Fabulous attitude MickyD. Good for you! I'm pretty much the same for the NSW Series. We don't give the ladies any start and they still come and cash when they bowl well and don't when they don't! But if it's working down there, I'm not interfering.
Good Question Baz,
Until everyone throws it the same way from the same side of the lane, true equity is impossible.
But I sincerely believe that the tapered patterns, even the crown oil of old for a house shot is the fairest solution, as it allows a number of styles and angles an opportunity to eek out some pretty good scores. Indeed, on some of the crowned patterns with a good surface under them, the scores would be very high, but there would be more than one way to go about it and different options to move when things break down, making it more fair than the seemingly ubiquitous 10-10 ditch.
Surface is a big factor, 6:1 is bloody tough at Tuggeranong, but probably dead easy at Rooty Hill, despite having the same installation. Tuggeranong's lanes are 11-12 years old, Rooty Hill's are 2 years old. Both houses have the same pathetic 10:1 blocked lane condition though. It doesn't make sense once you step out the front door of AMF head office, but they have a one size fits all approach. If you could lay 7-8:1 at Tuggeranong and 5-6:1 at Rooty Hill, the two houses would play differently, but would probably have a similar respectable level of easiness and would promote better technique, promoting practice games and bring more money in. Not picking on AMF, it's just that they provide a very good example with these centres and the standard dressing policy that I really only know via hear-say, so please correct me if I'm out of line here, AMF!
In the 1980's, we all knew that different houses played better from different spots and that was part and parcel of the game. Today, league bowlers think that everywhere should play the same. If so, then what's the point in going anywhere?
All the ditch does is give the weakest shots the best look they'll ever get, with absolutely no incentive to improve in accuracy, repetition or power, further adding to our sport's difficulty in being taken seriously. The proprietors need to get honest, man up and take some responsibility for their part in why we're in the mess we're in (but that's a whole other thread...)
Cheers,
Jason
Off to brunch with my gorgeous wife now! Have a good weekend folks!