Lane conditions at National events
- Thread starter GeorgeF
- Start date
jason_doust
The Bowling Geek
What... Honest..? Or with reasonably correct prescription lenses?
(Gasp!) Then again, as Len Nicholson once told me; "You don't pull good scores off bad lanes."
The old days weren't all good. God, we bowled in some brickyards! I remember how the heads would rattle at Rushcutters Bay when your ball landed on them. That was the house I learned to play 5th arrow from. With a Wine U-Dot. Or Enfield (now South Strathfield), which was always reverse blocked until about 1988 because of their lacquer surface and Unimatic oiling machine, or the hilariously named Fairfield. It wasn't fair if your ball speed was below about 22 mph! I used to borrow a mate's Ace (hard rubber) ball when I went there and it was pretty much all I used! And those houses were by no means the toughest, but the ball got down the lane from somewhere, because the balls didn't destroy the pattern. That's today's biggest problem. Not lanes, balls, especially sanded reactive balls that just slurp the oil up.
As I keep having to repeat, there are numbers between 3 and 10 that you can put in front of ":1".
jimcross
Active Member
You're right about all those centres, Jason. I bowled a lot in all of them. I even used the Unimatic at Enfield ( first centre I worked in, not long after it opened.). Still got a Unimatic User Manual and parts book!!
Second point is also right. Balls that change the lane conditions like bits of blotting paper have a lot to answer for.
Second point is also right. Balls that change the lane conditions like bits of blotting paper have a lot to answer for.
Robbie T
Member
Lane conditions have a lot more to do than just ratios, and a 3:1 doesnt mean its going to be tough, i believe Aus Open (both Open and Seniors) was close to 3:1 yet the scoring was 230+ aves. There are so many factors that come into it, too many to list. I however just bowl on what im given, if i cant make the cut then i need to work on the flaws in my game to improve so when i come across the same/similar situation in the future, i have an idea of what I need to do to score better.
Robbie i agree to a point but if iam correct didn't this thread start about 3 months ago about laying the advertised pattern, i have been around a while now and seen a fair bit , i think if the house advertises & lays a pattern for a tournament then it should play some thing like it is advertised if the lanes can't handle the oil or lack of it either they don't have the tourny there or they stop telling every one what to expect .Thats only in regards to what the TBA stated about a year ago
Jason, are you complaining about some of those Centres I worked at, I started at Fairfield in 1969-1976,1987-1988, Rushcutter 1976-1977, Enfield 1972, did you like Bankstown? 1986-1987. I've seen you struggle in Bankstown.
What people don't know was most of the BCH-Amf Centre's used Ash in the running and Backends instead of Pine. Pine done properly has all the Grain heading towards the Head Pin, most Brunswick equipped Centre's had Pine. Unfortunately Ash has no distinct Grain and seemed to Hook more as well as erratacally. This was done because Australian product had to be used in the early days, even some of the Machine parts were made in Australia.
willey
What people don't know was most of the BCH-Amf Centre's used Ash in the running and Backends instead of Pine. Pine done properly has all the Grain heading towards the Head Pin, most Brunswick equipped Centre's had Pine. Unfortunately Ash has no distinct Grain and seemed to Hook more as well as erratacally. This was done because Australian product had to be used in the early days, even some of the Machine parts were made in Australia.
willey
Correct Willey, I know Moonah, which was one of the early BCH centres, had ash in the backends. Didn't seem like it was too much of a problem using the old nitrous based lacquers back in the day, but got a nice "orange-peel" effect going when the 100% solids coats were used, unless sealed correctly. The differences from the different eras, was, on the old lanes, it was like throwing a hard rock on carpet sprayed with WD40. Today is like throwing a sponge on a ceramic tile covered in Castrol GTX. Easiest way I can describe it.
I'll have to dig up some of the old pics from where our 30's were ripped out. I took a few snaps of the serial plates on the machines that stated "by AMF - Sterling Ltd, Sydney Australia"
Tiger
Active Member
Yes. I remember first seeing the Nu-Line Excalibur in use for the first time at President Shield at Kirwan in 1992.
The whole NSW Central boys team were using them (I personally can't recall any of the other teams bowling with them) and the gear was way too strong for the burnt toast conditions that were up there.
It was the following year I started seeing them pop up down here in Hobart and the scores being shot with them were pretty big to say the least.
I remember Greg Richardson bombing 779 in Sponsors League with one which was the centre record for a few years, Aaron Davis shooting 760-odd off the twig one Thursday night, Rodney Radcliffe going virtually coast-to-coast with one (it was too big for Rodney to handle) and a guy named Phil Crawford - was averaging about 137/138 with urethane - then he bought an Excalibur!
Won the State Restricted Masters with a 200+ average after about 3 weeks of using this ball, went away and then won the Australian Restricted Masters averaging well over 200 as well with it.
Robbie T
Member
Robbo, the thread was actually started a week ago by George, about how decent bowlers, no matter what the condition is, are good enough to adjust to what is "on" the lane, not adjust to how the lane is "meant" to be playing. Yes i agree that it is good that the house advertises the shot, because it gives bowlers a general guidline of what you will be bowling on (especially when travelling), but if people are naive enough to beleive that our lanes are new/good enough to have the shot play exaclty as stated well all fool them.Thats what having different bowling balls caters for. And can someone really say they are good enough to know how many units of oil on this board and this length on this type of lane that is X many years old will exactly play.
Quoting George - When will people stick there hand up and say "maybe I should work on my game a little" instead of complaining after every weekend they bowl because their favorite 10 board wall of china was not present.
If you cant DELIVER a consistent ball, whatever your style, no matter what the lane condition you wont have much chance. All you have to do is look at the rankings to find out who is delivering consistent shots, and i dont see many of these ppl complaining about the lane conditions. Yeah sure i found it satisfying shooting a 240+ ave on the final day of AO, but i also found it more satisfying when i was able to use my knowledge and consistency to place 2nd behind george on a tough condition in darwin. I didnt complain that i only aved around 200 tho. And then at Melb Cup when i didnt make the cut, yes the condition was tough, but it was not the condition that let me down, it was me!!
Adding to that, if you think you game is pretty solid, maybe you need to rethink your equipment to better suit your game.
Quoting George - When will people stick there hand up and say "maybe I should work on my game a little" instead of complaining after every weekend they bowl because their favorite 10 board wall of china was not present.
If you cant DELIVER a consistent ball, whatever your style, no matter what the lane condition you wont have much chance. All you have to do is look at the rankings to find out who is delivering consistent shots, and i dont see many of these ppl complaining about the lane conditions. Yeah sure i found it satisfying shooting a 240+ ave on the final day of AO, but i also found it more satisfying when i was able to use my knowledge and consistency to place 2nd behind george on a tough condition in darwin. I didnt complain that i only aved around 200 tho. And then at Melb Cup when i didnt make the cut, yes the condition was tough, but it was not the condition that let me down, it was me!!
Adding to that, if you think you game is pretty solid, maybe you need to rethink your equipment to better suit your game.
