By Angelique McNaughton
March 25, 2013
Sometimes, two hands are better than one.
At least that’s what St. Thomas Aquinas senior bowler Anthony Alvano discovered.
As the 17-year-old Shawnee resident steps up to the lane, his approach is similar to any other bowler when he gets ready to hurl his maroon, gold and orange ball toward the pins — except that when he bowls, he uses both hands.
He grips the ball the same way one-handed bowlers do, with the two middle fingers and the thumb, but when he holds the ball level with his right hip, Alvano releases it from the same height, causing a smack as it hit’s the lane with tremendous sound and spin.
If he picks up a strike or a spare, he thrusts his fist in the air as he walks away.Alvano has showcased his unique bowling style for the Saints for the past four years, drawing the occasional questions and small crowds who are eager to witness his talent.
“It’s easy for me to bowl like that because I’ve been a two-handed bowler since I started when I was 10,” Alvano said. “It’s been working since then.”
After he failed to show interest in other sports, Alvano’s parents began taking him to the bowling alley in hopes that he would enjoy it and join a local youth league. From the beginning, Alvano bowled two-handed because it gave him more speed and rotation. He tried one-handed bowling but wasn’t strong enough at that age to be successful with it.
“I don’t even remember how he started, to be honest,” his mother, Joyce Alvano, said. “My dad has tried to get him to bowl one-handed but it just didn’t happen.”
The first personal coach that Alvano had attempted to change his technique, but his parents found coach Gary Vanderberg, who was willing to work with him.
“He gets so much more power and rotation, so when he does hit the pocket he’s good,” Vanderberg said. “He’s stuck with it and I am proud of him that he has.”
Although it’s still rare, two-handed bowling is increasing in popularity, according to Vanderberg.
“I think that it is getting more common,” Vanderberg said. “There are a couple of professional bowlers that bowl that way, and when I watched him I’ve seen some other kids bowling two-handed. If they are not strong enough, they can go with a heavier ball and can throw it harder.”
Vanderberg said now that it has gotten more common, he has noticed more coaches encouraging their athletes to bowl two-handed.
“I’ve seen more professionals bowling that way and I am starting to think there is something to this,” he said. “If I had to start again I would go two-handed.”
Since Alvano started high school and joined the bowling team, Vanderberg said he mainly supports him in the mental aspects of the game.
“I pretty much just talk to him and try to make sure that he is mentally all there,” Vanderberg said.
Which, like any athlete, Alvano tends to get down on himself when he doesn’t get a spare or fails to execute a good frame.
“If I’m not doing so good, I get a little frustrated and have to calm myself down,” he said. “I just try and stay focused, and make sure I hit my marks and get those pins.”
One of the problems that Alvano encounters with his technique is that because his ball gets so much rotation, he often misses the left side spares.
“The only thing that hurts him are those spares because the ball has so much spin,“ Saint’s bowling coach Terry Droge said. “He hits the pocket right but sometimes loses the spare.”
To counter this issue, Alvano uses two 15-pound balls. The plastic ball he uses helps him pick up the spare because it can travel a straighter line than the other one he uses for strikes.
“It‘s just unique, it‘s different,” Droge said of Alvano’s style. “But it’s personal preference. It’s not beneficial or detrimental.”
Alvano maintains a 185-pin average, with his highest career single-game score a 235. He didn’t achieve his goal to attend the state bowling tournament in Wichita during his final season, missing out by fewer than 100 pins. But with his high school bowling career complete, Alvano can now look to the future. Whether that involves bowling at the collegiate level or in local leagues, Alvano is currently undecided.
“I’m a little sad to leave it behind,“ Alvano said. “I made friends with people on the bowling team and it is a little sad.”
Angelique McNaughton 