I think I would have had a better experience too had Suzie Minshew been there. I took my Bronze level coaching class from her and I know I would have gotten more from being coached by her for 2.5 days. We didn't find out until we arrived at the center where the clinic was being held that she had been replaced. And for me that was a two hour drive away. So at that point, with having driven there, pre paid, and hotel reservations; I stayed. The idea of a refund was never mentioned. But at the end of the weekend, I didn't give them a very good review either.

Erin

I would love to get coaching from Suzie Minshew. I love her articles in BTM. I also tried to get Ron Clifton to come out to Long Island. Couldn't guarantee enough people to justify the trip. Lineage was also a bit high.

I know I would have Smooth. And when they told me I was in Suzie's group I was excited. So much for that. The off lane lectures, with the exception of Dr. Dean Hinitz were pretty much useless. Time would have been better spent on the lanes. I was shocked at the lack of attention to spare shooting. In both clinics there was basically NO spare shooting advise. And neither touched on lane transition and how to adjust when lanes broke down. In fact one lecturer (Gold coach) said there's no such thing as carry down. Doesn't exist.

Erin

1mrdad:

Thanks for the info and the PM. I will definately look into it. I have done searches on bowl.com for a coach in my area. There are 2 Silver coaches close to me (only one with contact info posted). There are more silver level coaches the further out I go. I would need to look at pricing before I make a decision one way or another.

Does Bill Spigner still coach at Hawthorn lanes? If so he is one of the best coaches going.

CoachJim, I will check that out. Hawthorn is a little ways away, but I frequently sub in their invitational league on PBA patterns. Next time I go there, I will find out about Spigner.

I don't know for sure, but was he part of the family ownership?

I believe he was or is part owner unless he retired, I doubt he would have left there without an outstanding replacement. That house has a tremendous reputation in the bowling community as providing the most professional atmosphere to bowl in with a top notch Pro Shop and excellent coaching staff. It makes me want to move to Chicago, that and the food.

Chicago is colder than New York. I am not leaving NY for somewhere colder than NYC. I don't care who makes the food. :-)

Yep and it's windy too that is why I am staying put.

Funny. The only place that it is actually windy is downtown between buildings. But, you will get that with any city with high rises.

The reason for Chicago being named the windy city is because of back in the 1800's, a newspaper said that Chicagoans were braggarts and blowhards. Basically stating that the politicians here blow a lot of wind when they talk. The term has kind of snowballed since then.