Tyler Nalley has only been bowling with the Rochelle Hubs for two years, but the right-handed senior has quickly become one of the team’s top players after he performed at the junior varsity level last season. And Nalley’s improved scores on the lanes could stem from a change from the traditional one-handed bowing style to the unconventional two-handed style.

Made famous by professional bowlers such as Australia’s Jason Belmonte and Finland’s Osku Palermaa, two-handed bowling had become increasingly popular in the sport over the past several years. Nalley is the only two-hander on the Rochelle team this year, but his style has helped him increase his average by nearly 50 pins from the 2016-17 season. He’s recorded several 200 games in addition to multiple 600 series scores.

“I feel like I’ve performed pretty well,” Nalley said. “Getting my high score of 259 this past Thursday was a pretty big accomplishment. I’m just hoping to keep going up. I feel like I’ve improved on hitting my mark as opposed to just throwing the ball out there. I want to get better at taking my time on the approach and picking up more spares.”

While Nalley plays golf for Rochelle in the fall and tennis in the spring, he said bowling has quickly become his favorite sport. He began bowling when he was 6 years old, and he participated in the local leagues at Rochelle’s T-Byrd Lanes growing up. His efforts have helped the Hubs record four team victories this winter.

“I used to bowl a lot when I was younger,” Nalley said. “I stopped but then I got back into it… Everybody is really nice on the lanes and the sportsmanship is really nice in bowling compared to other sports. I can always come here in the winter and bowl as much as I want, and it doesn’t cost that much.”

Nalley and the Hubs are rolling toward the end of their season, with only the Dixon Toughman Tournament this weekend and matches with Geneseo and Ottawa standing in the way of both the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Meet and the IHSA Regional. He and his teammate have high expectations for the postseason, both individually and as a group.

“It would be nice to place in the top 4 at regionals as a team,” Nalley said. “It’s a tough regional but I’m hoping we can at least do that because making sectionals as a team would be really great. I’m hoping to place in the top 10 at both regionals and sectional in order to make it down to state.”

Even though Nalley may not have the same amount of high school bowling experience as some of his teammates, the senior has already made a strong impression on head coach Doug Koch, who said that Nalley has shown more improvement than many other players he’s coached in recent years.

“Tyler has really put time and effort into his practice,” Koch said. “We’ve been working on his hand release and he’s been following through nicely. I think he’s going to finish the season really strong. He’s been much better with his accuracy, and overall he’s really come a long way.”