For most people, the sport of bowling is just an occasional activity that they enjoy with friends and family. For David “Boog” Krol, this sport is a lifestyle and one of the ways to make money for his family.
Everyone knows how to throw a ball down the lane, but Boog has added his own flair and touch to the sport by throwing the ball two handed. From just winning his first career title with the PBA’s Delaware Classic held from February 26th to March 3rd. To bowling leagues every week across the Springfield area, Boog has made a name for himself and looks to keep elevating his status.
About Boog Krol
Boog has been a professional bowler for just around two years now, but this is the first year where he is on the PBA Tour full time.
“It has been a challenge for me to overcome where I now have to drive or fly to these cities all around the country.” Boog said. “There are many people who have made this process easier like my family and other (professional) players. They welcomed me into the “family” and now some of them have become very close friends.”
With that big of a change in his life, he has been met with some challenges throughout the year and has had some of his greatest bowling moments on the lanes.
Ted Barbee is one of the few people who can say they have watched Boog grow up to become the talented person he is today.
“I started coaching Ozark High School in 2011 or 2012. One of the biggest competitors we had was this Boog kid who was leading our rival Nixa Eagles to back-to-back state championships looking for a three-peat,” says Ted, “He then developed over time and started to bowl smaller local tournaments smaller events until he turned about 23ish.”
Professional Career Start
After having some personal time to figure things out with starting a family, Boog got back into bowling and started with one focus. Getting to the PBA Tour and becoming a major champion. This all started with Boog getting into shape.
“I was always on the bigger side throughout high school and for most of my early 20s,” Boog said, “but once the dream of bowling professionally cemented itself in my mind, I had to change my body and lifestyle by eating healthier and working out more.”
This was one of the major roadblocks in this journey as anyone knows, it takes an insane amount of dedication and passion to change this much. After working on his body, the bowling just came to him more naturally and everything worked together more fluently.
Cameron Noren, one of Boogs closest friends from Springfield said, “Just the change that he made was shocking to see because this increased his ability on the lanes more than anything when looking at scores. He could finally slow down his ball speed and move with the oil pattern on the lane instead of having to push through it to get a strike.”
Working out of AndyB’s bowling center in Springfield, Boog had the ability to bowl and practice whenever he wanted and for however long he wanted.
Cameron said, “He would just be out on the lanes every day before work just trying to improve some facet of his game and it would be amazing to watch him work as his craft to get the goals he wanted.”
Over time, Krol developed his version of the two-handed style that would help him achieve success on regional tour stops and eventually help lead him to the big leagues.
Current and Future Outlook
Currently Krol is bowling the World Series of Bowling in Michigan till April 21st.
“This will be one of the most chances I can have a making it back to the winners circle with there being a total of 5 titles being awarded. After my win in Delaware, that was one of the most emotional times that I have ever had on the lanes. There were many people cheering me on and I felt it all the 16 hours from home.”
Some people did not like the way that Boog won because of the amount of luck that was on his side but some of the most important moments in this sport have come from luck.
“I was met with more criticism and negative comments than I have ever received before. I accepted the way that I won was not the most common, but you must push through and look to the future.”
Boog continues to be one of the power players on this year’s tour and hopes to keep the momentum going.
