Super Six Oiling Patterns - Three in a Row

[jason_doust]

George, you've missed a critical part of my argument and that's the line before your quote. While I'm sure you didn't mean to take me out of context, this point is critical to what I am saying and to which you have subsequently agreed.

That's why we need asymmetrical patterns and more volume for that matter. It's only fair that the RHS heads to allow righties to play a board numbered less than 20. As much as I love long formats, perhaps less games is part of the solution.

I have great reservations about whether people will travel for a short format qualifiers as a lot of folks don't like sprints. James McGinty uses a format at Coffs that uses your best 2 x 4 game blocks with multiple entries to qualify and that seems to work well as a happy medium. People want to know that they aren't travelling a long way or paying for accommodation for an an hour's play. I think a re-oil during matchplay is a good solution to the long formats. The PBA does it and it seems to work.

On my (and other people's) other point, we need assymetrical patterns because we have assymetrical surfaces in most houses and most importantly an assymetrical distribution of players across the lane. It's only fair to build the patterns accordingly. Brunswick Cup and the recent (unintended) Festival of the Left at S.A Cup tells us this. The only way to do that on the right (where, as Belmo alluded, the majority of the customers are) with modern bowling balls is to either;

• increase the length so that the inside line meets an appropriate inside breakpoint downlane and/or
• increase the volume up front so that the pattern holds up longer

The 45 foot remark is (mostly) a joke. It'd be pretty ugly to watch (as I said) and tough to play on, but it would be fairer than what's currently happening. And 39 feet with a blend on the 8th board, while adhering to the current paradigm (pattern length - 31 = pattern exit point) has proven itself to simply not cut on the RHS. As I've said before, it's what house shots used to play like when 205 was a big league average (before today's hyper-balls).

If we're going to modify house shots for tournaments, then let's give the righties the same look off the edge the lefties have. Not having to get to 5 board via 20 at the arrows like Brunswick Cup or use a 10 year old urethane ball like NSW Open. If I had to pick the best bowler of the day at Brunswick Cup, it would have been Jason Walsh hands down. He was trying everything in his quite varied bag of tricks and nailing shot after shot to have ball after ball quitting at about 50 feet. Stone 10 city. He, like all the righties with hand, was not able to play up the boards, so the ball was spent by the time it made the necessary circuitous route to the pocket. It's what today's balls do to the patterns and it makes it unfair by the end of matchplay.

Right now, there's a fraction too much friction. As always, all I ask is that all styles of bowler have some kind of chance.

Cheers,
Jason

 

[Brenton_Davy]

That's why we need asymmetrical patterns and more volume for that matter. It's only fair that the RHS heads to allow righties to play a board numbered less than 20. .

Agreed. As long as thge assymetry is in the heads. I feel that if we double (as an example) the head volume for the RHS that would largly solve the problem without the massive carrydown problem that increasing the volume tha much all the way down the pattern

On my (and other people's) other point, we need assymetrical patterns because we have assymetrical surfaces in most houses and most importantly an assymetrical distribution of players across the lane. It's only fair to build the patterns accordingly. Brunswick Cup and the recent (unintended) Festival of the Left at S.A Cup tells us this.

Gonna be hard to do wthout the requisite topography and friction analysis equipment that would be required to create a "fair" assymetry

• 
  [*]increase the length so that the inside line meets an appropriate inside breakpoint downlane and/or
  [*]increase the volume up front so that the pattern holds up longer

Agree with the first but not the 2nd. My previous comment re the carrydown applies here. The right handed strokers would be totally out to lunch on such a volume all the way down the pattern, especially on long patterns.

If I had to pick the best bowler of the day at Brunswick Cup, it would have been Jason Walsh hands down. He was trying everything in his quite varied bag of tricks and nailing shot after shot to have ball after ball quitting at about 50 feet. Stone 10 city. He, like all the righties with hand, was not able to play up the boards, so the ball was spent by the time it made the necessary circuitous route to the pocket. It's what today's balls do to the patterns and it makes it unfair by the end of matchplay.

Interesting you mention Jason Walsh. I have noticed e has always laid the bal down very early so he does tend to lose the heads very quicky as a result and is always chasing some head oil. He plays differently to many of the worlds successful power players who still clear the foul line by a reasonable margin. Don't get me wrong, I would give my right arm for Jasons release and revs, but i have always belived he has suffered by laying the ball down too early. The ability of guys like Billy Gardiner to overcome dry heads was due in part to his ability to generate loft without sacrficing revs. His ball speed also helped i guess.

Just my thoughts. Probably dont carry too much weight coming from a lefty fudger

 

[jason_doust]

Hi Brenton. Fair comments all round. Topography just has to be lived with regardless. I was referring more to worn track areas on older installations. These create out of bounds on the right as the ball goes from up-hill to flat, then accelerates rightwards wiggling through the breakpoint big time.

Thinking about Walshy, Frawls probably out-bowled him. Just. Every time I looked Walshy's way I winced at some bad result the guy copped. Increasing head oil as you suggest would have made his day better. Frawls is mastering soft hands and still hooked it a bunch on the right and ran out of front end clearance at a point allowing decent angle by the end of the day. They're both throwing it great right now. Jason's revs cost him at brunswick though.

Dry heads eliminate players with hand or players who throw it soft. Bowling becomes chucking.

 

[wchester]

Dry heads eliminate players with hand or players who throw it soft. Bowling becomes chucking.

This is one of the main reasons why I no longer compete in the tournaments.

 

[Brenton_Davy]

Unfortunately, the utopian scenario of a fair condition for all will probably never occur, as long as there are right handers and lefties (and please no jokes,statements etc about drowning lefties at birth!!!!!!) and imperfect lane surfaces.

Bowled in a VSS event in November where qualifying had the PBA Scorpion pattern. No lefties had any shot whereas the right opened up halfway through the first block and played like a long house pattern. On the other hand the left, due to low numbers never did open up until halfway through the last block.

It is usually the way that if the condition is high volume and very tough, the righties can open something up whereas the left never can. Easy patterns and open shots will nearly always favour the lefties as they open it up even further by all playing the same line whereas the righties "scattergun" the pattern by all playing their different "comfort zones" and wrecking the heads.

As I posted before, without the requisite topographic and friction analysis equipment, any assymetric patterns devised would be purely guess work, which would probably lead to one type of bowler or another, being given an unfair advantage.

 

[strop]

I'm still not sure who we are trying to cater here by increasing the oil volume and longer distance.
Initially the lanes are the same to start with both right and left and because of the volume of bowlers on the right the right hand side breaks down.

So what are we saying put more oil down and longer distance, are we talking both sides ???

Isn't the problem still there, or is it the more revolutions,cranker, out and in, bowlers just need more oil to cater for the way they bowl ?

The game has changed so much since people like billy gardner and a few others starting bowling there million revolutions in the late eighties with their big hooks

I't's only a matter of time before every-one will be bowling with 2 hands (no offense belmo)

I think I'm just getting too old and grumpier, ever since they bought in reactive balls to make it easier for some.

I assume there is no other adjustment for the right handers except to move in and wing-it.

Don't flood the lanes just to cater for a few, too much goes into worrying about the left handers always got it better.

The sports series I think was always a good idea to bowl in to cover most of the patterns around today.

I would like to see Bradford back, he coped quite well on most conditions!!!

cheers

Tony

 

[jason_doust]

Hi Tony. For the record, I have never said more length and more volume. That would just get ugly. It's an either/or scenario. Length has to be done on both sides of the lane because of rollers and brushes that cover the whole lane. As volume gets burned up, the problems begin, so let's start fixing the situation with volume as that can be dictated board by board.

Yes, I agree that reactive balls have made it better for some. Those who are rev-challenged have always benefitted enormously from them. I wrote a brief piece in Pin Action (circa 1993) on this and hinted that it was potentially damaging to the integrity of the sport, which served to sell a whole bunch of reactive balls. Those weak 10's just disappeared a long time ago for the fudgers, although (as I have said since the release of the Brunswick Edge in about 1986) the stronger we make the balls, the weaker we make the bowlers. A lot of good players left the sport after reactives came out. These days I see guys with no right to get the 5 pin out getting upset about standing a 10 pin!

Your assumption is correct. There is currently no other adjustment on the right than to move left and wing it because there is no oil on the edge anymore. You can't bowl consistently out of dust and the only thing left of you is burn and streaks. Exactly zero margin for error and lousy reaction.

Bradford won a lot of things, but did ever win from inside 10? For the record neither did I. We are all subject to what's on the lane. Terry Wenban and Gary Kee are the only guys I know from urethane days to have won from 2 board to inside 20.

p.s. Everyone seems to panic when patterns get long. Why is that? Surely the gutter isn't the only place to play? I'd love to be able to play it! Just never get the chance... Last time (apart from a Sport Series in Orange) was SPC in 2007(?)

 

[willey]

Yes Christian your seeing the Light. These people that are talking less Tournaments will only ruin the Sport, we need More Tournaments, simple Tournaments. For those not old enough to remember, the Grand Prix series did not start all of a sudden, it took years of Satellite Tournaments from Centres all over the State. The NSW Open was started by the TBA to be held the weekend before the SPC, in the Centre, the SPC was to be Bowled in. Newcastle Cup, held at Mayfield when it was with Olympic, with re-entry conditions. The Canberra Open, held at the Olympic Bowl, would often fill up, so that entries were rejected, held Easter weekend. Later entries to make up the Grand Prix in NSW were the Western Open taken in turns, between Blacktown, Penrith and Mount Druitt, the Lake Macquarie Open held at Bennetts Green. All these places set their own conditions and the Manager and Staff had full ownership of Selling and running these Tournaments.

After Mackie took over the Grand Prix's, he set up a Flying squad of AMF Staff to run and look after all Facets of the Series, this is when it got Expensive to run, I know from experience with the SPC, all the AMF Staff, would be flown from around the Country, than put up at a Motel, with Breakfast lunch and Dinner paid for by AMF, even if they only lived a few Kilometers away.

I still remember the First Tournament I bowled in at Fairfield, 1 game qualifying with your average added, the Final was over 3 Games, highest game with Handicap was the Winner, I ran 2nd, to John Greenfield (lane re-surfacer and installer for many years at AMF), this was in 1969, the top 3 bowled in a State Final at Balgowlah. This was the only Tournament that year, other than the SPC Qualifying. In latter years they started up the Spring Triplex The National No-Tap etc. The only other Major of importance was the Sydney Cup, but for someone like me out in the Burbs, the Sydney Cup had no importance.

So if you want a Tournament culture to start, it must start from a Grass Roots position in the Centres, this is how it was and how it will happen again.

Imho, the Game prices are excessive, I used to observe the Customers when they came into the Centres with their Families to Bowl, "Can we have 2 Games each please"-- " That will be $85 Dollars thanks" " Can we change that to 1 Game each thanks, and do you have EFTPOS". Also the Staff would get embarrassed about the Prices.

willey

 

[AdrianS]

Ian won from inside 10 trust me!!! And with deliberate brooky hits too(Mt Gambier was a wonderful place!!!!)

 

[bluey]

Ian won from inside 10 trust me!!! And with deliberate brooky hits too(Mt Gambier was a wonderful place!!!!)

I think that was when he wasn't carrying the ten pin.

 

[jason_doust]

Thanks for that Adrian. (And nice one bluey...) It must have been after I left the game in 1993 and consolidates my position on who's benefitted the most from reactives. But we're getting way off topic here.

Thinking about this overnight, Jared is correct and in a way, we all are. There needs to be a variety of conditions to accommodate the variety of players out there. Laying 39 ft with a dry edge everywhere isn't the answer and there probably is an answer except to try many answers. Mix it up. Publish it early and let people decide.

That said, it does need to be asymmetrical.

Cheers,
Jason

 

[jason_doust]

p.s. I left the game in 1993 because it became a distinct disadvantage to create your own roll and therefore became unfair. A lot of good players left the game around this time and it still hasn't recovered. We must learn from our mistakes.

 

[CBateup]

Hi all

Lots of good comments.

I agree three tournaments in a row with the same pattern is not good. The time for a drastic change is now.

I would like to throw an idea out there. When was the last time a righty won a tournament in AUS from the first arrow (or even close). Im sure im not the only one that likes to watch the PBA.

Or maybe George is correct, all the rightys have lost the art of burning up a spot outside and moving in of it.

Chris

 

[AdrianS]

To play out you gotta put the flare monsters away though, plus its hard to learn that on some house conditions where even control balls will hook early from out there. Throwing it to the right and waiting for the boing is all some people know sadly, doesnt mean they're untalented they're just products of the enviroment they've learned on.

 

[hamster]

Hi all

Lots of good comments.

I agree three tournaments in a row with the same pattern is not good. The time for a drastic change is now.

I would like to throw an idea out there. When was the last time a righty won a tournament in AUS from the first arrow (or even close). Im sure im not the only one that likes to watch the PBA.

Or maybe George is correct, all the rightys have lost the art of burning up a spot outside and moving in of it.

Chris

Not 100% sure but I think Mac Stewart won the Ebonite Sport Series at Surfers last year shooting up 5. It would be on the Bowling show. Can't remember the name of the sports pattern either.

I'm sure someone can fill in the gaps.

Hammo

 

[jason_doust]

Cheetah was the final pattern in the sports series final. It's best played off the edge as it has a blend (some area to aim at) around 5 and is dead flat (i.e. no area at all) inside it. The trouble on the right is not burning a friction spot though. The last three patterns came pre-burnt! There's just not enough soup out there to sustain life. If you want to use anything above an entry level ball, you're moving left fast.

Cheetah will be laid at the Sport Series this weekend at Tuggeranong. Can't wait for my annual pilgrimage to the RHS of the approach!