YOUR thoughts on the Ease of Bowling 300 Games

[DrOcktagon]

I don't think it's too easy to shoot 300's. The rise in the frequency of perfect games is mostly due to people and equipment getting better over the years; new ball surfaces, synthetic lanes, better shoes, more revolutions, more power, more speed, better technique, etc...

I'm a 200+ bowler that has literally been bowling all my life and I still don't have one. I have a couple 280's, a handful of 270's, and a bunch of 260's, 250's, and below. I still get excited whenever I see someone throw a 300. It hasn't lost any of its luster for me.

Having said that, I would love the opportunity to bowl on more challenging patterns and really test myself. I'm not sure if my local house offers any leagues with sport patterns.

[MICHAEL]

I don't think it's too easy to shoot 300's. The rise in the frequency of perfect games is mostly due to people and equipment getting better over the years; new ball surfaces, synthetic lanes, better shoes, more revolutions, more power, more speed, better technique, etc...

I'm a 200+ bowler that has literally been bowling all my life and I still don't have one. I have a couple 280's, a handful of 270's, and a bunch of 260's, 250's, and below. I still get excited whenever I see someone throw a 300. It hasn't lost any of its luster for me.

Having said that, I would love the opportunity to bowl on more challenging patterns and really test myself. I'm not sure if my local house offers any leagues with sport patterns.

You said: ( the rise in frequency of perfect games is mostly due to PEOPLE,,, AND EQUIPMENT GETTING BETTER OVER THE YEARS... lol.... I started bowling on league when I was 61, after retiring do to injuries, broken neck, then a few years later herniated disk lower back, RA, VERY little feeling in my feet, and constant pain! AND I have had many very close 300 games,,, not long ago 290, spare in the first, then 11 strikes.... BUT EVEN I was able after dozens of almost 300's, to do it last Sunday at the broken down age of 64! (The same guy that was told 6 years ago I would be in a wheel chair in a few years, if I didn't take medications to fight the RA. (which I don't)!
I will agree with you that the equipment is getting better, but can't say my body is a finely tuned machine like it used to be years ago. I think having walked Iron hundreds of feet up in the air, I did, and do have great balance, and focus! If I only had the physical body I once had, ,,, hummmmm O well

O by the way,,, I don't wear bowling shoes, due to semi numb feeling in feet, I wear a pair of sandals, no slide. LOL I have to give a lot a credit to Bowling Board com, Jason, James, and BP pro shop! they deserve a lot of credit for my 300 game!! EVEN if it is easier to bowl a 300 now days, It does not at all diminish form the WONDERFUL, MARVELOUS, AMAZING, ASTONISHING, ASTOUNDING, MIRACULOUS,PRODIGIOUS, SPECTACULAR feeling one gets with a 300!! Good luck to all you seeking that objective!

Dreams can come true, it can happen to you, if your young at heart...da....da... you know the words... and melody... LOL..... Good luck PBA Iceman!

How SWEET IT IS,,, can't wait for that ring to come home to daddy!!!! LOL

[J Anderson]

Like Hammer, I'm another guy who's been bowling over twenty years without a 300. Of course the first thirty years that I bowled it was strictly recreational; three games a week, no lessons, no coaching, conventional grip rubber ball.

Even though I have several games in the 270s and a 263 with the opposite hand, I don't consider myself as having come anywhere close to 300. Almost all my high games have a spare in the first half of the game.

Given the statistics in the original post, there is no doubt that it is "easier" to get a 300 now than it used to be. It is still not easy for most people to do.

[BoomGoesTheDynomite]

I find bowling 300's way too easy. I don't have many of them, but I remember when an entire center would stop to watch somebody attempt the 10th frame for a 300. Currently in my league we have a couple honor scores a week and while a pair or two may stop out of respect for the bowler most of the time I have no clue someone is bowling well until someone announces it. It's sad that many people want the shot to be really easy so everyone can bowl well, but then if the shot gets a little challenging people complain like it's the end of the world. You also get into the issue that in order for someone to get into bowling you want them to feel good about bowling. What better way than to make it easier for them to put up high scores?

[MICHAEL]

I find bowling 300's way too easy. I don't have many of them, but I remember when an entire center would stop to watch somebody attempt the 10th frame for a 300. Currently in my league we have a couple honor scores a week and while a pair or two may stop out of respect for the bowler most of the time I have no clue someone is bowling well until someone announces it. It's sad that many people want the shot to be really easy so everyone can bowl well, but then if the shot gets a little challenging people complain like it's the end of the world. You also get into the issue that in order for someone to get into bowling you want them to feel good about bowling. What better way than to make it easier for them to put up high scores?

That's my point. It should be one heck of a challenge. I know a good number of people around here with over a dozen,,,, How many people in baseball have over a 400 average in a season? Do people quit because it hard,,NO! Do they change golf courses to make them easier, No most are the same if not more difficult then when they were created. Oil machines that don't put down a good pattern are one thing, but good sports patterns should be the norm, not the exception.
Lets do away with house blocked patterns, and every week a different sports pattern,,, good for the bowler, and good for the sport!! I know lots of great house pattern bowlers, that cant bowl worth a darn on Sports, like the PBA'er!!

HOw many times have I heard,,, wow my average is better then that PRO's on any given Sunday!!! (( DIFFERENT level of bowling, on SPORTS patterns))) lol

[ghetto24]

that's my point. It should be one heck of a challenge. I know a good number of people around here with over a dozen,,,, how many people in baseball have over a 400 average in a season? Do people quit because it hard,,no! Do they change golf courses to make them easier, no most are the same if not more difficult then when they were created. Oil machines that don't put down a good pattern are one thing, but good sports patterns should be the norm, not the exception.
Lets do away with house blocked patterns, and every week a different sports pattern,,, good for the bowler, and good for the sport!! I know lots of great house pattern bowlers, that cant bowl worth a darn on sports, like the pba'er!!

how many times have i heard,,, wow my average is better then that pro's on any given sunday!!! (( different level of bowling, on sports patterns))) lol

this. Right. Here.

[panbanger]

It's way too easy to bowl a 300....for everyone but me! When somebody else gets one it's because the game has gotten soft. If (when?!?) I ever get one it will be because I am a world class athlete with nerves of steel!

Seriously though, it seems to vary house to house around here. In my alley, a 300 is pretty rare. Then I read in the regional bowling newspaper that the same houses each week seem to be racking up the 300s and 800s. So maybe they lay down easier house shots, or maybe my alley runs better drink specials...

[josheaton16]

I can't say its easy because I've never had one . . . but i understand in general how it is easier. The house i bowl at usually has five or so a year but another house in town had ten in one league that i bowled in. So it just depends on how easy of a pattern is laid down.

[Hammer]

It's funny how quite a few folks are saying how easy it is to bowl a 300 game on a THS pattern. Yet I have been bowling in my house for years and have heard a 300 game announced maybe two times. We must have lousy bowlers at our house or their oil patterns aren't easy. I have 30 years of bowling under my belt and have reached a high game of 276 which was strikes in every frame except the 8th
frame with a darn spare. It might have something to do with the fact that I don't practice anymore. So I can't expect much.

[DrOcktagon]

You said: ( the rise in frequency of perfect games is mostly due to PEOPLE,,, AND EQUIPMENT GETTING BETTER OVER THE YEARS... lol.... I started bowling on league when I was 61, after retiring do to injuries, broken neck, then a few years later herniated disk lower back, RA, VERY little feeling in my feet, and constant pain!

What I said obviously doesn't apply to every bowler, but there is no denying that, generally speaking, people throw the ball with much more technique(speed, revs, etc.) than ever before. And of course it is partly the equipment that helps make this possible, but it isn't the equipment alone.

Congrats on your 300, by the way. I really believe that I'll have my first very soon. I've bowled my whole life but about 12 years ago I stopped for some dumb reason(I'd have to hop in a time machine and ask the 21-year-old version of myself to find out why; I really hate that guy). I just started back up again a few months ago but I'm already more or less back to where I was, averaging 200+.

I can't wait to see how I do on some fresh oil; whenever I go to practice the lanes are pretty burned up and I'm usually lofting the left gutter. I don't think I've bowled on fresh literally the entire time I've been back bowling. In just a few weeks I'll be starting my first league in 12 years, so we'll soon see.

My goal is to eventually get a PBA card and bowl in some regionals, but I obviously have a lot of work to do before that happens.

And I absolutely agree that sport patterns should be the norm for competitive leagues. Fun leagues and open play should be on Easy Street, but serious leagues should have serious oil patterns. It has always bothered me when league bowlers talk about how badly the pros shoot on TV without realizing that they are essentially not even playing the same game.