Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Two Videos and a Slideshow on Power Wheelchair Bowling! :-)

Greetings! :-)

At the links below are videos showing two different Quad Squad Bowling outings, one of which is accompanied by a picture slideshow. We currently have about 8 Central Florida Quad Squad members who get together and bowl generally twice a month (contact me for more info if you want to check us out and/or join us!:). We generally have 3-4 wheelchair users bowling, and it just so happens that the same three are in the two videos below.

Video one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4i6DaLYmic
Video two: http://www.wftv.com/video/13470876/index.html
Slideshow: http://www.wftv.com/slideshow/13471076/detail.html

Video one above is very well done; it has tastefully appropriate music throughout, so I'm going to provide some commentary if you're interested:)...

That's me at the beginning having the Universal Mount and IKAN Bowler arm attached to my chair. I've been a C1-2 quadriplegic for almost 10 years, after dislocating two vertebrae in my neck in a freak fall that actually occurred in my off-campus apartment when I was a student at the University of Florida (I'm back in school at UF via their online business program). I'm bowling with the Blue ball and controlling my chair via sip-and-puff.

My friend Jeff is bowling with the Orange & Black ball (which he got because he likes Tony Stewart -- I joke and say that Tony Stewart ball is holding his game back!:). Jeff has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and bowls via joystick. Our friend Melissa, she has Cerebral Palsy, she's bowling on the other side of Jeff and she uses a head array to control her chair. The videographer / editor was trying to get good shots from everyone, and to keep it relatively short. The lanes were pretty dry that day and I think we all struggled bowling a little bit. My ball wasn't breaking nearly as much as normal, with my strike setup.

Where the ball's finger holes are positioned, determines the shape of the shot. With my ball, when all the finger holes are on the left, it curves left, and when they're all on the right, it curves right. If the holes straddle the top, it goes straight. I usually use a straight ball setup when attempting spares.

Video two and the accompanying slideshow were done (very well:) by the Central Florida ABC News affiliate. Both have narration accompanying them, so I won't elaborate here.

If you want to see the record scores for multiple categories of wheelchair users, checkout our message board and feel free to register & post! Here are the links:

Main forum: http://www.ikanbowler.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2
Bowling records: http://www.ikanbowler.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3

For more of the basics and details about power wheelchair bowling, see my introduction to this blog, scroll way down or click HERE! :-)

Sincerely,

Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 202 High Game
Co-founder of Manufacturing Genuine Thrills Inc. d/b/a MGT
Business website: http://www.IkanBowler.com
Personal website: http://www.LookMomNoHands.net