Christopher Sloan Q&A: ‘In Sweden, the atmosphere is like a football match’
The Bowling World Cup is the most prestigious non-professional bowling tournament in the world, with many of the best players in the world competing. Christopher Sloan previously finished 11th in the 2013 event in Russia, where he bowled two perfect 300 games. He is a two-handed player.
I think it stemmed from being a bit of a sore loser. When I was nine or 10, I went to a mate’s birthday party in a bowling alley and I finished last. I said to my mother how badly I did and she said ‘why don’t you join a club?’ So I went to a kids club for bowling every Saturday in Swords for a few years but didn’t really take it seriously. Then when I was in secondary school I started playing regularly with ALSAA and made my first appearance on the Irish Junior team when I was 16.
About a year and a half, I was offered a contract to play bowling elsewhere on a very good contract but then my friend persuaded me to play for Team Clan in Nässjö who are a fantastic team.
Scandinavia and Asia. It’s huge in Sweden and we get good backing from the government. For instance, a girl on my team hurt her wrist before a big competition. She was fast-tracked to a top surgeon on the Monday and was primed to have the operation on the Tuesday. She didn’t need the surgery in the end but the fact she got that kind of attention before a competition says enough. I know how strange that may sound to countries that don’t take bowling seriously. But the noise in competitions here is crazy. Our team were in a competition recently and we were like Leicester City, the underdogs. The atmosphere was like a football match with the cheering and the chanting. There’s about 500 or 600 people in the bowling alley, which, as you can imagine, isn’t big!
It was crazy. I started off really poorly and I ruled myself out and so did everyone else but I made a few adjustments and they paid off. I made the top 24, coming 22nd. Then I got into my groove and jumped into fifth place to make the last eight. Nobody has ever made the last eight coming from 22nd place, which was huge.
guys, everyone should have their own shirts... except for you. We didn’t think you were going to make it.”
I’d love to be the reason for someone taking up bowling but I wouldn’t say I want to be someone’s hero. I even get noticed by kids sometimes whenever I’m in Swords and I happily stop for a selfie or an autograph. Anything to grow the sport, it really deserves coverage.
A huge difference. The balls used in a normal bowling alley are called house balls. They don’t spin as much as the ones used in professional games. It’s down to the radius of gyration (RG) and differential, which determines how much the ball spins put on and how early it spins. The higher the RG, the later it spins.
There are loads of different oils that can be put down on the lane. This won’t mean much to the casual bowler but a professional bowler can see that different oils make different patterns on the surface. For instance, the oil on Leisureplex alleys have this Christmas tree shape, meaning if you throw a bad ball it still has a chance of hitting the target. If you misjudge your throw with a high-performance ball on a surface that is perfectly spread with oil, then you have no hope. It’s going straight into the gutter. So the margins are really small.
Five bowling games can take up to three hours so it’s about duration too. People wonder how you can get tired bowling but if they want to throw 15 pound balls down an alley for three hours then I’d be happy to play them!
Men’s is more popular but women’s isn’t far behind. My girlfriend Jenny (Wegner) won the Women’s Bowling World Cup recently, so she likes to remind me that I came second! There’s good competition between us and we’re always trying to better each other in practice.
My schedule is pretty intense at the moment and is taken up by travel. Since the 15th of September, I’ve had two nights in my own bed. I’ve been to Holland, Austria, the States, Belgium, Denmark. I’ve been on, I think, 80 flights in 2016. I have a Professional Bowlers Association competition coming up this week in Vegas so I’m scattered all over the place. I’m also co-owner at Xtreme International, a bowling supplies shop. I have a lot of business meetings, advising bowlers what is the best ball to use and why and how to modify gear.
I think it’s ingrained in me at this stage. It’s a big part of my life, I’ve met my friends and Jenny through bowling. So I find it hard to fully step away from it. I have definitely managed my practice better recently though. I read a lot about burnout and I think I suffered from it in the past. I was leaving my best in the practice lane and I was training for three or four hours a day, seven days a week. Nowadays, I’m only training two hours a day for four days. I think I’m all the better for it.
I’ve also calmed down a lot. I’ve been described as very headstrong. People have asked me what’s wrong with me when they see me staring down my opponent, it looks like I’m going to kill him. But I don’t notice this because I’m in the zone. I try not to think about the games too early or else I get too riled up and can lose my head a bit. The last time I was in Ireland I saw my friends and they lured me into playing a competition when I was supposed to be taking a break. I would tell people that I haven’t touched a ball all week even though I might have played for four or five hours. That’s just my mindset. My next break is on November 14th so I’m going to take a week’s break and not touch a ball. I’ve promised myself that!
I’m currently 13th in Europe and I’m looking to sneak back into the Top 12 to play the World Championships in Qatar.
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