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When the bowling gets tough, the tough get bowling

CHARLES CITY BOWLING TEAM

When the bowling gets tough, the tough get bowling

Bowlers lift weights through season to get edge on opponents

It’s second nature to associate football and weightlifting; soccer and weightlifting; basketball and weightlifting. But when the Charles City bowling team started spreading the news that they were lifting, there was a sense of drawback, almost as if it would be ludicrous for bowlers to lift.

“There’s not a professional bowler out there who doesn’t lift,” said head coach Doug Bohlen. “We can attribute a lot of our success from last season to lifting.” For the Comets, the offseason has been filled with different types of programs to build the strength and condition of this year’s team.

Junior Mija Cotton said above all the dumbbell curls and pistol squats she’s done, there’s one area she and the team will need to focus on this season. “Balance, balance and balance,” Cotton said. “It gives us better control over our ball and that will give us more advantage.” Some of the Comets’ opponents don’t weightlift at all, let alone practice every day during the season. Junior Drew Mitchell said there shouldn’t be that big of a difference between someone weightlifting for football and someone lifting for bowling.

“It’s just like anybody else that lifts for something,” Mitchell said. “Wrestlers lift to stay strong. All lifting builds strength, and most of us here are in other sports. I don’t know why bowling can’t do the same thing.”

It’s not all about the balance though. Programs for football, cross country, volleyball and basketball are tuned to each specific sport. For bowling, it’s the same story.

“You don’t realize how much balance and how much endurance it takes that you need for bowling,” Cotton said. “I throw a 15-pound ball, and you get tired after a while. So, it helps with that.”

Weight lifting has added on about an extra 30 minutes on to practice, Mitchell said. But that extra time spent lifting weight, working on form and all around practicing isn’t just spent trying to earn personal gain.

“We don’t just work on the balance stuff, we work on being together as a team,” said senior Brady Girkin. “That’s a crucial part. So when we’re in the meets together, we’re a lot more comfortable than other teams because they don’t spend extra time together like we do.”

By Stephen Koenigsfeld sports@charlescitypress.com

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