Bowling One-On-One with Kelle McLaughlin: Mission Possible
Life is challenging in every imaginable way. From one day to the next, you don’t always know what new challenges you may face. For those with disabilities, you know precisely the types of challenges you will face each and every day – in addition to the ‘usual’ daily life challenges that we all face regardless of disabilities. Challenges do not discriminate. They are coming your way in one form or another.
Over this past summer, I had the opportunity to bowl in league on a team with Kelle McLaughlin. Kelle has the passion and love for bowling that I truly appreciate and respect. He’s talented, determined and with a great desire to succeed. He also has very challenging disabilities, both neurological and physical, and a big part of his treatment is the game of bowling.
On a warm summer league night in August at Clayton Valley Bowl, I witnessed Kelle achieve perfection as he rolled his first 300 game. It was a special night and an incredible accomplishment. I had the pleasure to meet up with Kelle and I asked him about his bowling journey.
Please share your first experience or memories with how you got started in bowling.
“My first memories of bowling are from when I was about 10 years old. A bowling alley had just opened in the city I was living in and I joined a league there. But what I remember most is bowling in the PBA Pro-Am. I bowled with Chris Barnes, Jason Couch, and another whose name I no longer remember. What stuck with me the most was the pros being amazed by not only how I threw the ball but also the amount of rotation and hook I could get. It was a great experience even though I was not a very good bowler at the time (130ish average). While I already enjoyed bowling before the Pro-Am, it definitely solidified my love of the game.”
“However, only a couple years later I had issues with my feet that led to both ankles being fused. The first when I was sixteen and the second when I was seventeen. Those issues meant that I no longer was able to play any sports. It wasn’t until I was 29 years old that I was finally able to return to bowling. Returning to bowling again brought back my love of the game. I would say that my love of the game became stronger than ever before. Not just because I love bowling but also because of the positive effects it has on my health. I can unequivocally say that bowling has been a life changer for me. I would not be where I am today, and I do not think I would be alive today without it.”
You have both physical and neurological conditions. Please describe some of the challenges you face day to day, and not only how these conditions impact your game, but also how the game impacts your life and conditions.
“There are actually three conditions that I deal with. The first physical condition is called arthrogryposis. What that means is that I have a limited range of motion in my hands/fingers, wrists, elbows, and shoulders. That being said, there are people with arthrogryposis where it affects all of their joints. It may surprise people to hear me say that I do not view arthrogryposis as a disability as it affects me. The reason I say that is because it has not stopped me from doing anything that I have wanted to do. I have played every major sport, and was good at all of them, including baseball, basketball, and the sport I was best at, football.”
“The second one is my ankles being fused. It might be difficult today to tell that my ankles are fused just by watching me walk but I have not always walked as well as I do now. In fact, bowling is the reason I walk so well today. For years it was extremely difficult to walk and even painful. I had very poor balance and I fell a lot. I used to say that there are ninety-year-olds who walk faster and have more balance than me. That is no longer true, well mostly, but it gives you an idea of the impact it has had.”
“One of the things I quickly learned after I started walking again was that if I looked at the ground directly in front of my feet while walking, it significantly reduced the chance that I would fall. Even though my balance and ability to walk has improved over the years it is still something I do to this day. Especially while bowling. It might shock some people to hear this, but I do not look at the arrows, or my mark as I take my approach and release the ball. I am looking directly in front of my feet every time.”
“The final one is the neurological condition, and it is by far the most difficult challenge I face on a day to day basis, as well as while I’m bowling. I wish I could tell you the name of the specific neurological condition but unfortunately, I cannot. It is not due to a lack of testing. Doctors have tested for every known neurological condition and even ones they knew I did not have. I have even sat in conference rooms filled with specialists, at both Kaiser and Shriners, where they asked me questions to try to figure out what it was. After all of that, all I know is that my neurological condition is progressive. The rest I have had to figure out by experiencing it. It causes constant muscle spasms which causes chronic pain, chronic inflammation, muscle tightness and a constant feeling of being physically uncomfortable. It mainly affects my back, neck, and shoulders but it affects my legs as well. My legs just happen to be the strongest muscles in my body, so they can handle the spasms better. It is also very draining, energy wise. The pain can be very bad to the point it almost caused me to take my own life.”
“Fortunately, a series of events occurred that not only prevented me from taking my own life but also led me to the path that I am on today. The path to being able to live again. I am not going to say it has been easy. There have been countless times where I just wanted to give up. I have come a long way in the last twelve years, but I still have a way to go. The good news is that exercise, aka bowling, helps to strengthen my muscles which helps them be more able to withstand the muscle spasms. Thus, reducing the pain, inflammation, muscle tightness, and the physical discomfort.”
“My life revolves around pain management and with my neurological condition being progressive, that is how it will be for the rest of my life. I believe I will be pain free one day, but the truth is that I do not know. I could become pain free one day or I could just be buying myself time. Either way if I do not try then I will never know.”
“I think everyone that has bowled knows that pain can and will have a negative effect on how well one can bowl. Needless to say, it’s no different for me. However, it is a little more complicated than that for me. Depending on the level of pain, as well as the location, it can affect how well I am able to throw and release the ball. Some of my best days bowling were days I thought I would not bowl well due to the pain. On the other hand, some of my bad days were days that I had low levels of pain. It really comes down to how well I am able to adjust to my body.”
You mentioned to me before that you had a mission. You wanted to show others with disabilities that anything is possible. That you can bowl and bowl well, and you can accomplish high achievements. Talk about this goal and mission of yours.
“It actually did not start with bowling, it started with football. It was a long time ago, when I was in seventh or eighth grade. I had played football at lunch and that day I had the most catches and most touchdowns as I normally did. After we were done a kid came up to me and he said, ‘I did not think you would be able to catch the ball’. I laughed as it was not the first time I had been told that and it certainly was not the last. However, it was what he said next that forever changed my life. He said, ‘You completely changed my view of handicapped people’. It was in that moment that I realized I had the gift to change the way people viewed people with disabilities and that it could have a positive impact on the lives of other people with disabilities, by playing sports. Unfortunately, my ankles were fused in high school and that meant that I was no longer able to play sports, so I gave up on that for a long time. It wasn’t until 2022 that I realized that bowling could be the sport to help me achieve my goal.”
“Part of that goal or mission, is to show people that people with disabilities are capable of not only bowling but bowling well. While it is true that I want to show people what I am capable of, it is only a vehicle to change perceptions or societal views of people with disabilities. My hopes are that I will help change the way people with disabilities are viewed by society but more importantly to inspire the next generation of bowlers with disabilities. My ultimate goal is to see someone compete at the professional level and win.”
You have also experienced ableism, an unfortunate and unacceptable behavior for anyone to experience. Please share a little bit about that and how it impacted you and how you overcame it.
“Another part of my mission is to bring awareness to ableism. It happens and it happens more than most people would think. In fact, it happened to me at an alley I previously bowled. The whole experience made me not want to bowl anymore and I almost quit bowling because of it. I ended up taking a month off before starting to bowl at Clayton Valley Bowl – Best decision ever!”
“Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, without bowling the pain was getting worse every day. Bowling is the best form of exercise for me. Nothing else comes close. Whether I want to bowl or not does not matter, I have to. Thankfully my love of bowling has returned and getting my first 300 this summer reignited the desire to achieve my mission.”
As your teammate, I was fortunate to witness your 300 game up close this summer. The pivotal point seemed to be late in the first game following your second consecutive 7-10 split. I thought wow, he’s probably going to make a change here in some way or another. I know you work hard on your mental game too, you stay in the moment paying close attention to any needed adjustments. And sure enough, you did make a change and the rest is history. Talk about this great achievement and walk us through it. And did you have any idea you would accomplish this feat on that day?
“It’s possible that deep down I knew the day was going to be special but it’s easy to say that now. I ended up sleeping just 3-4 hours that morning. Getting less than 7 hours of sleep is not good for my muscles, and when I woke up, I was both mentally and physically exhausted. My pain level was significantly higher than it would have been if I had gotten at least 7 hours of sleep.”
So that’s not the best start of a day when great things are about to happen. But you just never know, do you?
“Needless to say, I did not expect to bowl good that day. In fact, I did not bowl good the first two games (149, 167). I had 4 strikes until the third game, but something happened in the eighth and ninth frames of the first game. I had been using my Storm Tropical Surge at the time. I hit the pocket both times only to leave the dreaded 7-10 split. It was after the second split that I made the decision to switch to my plastic ball. I fully believe that if that had not happened then I would not have gotten my first 300. I spent the second game trying to find the right spot to stand and where to aim. It took the whole game, but I eventually figured it out. On the left lane I stood one board to the left of the second dot (left to right) and one board to the right on the right lane.”
“The start of the third game felt no different than the first two aside from how exhausted I was then. My brain was not working that great at that point. My ability to think was severely diminished, so there was not a whole lot of it going on. However, not thinking about what I’m doing while bowling generally leads to me bowling better. Truth be told I do not remember the first strike of the game. After the second strike, I looked at the monitor and to my surprise realized it actually was my second. From that point on, every time it was my turn, I would tell myself one board to the left or one board to the right depending on which lane I was on. Around the sixth or seventh frame, I noticed that my heart was pounding. So, I started telling myself two more things. The first was to calm down and the second was with my plastic ball. What I meant by that was to get a 300 game with my plastic ball without actually thinking about the 300 part. I kept telling myself those three things for the rest of the game.”
You were dialed in. We, your teammates stayed away from you and quiet and just observed. I recall how cool headed and focused you were. Later in the game when the crowd started to gather behind you, that’s when concentration can get rattled, but not on this night, you were in the zone!
“I became completely in the zone, I was aware of what I was doing and was not going to let anything, or anyone break my focus. Even though I was aware of everything the thought of it never entered my mind. Doing so would have led to a mistake. Around that time, I noticed that there was a change in the air. Possibly word spreading about what I was doing. Any other day that would have led to me getting extremely nervous and caused a mistake. That day however, possibly helped by the exhaustion, I was able to not think about it. At that time, I also made the decision to not look at anybody behind the lanes I was bowling on. Doing so would not have been good. By the tenth frame, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to strike out. I was starting to get a little bit shaky but luckily it was only my knees when I would drop into my stance. When I released the final shot, I was initially a little worried about it. It was a bit inside of the target but as I watched the ball go down the lane, I quickly realized that it was going to be the 12th and final strike. Seeing those pins explode off the ball, I immediately was overcome with joy. After everything I have been through in the last 12 years, it was the first good thing to happen in a long time. While I am extremely proud of what I accomplished that night, what I am most proud of is that I did it as a person with disabilities. This accomplishment has the ability to bring representation in bowling to a group of people that do not have representation.”
I’ve been bowling with Kelle for about a year now since he first joined our bowling alley. He only took 1 throw for me to figure out that this guy plays to win. Since then I’ve found Kelle to be a great friend and bowling partner. Always willing and open to joke about his physical disabilities because he didn’t let that define who he is as a man or a bowler. Kelle intentionally plays a sport that is seemingly designed to be impossible for him, and not only can he do it, but he’s fun to watch play.
-Gino Maurino: Friend and Teammate
On the night Kelle threw his 300 I could tell something had changed around frame 6, he started getting really quiet and intensely focused on his throws. As everyone in our league knows if there’s a silence I’m the one filling it up, but I could see in Kelle’s eyes that this wasn’t going to be a normal game, so I left him to his own devices.
Once we had reached the 11th throw everyone in the league had made their way over, a crowd 30-40 or so, and I don’t think Kelle even noticed. We all got quiet as we saw the final throw leave his hands, and after a year of really getting tuned in on his throwing style, I could tell that balls had nowhere else to go but strike. The pins flew and it solidified Kelle’s first perfect game. Every single throw was a solid strike, no dancing pins, no slow falls just his solid hook and hits. Everyone was cheering for him, he was so excited to finally accomplish something he’s been putting in the work for that his hands were shaking. I’ve never seen my friend so happy and I can’t wait til I can see the next one.
Talk about how your game has been progressing in recent years. Your average has been picking up steadily. What do you attribute your continued steady incline with your game?
“There are several reasons why my game has been improving. Bowling three times a week is definitely the biggest factor. However, the decrease in pain and improved range of motion/movement, due to bowling, has also helped. As the pain decreases and I’m able to move better, it allows me make changes to my approach and my release. It also allows me to try things that I would not have been able to do in the past. The pain changes not only day to day but also throughout the day. It can and will change from one minute to the next. The changes throughout the day, while not generally big changes (although they can be), are not going to have a noticeable effect on my movement/range of motion just by watching me move. However, they do affect how I throw the ball. Those changes mean that I am constantly having to adjust my release. How I stand when on the approach as well as how I release the ball has changed throughout the years and I have noticed that they are still. Every bowler has to learn to adjust to the lane conditions. For me, I also have to adjust to my own body and how it moves every time I bowl. It has taught me to not be afraid to try something different. The reality is that there is nobody I know like me that bowls and there is nobody that I could talk to about how to improve my game. For that reason, I have learned that trial and error is the only way for me. I have been doing it my entire life.”
Share some of your future goals, dreams or aspirations in the sport of bowling as you look ahead.
“As far as my bowling game goes, my goals are to get my average over 200 and to get an 800 series in league. When it comes to keep improving my game it comes down to consistently practicing three times a week and continuing to use trial and error. Maybe one day I will be able to find someone who would be able to coach me. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I do believe that it is highly unlikely solely based on me having arthrogryposis.”
“Because of my neurological condition I will never be able to work. At least not a typical job. My hope for the future is that I will be able to use bowling to show people all over the world what people like me are capable of doing. At the same time, I would love to inspire other people like me to get involved with the game of bowling. I think the best thing to help me achieve that would be by me partnering with bowling alleys and/or with bowling companies. Companies that would not treat my disabilities as a negative. That would be willing to figure a way to make it work that would still allow me to continue focusing on my health. Who knows, maybe one day I will start my own bowling company.”
When you’re not bowling, what other hobbies and other interests do you have?
“When I am not bowling, I am recovering from bowling. I have to limit the movements that I make especially my shoulders. So, it comes down to what I can do to pass the time. That leaves me with two choices: watch tv or play video games. Occasionally I hang out with friends too. However, the only opportunity for me to have a consistent social life is while I am bowling. Having a social life is something that I have missed for a long time. It is nice to be able to have a little bit of a social life. I am very shy, at first, but I am working on being more outgoing.”
What advice would you give to bowlers around the world who are trying to improve their game. I know others, youths and adults are inspired about your accomplishments and dedication to your game, so your thoughts and tips are important to share with our readers.
“I do not know what it is like to have full range of motion in my arms and shoulders so physical tips or advice to others would be limited. For me, I have had to figure out what works best for me by trial and error. I would say the most important thing is to practice consistently. Try new things to figure out what works best for you. Also, do not let the bad shots, bad games, or bad series get you frustrated. It will happen and getting frustrated will only have a negative effect on your game. Another thing that I have worked on over the years is blocking out the noise. It has helped me focus more on my game while minimizing distractions. The thing I have been working on this year is to have fun while bowling no matter how I am bowling.”
Kelle, you are in inspiration to me personally and to those all around you and now for readers just learning about you, you are an inspiration worldwide. You have reached perfection in the sport you love, which is also the sport that loves you back too. You have more than proven that your mission is possible, that those with any kind of disability can participate in the sport of bowling, can become a good bowler and has a shot at perfection. I sincerely wish you the best ahead on the lanes and in anything that you put your mind to. Thank you for sharing your incredible story.
“Thank you for taking the time to interview me and thank you to everyone that took the time to read this. I would also like to thank the staff at Clayton Valley Bowl for treating me so well and not having any issues helping me when I need it. Also thank you for surprising me with the USBC 300 ring during league. Even though I checked the box to send it to my house without thinking about it. I greatly appreciate it. It means a lot to me.”
“My disabilities do not define me, but they are an important part of my journey. I would not be who I am today without them. I have had people tell me that when they look at me, they do not see my disabilities. If someone looks at me and does not see my disabilities, then they do not see me. They are an important part of who I am, and it plays into societies views of disabilities being a bad thing. It also keeps perpetuating the view that it is something that should not be talked about. That being said, there is a right way to talk about it and there is a wrong way to talk about it. Understand that I am not speaking for all people with disabilities. Some might agree with me, and some might not. It is always best to ask if the person is willing to talk about it before you do.”
“For all of the people with disabilities who have experienced ableism. You do matter. You are important. Keep your head up. Most importantly do not ever let people like that bring you down. They are not worth it.”
(Kelle McLaughlin – Prepares for his final shot for perfection. 300-Mission Possible)
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