21 votes

The man who broke bowling – Jason Belmonte

Posted by youknowthatthing
Tags: bowling, athletes, jason belmonte, profiles, technique, author.eric wills, source.gq, long read
https://www.gq.com/story/jason-belmonte-bowling-profile

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Authors
Eric Wills, Photography by Jonah Rosenberg, Esther Zuckerman, Scarlett Baker, Gabriella Paiella, Michael Sawh
Published
Jun 29 2023
Word count
5011 words

5 comments

  1. youknowthatthing
    Link
    I've never really followed bowling, but this came across one of my RSS feeds and I found it really well written and interesting.

    I've never really followed bowling, but this came across one of my RSS feeds and I found it really well written and interesting.

    3 votes
  2. [3]
    EsteeBestee
    Link
    I watched a short documentary on this subject last year, actually. I thought it was super interesting to see some new blood coming in to a niche sport and absolutely wrecking the old guard:...

    I watched a short documentary on this subject last year, actually. I thought it was super interesting to see some new blood coming in to a niche sport and absolutely wrecking the old guard: https://youtu.be/tXN9MqLQPDU

    While I don't really bowl, I do golf and motorsports and both sports are somewhat similar to bowling in the sense that the culture in the sport is very "traditional" and that's changing as younger generations are somewhat revamping the game.

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      youknowthatthing
      Link Parent
      Thanks for the link, I'll check it out! I think that's a fair point re golf, motorsports and even other sports too. It's interesting to see how the culture in different sports shifts with time and...

      Thanks for the link, I'll check it out! I think that's a fair point re golf, motorsports and even other sports too. It's interesting to see how the culture in different sports shifts with time and newer generations picking it up.

      Or when the culture can squash potential improvement...I remember a podcast episode talking about underhanded free throws in basketball having a higher success rate but it didn't look as 'cool' and peer pressure resulted in it never really taking off (found an example source).

      2 votes
      1. EsteeBestee
        Link Parent
        Yeah, that's a great counter example. It's actually mind blowing that in a league supported by billions of dollars, that some players would refuse to shoot in a "dumb" way, even if it improves...

        Yeah, that's a great counter example. It's actually mind blowing that in a league supported by billions of dollars, that some players would refuse to shoot in a "dumb" way, even if it improves their stats and makes them more desirable. It's the opposite of what happens in F1, where a team will spend millions just to get an extra tenth of a second. Sports culture is just really weird sometimes.

        1 vote
  3. the-phony-pony
    Link
    Ooh, bowling! I am an avid bowler, run tournaments, and have been a league officer for the past few years. I love this sport so much. Belmo is a class act - he is so down to earth and I love...

    Ooh, bowling! I am an avid bowler, run tournaments, and have been a league officer for the past few years. I love this sport so much.

    Belmo is a class act - he is so down to earth and I love watching him bowl. I need to go grab a few YouTube videos of him so you can watch him having fun. The serious moments of PBA broadcasts are all well and good, but he’s done some really cool collabs with other bowlers and content creators to produce some neat videos.

    3 votes