By: Teresa Ross
June 8, 2008

Participants from the Junior Gold Clinic held by Bowlers Connection in Manteca are panning for gold in Detroit.

The Junior Gold Clinic held in Manteca California on June 7, 2008 was a success with forty two youth bowlers in attendance. The eight hour clinic was run by Teresa Ross with lead instructors Sports Physiologist Dean Hinitz and Gold Coach Rod Ross, on lane instructors included: Mark Benavidez, Debbie, Haggerty, Leanne Barrett-Hulsenberg, Gary Hulsenberg, and assistant Gary Hafelfinger.

Twenty seven of the participants are traveling to the Junior Gold Tournament in Detroit this summer to try and win a spot on Junior Team USA 2009. The other fifteen are future Junior Gold hopefuls and a few of those will be competing in the Teen Masters tournament this year in Las Vegas.

The seminar consisted of three classroom sessions including a manual and three sessions on the lanes. The first classroom session started with Dr. Dean Hinitz motivating the students as well as how to prepare for the upcoming competition. The bowlers then went to the lanes and bowled on modified PBA patterns, Cheetah 35′, Chameleon 39′ and Shark 44′ moving every fifteen minutes so they could experience all the patterns and work with the different coaches available. The coaches shared their knowledge on the lanes to give the students insight on how to play the patterns. Three pairs of lanes remained fresh for later in the day. The bowlers also received a C.A.T.S. analysis, with a review of the report at the end of the day.

The second and third classroom session given by Rod Ross covered lane play at Junior Gold, surface adjustment for ball motion and converting spares. During the next session on the lanes with help from the coaches the bowlers were able to experiment and learn about ball reaction by changing the surface of their bowling balls using abralon pads. The final session on the lanes the bowlers worked on spare drills and different ways to convert them, also at this time the fresh pairs were put into play and the bowlers were able to put their new knowledge to the test.

With forty two bowlers bowling across the lanes during the day we were able to create a similar break- down and transition that they could possibly encounter at Junior Gold. This should have given them a better understanding on lane play and the transitions they will face. The coaches were impressed by the field and how strong it was; we believe that the bowlers are better prepared for the challenge ahead and know that California is going for Gold.