A Performance Analysis System for the Sport of Bowling

ABSTRACT
Current technology offers precious little to the serious bowler in search of ways to
analyze and improve their 1 game. All existing methods acquire some type of "external"
view of the ball (from the bowler's perspective) as it rolls down the lane. The goal of
such systems is to quantify the various factors (release velocity, rotation rate, ball loft
distance, etc.) that contribute to the ball's reaction and, ultimately, to the bowler's
performance. However, not only are these externally-based methods time-consuming,
inconvenient, and/or expensive to install and use, but they each have their own inherent
limitations resulting from their external view of the ball.
This paper presents the results of research and preliminary development for a system that
is based on capturing an "internal" view (from the bowling ball's perspective) of the
velocity, spin, and loft imparted to the ball during the bowler's delivery, and the
subsequent reaction of the ball on its journey from the foul line to the pins.
The system described herein is comprised of several components: a small,
microprocessor-based sensor module that resides in the ball and collects and records
sensor data; an external wireless communication module for uploading the raw data from
the sensor module; and a PC or PDA-based software application that stores, analyzes, and
presents that data in a fashion useful to the bowler.
Such a personal bowling performance assessment and analysis system will help fill the
void that currently exists between the limited number of techniques available for
evaluating and improving the bowler's overall skill set, consistency of execution, and
ability to accurately assess lane conditions.
1 In the absence of a standard set of gender-neutral pronouns, the author uses "they", "them", and "their" as
the gender-neutral forms of "s/he", "him/her", and "his/her" throughout the document.