Are THS patterns really that easy?

[MICHAEL]

You crack me up man (no sarcasm, it enjoy a majority of your posts)!

There are actually several houses that have sport shots around saint louis, my home alley has two a week.

F it... What part of KC you live in? I'll find you one..

I live close to KCI airport, North of Kansas City Mo. 64152 area code... If its to late to join one now, I would be very interested in doing one this spring!
I have 4 bowling lanes up close to my place,,, Two AMF's, Gladstone Bowl, and one in Liberty mo. I will look into it myself, I am ready to do it now!
Just a matter of finding one that works out, time, and distance.

Do you bowl sports ??? If so don't you find it challenging?? Putting up Iron/steel my whole life, and making it work/fit was a challenge..... I want bowling to be that same challenge.... I doubt I will be worth a sh#t bowling the sports patterns, at first, but I do hope to reach a level that makes me feel that pride that I have accomplished something. I need that in my life,,, I thrive on a challenge! later ... ice

[dnhoffman]

Looking for you now and man you're right, not easy to find... But I'm not giving up yet.

I am not bowling a sport league this season - wife just had our first baby and asked I cut a league night out and that was the one that had to go. Our sport league has two people per pair... And you move pairs during the night when you move opponents. This is where that "whoever finds it first, wins" comes from for me... Because it was always true in 1v1 for me (and I usually lost!)

Some people really like it, and I know some really good bowlers who just hate it. Some people like the game, wanna have fun, etc. and don't enjoy buying six different bowling balls that aren't much good except for specific patterns.

[dnhoffman]

I called the KC usbc office (after figuring out I'm an idiot for not doing that in the first place..) and there is only ONE sport shot league:

Wednesday night PBA Experience league at Ward Parkway Lanes
http://www.wardparkwaylanes.com

Ward Parkway Lanes
1523 W 89th St
Kansas City, MO 64114
On 89th St Between State Line and Ward Pkwy EB

27 minutes from AMF Northland where you usually bowl:

AMF Northland Lanes
217 NE Vivion Rd
Kansas City, MO 64118
1. Head east on NE Vivion Rd
354 ft
2. Take the 1st right onto N Oak Trafficway
0.1 mi
3. Take the ramp onto I-29 S/US-71 S
6.2 mi
4. Take exit 3 on the left for Interstate 70 E/U.S. 40 E/U.S. 71 S toward Saint Louis
0.3 mi
5. Merge onto I-70 E/US-71 S
0.3 mi
6. Take exit 2M to merge onto US-71 S/U.S. Rte 71 S
8.9 mi
7. Take exit 186 to merge onto E 85th St/Manchester Trfy toward Blue River Rd/Hickman Mills Dr
Continue to follow E 85th St
3.5 mi
8. Turn left onto Ward Pkwy
0.5 mi
9. Turn right onto W 89th St
Destination will be on the left

[noeymc]

seeing as i can miss 3-5 boards right or left and still hit the pocket you tell me?

[noeymc]

also there are some houses i hope i dont bowl my 300 just cuz how many are bowled there a house shot is only allowed so much oil yes it can very but when u walk into a house shot the first thing u do is go to your spot u go to at any house shot and make ur board adjustment off that as where sport shots are 100% harder right now i am avging 184 189 on house shots ( yes i know there droping ) but when i did a sport league over the summer ( not really a league u can show up when u want and bowl and you keep track of your own avg) i was hitting 150 somthing was about my normal avg and mostly cuz of spares u have about a half a board both ways and most people who say a house shot is to easy are normally board with it but you dont see them moving up to sport shots cuz there scard there 200 avg will drop to 160 170 its just the way we as people are now if its to hard we say forget this this is just my thought and yes a house shot is to easy

[sprocket]

As far as all the animal patterns in the PBA: Guess what? More oil in the center! That should surely prove just how tough bowling really is. Even those top pros don't bowl on flat oil.

Now I know it's not quite as cut and dry as that. Because the ball remove oil from the lane, the result can be an inverted block with more oil outside and it takes a real expert to be able to follow the shot further and further inside in the quest for a small amount of area while still getting the angle and roll needed to carry.

When it comes to the US open pattern, the pros can still create area by drying out a certain zone and then using that dry zone to create a little area. But always, always with the modern game it is the quest to find area that is the driving force! There simply is no flat shot that stays flat! The oil always gets removed from the lane.

Even if you go back to the old days, there STILL wasn't really a flat shot because the lanes actually got a "track" worn into the surface and that track helped guide the ball to the pocket. There also was the issue of carry down. Using the carry down is basically the opposite of what pros do today. In the past oil would get pushed down the lane and by moving right of that you could find area.

[Aslan]

AMF Northland Lanes
217 NE Vivion Rd
Kansas City, MO 64118
1. Head east on NE Vivion Rd
354 ft
2. Take the 1st right onto N Oak Trafficway
0.1 mi
3. Take the ramp onto I-29 S/US-71 S
6.2 mi
4. Take exit 3 on the left for Interstate 70 E/U.S. 40 E/U.S. 71 S toward Saint Louis
0.3 mi
5. Merge onto I-70 E/US-71 S
0.3 mi
6. Take exit 2M to merge onto US-71 S/U.S. Rte 71 S
8.9 mi
7. Take exit 186 to merge onto E 85th St/Manchester Trfy toward Blue River Rd/Hickman Mills Dr
Continue to follow E 85th St
3.5 mi
8. Turn left onto Ward Pkwy
0.5 mi
9. Turn right onto W 89th St
Destination will be on the left

And DNHOFF silences the ICEMAN!! That's difficult.

Now mapquest it from California...I wanna see if it's worth me driving to, to watch Iceman CRUSH the sports league competition. Actually...I want JaMau to roll on it too...and billf.

I should see if they have one in my area. I'd roll on it just for the experience and bragging rights...I'd be the worst bowler there....but I am devoid of ego and devoid of pride...thus, I could care less. As long as they have gin, tonic, and limes...I'm good.

[J Anderson]

If you're skeptical…watch old bowling matches from the 60s and early 70s. These guys throw straight shots at the headpin. There's some "flare" at the end (which they have to REALLY work for)…but they throw STRAIGHT SHOTS. Take it from someone that has recently been trying to bowl with a straight shot (on heavy oil synthetics)…you have NO ROOM for error. To hit that little "pocket/angle"…it's about TWICE as hard when you're going straight at it versus hooking it in.

I see those old timers…shooting low 200s…just automatic at spare shooting. No fancy gloves or wrist supports or slugs or powders or textured tapes…just rubber or plastic balls. No asymmetric cores…or scented resins…not even colors.

It's almost like picking up a spare is harder than getting a strike these days versus the reverse.

I beg to differ that it's harder to hit the pocket throwing straight than it is throwing a curve. If anything it should be harder since you can't aim directly for where you want the ball to wind up. No, what makes it more difficult is the angle at which the ball hits the pocket. The ideal angle is somewhere between 4 and 6 degrees. Hitting at that angle gives you more room for error, or in other words, a bigger pocket. Throwing straight, the most angle you can get would be about 1.4º. If you hit a little bit light the ball will deflect and miss the five. The least bit high and you're staring at a big split.

Most of the pros back in the 60s and 70s did curve the ball. It's just when you're used to balls that a ten year old could send from 20 out to five and hook back into the pocket, they just look like they're going straight. Back then to get the big hook you had to have a slower ball speed so you had a trade off between having a better angle and having enough momentum to take down all ten pins.

I may very well be that spares are harder. That THS pattern that helps your ball find the pocket even though you didn't hit your mark, it doesn't know that that you left a flat ten. That pattern, if your ball has any axis rotation and surface, is going to try to do the same thing to your spare shot that it did to the first ball.

[bowl1820]

As far as all the animal patterns in the PBA: Guess what? More oil in the center! That should surely prove just how tough bowling really is. Even those top pros don't bowl on flat oil.

Your right it's not that cut and dry. With the sport patterns you have to look at the ratios used. A THS has a ratio around 19:1, where as a Sport pattern has a ratio around 3:1.

Now 3:1 or less is pretty flat!

Now I know it's not quite as cut and dry as that. Because the ball remove oil from the lane, the result can be an inverted block with more oil outside and it takes a real expert to be able to follow the shot further and further inside in the quest for a small amount of area while still getting the angle and roll needed to carry.

Right there is why they don't put out true flat oil. Because while flat oil doesn't really give anyone a advantage, over time it will break down into a reverse block.

Also Years back the experts (before todays ball came out) said true gutter to gutter flat oil is too hard, that's why it's rarely put out.

[Aslan]

No, what makes it more difficult is the angle at which the ball hits the pocket. The ideal angle is somewhere between 4 and 6 degrees. Hitting at that angle gives you more room for error, or in other words, a bigger pocket. Throwing straight, the most angle you can get would be about 1.4º. If you hit a little bit light the ball will deflect and miss the five. The least bit high and you're staring at a big split.

Thats what I meant. It may well be easier to throw straight at it then to "hook it in"….but throwing straight you're throwing at a much smaller target. Usually throwing with a hook, I can strike 3-8 times. Throwing straight at it…maybe 1-2.

And thats not even the hardest part. The hardest part is…if you miss your mark. Throwing a hook on light oil I have 2-6 boards to play with on each side of the target. It may not strike…but it'll hit the headpin. On heavier oil throwing straight…if I miss by 1-2 boards right or left…I miss the headpin.

I know they hooked the ball. I call it a "flare" because it's a very small, gradual little hook. They weren't throwing across the middle or throwing up the 1-2 boards teetering along the gutter.

I compare it to a rifle versus a cannon.

With a rifle, if you change your sight just a little bit…you miss the target. Because the bullet is traveling straight at a high rate of speed.

With a cannon, the ball is "arcing" at the target. If you have the general spot and the correct amount of powder…it's gonna land generally in that spot. It may be a little more variable than the rifle…but you can be a little off and get the same effect. With that big hook…a righty REALLY has to miss to not hit that headpin. You can get mostly 3-pin and still bump the 1-pin. I've seen plenty miss it…and leave that weird 1-2-4-7-8-10 split looking thing…but you need a big hook that misses pretty far.