AVON, Ohio — An Avon Lake bowling alley is using new technology to enhance competitive bowling. It's one of only a handful of such places in the state to have access to the high-tech system.

• A transmitter traces the ball in real-time as it rolls
• It provides an evaluation, helping competitive bowlers develop their skills
• The Avon Lake High School bowling team has been using the system since September and is already seeing huge progress

The technology, called Specto, was installed at Spevock's Nautical Lanes in September. A transmitter traces the ball in real time as it rolls, measuring 45 characteristics, such as, speed, rotation and revolutions per minute. It then provides an evaluation, helping competitive bowlers develop their skills.

It's the same system used in professional bowling.

"It takes all the guesswork out of understanding what happened with the ball. We know without a doubt if he hit his target and by how much," said Rich Williams, head bowling coach for the boys varsity team at Avon Lake High School. "Bowling is a sport of consistency, it's all about repeating the same place on the lane with the same release, with the same speed."

Both boys and girls bowling teams at Avon Lake High School use the technology and are already seeing huge progress on both bowling teams.

"Especially for JV, their averages have rocketed up and for varsity it's gone a little bit up, but there's still a lot of improvement," said Chloe Smith, bowler for Avon Lake High School.

"The Specto really kind of changed my game and really made me become more precise with my spares and stuff. I was probably a 180 average in the beginning of the year and it's put me up at a 219 average," added Connor Gallagher, bowler at Avon Lake High School.

The coaches at Avon Lake say this technology could change the landscape of bowling at the high school level.

The system is available to any coach or bowler, creating a game-like experience like never before.

"Having the ability to really identify certain points of a bowlers release, scientifically, takes out the human element, so it's giving us real information that none of us could misinterpret if we were doing it without it, so I truly believe it's going to be a benefit for us," said Bill Gallagher, girl's bowling head coach, Avon Lake High School.