How to "save" bowling...

[Aslan]

Figured since this was touched on in a few different threads...I'd start a more direct conversation here.

Backstory/Setting:
In the late 50s...bowling was made even more popular with the invention of the automatic pin setter. Before that, if you weren't around or haven't checked out really old tournaments on YouTube...a guy used to sit back there and jump down after the ball hit the pins...then he'd reset them manually.
In the late 60s/early 70s...bowling was at it's peak...there were 12,000 registered bowling alleys and the highest paid sports endorsements....pro bowlers.
Approximately 70% of bowling alley income was generated from "league players" which were mostly blue collar folks.

Fast Forward:
Today, there are roughly just under 3000 bowling alleys in the United States, 1/4 what there were 45 years ago.
The average person on the street couldn't name a pro bowler.
League play now generates roughly 40% of bowling alley income.
Demographics have shifted from older/blue collar league type players to younger/white collar/recreational players.

So why?

Well, personally...I always wanted to bowl in leagues....because I watched my father, uncle, and grandfather bowl leagues. And it looked like SO MUCH FUN! I couldn't wait till I got old enough to participate. Nowadays, you'd have to drag a kid kicking and screaming to watch you bowl and they'd be more distracted by the video machines in the arcade than the bowling. And why would they want to "actually bowl" when they can bowl on their Wii or their phone? Which requires ZERO talent...so everyone is a pro.

Chicken...or the egg??
Bowling alleys claim they can no longer support themselves with typical league bowling crowds...so they've modernized and now seek to attract cosmic bowlers and parties. League bowlers claim that alleys are pushing them out by not caring for the lanes, raising league fees, squeezing their hours.

It used to be that you bowled with a rubber ball on sport oil patterns. The best players averaged 205-210. Now with a new reactive resin ball and short house oil patterns league averages have skyrocketed to the 215-245 marks. Equipment manufacturers and alleys claim they need to "dummy down" the sport because people want to score high and won't be as interested if they can't consistently strike. But why follow the PBA or pro bowlers when your uncle outscores them every week? It's like following Nascar when the drivers all drive Honda Civics painted solid grey. They may be much, much greater "drivers"...but I passed 3 of them on the way into work so it just isn't as impressive.

Something has to give. Either the leagues continue to decline and the memories of the old leagues and lanes give way to cosmic bowling sports bars where everyone with at least one arm gets 250-300 pins per game and the ball return dispenses tickets which are redeemable at the snack bar for plastic whistles. Or...we find a way to grow the leagues/sport from 40% back towards 70%.

Whatta ya think?

[Aslan]

One problem I see...is that when you reserach this subject...you see Bowlmor and other entertaiment investment groups that answer this question by saying alleys need to shift their focus from the old league style/blue collar demographic to kids/cosmic/open bowling. Make the alleys into a slightler older crowd Chuck-E-Cheese. And they have charts and graphs...and early on...it's a great strategy because the renovations WILL bring in more people and open bowlers...and a younger demographic.

Where these organizations short sell alleys and the general public is....they are only in it for that initial payday. The alleys take all the risk...and 7-9 years later...those alleys are closing....because the "shiny new penny" aint so shiny and new anymore...and the leagues aren't there to provide the base income.

In my opinion...the alleys that really want long term success...have to figure out how to modernize "part" of their alleys to keep that 30-70% income from casual folks and pull them in the door. But they also have to ask themselves..."how can I enhance the sport?" "how can I bring in and expand league play?" "I want half this alley to be known as THE entertainment mecca for kids/families/teens. And I want the other half to be known throughout the metro area as THE best pure bowling/league bowling experience."

They need to focus on kids...focus on getting a ball in a kids hand and actually showing them some basics to the game...that its not just about whipping it down the lane and laughing it off. Work with local schools...elementary up through high school. The more youth leagues you start...the more adult leagues will follow. And Demo days...get these kids and adults and put some awesome looking products in their hands that'll make them say, "Oooo....I want that!" Once they've invested in a ball...and shoes...they'll be hooked. Work with the pro shop...and the local elementary schools...put together a kids league where every player that plays in every game gets a free pair of shoes at the end of the year...and the top 3 school teams get free, new bowling balls and bags...and donations to their schools (to further push the schools to recruit a team/teams).

Remember...you're building a pyramid from the bottom...the goal is to eventually have 70% of your income from league play...which means more adults....which means exponentially more kids. AND ENCOURAGE YOUR ADULTS to bring kids with them on league night!!! Not every night...parents sometimes could use the time away from the kids for crying out loud. And the league needs to drink and smoke and carry on. But how about a "bring your kids to league night" twice a season?? Let the kids see that bowling is FUN...and the better they can bowl....the more FUN they will have. It's not about glow in the dark stuff...it's a time honored tradition that goes back to their great-grandparents.

Thats my 2 cents...

[MICHAEL]

You have some very good points!

There is room for both! Cosmic, and League! Many of the things you mentioned as ideas are not happening? Great ideas, but who is going to get the BALL ROLLING?

I really believe form the bottom of my heart that this is not a bad thing to FEAR! Its getting people more interested in the idea of bowling, that would not have even entertained the thought, if it had not become trendy!!

A good number of trendy type bowlers will in my opinion go league, after the silliness of bowing while being zapped by lasers, and ear drums destroyed by high volume sound waves!! lOL

As much as you and I hate it,,, league bowling was HURTING!! It needed a shot in the Arm!!

This is not the END TIME, but let's hope a shot of B vitamin! lol

Take a Deeeeep breath,,,,,, now let it out....slowly...... again,,,,,,, ok.... Feel better (

[Aslan]

Great ideas, but who is going to get the BALL ROLLING?

Well, when I win the Powerball Wednesday...I'll be going to the new owners of Yorba Linda Bowl and making them "an offer they can't refuse". And then I'll put my little "strategy" to the test. It'll be the first bowling alley that caters mostly to the league crowd since the late 70s. And Iceman will get a free lifetime pass to come and bowl whenever he wants!!!

[MICHAEL]

YOUR VERY KIND!!! I Like you like a grandson!! YOUR heart is in the RIGHT PLACE!! Good luck with the POWERBALL,,,, Wait,,, power-BAll? Could this be an Omen??
I am sure you have many Powerful balls in you bag of weapons! Let us know if you win,,,, I might move back to CA, after you purchase the Yorba Linda Bowl!!

Again, you have several great ideas..... who knows!!?? Maybe some guy with money will take them up, and go for it!!

[bowl1820]

It used to be that you bowled with a rubber ball on sport oil patterns.

Back when rubber balls were the norm, they had no idea what a sport oil pattern was. Sport oil patterns didn't make the scene till long after reactive resin balls came out.

[Aslan]

Back when rubber balls were the norm, they had no idea what a sport oil pattern was. Sport oil patterns didn't make the scene till long after reactive resin balls came out.

I didn't mean "sport oil patterns" as we know them today. I meant the oil patterns were specified. Nowadays...what we know as "sport patterns" are patterns designed specifically to make the game more difficult. Original sport patterns were just the standardized oil patterns that the USBC sanctioned before allowing for the modern day house patterns. I can't recall what the original patterns were, I don't think they were any different in terms of oil applied to the middle/outside. From what I understand of the history, sometime in the 70s/80s the USBC allowed sanctioned lanes to set their own oil patterns for their lanes. This led to what we know today as the THS or House oil patterns. Before that, oil patterns for USBC sanctioned lanes were specified. The alleys/lanes pushed for the change, because they wanted higher scores for average/recreational bowlers.

From what I understand...and please if anyone knows...shed some light. But must typical house oil patterns are oiled to 32' and buffed to 40'. That leaves 20' dry. I have heard that the old specified pattern in the 50s/60s/70s was either longer or shorter than that. Same "pattern", just different length. I can't remember if they only oiled to 25ft (making it harder to be accurate because the ball will move more mid/back of the lane) or if they oiled to 37' giving the ball less time to "hook" in. I know they changed to allow lanes to specify their individual patterns...I just don't know what the pattern was before that and I don't know if they still had to use the Red/Blue/White or if that came later.

[Aslan]

Maybe some guy with money will take them up, and go for it!!

Thats the trick....it always takes somebody with money.

[J Anderson]

I didn't mean "sport oil patterns" as we know them today. I meant the oil patterns were specified. Nowadays...what we know as "sport patterns" are patterns designed specifically to make the game more difficult. Original sport patterns were just the standardized oil patterns that the USBC sanctioned before allowing for the modern day house patterns. I can't recall what the original patterns were, I don't think they were any different in terms of oil applied to the middle/outside. From what I understand of the history, sometime in the 70s/80s the USBC allowed sanctioned lanes to set their own oil patterns for their lanes. This led to what we know today as the THS or House oil patterns. Before that, oil patterns for USBC sanctioned lanes were specified. The alleys/lanes pushed for the change, because they wanted higher scores for average/recreational bowlers.

From what I understand...and please if anyone knows...shed some light. But must typical house oil patterns are oiled to 32' and buffed to 40'. That leaves 20' dry. I have heard that the old specified pattern in the 50s/60s/70s was either longer or shorter than that. Same "pattern", just different length. I can't remember if they only oiled to 25ft (making it harder to be accurate because the ball will move more mid/back of the lane) or if they oiled to 37' giving the ball less time to "hook" in. I know they changed to allow lanes to specify their individual patterns...I just don't know what the pattern was before that and I don't know if they still had to use the Red/Blue/White or if that came later.

Back in the 60s when all the lanes were wood, applying oil was part of maintaining lanes and was only there to reduce the wear on the wood surface. If there were lane oiling machines, they were probably simple ones that applied an even amount of oil across the lane. Since the balls didn't absorb oil like modern ones do, the oil was only applied to first 25' and the balls would eventually drag it down to protect the rest of the lane.

The Red, White, and Blue patterns are a fairly new development to try and combat average inflation and give people a standard when comparing averages from different centers.

What makes the modern typical house pattern so "easy" is not so much the length but the fact that there's about ten times as much oil in the center of the lane as there is outside of the right hand and left hand 5 boards. The effect of the pattern funnels the balls into the pocket.

[Aslan]

Like I said, I don't know the 1950-1970 USBC specified pattern. I just know that at some point a change was made where USBC sanctioned lanes could use their own house variations on oil patterns and that was at their request to make the game easier. Maybe it was a more intense oil application to the middle...I don't know. The article I read either didn't state that or I don't remember.

Then, ironically, later the USBC realized that equipment was leading to inflated scores...so they developed sport patterns and Red, white, blue house patterns, etc...

And also ironically, now I heard some bowlers are claiming the house patterns are too difficult because the high end balls made for heavy oil are hooking too early on the shorter oil patterns.

It's a never-ending see saw.