In the state of Bowling these days....

[1VegasBowler]

OK. Aslan asked this question be brought forth in another thread, so I'll get it rolling.

IF you believe that miniscule changes in humidity, topography, pattern variations, oil variations, lane materials, etc...can and DO have a significant effect on the game...what's the point?

HUMIDITY - Humidity is a big deal whether it's on the approach or down the lanes. We all know what it can be like when the humidity is up and we stick to the lanes.

As far as down the lanes, this moisture can have almost the same effect on a THS as it does for a Sport pattern. Oil and water mix as well as gasoline and fire do, but this added moisture can make for some crazy happenings. The over/under reactions can make you feel like one of the worst bowlers on the planet when you can't get consistent hook from you spot(s) and not hitting anything worth talking about.

TOPOGRAPHY - This is one of the biggest problems (IMO) out here. If the lanes aren't maintained properly within the specs setup by the USBC, it would be like trying to throw a plastic ball from gutter to gutter on a 50ft flat pattern. It ain't gonna happen!

PATTERN VARIATIONS - Whether it has to do with length and/or oil volumes, knowing what's in front of you on the lanes is going to determine how you play. The THS patterns vary in length all over the country, just as they do from bowling center to bowling center.

While sport & PBA patterns have their own craziness to them, they get changed every so often as well. Not so much in their length, but in their volumes, and some of them were changed for 2017. Some of these patterns can have more on one side than the other.

OIL VARIATIONS - There are so many different oils out here these day's it's pathetic. Fire does one thing. Ice does another. God only knows what a bowling center does from month to month.

AND are they maintaining their equipment properly so that the patterns they put down are being put down properly?

We had a center here in Vegas that was actually putting water down on the lanes! Do you think that will effect your game!?

There are so many things that can have an effect on your bowling these days it can make your head spin, and these things aren't really scratching the surface.

[RobLV1]

The "Point" is one that I've been trying to make ever since the first article that I wrote for BTM in October of 2007. The article was called Six Preconceptions Guaranteed to Lower Your Average, and since that time, the situation has only gotten worse. There are so many factors involved in bowling today that every bowler must learn to make the decisions that have to be made based on solid thought processes rather than on preconceptions that are based on their misguided beliefs or feelings. When I say that you should never move right on a typical house shot, I say it knowing full well that it's not always the case; it is the case 95+% of the time. I also know that many, many house bowlers are so uncomfortable moving left, that they will always think that their condition is part of the 5% of the situations that call for a move to the right. If we get right down to it, the discomfort that they feel can be traced back to their attitude toward oil and friction. If they learned to bowl back in the days where we were constantly looking for friction to help us to get plastic or urethane balls to hook, the idea that friction has now become the enemy to modern balls that hook all by themselves without any help from us at all.

As Aslan has pointed out on many occasions, it is impossible to approach bowling without having some preconceptions. My point is, and has always been, that the preconceptions that you bring to the bowling center with you should always be based on tangible physical evidence. Examples of this evidence includes your actual history at a particular bowling center, on a particular pair of lanes, bowling alongside a particular type of bowler, in a particular climate condition. Your benchmark ball may very well change each time you go to bowl, depending on all of these actual conditions.

Aside from the things that we know about like where we are bowling, who our opponents are, what pair of lanes we are bowling, and what the weather is like outside, we must also be aware that sometimes things change that are out of our control, and these things we probably won't know anything about. If, for instance, a particular bowling center gives cash awards for honor scores, and the proprietor or manager of the center notices that there are enough of those scores to impact his bottom line, he will "tweak" the shot to make it harder, and he will deny that he has done it. If there is a problem with the oil machine, you may see big differences in the oil pattern, but you probably won't hear anything about the oil machine.

Bowling has indeed become a very complex endeavor. To me, this complexity is the very thing that makes it interesting and keeps me coming back.

[1VegasBowler]

I see the oil as being my friend because too much friction can make your least aggressive ball to aggressive. Even plastic balls can overreact on the backend when you're going for spares. I know this because it's happened to me more times than I've wanted it to.

A bowlers versatility is more than just being able to make the move right or left. It also has to do with how you release your ball as to how much your ball is going to hook.

The one big observation I made during the Team USA Trials was how many of these bowlers depend on throwing their hook for everything! I saw so many single pin misses it was pathetic to watch! These kids and adults have no clue as to how to throw a straight ball. While it was funny to watch, it was also sad to see.

It was also funny how some of them were handling the transition. In a couple of cases they were lofting the ball almost half way down the lane, and there was really no need for it!.

And what few 2 handers that were there, they didn't fare well either. When the oil was fresh they were OK, but when things broke down they ended up looking clueless out there.

Those that only know how to throw a ball 20+ mph were there donating their money as well.

The lack of being able to move left or right, or not being able to change their ball speed killed them in the middle/end of the second game. By the time game 6 came around, their urethane balls were useless.

The cream rose to the top in every case. whether it was the Pro's or the youth's, they knew what to do, how to do it and when to do it. And while I congratulate everybody who made it, those who didn't make it have to be congratulated as well.

[J Anderson]

OK. Aslan asked this question be brought forth in another thread, so I'll get it rolling.

IF you believe that miniscule changes in humidity, topography, pattern variations, oil variations, lane materials, etc...can and DO have a significant effect on the game...what's the point?

TOPOGRAPHY - This is one of the biggest problems (IMO) out here. If the lanes aren't maintained properly within the specs setup by the USBC, it would be like trying to throw a plastic ball from gutter to gutter on a 50ft flat pattern. It ain't gonna happen!

Even within specs there can be a big difference from one lane to another. The following clip shows Pete Weber lined up on a lane that has been adjusted dead flat and then throwing a shot on one that while still within USBC tolerances, slopes down to the right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-3f9FEjo9I
Somewhere there is one that shows the whole experiment including Norm Duke and Rhino Page.

I've been told that in international tournaments bowlers are given topographic maps of the lanes, which can be of much more use than the oil pattern graphs.

To Aslan's question; "what's the point?"
It's a game, simple enough that your average 3 year old can understand that you're supposed to knock down as many pins as you can. If it were so easy that we got a strike every time we thought we deserved one, we would get bored with the game and give it up, the way most of us give up on playing tic-tac-toe.
The constantly changing lane conditions, that we cannot see but only infer through observation, are part of what keeps the game interesting.

[1VegasBowler]

I remember seeing that video. His first ball on 1 lane was a strike and on the other lane he got a 3 count.

By looking at the lanes there is no way you can see the difference in topography. But the result says it all! lol

[Amyers]

I KNOW what you're saying. I "get" it. And you're not alone in those beliefs (some you are in the majority).
But with the state of bowling these days...and I ask that if you respond to this question, you do so in a new thread so not to hijack and to give the topic it's own due...in the state of bowling these days...IF you believe that miniscule changes in humidity, topography, pattern variations, oil variations, lane materials, etc...can and DO have a significant effect on the game...what's the point? I know, I know. FUN!

But, besides that. What's the point? If I ever get to the point where I can make great shots...consistently...with excellent form...my expectation is that I should be a pretty good bowler. If thats not true...because on Tuesdays, the oil center uses a different oil than on Saturdays...and on Wednesdays the place is more humid because they open late and the air conditioners


are off most of the day...and if I bowl a person that plays within 2 inches of my line...I have to play a different line....etc... Then, whats the point?

I just wonder...if the game has gone too far. Maybe it's no longer a sport. Maybe it's more like a lottery or a game of craps? I dunno.

Having correct form is only part of the game Aslan. It helps but how many successful bowlers have you seen with terrible form? That's right it's a lot especially on a house pattern that rewards revs and speed and marginalizes accuracy. The game has never been about standing in one spot every night and throwing to another spot every night and who ever hits that spot the most wins. Even as a youngster when the patterns were simpler and the equipment much less diverse than it is today it wasn't that simple. In modern league bowling I'm sot sure that accuracy is even top 4 on the list of importance anymore.

The truth is all of these things listed above come into play and you have to learn to adjust. That doesn't make bowling different than most other sports. Which sport is it that is played in a vacuum? I cant think of a single sport that doesn't have built in variables that effect the play of the game.