Boys bowling: Freshmen getting fair shake for Oregon bowling team

He took to the game quickly. But, whereas Nordman’s form is rather polished, and Taylor generates tons of power and astonishing rotation – “That kid’s scary with his hook,” A.J. Nordman said – it took Miranda lots of repetition and film study to refine his down-and-in strike shot.

“The first times I saw Joe bowl, it wasn’t so pretty,” Taylor said.

The development started with some simple advice, A.J. Nordman telling him to simply keep the ball between the gutters.

“The biggest thing is just keeping it on the lane and improving from there,” Miranda said. “And in three practices last year, Coach Nordman had me do the same thing all practice, all 2 hours each time.

“That put everything together.”

Taylor might have the biggest upside, considering not only the monster hook he uncoils, but also his growing appreciation for the spotlight.

“I like the pressure,” Taylor said. “When you get up there and you always have to be thinking about what to do. You can’t afford to throw a bad shot.”

But Taylor, like so many talented young bowlers, had to get through his head that “cranking” would get him nowhere. Even A.J. Nordman catches himself coming over the top of his ball frequently, leading to his ball spinning in a straight line, rather than rotating naturally and diving into the pocket.

“I’m still learning that,” Nordman admits. “I do that way too much, and I never know when. I think I put a lot of rotation on it, and then it just goes straight.”

The camera and his coach, however, catch every misstep – including inconsistency in the number of steps taken on the approach.

“Sometimes A.J. would take seven, other times he’d take just four,” Miranda said.

The learning process is ongoing. But the upstart freshmen answer the question, “What role do you fill on the team?” in an almost reflexive manner.

“The seniors are pretty much the backbone of the team,” Miranda said. “If they’re not with it, the whole team’s gonna fall apart.”

“Some days, when the seniors aren’t doing their best, it makes me feel like I need to do better to get our score back up,” Taylor said.