Imagine players bowling for a national championship where everyone uses the exact same ball and skill determined winners, not access to equipment.

That event exists and youth bowlers from across the country will be tested next week at the Teen Masters with limited access to bowling equipment on lane conditions with a very small amount of oil.

Teen Masters organizer Gary Beck launched the concept in 2013, and it will continue with the 2019 event, which begins Monday live on FloBowling. The event features more than 250 high school bowlers from across the country.

All participants are required to purchase a PBA Skill 3.02 bowling ball, a ball with a urethane cover that absorbs little to no oil. It’s the only ball they are allowed to use in the event.

“It looks like everyone is throwing the exact same bowling ball, and it turns out that’s actually true,” Beck said. “Six years ago we launched what we call the skill initiative, and we have leveled the playing field by limiting all the competitors to throwing a bowling ball that has extremely low performance characteristics.”

Beck said the PBA Skill 3.02 ball won’t absorb much, if any, oil and doesn’t flare. As a result, much less oil is needed on the lane for the competition.

“We have reduced our oil patterns from close to 30 milliliters (of oil) to down to less than seven,” Beck said. “We’ve pretty much taken the equipment out of the equation, and the only factor in the competition is how well did you throw the ball.”

So what’s the point of using a single ball for every competitor? Beck said it’s to put a focus on the fundamentals, reward hard work and encourage players to practice.

“I think the Teen Masters forces kids, if they are going to do well, to master the fundamentals,” Beck said. “They have to be able to repeat shots, they have to be able to control ball speed and they have to be able to control their rotation. They have to understand all the nuisances of what they can do to a ball versus just changing to a ball that will take care of some of that for them.”

To learn more about the Teen Masters bowling ball limitations and more, listen to Beck’s interview with Tim Burg on the FloBowling Podcast.