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Bowling atlatl

 Faster. Harder. Better.
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The bowling ball is very low tech. Its only concessions to the human form are some finger holes. One is limited in the power one can achieve by personal strength and arm length. With the exception of the robot pin changer, it is a very primitive sport.

BUNGCO invites bowlers to make a technological leap with the Bowling atlatl. Just like the spear-hurling atlatl of the ancients, the bowling atlatl fits into the fingerholes and allows tremendous leverage, which the skilled user can parlay into a speed increase on the order of an order of magnitude! The sheer kinetic energy imparted makes a strike certain with every hurl. Shock and awe your competitors! Destroy some pins! Become a bowling GOD!

The Bowling atlatl comes with special high platform bowling shoes to allow for the length of the bowling atlatl.

—bungston, Mar 10 2006

Atlatl physics http://www.blm.gov/...esa/posterback.html
[bungston, Mar 10 2006]

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       Why adapt an atlatl, when hurling and lacrosse sticks are already used for this purpose, albeit on smaller balls? No finger holes necessary then.   

       Myself, I'm holding out for a bowling ball catapult. Or punkin gun.
—DrCurry, Mar 10 2006
   

       I wonder if a fast-thrown bowling ball would truly be better than a moderate one. It might just crash through, leaving a gaping hole and a 7-10 split every time. Plus curving would be difficulter.
—phundug, Mar 10 2006
   

       Why go Low Tech? Fire an RPG at those pins. You might get three or more strikes at once!
—Galbinus_Caeli, Mar 10 2006
   

       [Curry], as you are well aware, the rules of bowling require there to be holes in the ball. A ball with no holes is not a bowling ball! We are talking about _bowling_ here, not some miscegenation of lacrosse!
—bungston, Mar 10 2006
   

       I had no idea bowling even had rules, beyond having to have an unflattering hairstyle. Anyway, what I meant was, no having to insert things into finger holes.   

       I still think the dynamics of hurling and/or lacrosse sticks will tell you much you need to know in developing this thing. If you're worried about miscegenation (I thought that stopped being a crime sometime in the 19th century), then you've screwed that atlatl good and proper.
—DrCurry, Mar 10 2006
   

       I have to fishbone this because an atlatl (or woomera around these parts) only works well for lightweight projectiles. You'd need more than spinach to achieve the necessary forearm strength. You could use a hammer-throw like technique, but that's surely outside the scope of... um... atlatletics.
—spidermother, Mar 17 2006
   

       An atllatl (At Toe Level; At Toe Length) indicator, perhaps Bluetooth, for simple timing and cadence training would result in better scores than would more power. I agree with what [phundug] (and [bungston] I think) say about the mechanics and rules of the game.
—reensure, Mar 17 2006
   

       How about something like the cesta things they use in pelota?
—coprocephalous, Mar 17 2006
   

       bungston: it belatedly occurs to me to ask you what the rules of bowling have to say about the use of sticks?
—DrCurry, Mar 17 2006
   

       [DrC] Interesting! I just read your first anno on this idea. Thats the second time in about 3 days that we have separately come up with something similar only days apart (other was Taunting Noisemaker and Distraction Grenades). Are you invading my mind? Are we long lost twins? Or are you sneaking into my house to read my idea-notepad?   

       I read this, gave it a bun, and didn't bother to read the annos because I was looking forwards to posting something after my trip.   

       Interesting.
—DesertFox, Mar 17 2006
   

       [Looks up from monitoring results from keyboard trojan on DesertFox's computer] Huh?
—DrCurry, Mar 17 2006
   


 

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