PBA League Telecast

[bowl1820]

It is now a well known fact among them that lane topography has a bigger effect on ball motion than the oil pattern.

Yes, lane topography does have a big impact on ball motion. But in away knowing that, it doesn't particularly help the ordinary league bowler. We don't get lane maps like the pros do, So we can't look at it and say this lane will play like this or that.

Now most (regular) bowlers IMO know that the lanes down there play different than the ones down here and they already try to adjust for it.

This difference they chalk up to lane wear (aka: topography), not so much thinking the oil is different, most assume their lanes are basically oiled the same and they already try to adjust for the wear.

Now topography doesn't change (noticeably) over the course of a series, But a oil pattern can change drastically over the course of a series.

So having the blue oil (at least once in awhile) and being able to see it change as the series progress's might be more beneficial to the average bowler. That and paying attention to how their balls reaction changes like the pros do than overly worrying about topography.

[RobLV1]

I have questions too:
Does it seem like the racks are slow coming down? Or is it just that the balls are traveling 3-5 mph faster than the average league bowler throws? I think that it's just the difference in ball speeds that make it seem that the racks are slower.
Does it seem like a lot of hits that look like the are dead on the nose are getting strikes instead of splits? I think that this perception is a result of the pros' ability to pick bowling balls and adjust their ball speeds to insure that the balls are entering the pins at peak power; most league bowlers get the ball into the dry too early so they can see it hook to impress their friends (LOL). I first noticed this years ago when I used to practice regularly with Wendy Macpherson. Her ball would look like the Big Four was in her future, and she would strike. I think that this control of maximum energy also explains the plethora of tripped four pins.
Do you ever see this many tripped 4 pins in your league?

Thank for starting the conversation Rob.
p.s. are you rooting for Las Vegas? Honestly I didn't know their was a Vegas team before the telecasts started. Once I found out, yes I was rooting for this, but before the telecasts, I was planning on rooting for Portland. As it worked out, I couldn't lose in the finals!

Thanks for your response.

[RobLV1]

Yes, lane topography does have a big impact on ball motion. But in away knowing that, it doesn't particularly help the ordinary league bowler. We don't get lane maps like the pros do, So we can't look at it and say this lane will play like this or that. I really don't believe that the lane maps are the key to playing the topography. What is key is that bowlers [I]accept[I] the fact that topography does affect the lanes as much as, if not more than, oil pattern. The analogy that I used in the last BTM article that I wrote was that of Black Holes. Astronomers know that black holes exist despite the fact that they can't see them. They know because they observe the motion of the stars around the black hole. Bowlers can easily see the topography by noticing the motion of their bowling balls as they travel down the lane surface.

Now topography doesn't change (noticeably) over the course of a series, But a oil pattern can change drastically over the course of a series. While the topography doesn't change over the course of a series, how much it affects the ball does change as the oil changes. When a particular topological feature is covered with oil, the ball will be sliding over it, minimizing it's effect on the motion of the ball. As the oil dries up, friction increases, letting the topography rear it's ugly head. When the feature is negative (angling away from the pocket), the ball will appear to slide further, causing many bowlers to start talking about carry down. It's not carry down, it is simply the emergency of negative topography in the friction.

Always nice talking with you, Al.

[J Anderson]

Thanks for your response.

"Does it seem like a lot of hits that look like the are dead on the nose are getting strikes instead of splits? I think that this perception is a result of the pros' ability to pick bowling balls and adjust their ball speeds to insure that the balls are entering the pins at peak power; most league bowlers get the ball into the dry too early so they can see it hook to impress their friends (LOL). I first noticed this years ago when I used to practice regularly with Wendy Macpherson. Her ball would look like the Big Four was in her future, and she would strike. I think that this control of maximum energy also explains the plethora of tripped four pins.

I've been thinking some more about this. If you were to ask Ron Hatfield what the pocket is, he would answer the 17.5 board. I think that he can and does quote a study that found balls that hit the pins at this spot result in a strike at least 97% of the time no matter what the angle and speed were. Depending on where you're standing, or the position of the camera in the case of watching on TV, this might very well look like the ball is hitting the center of the head pin. And of course years ago when we all played much straighter we would much rather hit 16-1/2 hoping for a mixer than to hit 18-1/2 and leave a 6-7-10.

[Ryster]

There have been bowlers asking for the tinted lane conditioner at our center so they can watch the path of their ball. The bowling center manager has repeatedly replied "No. Absolutely not." I agree with the bowling center manager. It would be an absolute mess to deal with. If regular bowlers want to see their ball track on the lane, they can go to a center with the Clutch bowling system installed. We have one about 20 miles down the road. By the 3rd game, I would bet the novelty wears off.

[bowl1820]

There have been bowlers asking for the tinted lane conditioner at our center so they can watch the path of their ball. The bowling center manager has repeatedly replied "No. Absolutely not." I agree with the bowling center manager. It would be an absolute mess to deal with. If regular bowlers want to see their ball track on the lane, they can go to a center with the Clutch bowling system installed. We have one about 20 miles down the road. By the 3rd game, I would bet the novelty wears off.

The main reason bowling centers don't want to use the blue oil, IMO besides cost they don't want to hear the complaints from the bowlers when they realize just how little oil they are putting on the lanes and how fast it burns off.

Of course you'd have people complaining about it getting on their clothes too.

That's why so many houses treat the house oil pattern like some state secret and won't tell you anything about it or show you a print out. They don't want to hear everyone start complaining.

[Ryster]

The main reason bowling centers don't want to use the blue oil, IMO besides cost they don't want to hear the complaints from the bowlers when they realize just how little oil they are putting on the lanes and how fast it burns off.

Of course you'd have people complaining about it getting on their clothes too.

That's why so many houses treat the house oil pattern like some state secret and won't tell you anything about it or show you a print out. They don't want to hear everyone start complaining.

Hahaha...most bowlers at our center complain weekly about the house pattern. It never seems to be the same, and the manager admits that there is constant tweaking of the pattern to always try to offer the "best reaction".