It has become a Super Bowl pregame tradition for Chris Paul to invite a handful of friends and celebrities to his annual bowling event – a two-hour special televised on ESPN that I’m sure out-rates weekly PBA bowling. As a bowler, you have no idea how much it hurts me to write that sentence.
He and five other celebrities form doubles teams, each pairing themselves with one current professional bowler, and compete for the prestigious title of State Farm CP3 Celebrity Invitational Champions. The format is one that I still do not truly understand, featuring head-to-head match ups beginning with six teams, somehow cutting down to semifinals, and then finals. Adding to the confusion, a number of short individual elimination contests are held between these head-to-head match ups.
I should mention this is a charity event benefiting the Chris Paul Family Foundation, so at least there is one redeeming quality. With that being said, I don’t really like anything about Chris Paul so this event is hard for me to watch. His entitled attitude on the basketball court is the first thing I think of when I hear his name. The second thing I think of is how much I hate watching him bowl. I’m even willing to say that if you’re just a recreational bowler, there is a very good chance your form is better than his.
Let’s look at a few shots and break his game down.
His timing is poor. There’s no way around that. This leads to a number of deficiencies in his bowling game. From what I can tell, he utilizes a three-step approach – a technique that approximately zero percent of touring pros would suggest. Let’s take a step-by-step look, literally, and I’ll show you why this is not advised (all images taken from this YouTube video uploaded by ESPN).
Setup:
For a three-step approach, he is setting up as far away from the foul line as possible. This leaves him with a significant amount of ground to cover with less steps than almost all high-performance bowlers use. The timing problems are inevitable and we haven’t even seen him start moving.
Step 1:
The ball is dropped, not pushed forward, which I guess is conventional for a three-step bowler. Unfortunately for Paul, his swing is almost half over and he’s essentially still the maximum distance away from the foul line. At this point, his feet will need to move pretty quickly in order to get him there and release the ball by the time his swing is complete.
Step 2:
A lot has happened. He has taken a huge step forward and miraculously his feet have almost caught up to his swing. Almost. If you look closely, he has actually started his downswing and will really need to hurry in order to get himself to the foul line by the time he completes his swing. Typically, on the second-to-last step, the ball should be at the peak of the swing and fall downward as the final step happens. It should also be noted that half of the remaining designated approach area needs to be covered in one step.
Step 2.5:
Obviously, step 2.5 is not an actual step, but this image is necessary to show the reckless abandon with which Paul bowls. He’s all over the place. The ball is almost at its lowest point, ready to be rolled, and his slide foot hasn’t even landed. In fact, there may be a split second during his approach where neither of his feet are touching the ground. While this is a unique look, as a former bowling coach, I cannot recommend this to any aspiring bowlers in good conscience.
Step 3:
This step is tied with steps 1 through 2.5 as my least favorite. As you can see, Paul has finally set his foot down and is ready to release the ball. However, due to his early swing, the ball is actually now on the upswing and a hefty loft is unavoidable. Along with sending the ball further into the air than desired, this will more often than not result in pulling the ball to the left for a right-handed bowler. You will see this demonstrated in his first shot of the highlight video above. Another point of concern on this final step is that he is leaning backwards, adding to the likelihood of lofting the ball. Ideally, he would want a slight forward lean as the ball smoothly is released onto the lane.
The side view is perfect for pointing out timing issues, but many more inadequacies would be revealed with a few other camera angles. For now, we have identified Paul’s main problem, and there should be enough here for him to work on until more detailed video is provided.
