Iceman
01-20-2009, 06:12 PM
I took this from one of the RSS Feeds from a bowing site, it's so true and shows where the USBC went wrong in my opinion - but sports shots could make it go in the right direction again - This could even get bowling back in the Sunday newspapers. Maybe we could bring back the butterfly collars and bell bottoms - it will be just like when my dad bowled. Skill and fashion (or lack of) :D
But the biggest change is an eased route to higher scores. Bowling balls with sophisticated surfaces and lanes oiled in specific patterns have joined to produce better results than could reasonably be expected even from lots of practice.
During the 1979-80 season, before the current influx of technology, 5,373 "300 games" -- the mark of perfection, achieved by rolling 12 strikes in a row -- were recorded. This past season, 2007-08, there were 52,229 perfect games, according to the USBC. This huge increase came despite the fact that there were only 2.4 million registered bowlers in 2007-08, half the 1979-80 total. Nothing influences the escalation in strikes more than oil, originally used to protect lanes but now important for the manner in which it is spread by calibrated machines.
"Proprietors program the machines to spread more oil in the center of the lane than the sides," according to USBC Vice President Neil Stremmel. "If you miss a little right from your perfect strike shot, there is less oil out there and more friction, so the ball hooks a little more and gets more on target." New balls have a more porous surface, which increases how well they respond to the oil, he explained.
Oil patterns are more tightly controlled for pros; the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) says it requires that patterns do not inflate scores. Concern that technology was endangering the integrity of the game for serious but not professional bowlers led, in the 2001-02 season, to the introduction of "sport bowling," where rules for spreading oil are strict. Sport bowling's 31,852 members bowled 132 perfect games this past season.
But the biggest change is an eased route to higher scores. Bowling balls with sophisticated surfaces and lanes oiled in specific patterns have joined to produce better results than could reasonably be expected even from lots of practice.
During the 1979-80 season, before the current influx of technology, 5,373 "300 games" -- the mark of perfection, achieved by rolling 12 strikes in a row -- were recorded. This past season, 2007-08, there were 52,229 perfect games, according to the USBC. This huge increase came despite the fact that there were only 2.4 million registered bowlers in 2007-08, half the 1979-80 total. Nothing influences the escalation in strikes more than oil, originally used to protect lanes but now important for the manner in which it is spread by calibrated machines.
"Proprietors program the machines to spread more oil in the center of the lane than the sides," according to USBC Vice President Neil Stremmel. "If you miss a little right from your perfect strike shot, there is less oil out there and more friction, so the ball hooks a little more and gets more on target." New balls have a more porous surface, which increases how well they respond to the oil, he explained.
Oil patterns are more tightly controlled for pros; the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) says it requires that patterns do not inflate scores. Concern that technology was endangering the integrity of the game for serious but not professional bowlers led, in the 2001-02 season, to the introduction of "sport bowling," where rules for spreading oil are strict. Sport bowling's 31,852 members bowled 132 perfect games this past season.