Many words have been said regarding high scoring, Wayne Chester’s post recently stated that we should stop the madness with scores, I couldn’t agree with Wayne more, and I’m sure many others felt the same way. There were comments from a proprietors point of view, saying that it keeps the customer happy having high scores in their centre, again I could not disagree with that philosophy, they are trying to run a business anyway. As far as bowlers go, it makes them feel better and more confident knowing that they can score well, each time they bowl.
However I believe that inflated scoring also has many disadvantages (a) it’s a fact that it does not improve the bowlers skill and gives them a false sense of confidence (b) because the bowler has a high average the perception is that there is no need for practice, this can’t be good for centres (c) competing and struggling in open tournaments does not help the ego because the scores are not the same as in their home centre (d) graded or restricted average events are a joke, especially when you have bowlers from different centres supposedly with the same averages. I can keep the comments flowing but I think you all get the idea.
My proposal is simple, but may be difficult to administer. RATE BOWLING CENTRES. If a centre is difficult give them a difficult rating, if a centre is easy give them an easy rating etc.
Golf courses around the country have a rating, some are easy flat short courses with few obstacles and others are mountainous with long holes and obstacles everywhere, and some are championship courses which make it difficult to make par, whichever one it is, the difficulty in playing them is relevant to the course, and the golfer gets rewarded when they play well.
Not too dissimilar are bowling centres, Centre A has consistent predictable lanes that play the same week in week out, the bowler finds that scoring is high. On the other hand Centre B has difficult lanes that are not so predictable, and the bowler finds it difficult to maintain the same shot each time, the lane oil breaks down more frequently creating awkward pinfall.
The problem arises when we have two bowlers, one from each centre and both with 170 averages, they are both competing in a handicap tournament in Centre A, which of the two do you think will have an advantage. If you answered the bowler from Centre B, you would be correct. Many bowlers find scoring much easier if they have predictability on their side, so the bowler from centre B will get on the lanes and be rewarded with predictable shots time and time again, the other bowler already bowls there and averages 170 or slightly better. The scenario is simplistic, but you get the idea.
Imagine it’s the Olympic Games, and the final field for the 100 metres men’s or maybe woman’s all broke the 9 second mark with a gale blowing behind them propelling them down the track at lightning speed, do you think the officials would give them all recognition for their feat and award one of them a world record. I DON”T THINK SO. The winners and placegetters would be duly crowned and the time would be marked as wind assisted. The same would be true for other events that involved measurements of some description.
I honestly believe that this high scoring environment will not go away, I also believe that we need to do something about it. I am not overly sure as to how they do it in golf, but I’m sure we can create a similar system here.
Obviously the so called Lane Conditioning Policy that was brought out a couple of years ago has been put on the back burner, the draft copy of that policy was introduced because the scoring environment was getting out of hand at the time, it hasn’t changed some years down the track and we are no closer to solving it.
The attempts to stem the scoring in the U.S has meant that Sport Conditions are now the go, specific sport leagues are using different lane conditions that benefit the accurate and skilful bowler, I think this is a step in the right direction, and maybe more leagues and tournaments throughout the next year or so will implement them in there format, hopefully by people that know what they are doing with lane conditioning and maintenance.
But in the meantime league conditions are the problem, and we should do something about the differences between centres, to provide a better and fairer handicap system that truly defines a bowlers actual skill level, not some inflated average that was bowled in XXX League at Fantasy Scoring Lanes in Neverland. The same goes for bowlers that bowl in the Dinosaur League at Bedrock Bowl who have to bust their choppers to average 170 because the pins are made of granite and need an exocet missile to knock them over.
Walter DeVeer teams and handicap tournaments, groups that provide tournaments for bowlers using handicaps, all are affected. These groups need to have a system to create a more level playing field, because no one wants to bowl against bowlers that have averages that don’t reflect their ability. This is one reason why tournaments are failing and that open bowlers are becoming far and few between.
I understand this is a long post but it’s hard to put it in few words. Surely this subject is worth discussing and considering. I am sure that the relevant groups would like to hear some comments.
Regards,
Patrick Birtig
However I believe that inflated scoring also has many disadvantages (a) it’s a fact that it does not improve the bowlers skill and gives them a false sense of confidence (b) because the bowler has a high average the perception is that there is no need for practice, this can’t be good for centres (c) competing and struggling in open tournaments does not help the ego because the scores are not the same as in their home centre (d) graded or restricted average events are a joke, especially when you have bowlers from different centres supposedly with the same averages. I can keep the comments flowing but I think you all get the idea.
My proposal is simple, but may be difficult to administer. RATE BOWLING CENTRES. If a centre is difficult give them a difficult rating, if a centre is easy give them an easy rating etc.
Golf courses around the country have a rating, some are easy flat short courses with few obstacles and others are mountainous with long holes and obstacles everywhere, and some are championship courses which make it difficult to make par, whichever one it is, the difficulty in playing them is relevant to the course, and the golfer gets rewarded when they play well.
Not too dissimilar are bowling centres, Centre A has consistent predictable lanes that play the same week in week out, the bowler finds that scoring is high. On the other hand Centre B has difficult lanes that are not so predictable, and the bowler finds it difficult to maintain the same shot each time, the lane oil breaks down more frequently creating awkward pinfall.
The problem arises when we have two bowlers, one from each centre and both with 170 averages, they are both competing in a handicap tournament in Centre A, which of the two do you think will have an advantage. If you answered the bowler from Centre B, you would be correct. Many bowlers find scoring much easier if they have predictability on their side, so the bowler from centre B will get on the lanes and be rewarded with predictable shots time and time again, the other bowler already bowls there and averages 170 or slightly better. The scenario is simplistic, but you get the idea.
Imagine it’s the Olympic Games, and the final field for the 100 metres men’s or maybe woman’s all broke the 9 second mark with a gale blowing behind them propelling them down the track at lightning speed, do you think the officials would give them all recognition for their feat and award one of them a world record. I DON”T THINK SO. The winners and placegetters would be duly crowned and the time would be marked as wind assisted. The same would be true for other events that involved measurements of some description.
I honestly believe that this high scoring environment will not go away, I also believe that we need to do something about it. I am not overly sure as to how they do it in golf, but I’m sure we can create a similar system here.
Obviously the so called Lane Conditioning Policy that was brought out a couple of years ago has been put on the back burner, the draft copy of that policy was introduced because the scoring environment was getting out of hand at the time, it hasn’t changed some years down the track and we are no closer to solving it.
The attempts to stem the scoring in the U.S has meant that Sport Conditions are now the go, specific sport leagues are using different lane conditions that benefit the accurate and skilful bowler, I think this is a step in the right direction, and maybe more leagues and tournaments throughout the next year or so will implement them in there format, hopefully by people that know what they are doing with lane conditioning and maintenance.
But in the meantime league conditions are the problem, and we should do something about the differences between centres, to provide a better and fairer handicap system that truly defines a bowlers actual skill level, not some inflated average that was bowled in XXX League at Fantasy Scoring Lanes in Neverland. The same goes for bowlers that bowl in the Dinosaur League at Bedrock Bowl who have to bust their choppers to average 170 because the pins are made of granite and need an exocet missile to knock them over.
Walter DeVeer teams and handicap tournaments, groups that provide tournaments for bowlers using handicaps, all are affected. These groups need to have a system to create a more level playing field, because no one wants to bowl against bowlers that have averages that don’t reflect their ability. This is one reason why tournaments are failing and that open bowlers are becoming far and few between.
I understand this is a long post but it’s hard to put it in few words. Surely this subject is worth discussing and considering. I am sure that the relevant groups would like to hear some comments.
Regards,
Patrick Birtig
