Pattern Carving

[Thorpey]

Originally Posted by GeorgeF
Jason some see it as legalised cheating and to a point it is however it can be easily eliminated if lane changes are regular and practise is limited prio to warm up. It's more prominent in team bowling however I do it all the time in tournaments as it's important to get off to a good start and I'm not breaking any rules. As for the 300 game on TV, I was scuffing my ball with a 600 abralon pad every game during matchplay and after game 1 where I shot 172. It wasnt white (as you can see from the telecast) however you would bleed if you ran your finger over it

I know the limits of sandpaper as I have tested them more than just about anyone in this country. 500 is the absolute minimum, I've seen other guys use 360 but its not effective and they never win events I bowl.... join the dots



Not nitpicking but just wondering, did you change lanes or opponent prior to sanding that ball before the 300 game lol!

As George’s opponent in the Melbourne Cup for both matches I can confirm we did not change lanes at the completion of the first match....

 

[Toon]

I have heard that thee USBC have no intentions to making any rulings to make pattern carving illegal. They said that they assessed various users of this art and came to the decision that it is being used to improve ones own game rather than sabotage anothers.

It was a small article I read some time ago.

If I remember correctly they said when it becomes a strategy to sabotage the opponents line. They will move to outlaw it.

I could be wrong but that was the gist of the article.

I personally think that bowlers smart and skillful enough to have strategies to improve their game so be it.

George is an amazing bowler and it's knowledge like pattern carving which is why he is yet again on top of the rankings list.

 

[CT]

Just another form of cheating.

Best thing they could do is to limit ball surface to 1000 grit at the least. What ever happened to people just going to bowl for the fun of it? It is easy to see why bowling tournament participation is at an all time low.

 

[Fitzy]

I don't see it as cheating at all.

It is using the tools of the trade to gain a competitive advantage. It is in no way deceiving you're opponent, it is not gaining an unfair advantage (i.e use of prohibited substance or device).

Some might wonder the semantics of competitive vs unfair. Yes, pattern carving is about gaining an advantage over you're opponent but in a fair and open way. If you're opponent is knowledgeable enough they will know what you are trying to achieve and employ tactics to either thwart or make use of the situation you are trying to create.
In fact, you're opponent will most probably be doing the same thing to you anyways.

Like myself , If the opponent can't see the wood for the trees, they deserve to lose.

An example, not a great one but simple enough to understand:
* Body Builder A uses their financial standing to purchase and fit out a personal gym in home to hone their physique at anytime. Body Builder B can't afford that so goes to the gym whenever possible. Is Body Builder A cheating??

* Body Builder B now buys steroids to "compete" with Body Builder A's competitive advantage. Is Body Builder B cheating??

 

[John_Velo]

Hi Fitzy,

I don't think Pattern Carving should be deem cheating as the techniques is there for all to use.

Years ago it just did not happen effectively as Reactive Resin just was not available. I won't go down that path as I have seen it argued so many times.

The only way to stop pattern carving would be to have tighter regulations on bowling balls or educate the bowling community which is something George has done here and Michael Little on another thread. Education is probably the bigger key I believe.

You can't stop the heavily sanded balls or the miss-use of them, but you can learn how to bowl with or around a carved pattern to reduce the damage to your own game.

And for the record, body builder B will probably glow in the dark and have smaller testicles.

 

[Roysa]

Fact still remains you can probably count on 1 hand the amount of people in Australia that can do it effectively anyway. I mean i didnt even know what carving was before this thread was created, and ive got no problem admitting it either.

I will worry about my own game before i concern myself with trying to stuff someone elses line.

 

[jimcross]

Fact still remains you can probably count on 1 hand the amount of people in Australia that can do it effectively anyway. I mean i didnt even know what carving was before this thread was created, and ive got no problem admitting it either.

I will worry about my own game before i concern myself with trying to stuff someone elses line.

Yes, I'm with that.


Fitzy says " it is not gaining an unfair advantage (i.e use of prohibited substance or device).".

While that is, in a legal sense quite true, it is only true so long as the regulators ( if we ever get some } say so. They could say sanding a ball past a certain grit, was altering a ball beyond what was ' fair' or technically undesirable, i.e. lane damage. They could even say that the very act of altering a ball in that way was beyond reasonable limits, ( like the original, and still current static out-of-balance limit.) or hardness of coverstock.

So, in my view, in a moral sense, it may well be, effectively, " cheating", but in a realistic competitive environment, it not only is not cheating, but becomes an essential practice for everyone who aspires to win in the short to medium term.

It is unfortunately true that sports regulation which does not regulate to ensure that rules are not those supplied by a bloke named 'Raffety', eventually degrade the sport and lose participants. It becomes too easy for sponsored or otherwise professional competitors to afford the always expensive equipment or modifications, over and above what the rest of the field can afford, that a lot of "the rest" just give up.

It's too long a story to relate here, but many years ago, I revolutionised motor sport in NSW, by introducing specific rules on what could or could not be modified in the vatious classes of race cars, and then enforced them to the letter It reduced actual cheating to virtually zero, and made the fields more competitive. So many drivers came to me (including front runners ), and said things like " thanks to what you've done, I no longer have to cheat, and I had to cheat before, even though I couldn't really afford it, or run near the back of the field. Now we win or lose on our ability."

 

[jason_doust]

What Chris refers to as cheating is not so much having the technical knowledge and accuracy to blow a hole in a pattern. It's using so much surface in the first place. In this case, the comparison to steroids is appropriate. Heavily sanded equipment is just a crutch for inadequate revolutions to match a player's ball speed. When a player is speed dominant, they can either improve their technique in order to get the ball to slow down enough to make the corner, or start sanding. But back on topic...

Blowing a hole in a pattern is particularly useful in a teams squad at a championships, where you can line up off each other and everyone gains. I recommend it in this situation. But the rhs get chopped up enough already at open events, so be very very thoughtful about how you apply this potentially dangerous tidbit of knowledge.

Ok. So we've explored pattern carving. What about it's cousin, pattern streaking? If you take a shiny plastic ball with a non-flaring core (say a white dot or maxim) and roll it down a line accurately, you can streak a region of the lane to create an area of hold. Because the non-flaring ball lays some of the oil on it's surface back down on the backend. This is an effective way of settling a snappy fresh house shot, making it smoother off the spot.

Alternately, it was put to me that by using your practice session to shoot 7 pins from 25 board, you can make the left hand side play very differently to what it might otherwise be. By streaking against the direction of hook from the left, right handers can make the left hand side a reverse block from the midlane onwards. Nasty, but effective.

Now to talk about the elephant in the room... People are asking me does George have an agenda with this topic. And if they're asking me, then more people must be thinking it, so let's get it out there.

The question is, is my pattern streaking suggestion any nastier than recommending that right handers start throwing charcoal balls in the practice sessions at major events, which would make the rhs reverse blocked from the heads onwards? And all over the place to boot?

Food for thought... Maybe George hasn't thought through the ramifications of his topic.

Either way, if you intend to try this, get really accurate first. And I mean really accurate. At the arrows and the break point. Forget about the pocket. Today's house shots give way to much room for that to be any measure of accuracy.

 

[GeorgeF]

I started this thread to highlight to bowlers that there is more to bowling than meets the eye. At the highest level in our sport, Internationally and on the PBA it is done on a regular basis, just rarely talked about it. The pro's on Tour are masters at it hence why it's near impossible to beat them in a 5 or 7 game match. This knowledge I have aquired is through years of bowling here and Internationally. I have no bad intentions and openly asked the bowlers if they had any questions in relation to the subject which I'd only be too happy to answer and share some of my knowledge. I've done personal testing of this over several years and have it down to a fine art form..... I'm sure there a few other aussies who have this knowledge and ability. Suggesting to people to do it willy nilly is dangerous, in most cases I'd imagine it would do more worse than good.

There has been recent discussions at the USBC about this because of the USBC Nationals teams event. When you bowl the USBC Nationals you can nominate not only your team but a 'companian team' which means 2 teams can play with each other on the same pair (2 teams of 5 on 2 lanes). What has happened recently is that 10 guys get together and straight burn a spot on the lane which makes the lanes easier and boosts everyones scores. It's gotten so bad of late that if you dont do this you have not chance of winning. The problem is, is that its well within the rules and there is little the USBC can do to stop it.

To be honest, its very hard to do within Australia because of our formats and constant lane changes. I rarely get to do it these days however given the chance, I will, why wouldnt I? Still happy to answer any questions......

Hope this clears things up

 

[jason_doust]

My thoughts exactly. So there you go folks. You now know how to make a pattern a little bit drier or slicker by carving or streaking it.

Be very judicious in using this though, as you can take it that one step too far, called "pattern trashing." This is usually caused by burning a spot too far inside to begin with. When this happens and you have to move in, you can end up with too much angle in the heads and you end up going through the burn spot into less friction and your ball won't recover, even if you're Belmo. Then you're in trouble. It's even worse to move onto a pair where somebody has kindly done this for you and all of a sudden, you've got an unplanned ball change and line change on your hands. This is the likely outcome in a tournament unless everyone just happened to get it done the same way at an event. Which of course is impossible.

So consult and carve away in your teams squads, but please refrain in open tournaments unless, like Hippocrates, you are sure you're doing no harm.

 

[John_Velo]

Hi Guys,

Jason your point is very valid. Through the last few post the common theme exist about bowlers that should and should not attempt pattern carving.

I fit very comfortably and happily into the do not attempt Pattern Carving bunch. Why, because I could not hit the side of a barn two shots in a row. I am OK with that and very honest about my game. I currently only get to bowl three games a week and those are on a house shot. So accuracy really only applies when shooting at spares which on a house shot would be five times a game on a bad night.

As both yourself and George have stated, the pro's do it well because they are Pro's and bowl a lot more than most of us.

For bowlers like myself it is a matter of learning to understand the effect and how to adjust and cope.

But most of all be honest about your game and ability.

 

[jason_doust]

As always John, sensible words.

Don't worry about carving on a house shot. It's pre-carved... with a Ditch Witch! In fact, this is exactly where some judicious streaking can be used. But as you said, and your Dad would agree, accuracy is everything. Especially when carving. I have to agree too.

And not just when carving up oil! Having dabbled in sculpture before, a misplaced strike of a scutch chisel is scary! (Let alone an Arbor Tech!)

 

[John_Velo]

Hey Jason,

Would it be fair to say that really George would be rare as a bowler, mainly due to being Greek back ground I believe. Have you seen their sculpture work, every male stature looks as though the chisel slipped in the nether regions removing the important bits. Now they will tell us it's due to being old stone carvings, but maybe not?