THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Friday, November 14, 2014

Retired Professional Bowling Association bowler and current national bowling instructor Mike Jasnau has videotaped and coached more than 10,000 bowlers, analyzing their swings, footwork, motion and then helping them improve.

THE 52-year-old, who won one career PBA national title in 1988 and two career PBA regional titles, bowled profesionally from 1986 to 1993. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today until Tuesday, except for Saturday, the youngest sibling among four will be giving paid lessons at River City Lanes in Post Falls, from amateurs to veteran bowling league members, young and old. Most of his lessons last an hour ([email protected]).

The slots are full, but you can watch a coach named among the top 100 by Bowling Journal magazine. Jasnau has been at River City Lanes since Nov. 9, his fourth time at the center.

Jasnau, who grew up in Fishkill, N.Y., located 74 miles north of New York City, and currently lives in Liberty, Utah, 50 miles north of Salt Lake City, spent about 20 weeks of each year the past 21 years coaching at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.

The high school Jasnau attended, John Jay High in Cross River, N.Y., is where second baseman Joe Panik of the San Francisco Giants, who recently won the World Series, attended.

Check out his show out on YouTube, it's pretty instructional.

"Some of the guys, including Mike Durk, who bowl from here have come to work with me in Reno," Jasnau said. "They said, 'Hey, you should come up to Coeur d'Alene sometime and give some bowling lessons. I said, 'Well, if you give me enough people, I'll come up and give lessons."

JASNAU GOT into full-time coaching in 1993, after a car accident in Tucson, Ariz. by a drunk driver who did not seem him at an intersection, ended his bowling career.

"I was at a PBA tournament and was on my to the airport to pick up my roommate," Jasnau said. "The impact of that collision sent my car across the intersection into a utility pole. I suffered a severe neck injury that I had to eventually have surgically repaired. That took me out of competitive bowling. It's hard enough to compete as an athlete professionally when you're healthy. So when you're hurt, there's just no chance. Even now, I have a stiff neck, it's hard to function. I don't bowl very often, due to wrist and elbow issues. When I do, I usually bowl well into the 200s. I liked being a professional bowler, because you're at the top of your sport."

JASNAU ALSO competed against PBA legends like Tacoma, Wash.-born Earl Anthony in 1987 in tournaments, though not head-to-head. Anthony, who died in Aug. 2001, won 43 titles and six bowler of the year awards. He was also the first to reach $1,000,000 in lifetime PBA earnings and in 1981 he was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame.

"He was on the downturn of his career and I was at the very beginning," Jasnau said. "He wasn't at the top of his game. It's kind of like Nolan Ryan in his last year (facing a rookie)."

Jasnau competed as the top bowler at Wichita State University.

"My ultimate goal was to go on tour," Jasnau said. "I was lucky enough to know some professional bowlers and knew how hard it was to make a living bowling. So I decided I wanted to get my education. I had a little scholarship for bowling. Once I graduated, I went out on tour. I bowled on ABC and ESPN a few times."

Jasnau said people have tried to find clips of him bowling on YouTube, Hulu, etc., but they have never found him.

BUT MANY of the bowlers Jasnau has coached, more than 50 PBA champions, have certainly been found on old clips of your online video websites. Walter Ray Williams and Pete Weber, both of whom Jasnau used to compete against, have been students of his, along with current PBA pros like Chris Barnes. You'd think some of these guys don't need much coaching, right? Wrong.

"Think of the top golfers out there, like Tiger Woods," Jasnau said. "All of those top athletes have a coach. It's easier to see things than to feel things. And at the highest levels, little things make differences, they're never hard to see, but they're hard to feel. So it's almost like you need a different set of eyes. So even top athletes, it's hard to be at the top by yourself. Most top athletes have coaching. They might be at the top of their sport, but they still have coaching. Let's say someone plays golf regularly as an amateur and hits in the 80s. A lot of people say, 'Well why do you need coaching? They want to get better. Just because you're better doesn't mean you're done getting better."

AMATEUR BOWLERS often make the mistake of using too much muscle in their upper body, instead of just letting the ball roll. Timing, leverage and balance is the key.

"My goal is to get them a more efficient and repeatable motion," Jasnau said. "A lot of people have a good motion, but it's hard to duplicate. If something's out of whack, it's hard to be efficient. It's also less work physically. I've worked with all levels of bowlers, from those who average less than 100 to the top touring pros in the world. Some people are like, 'I don't want to bowl any more, because it hurts when I bowl. Let's see what you're doing, OK, let's clean that up. And they're like, 'Well, now I don't hurt any more.' Even that's a big part. It's designed to let you make better scores, but for some people it's like 'OK, with this new motion, it doesn't hurt when I bowl.'"

JASNAU has had several satisfied local customers, including North Idaho College bowling instructor Paula Phelps. She has taken lessons from Jasnau twice a year for each of the past five years, took a two-hour lesson and worked out a few kinks.

"We worked on getting a little bit better than what he taught me the year before," Phelps said. "Just a free backswing. It's him pushing you to be better. We all limit ourselves to what we can do."

Count Durk in.

On March 6, he was part of a five-man team that set a scratch record of 3,717 total pins, has taken at least six lessons over the past three years from Jasnau and at least 12 in his life.

"I met Mike (one of the first years) he started giving lessons in 1998," Durk said. "He helped me so much, with my footwork, arm swing. I feel so fortunate to receive the level of coaching he gives. He's good about spreading his knowledge to a wide range of abilities."

Another satisfied customer was 22-year-old Michael Thompson of Post Falls, who has bowled since he was 18 and has competing in two leagues per year over nine months. After taking three lessons during the last three years, Thompson said his average score improved from 190 to 215.

"He helps fine-tine your game," Thompson said. "He shows you things like hand position, if you muscle a ball too much. He's super positive, he's never negative, he keeps you focused on what's working."

Lessons learned on the lanes, coach. Lessons learned.

"In every lesson I do, I see improvement," Jasnau said. "That's why I love doing what I'm doing. It keeps me involved in bowling and it keeps me involved at a high level."

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at bourq25