This blog marks the beginning of my journey to improve my bowling average from 175 to 220+. It’s more than just a personal quest; it’s a detailed exploration of what it takes to elevate a bowler’s game. Through this blog, I’ll share insights into my performance, analyze key statistics, and outline the actionable steps I’m taking to improve — all while offering a glimpse of what the CarryDown app aims to provide for its users through detailed statistics and actionable advice.
Think of this as part story, part statistical deep-dive, and part blueprint for bowlers like me who are determined to take their game to the next level.
A Little About Me
I’m Jarrett, and I’ve been bowling for almost 30 years. I started in youth leagues when I was about 9 or 10, continued through college, and then took an unintentionally long 13-year break. I returned to the lanes in May 2022, rejoining leagues as the pandemic restrictions eased.
Throughout my adult bowling life, my average has hovered around 175 — a respectable number but slightly below the adult male bowling average of 180 according to the USBC. Over the past 2.5 years, I’ve set a goal: to break through that plateau and reach a 220+ average.
What Started This Journey?
This journey of average improvement began when I started tracking my games using mobile apps like LaneTalk and Bowlr. The statistics they provided gave me tangible insights into my game. For example, my weak spare game stood out immediately. While these apps offered a good starting point, they lacked the depth of analysis I wanted.
Around the same time, I discovered Scott H. Young’s book Ultralearning. The framework he outlines for mastering complex skills quickly inspired me to approach bowling improvement as a structured project. That’s when I turned to spreadsheets and diving deeper into the numbers, and how I began uncovering patterns I couldn’t ignore. We’ll start digging into some of these statistics in the next post.
Why 220+?
Why aim for a 220+ bowling average? Because I’ve always admired those who excel at their craft, and for me, bowling is more than a hobby — it’s something I have thoroughly enjoyed for a long time that I believe I can be legitimately great at. While I have no aspirations to join the PBA or go on tour, I do want to perform consistently well across multiple patterns and conditions, including challenge/sport shots. In my case, I’m specifically aiming for a 220+ average on house shot conditions.
I want to call out a similar, now-abandoned journey called The Dan Plan, where a guy named Dan McLaughlin decided to test the idea that 10,000 hours of deep focus and training would turn someone into a person of elite skill in a particular skill/focus. In Dan’s case, he decided to take up golf and see if he could become a professional golfer.
Although Dan didn’t complete the 10,000 hours nor did he become a pro golfer, Dan did spend ~6,000 hours of deep work on learning to golf and became a very respectable player, reaching a golf handicap of 2.6 at one point (I’m assuming that this is probably about a 220-230 average in bowling). I’m not going to track this bowling average improvement project in the same way by hours, but I definitely appreciated Dan’s deep dive into statistics and him sharing his methods of improvement.
Where Am I Now?
Currently, my average sits around 175. I bowl in two leagues — a social, non-sanctioned league on Mondays and a USBC-sanctioned league on Fridays. My current focus has been on rebuilding my swing and release, two foundational aspects of any bowler’s game.
In upcoming posts, I’ll share more about the stats I’ve gathered and how they’ve influenced my strategy. My immediate focus is improving my spare game and working with a coach to address accuracy, ball speed, and consistency in my swing and release.
The Road Ahead
The statistics I found in LaneTalk and Bowlr gave me high-level benchmarks, but I quickly realized there was a lack of actionable detail. I needed a game plan tailored to my unique strengths and weaknesses.
To achieve my goal, I’m leveraging the principles of Ultralearning:
Metalearning - Identifying why (which we’ve covered above), what to learn (e.g., current performance, spare alignment, targeting, lane conditions), and how we are going to learn/improve. Focus - Committing to dedicated practice time. Directness - Practicing under real conditions when possible. Drill - Breaking down specific aspects of my game for targeted improvement, such as my release, my swing, my targeting and misses, etc. Feedback - Using benchmarks and data to measure progress and adjust strategies.
This journey isn’t just about achieving a 220+ average. It’s about understanding my game at a deeper level and sharing that knowledge to help others do the same. Whether you’re a bowler aiming to improve or someone interested in the science of self-improvement, I hope you’ll follow along.
Let’s get started.