By JOHN McCARRON

With the holiday vacation starting soon, I thought I would pass along some useful tips for your exciting day at the bowling center.

Who you go with has a lot to do with when and what you’re going to do there. Let’s start with the most popular group that frequent bowling centers at vacation time, the school-age crowd.

The bowling center you choose has an assortment of entertainment items for the younger gathering. Bowling being it’s number one commodity, of course. But don’t feel like that’s all a bowling center has for you.

Every center has a multitude of video games and other games of chance to challenge you. If the entire group wanted these newest model video games, you’ll still have a ball even if you don’t bowl.

The Galaxy/Cosmic events are targeted for the younger age level, but if you’ve never tried this, an evening with bowling in the dark with a laser light show and, of course, all kinds of music, you should.

You can even request a tune if the DJ has it with him. I do doubt Frank Sinatra or Doris Day will be heard much, but you never know what he has in his collection.

Hungry? All centers have a very well-stocked snack bar with competitive food prices. Most lanes even serve a pizza for those desiring their pie-fix.

If you’re not in that age category, don’t fret, the bowling center will entertain you too, especially families of all ages. It’s very common to see the real young (4-7) being taught to bowl from their grandparents (who are enjoying every wonderful moment with the grandkids).

The parents (you can see enjoying the precious time spent and also a bit of relief from watching over the kids, a full-time job) have some time to concentrate on improving their own game while practicing as well.

To make your experience a little easier, plan ahead. If you have to rent shoes, get a list of everyone’s shoe size. That alone will make it much faster to get to your lane.

Look for a ball where the thumbhole fits the best and adjust your finger position. If you have young children, have the center give you lanes with bumpers. This will make the kids have a great time bowling too since they will knock down pins most of the time. It’s better to find a ball too light rather than too heavy, which might cause an injury.

Most bowling centers have some kind of special, call ahead to find the best time.

This saves a few dollars, which you can use to let the kids play the video games the want (and they always ask to play).

The most important fact is to be slower while bowling, as speed creates problems and possible injuries.

Put aside a few hours of your day at the center, I’m sure you’ll all be talking about your experiences as time goes by.

John McCarron is a member of the Massachusetts Tri-County Bowling Hall of Fame. He is the pro shop operator and teaching pro at Spare Time Lanes in Bristol. He can be reached at (860) 583-4692 or by email at sun300j@aol.com.