PBA stars offer Dream Camp
April 19, 2010
Amateur bowlers looking to step up their games will have the chance to learn from some of the hottest stars in the sport today when the 3rd Annual Bowlers Dream Camp convenes July 8-10 at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Bill O'Neill joins former PBA Players of the Year Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones to offer three days of intensive instruction on a broad range of topics, including lane play, physical mechanics, ball motion, drilling layouts and much more.
Coordinating the camp is renowned coach Mark Baker, whom Bill O'Neill describes as "the Hank Haney of professional bowling."
"I know that in my case, I was kind of a middle-of-the-road guy on tour for a while, but after working with Mark Baker a little bit, I have been in the top five on the PBA points list the past two seasons," O'Neill explains.
"He's really become the coach of the pros out there," says Chris Barnes, who made the Tournament of Champions telecast on the heels of a coaching session with Baker this season. "He does a lot of the video analysis at this camp; he gets bowlers to come down to the lanes, gets them on video, and identifies areas in their games to work on. He has a great eye."
The sheer star power the Bowlers Dream Camp offers is one of several factors that sets it apart from other bowling camp experiences, with three-time Tournament of Champions winner Jason Couch, former Player of the Year Doug Kent, and PBA exempt player Dino Castillo joining O'Neill, Barnes, Jones and Baker as coaches.
"When I was a kid, if I had a chance of going to a camp with guys like John Jowdy, Mark Roth, Marshall Holman, Dave Husted and Mike Aulby all at the same time, I would have found any way I could to go," Barnes said. "I can't imagine having guys like that all at the same camp, and hopefully people who attend this camp will feel the same way."
For coach Mark Baker, the Bowlers Dream Camp distinguishes itself by affording students the opportunity to work with bowlers who do not just have great reputations in PBA history, but who are active stars on the PBA Tour.
"It's probably the only camp that has current stars in their sport sharing their secrets on how to break down certain lane patterns and offering their expertise in bowling on the flatter patterns," Baker says. "These are the guys who are currently making a living out on tour; it doesn't get any better than that."
The Bowlers Dream Camp curriculum focuses in large part on lane play and how to break down challenging patterns, a particularly beneficial opportunity for youth bowlers planning to compete at the USBC Junior Gold events scheduled just weeks after the camp concludes.
In addition to hands-on experience with challenging lane patterns, including all of the PBA "animal" patterns, this year's camp will feature more physical instruction than ever before as well as tips and education on some of the more technical aspects of today's sport such as RG potential, axis rotation and axis tilt, pin positions and how to lay out arsenals for a variety of competitive situations, and more.
"We'll share all of our experience on how we try to break down various lane patterns on tour," says 12-time PBA titlist Tommy Jones. "We'll help students learn how to break the lanes down to improve their scores. Basically, we will share everything that we do on a weekly basis on tour."
In addition to video analysis and hands-on instruction, students of the camp will receive free bowling balls, and breakfast and lunch will be provided each day. Students also will be able to take home materials from throughout the week, including video analysis of their games as well as notes from camp coaches, to help them retain what they learn.
Dino Bidwell, father of youth bowler Devin Bidwell, who attended the Bowlers Dream Camp last year, remains impressed with the extent to which camp coaches demonstrated a personal investment in his son's success.
"We're going again this year, they break everything down for you perfectly," Bidwell says. "Tommy Jones and Jason Couch took my son under their wing. A few days after the camp, we had Junior Gold and there was a practice session before competition started. Jason asked my son when he would be at the lanes and we told him what time. When we showed up, Jason took two of my son's bowling balls and resurfaced them himself and sat there for half an hour working with him. That was just phenomenal."
Reigning U.S. Open champion Bill O'Neill joins former PBA Players of the Year Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones to offer three days of intensive instruction on a broad range of topics, including lane play, physical mechanics, ball motion, drilling layouts and much more.
Coordinating the camp is renowned coach Mark Baker, whom Bill O'Neill describes as "the Hank Haney of professional bowling."
"I know that in my case, I was kind of a middle-of-the-road guy on tour for a while, but after working with Mark Baker a little bit, I have been in the top five on the PBA points list the past two seasons," O'Neill explains.
"He's really become the coach of the pros out there," says Chris Barnes, who made the Tournament of Champions telecast on the heels of a coaching session with Baker this season. "He does a lot of the video analysis at this camp; he gets bowlers to come down to the lanes, gets them on video, and identifies areas in their games to work on. He has a great eye."
The sheer star power the Bowlers Dream Camp offers is one of several factors that sets it apart from other bowling camp experiences, with three-time Tournament of Champions winner Jason Couch, former Player of the Year Doug Kent, and PBA exempt player Dino Castillo joining O'Neill, Barnes, Jones and Baker as coaches.
"When I was a kid, if I had a chance of going to a camp with guys like John Jowdy, Mark Roth, Marshall Holman, Dave Husted and Mike Aulby all at the same time, I would have found any way I could to go," Barnes said. "I can't imagine having guys like that all at the same camp, and hopefully people who attend this camp will feel the same way."
For coach Mark Baker, the Bowlers Dream Camp distinguishes itself by affording students the opportunity to work with bowlers who do not just have great reputations in PBA history, but who are active stars on the PBA Tour.
"It's probably the only camp that has current stars in their sport sharing their secrets on how to break down certain lane patterns and offering their expertise in bowling on the flatter patterns," Baker says. "These are the guys who are currently making a living out on tour; it doesn't get any better than that."
The Bowlers Dream Camp curriculum focuses in large part on lane play and how to break down challenging patterns, a particularly beneficial opportunity for youth bowlers planning to compete at the USBC Junior Gold events scheduled just weeks after the camp concludes.
In addition to hands-on experience with challenging lane patterns, including all of the PBA "animal" patterns, this year's camp will feature more physical instruction than ever before as well as tips and education on some of the more technical aspects of today's sport such as RG potential, axis rotation and axis tilt, pin positions and how to lay out arsenals for a variety of competitive situations, and more.
"We'll share all of our experience on how we try to break down various lane patterns on tour," says 12-time PBA titlist Tommy Jones. "We'll help students learn how to break the lanes down to improve their scores. Basically, we will share everything that we do on a weekly basis on tour."
In addition to video analysis and hands-on instruction, students of the camp will receive free bowling balls, and breakfast and lunch will be provided each day. Students also will be able to take home materials from throughout the week, including video analysis of their games as well as notes from camp coaches, to help them retain what they learn.
Dino Bidwell, father of youth bowler Devin Bidwell, who attended the Bowlers Dream Camp last year, remains impressed with the extent to which camp coaches demonstrated a personal investment in his son's success.
"We're going again this year, they break everything down for you perfectly," Bidwell says. "Tommy Jones and Jason Couch took my son under their wing. A few days after the camp, we had Junior Gold and there was a practice session before competition started. Jason asked my son when he would be at the lanes and we told him what time. When we showed up, Jason took two of my son's bowling balls and resurfaced them himself and sat there for half an hour working with him. That was just phenomenal."