RENO, Nev. - If you look closely when Michael Green of Mechanicsburg, Pa., is bowling, you might notice something a little unusual about his style. He bowls using a cane for support when releasing the ball at the foul line.

The 64-year-old left-hander had arthroscopic surgery on his knee in 2003, and everything went well at the time. Five years later, in March of 2008, he started experiencing shooting pain in his legs and immediately began to worry.

His family suggested he see a doctor, who ran a battery of tests, but was unable to pinpoint the problem. The only revelation was that the issue had something to do with his previous surgery.

"They sent me to another doctor," Green said. "He ran more tests and felt it wasn't a problem with the knees themselves, but that it was a neurological problem. So, he sent me to another specialist."

Several more weeks passed before Green was able to see the neurologist. That's when it was discovered he had contracted a virus that was destroying the nerves in his legs. The virus apparently had already run its course, and severe damage had been done. 

"By the time I got done with the doctors, they found I only had about 50 percent of the reflexes left in my legs, and the muscles had begun to show signs of atrophy," said Green who bowls out of ABC Lanes East. "I couldn't imagine not bowling. I knew I was going to keep doing it, no question about it. The question was just how long I was going to be able to do it."

When Green started bowling again, he dropped to a 10-pound ball and stood right at the foul line. The muscle memory from his nearly 50 years of bowling experience helped him, and within a short time, he was back to using a 14-pound ball.

"The problem I found was that when I tried to take some steps in my approach, I didn't have much balance at the foul line," Green said. "I fell a couple of times and had to get someone to help me up. I needed to figure out how I was going to bowl without falling."

Green decided to take his cane with him to the foul line so he could practice bowling. He found that the cane gave him the support he needed to throw the ball, and more importantly, gave him the confidence that he wasn't going to fall. 

"The cane just kind of became a part of my bowling game," said Green, who made his 11th USBC Open Championships appearance this year. "I really don't even think about it any more.  I'm still pretty accurate. I just can't generate the speed I used to."

Prior to his illness, Green averaged from 205 to 215 and has seven USBC-certified 300 games to his credit. With his new found bowling style, he now has his average back into the 170 range.

Green made his first Open Championships appearance in Albuquerque in 2000 and only missed the 2008 event because of his illness.

"A group of friends asked me to bowl that first year," Green said. "This is my favorite nine games of the year. We have four teams made up of friends and fellow league bowlers. The Open Championships is our chance to get away from work and home for a few days and have a good time bowling."

One of Green's teammates is his son Chris, who also bowled for the first time in 2000 as a sixth bowler. Chris suffers from the degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, which starts with the loss of night vision before the peripheral vision begins to go as well. Eventually, all that remains is tunnel vision.

"It is a genetically transferred disease," Chris Green said. "My mother, Kathy, has it, and although she is legally blind, she still bowls league twice a week. She can't see the pins, so we have to tell her what pins are left standing."

Despite his family's challenges, Green and his family are motivated by their love of the sport and will continue bowling for as long as they can.

"We are truly a handicapped team now," Michael Green said. "We all love bowling and don't plan to ever quit. We'll just have to keep finding ways to do it." 

This year at the Open Championships, Michael Green shot 542 in singles, 508 in doubles and 473 in team for a 1,523 all-events total, while Chris shot 723 in singles, 669 in doubles and 596 in team for 1,988.

Click here to watch video highlights from the 2011 Open Championships.

Presenting sponsors for the 2011 USBC Open Championships are Circus Circus, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno. Other sponsors include Sands Regency Casino Hotel, official brackets sponsor, Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, Humana, official registration sponsor, US Steltronic, official scoring system, and supporting sponsors Storm Bowling Products, UPS, Nationwide Insurance, Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa, Harrah's Reno Casino and Hotel and Peppermill Hotel Casino.