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Please mark your calendars to
attend next summer in our Nation’s Capital.
More exciting news to come in the upcoming months.
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With the holiday shopping season in full swing, some unique examples of customer service can become a reality. A college student comes home for a holiday weekend and discovers a tried-and-true remedy, and a one-of-a-kind purchase takes a little longer for a very unique reason.
Her dad asked if I could drill “Meagan” a new ball over the Thanksgiving break. Her junior college bowling team has already had two meets and as a freshman she had some success but struggled more in later stages of competition. Her high school meets were mostly Baker system format with a few five-person team games, so her round thumb hole was just fine. But now with two-day formats, early morning rounds of that second day have not been kind. Wrapping the thumb in a handkerchief then inserting the thumb for thirty seconds worked for a brief time to reduce thumb size, but it became a chore figuring out when to repeat the process.
Meagan’s thumb had slightly reduced in size when I was set to drill the ball her dad requested, but not completely. Although her thumb is more round than oval, she complained it would stick on the sides as it swelled (probably from squeezing). She had tried slugs before, but didn’t like the slick feel. Preferring the feel of the ball and standard thumb tape, I took a caliper to measure the thickness of the thumb on the sides, then the nail and thumb print sides confirming the width with our Bill Taylor ball fitter.
Her 51/64” round hole became a 25/32” pilot hole ovaled to 53/64” at 35 degrees.
Meagan has always had ideal grip pressure, so all she needed was 3/4” piece of white thumb tape for gripping. She said it felt odd at first, but after a seven-bagger and watched her armswing get looser with each shot.
Her dad bowling league several lanes over jokingly asked, “What the hell did you do?” All I could do was shrug my shoulders and point at the overhead screen. Meagan rose her arms in triumph. I also widened her other three thumbs and showed her how to use a second piece of textured white tape slightly lower on the first to help make the other thumb holes match.
The second example is quite unique. A middle school aged boy came into the shop and asked to buy a performance ball. That often happened, usually followed by a parent. That was not the case this time. The boy said his dad could buy one, even showing me his dad’s credit card. He was not in our junior program, and I had never seen him before and showed a great deal of maturity for his age. The center and shop are in a very affluent area, examples of this are seen by the vehicles in the parking lot especially during open bowling times. The young man was rather calm explaining the permission his father had given him, although a big red flag was signaling something else.
After a few minutes wondering what to do, the boy’s father walked in asking if the purchase had been made. I explained it had not, stating I don’t normally allow expensive purchases by unaccompanied minors as a credit card safety precaution (this was in early December), unless they are frequent customers of the center and if I know the parents. The additional oddity of this situation was the father looked annoyed by my application of a credit card safety precaution. I fitted the youngster, drilled his ball, and appreciated the father’s patience, explaining retailers are on high alert for credit card use. The father seemed a little uncomfortable.
I mentioned this sometime later to a regular customer who is a member of the local law enforcement community. He mentioned the father had done this before at a handful of local stores, citing a social anxiety issue. Never saw the boy or father again.
I want to mention the second item played out nearly twenty years ago before social anxiety disorder was a recognized condition. That situation could have played out in several different directions. The moral is stick to your gut and be professional.
Until next time, go make some more ball dust.
We would like to announce our new Twisted Series!
Upcoming Events
- December 8: KYPS
- December 12-14: KCMP 4 (Coming to MN)
- December 24-25: Merry Christmas (Closed)
- December 27-29: Holiday Camp
- December 30: Closed
- January 1: Happy New Year (Closed)
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USA Bowling is hosting upcoming seminars
Interested in becoming a USBC Gold Coach? Click the blue button below for information.
Our partner Jayhawk Bowling Supply will have the following HOTS
equivalent classes at their location in Lawrence, Kansas
For more information or to sign up contact Russ Wilson
RussW@jayhawkbowling.com or call 800-255-6436
2024 Schedule
December 12-15
2025 Schedule
February 6-9
April 10-13
August 7-10
October 9-12
December 11-14
2024 IBPSIA SEED BALL PROGRAM
Hello Members if you order Storm, Roto Grip or 900 Global balls you will receive an email from Storm. You will then pay via that email. Please continue to send them to me first, so we can make sure you get the proper price.
The select balls are offered at a low cost of only $90, plus shipping, per ball. Balls shipped are at the selection of the manufacturer and can be changed at any time. Brunswick entities will charge sales tax if they do not have a resale certificate on file.
IF YOU WANT TO PLACE AN ORDER, PLEASE EMAIL YOUR ORDER TO INFO@IBPSIA.COM
- Brunswick — Your choice of any HP ball
- DV8 — Your choice of any HP ball
- Radical — Your choice of any HP ball
- Ebonite — current balls only
- Columbia — current balls only
- Track — current balls only
- Hammer — current balls only
- 900 Global — Harsh Reality Pearl
- MOTIV — Subzero Forge
- Roto Grip — X Cell
- Storm — Ion Pro
Teri Haugh – Executive Director | 800-659-9444 | teri@ibpsia.com
Lori Hurst – Operations Manager| 800-659-9444 | lori@ibpsia.com
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