Declines in ten-pin bowling performance with advancing age

SIR—One approach to studying the effects of ageing on functional capacity in humans is to analyse peak physical performance of trained athletes with increasing age [1]. Because top master athletes are highly motivated, train vigorously, and experience minimal body composition changes or diseases, analyses of athletic records provide a possible biomarker of ageing [2]. We have previously characterised the age-related reductions in the physically demanding tasks of running, swimming and weightlifting [3–5]. Unlike these athletic events that are determined by muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance or agility, ten-pin bowling offers an unique opportunity to explore the relation between age and athletic performance because the sport is highly skill and technique dependent, and can be performed successfully by many individuals across a wide age-span for many years. Bowling is also distinctive in that its performance is largely determined by skill and technique rather than muscular strength and endurance [6,7]. The primary aim of the present study was to determine ten-pin bowling performance with increasing age in active professional and master bowlers.