In hardly any other sport is the number nine as important as in bowling, where the battle cry is “All Nine” for a reason. If an athlete manages to clear all the cones at once with a push, as the throw is called in technical jargon, then there is loud applause and many points. However, such a coup rarely has anything to do with sheer luck. Rather, what is needed is regular training, sophisticated technology and good physical and mental health, says Sanne Hömke. The 63-year-old is a sports warden at the Lohhof sports bowling club – and has been a passionate bowler there since 2014.
The Unterschleißheim native plays with the Lohhofer women’s team in the Bayernliga Süd, has already won the club cup and holds the women’s record in the club. Bowling is just fun for her – and is a real whole-body sport, as she says. Quite strenuous and also causes a lot of sore muscles, but for all those who want to keep moving into old age and want to do sports together with others, simply perfect.
At the SKC Lohhof, which has a good 95 members, there are at least five over 80-year-olds at the six lanes in the Ballhausforum. The sport has little in common with the popular notion that bowlers enjoy a beer between bouts, as Hömke emphasizes. Bowling is a precision sport that focuses on concentration, a perfect run-up and technical finesse. After all, the nine pins, as the cones are called by professionals, should ideally be brought down in one fell swoop. “Full picture” is what the athletes call it when the 2.7 kilogram ball clears everything at once at the end of the 19.50 meter long track.
She can no longer count how many times Sanne Hömke has succeeded. Nevertheless, it evokes feelings of happiness every time all nines fall at the same time. The best of course is on the matchdays of the Lohhofer women in the Bayernliga Süd, where each player has to master 120 thrusts on four lanes: In the first 15 attempts of the 30 throws per lane, the so-called full screen is played, which means that every time all nines are lined up again, no matter how many have fallen before. From the 16th thrust on, it is then a matter of gradually targeting the remaining cones. According to Hömke, anyone who then manages to hit all the pins in one go a few more times has had a really good day.
In the series “My number” the SZ presents people every day until Christmas, in whose life a number has a special meaning – from 1 to 24 like in an advent calendar.