Bowling is not for Bowlers anymore.

[5280 Hooker]

It seems to me like most centers only care about how much beer and food they can sell. All they want to do is cater to the "Fun Center" atmosphere with loud music, cosmic lights, screaming kids and rude people who have no lane courtesy.

Maintenance crews only oil once a week, and half the time I'm bowling on burnt up lanes with oil pushed into the backend by straight bowlers. When I ask for fresh oil they look at me as if I'm from Mars and say we cant do that. Like come on.....a machine does all the work and it takes about 5 min.

Why is it such a hassle to get the maintenance crew to oil a lane for you. It's like they cant be bothered. In fact...just the other day I asked our local center if the guy would oil my lane while his is oiling the other 20 lanes (and it was a Thursday afternoon, not like I asked on Saturday at 5 pm) and he said, "No, we just oil for the leaguers and not regular bowlers", but come back on Sunday, that's when we oil. Are you freakin kidding me! What a joke!

I will never be able to take my bowling to the next level here in Colorado. Our bowling facilities are a joke and could care less about a serious bowler. I'm already bored with the house shots and I've only been bowling 3 months.

Do any of you have these issues with you local centers?

[Aslan]

Yes. A common problem.

It's hard to get good at bowling when you have to practice on beat up lanes that behave nothing like they do on league night.

But it's all about the money. Sport bowling used to be so popular it was profitable. Now it's a distraction for most centers that make the bulk of their money from parties and alcohol sales.

This will probably be my last season at my usual house because:
1) They stopped oiling prior to league play. They apparently didn't like turning people away the hour before leagues started while they were re-oiling for leagues.
2) I'd like to do a sport shot league…but when I talked to the guy in the pro shop about it…he said he's tried to start one more than once at that house and they keep refusing because they don't want to mess with the machines and verifying the pattern and whatever else they have to do…and they don't want to turn away weekend bowlers and parties for a more serious league where nobody will be eating/drinking.

[5280 Hooker]

Well, I guess I'll settle for being a house bowler.

I want to enter Regional Tournaments, but how do you practice on a given pattern when no one locally will put one down for you.

How much does the USBC control local centers?

[LyalC52]

money talks, slip the maintenance guy a few bucks

[fortheloveofbowling]

Well, I guess I'll settle for being a house bowler.

I want to enter Regional Tournaments, but how do you practice on a given pattern when no one locally will put one down for you.

How much does the USBC control local centers?

To improve your game it isn't necessary to practice on fresh sport patterns with the latest equipment. Get a plastic or urethane ball and use that when you have to. That is a excellent way to improve your shot making ability and release consistency. Talk to the bowling center manager and ask when the best time to find fresher conditions and possibly go out right after leagues so they won't be as bad as other times. If you really want to improve you can find a way to make it work. Not every great bowler grew up with country club conditions to work on their game. Bad conditions can make you a great shot maker and force you to learn different angles, releases, etc. Good luck to you.

[RobLV1]

If you want to practice for PBA Regional tournaments, don't worry about finding fresh oil. Most of the PBA patterns feature more oil in the heads than you're used to on a house shot, but you'll probably be able to figure it out pretty quickly even if you've never played the pattern before. The problem comes after a couple of games when all the high rev players have ripped the pattern all to shreds. You can practice this by going on the lanes at your local center after the highest average league in the place has bowled.

[NewToBowling]

On the flip side most centers don't even have open bowling on weeknights as the lanes are filled with league bowlers. A couple getting turned away once or twice and chances are they'll never come back. Or having to wait 30 minutes to an hour just to get in a few games. It's a delicate balance as the league bowlers are the bread and butter

[rv driver]

My center hosts some regional events (Chris Barnes and, I understand Tommy Jones have been in my center), and the owner also owns several centers locally. They dress their lanes daily. I'm beginning to think I'm getting spoiled...

There is a center in town that's owned by a different guy, and he's recently remodeled and turned it into more of a "fun center." The bowling pits are quite small; the bar and game room are not. He even bills it as a "family entertainment center" instead of a "bowling center." It's new and glitzy, and the employees are friendly; the pro seems competent to say the least -- but you can tell that it doesn't cater to bowlers as much as my home center does.

[5280 Hooker]

My center hosts some regional events (Chris Barnes and, I understand Tommy Jones have been in my center), and the owner also owns several centers locally. They dress their lanes daily. I'm beginning to think I'm getting spoiled...

There is a center in town that's owned by a different guy, and he's recently remodeled and turned it into more of a "fun center." The bowling pits are quite small; the bar and game room are not. He even bills it as a "family entertainment center" instead of a "bowling center." It's new and glitzy, and the employees are friendly; the pro seems competent to say the least -- but you can tell that it doesn't cater to bowlers as much as my home center does.

You are lucky to have a center that cares about bowling.

Go Saturday night to the fun center, you will love the blue lights, strobes, and glowing pins.....lol.


"Happy Bowling"

[Aslan]

On the flip side most centers don't even have open bowling on weeknights as the lanes are filled with league bowlers. A couple getting turned away once or twice and chances are they'll never come back. Or having to wait 30 minutes to an hour just to get in a few games. It's a delicate balance as the league bowlers are the bread and butter

That couple would have bowled once or twice that month…maybe spent $20 each time…lets say $40. Add shoes and lane rental for a couple games, thats $70 tops. Twice a month is $140. 12months = $1680.

A league team pays $15 lineage and $125/team on average for food/drinks. Thats $140 every week…take out a couple weeks for holidays and it's 50 x $140 = $7000. AND…these bowlers are probably 85% (or more) of the pro shop business.

So, BEST case, a center needs to make up $5320 per lane through bar revenue and parties. Popular centers, with bar atmospheres, in college towns…and holiday parties…a center can easily make that up and leagues may actually cost them a little revenue. But for MOST centers, rural centers, etc…there's no WAY they can make up that kind of deficit per lane with more casual bowlers.

Remember. 30 years ago nobody would even try to rent a bowling lane on a weeknight. During holidays if we wanted to bowl, we'd always have to call ahead to see when leagues were going on. It was a given that casual bowling was during the day and on weekends.

And it's all symbiotic. A strong number of league bowlers = a strong center. Those two things usually mean a strong pro shop. Take away one and you hurt the others. There's a reason most center pro shops open just before leagues start and close shortly after leagues end for the night.