It’s a mind Game

In speaking with Chuck Mogavero of PBS pro shop in Kingman, AZ to get his take on bowling and the importance of being prepared. Chuck is no stranger to the PBA tour, as a former member, he has a very specific and enlightening view point on pro bowling. This is a very real conversation we had with him.

Chuck begins with: I have been bowling for 43 years, 5 of them on tour , 3 full time and several other leagues and tournaments. My father started me out when I was 7 years old . Sunday morning practice sessions and junior leagues followed .The only thing I knew was that I loved the game from the first year I started. I never averaged over 175 until I was 18 years of age . That’s when I met the best coach I have ever been associated with Wayne Zahn . He had the greatest natural ability and he took your game and improved it by taking what you did well and tweaking it and not changing so much you had to rebuild and all your natural ability was gone. Shortly thereafter honor scores came and tournament victories as well, just local stuff.

That’s when everything changed and the opportunity to go on the PBA tour arose. Biggest mistake my father and I ever made. However in 1985 it seemed like the right thing to do. At that time there weren’t any big money amateur tournaments . I don’t even know if collages had bowling programs back then. There wasn’t JBT or Team USA back then so if you had anything going you turned Pro. At age 22 I went out there and made the smooth transition from league bowler and sweeper winner to – touring pro. Yeah right, I thought my head was going to explode, that’s the one thing that saves your ass when you’re out there , I can attest to that, it was the weakest part of my game. If there’s one piece of advice I can give it’s this “ Don’t go anywhere near competing with the best in the world straight from your Thursday night beer fest”. Now a days there are so many things to do in junior competition and college bowling, you should take full advantage of them. They build your mind and self confidence. All in all, it wasn’t too bad. It could have been worse, a lot worse. I bowled in 112 national tournaments, I cashed in 48 of them and make 24 man match play in 30 of those. Highest finish I had was 7^th and the most I made in a single year was just over $25,000. Just to make myself feel better, I took a look at the PGA golfer who finished at the same place on the money list that year – he made $465,000. Too bad my dad didn’t like golf. After I had decided to quit the tour, I took all of my equipment that I had and had won in the nearest dumpster. I didn’t bowl for over 7 years. When I picked it back up, that’s when I actually started having fun.

To make a long story a lot shorter, there’s two things that I would NOT change about the role bowling has played in my life. First, as a pro shop operator I really have the ability now to promote the sport. The proper fit helps every bowler enjoy the game without pain. The proper layout helps the competitive bowler get everything out of every piece of equipment they have Seeing both are very enjoyable for me. Secondly, I now have a son that is light years ahead of me in this game. Thankfully, he listens to me. I hope he gets all the junior and collegiate experience he can before he even tries to bowl professionally. You have to be extremely talented and mentally tough to compete with them, I wasn’t. I had no one around me who could understand or or help me with the situation at that time. I hope to be able to prepare my son to do whatever he has set his mind to do. The proper steps need to be taken. That’s the proper word – steps, stairs, don’t take the elevator like I did.

I know Chuck personally and he is a great guy. Chuck operates a pro shop along with Art Garcia. They both have first hand knowledge of the bowling circuit. Chuck is knowledgeable and will happily take the time to explain things, you only need to ask. You can contact Chuck Mogavero by e-mailing him at [email protected] The pro shop Professional Bowling Services or P.B.S is located in Cerbat Lanes in Kingman, AZ, stop by and say hi anytime. Thanks for talking with us Chuck and I’ll see you next Wednesday