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Thread: USBC Sanctioning

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ryster View Post
    They have performed many studies surrounding equipment and equipment specifications. They set limits on RG, differential, CoR, coverstock absorption rates, pre and post drilling static weights. They may have not banned 2-handed bowling, but I am convinced the recent changes regarding weight/balance holes and finger hole use during ball delivery are a direct result of them working to keep 2-handed deliveries and no-thumb deliveries from having a dynamic advantage. As technology advances, so does the equipment. The USBC makes sure that the new equipment does not exceed a certain level to maintain some level of required skill. A bowler still has to find a line, hit their mark, and get the ball in to the pocket at the correct entry angle to carry.

    Would we be better off still using Manhattan Rubber balls, with lane oil applied by hand on real wood lanes, and still manually scoring using transparencies on overhead projectors? If that is how bowling still was today, it would have died a long time ago.

    The results of their studies, according to them, indicated that ball surface played a greater role in changing lane conditions than the actual lane condition itself. This is what prompted them to update the coverstock absorption rate standards and go to the dry towel only rule. This is also what prompted them to relax the lane condition standards at centers.

    Much of what they do is behind the scenes. The only time we see the results of what they do is when they make a rule or policy change.

    There are so many variances in lane surface going on these days around the country (synthetic, wood, half synthetic/half wood, new lanes, beat up lanes, not to mention different topography of lanes even in the same center) that it would be impossible to have any consistent standardization of lane conditions nationwide.

    The USBC Website still offers the ability to find a coach:
    https://webapps.bowl.com/USBCFindA/Home/Coach

    Personally, USBC Trained means more to me than having the word certifed in the designation. USBC Trained says to me that the coach was trained by the actual organization using a prescribed methodology. "Certified" is kind of a diluted title these days. People learn skills from numerous sources, and then go to a certification organization and get an official acknowledgement. At least the USBC is making an effort to control the concepts and training of their coaches and not just certifying anyone who happens to be able to pass the tests of the various levels (without at least reviewing USBC's materials first.)

    Many of the bowling proprietors in this area do not necessarily agree with what the USBC does or the rules and policies they implement. However, they realize that the USBC is the governing body for the sport and they are kind of stuck with them.
    I tried earlier today to access the find a coach feature at BOWL.com. After logging in and clicking on "Find a...." I saw only Find an association, a center, a league a member and a registered volunteer. Clicking on the link in your post it looks like over half of the coaches in Connecticut have been removed from the list, including myself.

    As for changing the language used from certified to trained, I am peeved. I equate saying "I an USBC trained to a particular level" to some one saying "I attended ________ University". It could mean they earned a degree there or it could mean they got in, and flunked out after one semester.
    John

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by RobLV1 View Post
    Ryster: Over 10 years of writing BTM articles, many of which dealt with bowling balls, I was intimately involved with the USBC ball motion studies. I was also a member of the Board of Directors of the SNUSBC. My Silver Level Certification was earned through attending actual in-person seminars, for which I paid thousands of dollars. I gained my Certification by passing tests, both written and video analysis at the end of each certification seminar. I will tell you that the USBC no longer acknowledges "Certified" coaches, nor do the still list coaches under the "find a" section of their website. I can only surmise that their buddies at the BPAA didn't like the idea of a bowler at a certain center calling a certified coach who works out of a different center.

    I admire the fact that you have developed a blind allegiance to the USBC, but, as I stated earlier, this organization has done very little to maintain the integrity of the game. Would bowling be better off using Manhattan rubber balls on wooden lanes? No. Would bowling be better off using urethane ball and plastic balls with symmetrical cores? You betcha! As a long-time certified coach, I would much rather see bowlers use their energy to learn how to roll and bowling ball, than trying to memorize the characteristics of the eight different bowling balls that they bring to league each week.
    Coaches are still listed on the USBC website. I provided a link in my previous post showing this.

    I do not have a "blind allegiance" to the USBC. I don't agree with everything they do. However, they are the governing body of the sport and there has to be some level of trust that what they are doing matters in the grand scheme. When all of the members stop trusting the organization they will leave. With no members the organization will fold, and bowling becomes a leisure or arcade style activity with no organized or sanctioned component. The bowling equipment industry will dry up, bowling centers will shrink, and eventually bowling will be gone.

    I had an immediate family member who was VP of our local bowling association. They worked very hard at the role and did everything asked of them plus more. I also assisted them behind-the-scenes with various projects. While they were definitely appreciated by the association for all of their hard work and dedication, things moved at a snails pace. There was always a roadblock to getting something done and it was usually political in nature. Politics in a largely volunteer organization! Not a good look. The family member eventually walked away from the role as it was taking time away from more important daily life things that needed to be done. However we continue to sanction, bowl in sanctioned leagues, support local junior bowling programs, support our local center, and respect the work being done by the USBC.

    The local association has tried a "back to basics" approach to bowling, including sponsoring a tournament where only plastic balls with pancake weight blocks can be used. The oil pattern is also adjusted accordingly (shorter oil, lower volume.) Only the die-hard competitive bowlers participate. Trying to get higher average house bowlers to participate is like pulling teeth. Most refuse to bowl in it because it hurts their ego to see just how much they rely on typical house shots and dynamic equipment to average 200+. But the reality is, that is what bowlers like. They like to see the ball hook. They like to see those 200+ scores. It makes them feel better and gets them excited for bowling. When bowlers see their scores drop, they are unhappy, and no longer want to bowl. So the centers put out the easy shot, keep the league bowlers happy, and keep their customers coming back. You can't really blame them for that.

    I also know people that spend literally thousands of dollars every year for the latest "hook/strike in a box". That is what they like to spend their money on, and the ball companies feed off of those people. They are literally selling people false hope. That is their business. Every new ball that comes out has performance that is capped by the USBC. The ball companies can market however they wish, but ultimately the ball itself can only be built to the extent approved by the USBC. Many bowlers are fully aware they could benefit from lessons by a coach, but simply do not have the motivation or time to dedicate to it. Some bowlers I know have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars and several months of time on coaching from certified coaches, only to see no improvement. They then stop going to coaches. So they use their money to buy new equipment instead. Yes, it is frustrating. But it is also the reality and the path of least resistance.

    There is nothing preventing anyone who thinks they can do it better from starting their own bowling association. The USBC is not the only bowling association in the United States, there is also The National Bowling Association. Maybe it is time for someone with enough time, resources, and dedication to start a new organization. Put together a grass roots campaign and a platform to recruit members, bowling centers, manufacturers, professional organizations, etc. The USBC has a 125 year head start, and the TNBA has been around 81 years, but that doesn't mean someone with a new, fresh approach couldn't come along and take the industry under their wing.

  3. #23

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    Ryster: Both J. Anderson and I are (were) USBC Certified Coaches. We both check out Bowl.com (USBC website) within the past two days. The "Find a Coach" feature has been removed.

    I'm not saying that it would be easy to move bowling back to where it was in the past, but a credible organization that actually cares about the sport could start to bring some integrity back simply by reinstating some kind of oil pattern regulations. Nobody is saying that we should go back to rubber balls and wooden lanes, but by dialing back on oiling patterns and stupid strong bowling balls, they could at least make it so that bowling is not the laughing stock that it has become.

  4. #24
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    I'm ok with it just because there really isn't an alternative. Only example I can think of is my son raced karts for several years. TaG karts (touch-and-go push start) were the hot class for the 15 and over group but there were 2 different organizations that could be raced under. One being WKA and the other being TagUSA. There was a particular engine (Vortex Rok TT that was really fast so there were 2 options. Under WKA rules you had to retard the timing and run at a 375 minimum weight or you could run TaGUSA rules with full timing at 385 lb minimum weight. Our track elected to go with WKA but since we were not actually governed there was nobody to enforce it so we had guys running a TaGUSA engine under WKA weights so they were quite a bit faster than the rest. It was frustrating because even the guy that built those engines for those guys knew it but couldn't do anything about it. The issue was these engines were $4000 compared to the one we ran that was $3000 but my son was smaller so that extra 20 lbs of lead he would need to make minimum weight was too much. We already had about 25lbs on there and were running out of room to put it.

    Might not be the best example but point is with no governing body what repercussions might there be? Who will police everything?
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    Quote Originally Posted by RobLV1 View Post
    Ryster: Both J. Anderson and I are (were) USBC Certified Coaches. We both check out Bowl.com (USBC website) within the past two days. The "Find a Coach" feature has been removed.

    I'm not saying that it would be easy to move bowling back to where it was in the past, but a credible organization that actually cares about the sport could start to bring some integrity back simply by reinstating some kind of oil pattern regulations. Nobody is saying that we should go back to rubber balls and wooden lanes, but by dialing back on oiling patterns and stupid strong bowling balls, they could at least make it so that bowling is not the laughing stock that it has become.
    There may not be a direct link on bowl.com, but if someone Googles USBC Coach or even Bowling Coach the search feature comes up in results.
    https://webapps.bowl.com/USBCFindA/Home/Coach

    Oil pattern regulation won't solve anything. A standardized house pattern could be implemented, but that pattern will play different in every house, and even within the same house. They could reinstate the three unit rule, but then each house will put out a random shot using at least three units of oil. Some will use short patterns, some will try a longer pattern, it will still be the wild west.

    They could further reduce the oil absorption rates on balls, and people will just throw older grandfathered equipment to get around it. They could increase the minimum RG and decrease the maximum differential, but unless they literally outright ban old equipment people will just stay with their grandfathered equipment. If people are told they have to buy all new equipment, they will quit. They could try restricting surface prep such as no ball may have lower than a 500 grit surface, but there would be no way to monitor or enforce it. Would the league president be required to go around and the check the Ra of every ball before league starts?

    Now if they say you must use a minimum of three units of oil, and the pattern for a sanctioned non-sport league must be between 39-45ft in length, that might be something that people could get behind. They could further stipulate that the same pattern must be used for the entirety of the league season, and must be applied to the scheduled lanes no less than 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the league. Enforcing it would be impossible, and centers would hate it, but at least they would have the requirement documented.

    I have always maintained that there should be referees required at every center for every sanctioned competition (leagues and tournaments). They could be people selected at the local association level, on a rotating schedule based on location and availability, and get paid minimum wage for their referee shifts at whatever center they are assigned. They are the final word on any issue related to game play and rules. Having sanctioned bowlers "self-govern" themselves simply doesn't work.

  6. #26
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    I think I tend to agree with RobM on this topic...although, I can see 'why' the USBC has been pushed down the path they've went down.

    As numbers (bowlers) started to dwindle, prize funds started to dwindle at the pro level as interest in pro bowling started to dwindle. One can debate the chicken/egg of that...but the bottom line is...less people were league bowling and less people cared about the PBA...and that translated into less million dollar PBA events...which translated into less people caring about the PBA events, etc...

    As centers started to close down and bowling shrunk across the country, the USBC lost some of it's power. The ball manufacturers sort of became the "authority" of the sport because they really carried the purse for the sport. They funded the events, they sponsored the athletes, and they sort of made the rules. As the technology got more exciting (reactive resin...balls smelling like cupcakes...balls hooking by themselves...etc...)...people started coming back to the sport. It's kinda hard to ask the USBC to step in at that point and say, "Whoa! Nope. We prefer a failing sport to a resurgence."

    Same thing with 2-handed bowling. It was clear from day 1 that if they allowed it to enter the sport, it would forever change the game and cause numerous problems...but it was also clear that it would bring youth and energy into the sport...a sport that desperately needed youth and energy. So, the USBC was very, very careful with 2-handed bowling.

    I think the problem the USBC has now is that when you bend enough....trying desperately not to "break"...you eventually get to the point where you look at the sport and say, "okay, we've bent completely over and this is a joke." But, at that point...it's too late...the ship has sailed...you can't go back. Anyone that remotely understands statistics...I mean REMOTELY...can look at the honor score statistics and see that something went terribly wrong in the sport. A 300-game went from a lifetime achievement for most league bowlers to something that most above average bowlers can stumble upon a few times if they keep at it. THAT was the time for the USBC to take back the sport and figure out whether they wanted to maintain integrity in a niche sport or just open the flood gates. They chose opening the flood gates and hoping for the best.

    And, in their defense, they really had no choice once they bent over way back when. Once the snowball started rolling down the hill...the BPAA and bowling ball manufacturers simply didn't need them as much as the USBC needed the BPAA and ball manufacturers. Look at the Motiv cheating incident of 4 (or so) years ago. The PBA kinda just said, "whatever". The BPAA kinda just said, "hey...don't make a big fuss and make our league bowlers have equipment that is illegal." And the ball manufacturers kinda just said, "Rule? What rule? Oh, that rule? Wait, you were serious about that?" It was amazing (to me) how FEW people actually cared that Motiv broke the rule and won PBA events with illegal equipment. In any other sport, it woulda been the lead story on ESPN for a week. For bowling, I think it made one broadcast...late in the broadcast...as sort of a "here's something nobody cares about story".

    No matter where you stand on any of this, the point is, nobody cares. The USBC gave up their high ground long ago...and now, nobody cares. Their rules are considered "suggestions" by the BPAA, PBA, and ball manufacturers. If any of those groups run afoul of those rules...or can make an extra buck violating any of those rules...I'm sure the USBC will change those rules. Thats why we have nearly every league bowling on a THS pattern, and 7x as many honor scores, and wrist positioners, and 2-handed bowling, and virtually no spot checks of sanctioned centers (lane conditions).

    But, there IS HOPE. The USBC has done a really good job developing the women's collegiate game. If they can get bowling into high schools...get kids interested in it...even if that means 2-handed replaces 1-handed in the next decade or so...the college system is there to support bowling. And with all the TV networks hungry for programming, the PBA can find a place to air events now. Eventually, those college kids get jobs and decide to bowl in adult leagues and you might see a resurgence of the game down the road. It's just a different game.
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