WOMEN’S BOWLING : Adamek Is Braced for Good Showing

At a distance, the bowling arm of Donna Adamek might look artificial.

From the hand all the way up beyond the elbow, the arm is covered by supports, one a device that keeps the wrist straight, the other a brace that keeps the elbow bent.

“Without the brace, I wouldn’t bowl,” said Southern California’s most titled female pro bowler as she walked off the Fountain Bowl lanes after a hot round Sunday in the U.S. Open.

Her score was 3,430 (214 average for 16 games). It placed her comfortably among the leaders in the 56-game marathon lasting through a Thursday final.

The leader was Wendy Macpherson of San Diego, who said a correction in her backswing has “got me back striking.” Her score is a 3,518.

A perfect game was bowled by Denver’s Debbie McMullen, 1988 amateur bowler of the year. For an oddity, her 300 came a few minutes after her traveling companion, Jan Schmidt of Rochelle, Ill., had the fans roaring by shooting a 299.

The bowling career of Monrovia-raised Adamek, 34, of Apple Valley, is full of great performances (19 pro titles) but also physical stress from a bone chip in the elbow and a slipped disk.

“If I bowl with a straight arm, the pain is too much, but the bent arm is a painless delivery,” Adamek said. “My chiropractor is solving my disk problem.

Only 5-2 and 118 pounds, Adamek says she visits the gym daily to “equal my strength to the size of bigger players in competition.”

Adamek is nicknamed the “Mighty Mite” of bowling. She says she can bench press 100 pounds.