tough house, low scores

[foreverincamo]

I have to keep reminding myself that I am bowling at a tough house. Four straight weeks averaging under 200/game for the night. Tonight averaged 192, carrying a 196 average for the year. My first game tonight I had no doubles, never missed the pocket, shot in the 170's. Second game shot 206 with one open, third game 201 with two splits, including a baffling 5-7 split that no one could explain. The five pin actually was knocked over and stood right back up. Crazy stuff

[MICHAEL]

Wow, I would like to have seen that 5 pin get knocked over, and then stand up again! Where did it wind up??? Wild,,, my kind of alley!!! Wood, or synthetic??

[got_a_300]

Sounds about like our center some really weird stuff happens
when you hit the pocket flush especially on lanes 9 and 10.

Last week I absolutely crushed the pocket on lane 10 and left
a lily as some people call it or a 5-7-10 split.

[foreverincamo]

It went down and stood back up right in the 5 pin spot. Wood lanes. Had a great game going until that nonsense. That was the 8th frame, then same lane in the tenth I left the 3-6-7 split. Open the 8th and 10th and still shot 201 .

[Aslan]

I have to keep reminding myself that I am bowling at a tough house

How do you know it's a "tough house"? What is the criteria you use?

Thus far I've found that there is no such thing. There are conditions that suit your game and conditions that don't. But the only time I've ever truly come across something I would say is a "tough house" is some lanes at a local college. I just think that they take more abuse and don't get much attention so they vary a great deal from time to time.

Now...are there lanes I bowl better or worse on? Absolutely. For me, more oil volume and flat oil patterns hurt my game (or lack there of). The drier the pattern the better. And I don't even mind a longer pattern if theres dry area outside. Other folks I've bowled with...dry lanes are very, very detrimental to their game.

Examples:
Had an older guy, pleasant guy to bowl with in my Friday league last year. He came over from bowling on synthetics and couldn't keep his ball from hooking too much on wood. He hated it. Always complaining. When we went to sweeps in Vegas...he outbowled the entire league...the league pretty much everyone bowled poorly except him, a few others that were used to bowling different centers, and a few folks that just threw house balls straight at the headpin.

I bowled MWhite on wood lanes before they got torn out. Not just "wood", but older, not "great" condition wood...drier than normal. I did quite well...he did horribly. Split after split after split...throwing a PLASTIC ball! So would Mike say those lanes are "tough lanes"? Maybe. He might go as far as to say they are impossible and should be ripped out (although they already were scheduled for that). But for MOST people that bowled leagues in that center....I'd say that is an EASY center to bowl at. I had 7 boards of miss room to the right on those lanes. Every night people were almost throwing 300 games in a relatively small-medium sized league. Now that the center put in new synthetics lanes...lots of averages have plummeted. I'd say 10-20 pins on average reduction from the wood lanes. Even the old house pro that used to average about 201 was struggling to strike and carrying a 179 average after the switch.

So I don't think there is such a thing as a "tough house". One person's "tough house" is another person's next 300 memory! My opinion of course.

[Amyers]

How do you know it's a "tough house"? What is the criteria you use?

Thus far I've found that there is no such thing. There are conditions that suit your game and conditions that don't. But the only time I've ever truly come across something I would say is a "tough house" is some lanes at a local college. I just think that they take more abuse and don't get much attention so they vary a great deal from time to time.

Now...are there lanes I bowl better or worse on? Absolutely. For me, more oil volume and flat oil patterns hurt my game (or lack there of). The drier the pattern the better. And I don't even mind a longer pattern if theres dry area outside. Other folks I've bowled with...dry lanes are very, very detrimental to their game.

Examples:
Had an older guy, pleasant guy to bowl with in my Friday league last year. He came over from bowling on synthetics and couldn't keep his ball from hooking too much on wood. He hated it. Always complaining. When we went to sweeps in Vegas...he outbowled the entire league...the league pretty much everyone bowled poorly except him, a few others that were used to bowling different centers, and a few folks that just threw house balls straight at the headpin.

I bowled MWhite on wood lanes before they got torn out. Not just "wood", but older, not "great" condition wood...drier than normal. I did quite well...he did horribly. Split after split after split...throwing a PLASTIC ball! So would Mike say those lanes are "tough lanes"? Maybe. He might go as far as to say they are impossible and should be ripped out (although they already were scheduled for that). But for MOST people that bowled leagues in that center....I'd say that is an EASY center to bowl at. I had 7 boards of miss room to the right on those lanes. Every night people were almost throwing 300 games in a relatively small-medium sized league. Now that the center put in new synthetics lanes...lots of averages have plummeted. I'd say 10-20 pins on average reduction from the wood lanes. Even the old house pro that used to average about 201 was struggling to strike and carrying a 179 average after the switch.

So I don't think there is such a thing as a "tough house". One person's "tough house" is another person's next 300 memory! My opinion of course.

Aslan you are referring mostly to lane conditions. I don't consider that part of how tough a house plays that may mean you need different equipment or need to change your style. When someone says tough house I think of how old the pins are, the conditions of the pin decks, heck even the pin setters can play a role if they set pins out of place. My home lane the lanes themselves are well maintained but feature older pin decks and you just get less messengers and pin action than I do other houses I bowl at.

[Stormed1]

Lazne topography can have a great influence on how "tough" a house plays. Also if the center has lower flat gutters you will leave more 10 pins due to not getting the "love tap" on the 10 due to the lower gutters. Somed older houses with AMF pin sxetters will play tougher unles they have a mechanic who maintains them well as they are more likely to set bad raACK. sCORING IS ALL RELATIVE TO THE SCORING PACE OF THE CENTER. fOR EXAMPLE THERE ARE GUYS IN MY fRIDAY LEAGUE AVERAging 15-20 pins less on Friday than wednesday in the sme house as the shot is tougher on Fridays to lower the scoring pace and make the league more competetive

[foreverincamo]

The lanes are well-maintained. I've known all three owners over its 52 years of existence, and all three took great care of these wood lanes. Unfortunately, these lanes have only 2-3 years left in them and they all have to be replaced. 52 years of planing them true have left no wood left. The present owner plans on going to synthetic lanes. It's an AMF house that has all the original setup lane-wise from 1962. The pinsetters were updated in 1986.
What do I mean by a tough house? High average in our league is below 210. There are less 300' s been bowled there than years it's been open. We have centers around the area that have 30+ 300 games thrown every season. Carry is tough. Corner pins are consistently left on what look like great hits.
The guys I bowl with bowl there so they can maintain a lower average to use in handicap tournaments, and do quite well in those tournaments because the shot put out in those tournaments are quite similar to our house shot, and while guys averaging 230 in other houses are complaining about the tough conditions, our guys are trearing it up.

[Konvict1982]

Saw a similar 5-7 split last night. Teammate had a nice strong pocket shot where the 1 pin shot off the wall and clipped the 5 pin while it was down and stood it back up right in it's spot. It was crazy lol.

[MICHAEL]

crappy carry!! LOL I hear ALL THE FRICKEN TIME! Is it really the carry, or could it be their entry into the pocket? One person has POOR carry on the same lanes another bowler has a 300 that same day! I have seen it.

Another line I hear a lot after a 10 pin leage, "Welcome to ___________ fill in any bowling alley. "