Playing the power game: Robert Smith, he of the high revs and gutter-clearing launches, is looking to graduate from side attraction to tour leader - Interview: Robert Smith - Interview

Bowling Digest, August, 2002 by Lyle Zikes

HAVING WON THREE PBA TITLES, starting with the 2000 U.S. Open, Robert Smith is established as a significant force on the pro tour. But cold, hard statistics aren't what make him one of pro bowling's marquee figures. Whether he's in contention for a title or not, Smith is a whole lot of fun to watch.

His ability to unleash shots with both a tremendous rev rate and blazing ball speed often leaves spectators gasping, even though he frequently seeks to tone down some of his power for the sake of consistency. Complementing his King Kong release is his aggressive nature, expressed both in words and actions. He also is the type of player who interacts freely with the fans.

Put all of these pieces together, and it's easy to understand why people flock to see him perform on the lanes.

Although he's still relatively new to the pro ranks, Smith has been attracting raves and attention for quite some time. As a 15-year-old in a Southern California junior league, he posted a 234 average. The American Bowling Congress gave him its Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award in 1992. The following year, while attending San Diego State University, he won the National Amateur Championship and earned a berth on Team USA.

Since turning pro in 1998 and capturing his first title two years later at the U.S. Open in Phoenix, the strong-armed righthander has added victories in the 2000 Flagship Open in Erie, Pa., and the 2002 Empire State Open in Latham, N.Y.

Now 28, divorced, and the father of a four-year-old daughter, Smith appears poised to take his career to greater heights. He spoke to BOWLING DIGEST this spring, shortly after finishing second in a PBA Western Regional tournament in Hawaii.

BOWLING DIGEST: Has your game always been more powerful than those around you, even as a young bowler just starting out?

ROBERT SMITH: Yes. There were a couple of kids who were close to me. But I don't know how willing they were to venture farther left than normal in their setup. Moving left didn't seem to scare me.

BD: What inspired you to develop your game that way?

RS: Watching Mark Roth was a big influence, no doubt. There was another local bowler, Pete Toth, who may have thrown the ball a little slower than most people, but he hooked it the whole lane. He was the first bowler I saw shoot 300. I also saw him put the ball between the 3-10 baby split. He did so many things others weren't doing that I became intrigued by it. So between the influence of watching Roth on TV, and all of his aggressiveness, and the local bowler who hooked the ball more than anyone else, I decided that was the way I was going to bowl.

BD: It's one thing to want to throw the ball with great power, but actually doing it is another matter. Did you have someone show you what to do to create so much rotation, or did you develop it on your own?

RS: Basically, just by messing around I pretty much learned how to do it on my own..I figured out how to get my hand under the ball and generate the revs. A little later, when I was 14, a man named Glenn Shrader took me under his wing and taught me how to control the power I was developing.

BD: Even before that, how did you get involved with the game to begin with?

RS: I started when I was six. My whole immediate family bowled, including my parents and my grandfather, so I had been going to bowling centers for as long as I could remember. When I got to be six I just asked if I could bowl, and after trying it I fell for it right 'away.

My mom was a pretty good player--she averaged in the low 190s in the early 1970s and had a 299 game. My dad was a high 180s, maybe 190 player, but for him bowling was just something to do. He didn't spend much time practicing. My grandfather bowled forever and got over 200, maybe up to a 210 average for a while.

BD: Was all of this in Southern California?

RS: Right, Simi Valley. My dad works for a wholesale electrical supply house. My mom was junior director at the local center when I was going up. Now she works at Foot Locker and also runs a Junior Amateur tour, which is a big program in the area.

BD: What kinds of averages did you have as a junior bowler? Do you remember how old you were when you first got to 200?

RS: I want to say 13 or 14. But when I was 15, I got to 234.

BD: Did you say 234?

RS: That was 1989-90. It was pre-resign. I threw a urethane black Cobra [AMF]. My friend Jason Thomas--who now works for the PBA--bowled on the same team, and he averaged 222. The next-closest bowler to us in average in the whole county was a man who averaged 218. Don't ask me how I managed to average so high. I didn't know how to make a spare.

BD: You went from juniors right to winning the National Amateur Championship in 1993. After that, didn't you make the match-play finals in what was then Brunswick World Open?

RS: I was among the international or amateur players invited to that tour event, and it was a real eye opener, experiencing how many games are involved and how mentally tiring it is. I was good at the start of qualifying, but when I got into match play I had no chance against the boys [finishing 22nd].