Lofting?!?!

[santos314]

I am watching some 2017 U.S. Open footage and they are showing the ridiculous amount of lofting going on. Now I know there was no new oil put down for the later squads to bowl on. I get that these guys have aggressive equipment. Shouldn't these pros have mid to low ends balls to deal with this? These guys are lifting half way down the lane which is silly. Are the lanes so burnt that it doesn't matter?

[bowl1820]

I am watching some 2017 U.S. Open footage and they are showing the ridiculous amount of lofting going on. Now I know there was no new oil put down for the later squads to bowl on. I get that these guys have aggressive equipment. Shouldn't these pros have mid to low ends balls to deal with this? These guys are lifting half way down the lane which is silly. Are the lanes so burnt that it doesn't matter?

Their bowling on whats called the Burn (which means the lanes will not have been re-oiled since the squad before it.) and the Double Burn.

"Competitors again will bowl 24 games of qualifying over three days, but the number of competition lanes will be limited to just 24, so all bowlers will visit the same lanes and see them the same amount of times during qualifying, while each experiencing the three phases of the oil pattern - fresh, burn and double-burn."



2017 U.S. Open - Qualifying Round 1&2 from Flamingo Bowl in Liverpool, NY falls into 3 categories: Fresh - Burn and Double Burn oil. This videos is the highlights for each of the category showing how PBA bowlers deal with the many kinds of oil conditions.

+ Fresh starts at: 0:00
+ Burn starsts at: 25:18
+ Double burn starts at: 46:07 with Walter Ray William Jr's Huge loft
+ Double Burn Round 2 starts at: 1:10:53

[santos314]

So this is done intentionally to challenge them. I still don't get the lofting. Wouldn't they grab a plastic or entry level ball instead of trying to lift to that degree?

[Amyers]

So this is done intentionally to challenge them. I still don't get the lofting. Wouldn't they grab a plastic or entry level ball instead of trying to lift to that degree?

Plastic still hooks on the dry. Yes it is done as a challenge. I personally don't care for it at some point it's not bowling anymore in my opinion but they know that when they sign up. The heads are gone is why the loft even a low end or plastic ball can't roll right with no oil so they loft the ball to the mids where some oil still exists.

[bowl1820]

So this is done intentionally to challenge them. I still don't get the lofting. Wouldn't they grab a plastic or entry level ball instead of trying to lift to that degree?

Basically on the burn these guys are playing on there's only 2 options at most.

Move left and loft.

Or move far right and play the ditch, the trouble with that is there's no missing right and Taking your hand out of the ball and just using plastic ain't going to cut it.

If Walter Ray one of the best straight players is having to loft 4/5 arrow, that shows that playing the ditch probably isn't a good idea on those conditions. Even Norm Duke was playing 5th arrow and I think those guys have a enough of a understanding of the game and what balls to use, to know what to use and where they need to play the lanes.

[RobLV1]

Please permit me to paste yesterday's Facebook post from former U.S. Open Champion, Robert Smith:

"Ohhhhhh, the US Open. Being a past champion of this prestigious event, I am actually laughing at what is going on with lane play. LOFTING THE BALL IS NOT GOOD FOR THE SPORT!!!!! This game was NEVER intended to be played this way. And I made a living by having to play the lanes every day that way at some point.
With the players stronger than ever, and the equipment stronger than ever, the lane which hasn't changed parameters since its inception, is out dated. Oil patterns are ridiculous, outside of a short pattern, every right handed player ends up on the left side of the lane by game 4. And with 24 games on one run of oil, you see what happens.
The only way to fix this is to take away the equipment from the players. The angles that are played now were never even a consideration before 1992. There are exceptions to that with some us opens being played at 5th arrow, but that is only 5th arrow, not 2 ft past the 7th arrow like they are playing now. Not saying take away all the resin, but i dont think the upper tier of our game needs to have such strong equipment.
The game is hard to watch because the is no resemblance of bowling. No one at home can throw a ball 20 ft on the fly, and if they do they will be kicked out of their bowling center. Make it normal again USBC. please."

[Amyers]

Please permit me to paste yesterday's Facebook post from former U.S. Open Champion, Robert Smith:

"Ohhhhhh, the US Open. Being a past champion of this prestigious event, I am actually laughing at what is going on with lane play. LOFTING THE BALL IS NOT GOOD FOR THE SPORT!!!!! This game was NEVER intended to be played this way. And I made a living by having to play the lanes every day that way at some point.
With the players stronger than ever, and the equipment stronger than ever, the lane which hasn't changed parameters since its inception, is out dated. Oil patterns are ridiculous, outside of a short pattern, every right handed player ends up on the left side of the lane by game 4. And with 24 games on one run of oil, you see what happens.
The only way to fix this is to take away the equipment from the players. The angles that are played now were never even a consideration before 1992. There are exceptions to that with some us opens being played at 5th arrow, but that is only 5th arrow, not 2 ft past the 7th arrow like they are playing now. Not saying take away all the resin, but i dont think the upper tier of our game needs to have such strong equipment.
The game is hard to watch because the is no resemblance of bowling. No one at home can throw a ball 20 ft on the fly, and if they do they will be kicked out of their bowling center. Make it normal again USBC. please."

While I agree with the sentiment expressed here and Maximum Bob knows more about bowling than I ever will I'm not sure where this is an equipment issue. If it were the obvious solution would be to take Santos's idea and simply use plastic or less aggressive balls. Maybe I'm missing something.

[bowl1820]

Chad Murphy made a post on Facebook about the lofting, Basically he say's there's a shot there (over by the ditch) and all thoses pros out there just don't know what their doing lofting the ball.

Like Walter Ray Williams:
Neil Stremmel: So WRW is playing them wrong?
Chad Murphy: For his style and rev rate yes. It doesn’t change the fact he’s one of the best ever though, he is.
Neil Stremmel: For his style and rev rate he should never play them that deep. If there's a good shot right, I think he'd find it - or know he should be out there. I was sarcastically wondering why he thought he needed to be there...?


https://www.facebook.com/chad.murphy.393


Chad Murphy:
"U.S. Open update.

Three videos below. These three guys are in 7th, 12th and 14th. The first two were on the double burn game five last night. Then, Belmonte on the fresh yesterday. If you only saw these three videos would you think there was anything wrong with the event?

The three Bowlers using the extreme loft that has been circulated throughout the internet are in 64th, 69th and 128th at this point.

Which group is playing them correctly? The results would say, the first group. When it’s stated we “forced” everyone to loft, well, that looks suspect in these three videos. Based on the data, It looks like maybe we penalized those who did. To be clear, it’s a choice the players make based on what they see.

Today’s game features lofting but not the extremes you see pulled for effect on the internet. Again, there is always going to be some lofting, these guys are strong, powerful and so it’s going to be featured throughout most events at different times, especially the ones that require multiple angles to crown a champion. It has been this way for a long time but it’s not a requirement to throw it half way down the lane in the air as so many say who want to tear things down.

This event gives the Bowlers a different option but it goes against what they know to be true and so it’s a tough thing to get to.

If the lane hooks from the right for a right hander, you move left. For the most part, it’s always been that way. However, if the lane on the left breaks down and hooks (as has been the case this week) where there is oil to the right... why wouldn’t we move back to the right and play there? Most didn’t the first night, more did last night. It’s a culture shift. It’s not the first one in Bowling, it will also not be the last. Some guys still bowled well from in, they are going to do that, they are the best best Bowlers in the world.

No one is being forced to launch the ball as the videos indicate and opinions drive. There is oil on the lane to the right if the choice is made. These three pictures below show it in great detail.

Squad equity, 9, 8, 7 going into today for the top 24 with “C” squad having the most. C may have the most although, A squad gets B today and so I expect a run from a few folks who are currently down in the standings if they are still working at it. 208.4 average to make the top 24 at this point, 226 leads. Four lefties, 12 players with higher rev rates and 8 medium to lower. Things with this event are good, no matter what you read on the internet.

Good luck to everyone today. It’s been an incredible event so far. Match play is going to be extremely competitive to make the show. Looking forward to it."

[bowl1820]

Heres Ryan Shafer's post on why he withdrew.

Ryan Shafer
October 28 at 6:19pm ·

After watching B squad tonight and seeing the progression of the lanes, I have decided to WD from the US Open. Due to my physical limitations ( lack of significant ball speed, and plantar fasciitis and carpal tunnel) I determined it was counter productive to try and compete to the best of my ability on that condition. As it has been determined it is “ a required element” in today’s game to loft the gutter at the the US Open, I am no longer capable of doing that without potentially hurting myself. I would prefer to prepare for the WSOB in Reno starting November 6. It pains me to do this as I have always looked forward to this event and really wanted to win one of these in my career. But that time has passed. Thank you to all my family , friends and fans who came to watch this week. I apologize for my performance, or lack thereof .


I got to say, People seeing all that guttercap lofting and players withdrawing so they don't get hurt or embarrassed playing on this mess before the WSOB and all the upcoming bowling, isn't going to help the perception of bowling.

[Amyers]

Chad Murphy made a post on Facebook about the lofting, Basically he say's there's a shot there (over by the ditch) and all thoses pros out there just don't know what their doing lofting the ball.

Like Walter Ray Williams:
Neil Stremmel: So WRW is playing them wrong?
Chad Murphy: For his style and rev rate yes. It doesn’t change the fact he’s one of the best ever though, he is.
Neil Stremmel: For his style and rev rate he should never play them that deep. If there's a good shot right, I think he'd find it - or know he should be out there. I was sarcastically wondering why he thought he needed to be there...?
."[/I]

You really have to be some special kind of jack A S S to think you can tell WRW how he should have played a condition. WOW really?