved it often had their names at least on the bowling establishment's wall, and often in the bowling column in the local paper.  There were lanes that only had between 2 and 10 perfect games a year, and those who shot that 'perfect' number were often cheered on as everything else in the building stopped so that other bowlers could watch 'history in the making'.  It was quite literally "a perfect game", and would often be talked about for weeks afterward.

There also is the concept of the "perfect strike" where the ball hits the pocket (1-3 for righties, 1-2 for lefties), and the ball takes out the 1, 3, 5, 8, and pin deflection takes out all the rest going straight back into the pit.  Historically I've heard that type of strike be called "pure-ing the shot."  No wild messenger pins flying off the sidewalls like little white ninjas clearing the deck, nothing rolling around gently tipping over pins that survived the initial impact, and no domino strikes - where the ball hits well outside the pocket and by rights should only take out 3 pins, but due to chance the pins just keep falling over until all of them are down.

There are others that argue that there is a 'perfect form' for bowling, where the approach is just so, the posture is at the right angle, the follow through is smooth and toward your target, head up, but not standing up at the end, correctly balanced, good knee continuation, etc....  Anyone can bowl well if they just train their body to fit into this 'perfect' mold in their delivery, as long as they have a certain style.  You see, that 'perfect form' is highly contingent on whether you're a cranker, tweener, or stroker.  So either there are 3 'perfect forms', or the concept of a 'perfect form' is a fallacy.

So then, with the arguments floating around about easier conditions, better equipment, walled up shots, spray-n-play bowlers, even more lively kickbacks, gutters not deep enough, and so on - what or how can one define 'perfection' in bowling?  Since the 300 barrier has been shattered, 800+ series are commonplace, and we have legitimate sanctioned 899 and 900 series recorded, I put forth that it (perfection) is not (and should not be) associated with scoring.  Eventually the sanctioned 1200 four game series will happen, and soon after the sanctioned 1500 pin five game series.  I've heard it quoted that "no 300 game happened without luck being involved." and I would agree that there is a fair amount of truth to that.  It becomes especially true the further along the string of strikes one goes.

For me, I think the goal of perfection is more related to a combination of getting the best mechanics in the delivery of the ball, and the concept of 'pure-ing' the shot, where everything just flows from the backswing - to the release - to the breakpoint - to the ball going through the pins perfectly putting all of them in the pit as if they were swept directly back.  This, of course, entails knowing and performing proper technique, knowing how to read lane transitions, knowing how to adjust your shot to get that pure drive through the pins.  So whereas a person can put downrange 12 shots that are nowhere close to being consistent, get 12 strikes and legitimately say they got a 'perfect' game - I would counter and say they got a 300, but not a 'perfect game'.  I've only rolled one 'perfect' ball in my years of bowling (by my definition), and it was a) blind luck, and b) magical.  I'm still trying to duplicate that feat every time I bowl, because that's a goal where the closer I get - the better all around bowler I'll be.  Then it's not about luck or excuses, equipment or conditions -- it's solely about execution, evaluation, and adjustment - which is what true bowling should be about.