"THS" Is it good for bowling?

[Captain Obvious]

That bronze, silver,gold thingy has the potential to really upset and alienate many house bowlers, who will definately get their nose out of joint I reckon.. Try telling a 50 yr bloke who just rolled his first 300 game that is was only a bronze condition, thereby dismissing his once in a lifetime achievement... You may be upsetting and turning away your bread and butter customers.. Just a thought.

Isn't that why we have sports patterns at a few centres? To give the keen bowler more of a challenge... My local golf course isn't Pebble Beach, why make my local bowling centre that way...

Promoting/advertising this sport would be of better value... Did anyones centre even remotely acknowledge Belmo's achievment being first Aussie male to win PBA event in 2009. Mine didn't.... Does your centre have any information re lessons/improvement or anything re PBA tour, mine doesn't... I know I'm getting off track a little, but the ave joe bowler should (in an ideal world) be interested to see the elite or to have a passing interest...

Yuo think weekend cricketers, take an interest in Ricky Ponting and the boys, its on TV all the time, its covered in the media, its online streaming off internet.. Bet they do!!

Holiday Lanes in Coffs harbour has a widescreen TV showing the latest tournaments in USA. It's on every day and it's easy to set up. Ask James McGinty about it and I'm sure he will assist anyone in the promotion of the game in any centre.

I'm all for the promotion of the game. I lost interest in the game 20+ years ago because there was not enough money in it to bowl professionally. I have taken it back up again 2 years ago. I could be wrong but it seems to be a similar thing today.

It doesn't take a whole lot of money to promote the sport. Just using the media and it's equipment like what James has done in Coffs is one step.

Col

 

[gimpo]

Hi All,

I was going to start a new post but thought I should add to this post instead.

Something I have noticed or rather not noticed in league was a consistent shot. What I found for the first five months of league was that the scores were not as high as I would have been lead to believe with a typical house shot (THS). Each week was a little different, the top guys still rolled good scores, but the Typical House Bowler (THB) was bowling a little under the better bowlers.

This last four weeks of league has been very interesting as the shot has certainly changed again. Miss five board left and still hit the pocket, in the last four week the centre has seen three 300’s. Two by a shot that I would call, well ordinary, but very consistent. So 12 in row, in the same spot deserves a quick pat on the back and a let’s move on to the next game and do it again.

From that, I am under no illusion of where I would sit as a bowler. For me I sit in the Offical League Hack (OLH) level, just below the THB and nowhere near the likes of the guys that are really rolling the ball nicely and would do so on any pattern. It’s about technique that can travel from centre to centre and not just roll good scores in one centre. To try and improve my shot I use one spare ball and one strike ball and don’t reach into the bag to fix, just try and fix it through technique. If it’s a bad night I get plenty of spare practice and try different ways of reaching the pocket with what is in my hand. My thought is that the next step up is to reach THB level.

So the point I am leading to is the illusion of where you are and what makes the elite guys that much better than THB and OLH. Over the weekend I came across an article put together by a THB 214 average bowler that had been doing the same thing for 20 years and decided to bowl in a sports league where, after 17 weeks he only managed one 200 game.

Follow the links bellow, it’s a good read, you will need about 30 minutes to get through it.

http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowl/node/8209

http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowl/node/8516

http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowl/node/8620

Thanks for reading.

Thanks John for posting those links. I empathise will all 3 of those articles. Recommended reading for any bowler.

 

[mickyd213]

Just a question about the whole THS (PHS) debate... At what point (ratio) do most people consider a house shot to be a ditch. I bowl at both centres in Geelong and one is a 7:1 and the other is around 10:1 ratio pattern where in my opinion scoring is easier on the lower ratio pattern. I know the 7:1 pattern is around 40ft but not sure of the other centre.

 

[John_Velo]

G'Day Michael,

Good question, I would image at 10:1 you would be able see the mechanic on a surf board in that place riding the wave to the pocket.

I am a little out of touch with the layout ratios, but watch some of the PBA stuff they tend to be in the 2:1 ratio for those guys. Take the 68th U.S Open just run. Dead flat 1:1 for 40 feet, gutter to gutter.

If they missed their shot by 1 or 2 boards it was horrible. Who came out on top, the guys that roll the ball nice, Mika, Duke, O'Neal.

It will always go in their favour when the going is tough.

 

[jason_doust]

Just a question about the whole THS (PHS) debate... At what point (ratio) do most people consider a house shot to be a ditch. I bowl at both centres in Geelong and one is a 7:1 and the other is around 10:1 ratio pattern where in my opinion scoring is easier on the lower ratio pattern. I know the 7:1 pattern is around 40ft but not sure of the other centre.

I feel about 7:1 is a good house shot point, but it's on the border where rain would probably affect it via the lane wash drying time. It's easy-ish. BUT...

It depends entirely on the surface the pattern is laid on. 3:1 on new synthetics may play great. Like a house shot in the 80's. The same thing on worn out HPL plays like it's 1:3! Diabolically awful!

I've played on the 2010 Australian Nationals Pattern (3:1, 39ft, 24ml) on 3 different surfaces now. Ironically, it played toughest at the nationals on new Brunswick Anvilane, but got easier off the edge as the event went on. At Tuggeranong, it plays like a really good house tournament shot. There's a pinch of room each way if you can move your feet and eyes. At 7-10 split in Fairfield, the surface made it hook more and the carry was better, so the same pattern became easier to score on again.

If the surface is bad (or just old) at your 10:1 house, then there's your answer. Former PBA lane maintenance director and Phantom Radio host Len Nicholson once told me, "Surface trumps oil. You can't get good scores out of bad lanes." This is also a good tip as to why some sport shots score well from a completely different place than you'd expect.

If the surface is in good shape, then 10:1 (or higher at some flat-out cheating places!) just hands the place to the handbag release brigade and the sandpaper dependent. The folks that really do nothing with the ball. Can't release it and can't be bothered hitting near a target. Anyone with decent rotation just gets over reaction on a ditch like that. Miss right and the balls goes left; It's a 3-10. Miss left and the ball just hangs; It's a 2-10. Meanwhile, the dump-it-and-run guys have 6 boards to aim at (and often all miss those to go Brooklyn!) When you tune into it, you see a fair bit of it. I've no respect for it.

And remember; 300's used to be knocked back because of blocked lanes. It was more honest, but no centre wanted to be caught blocking their lanes.