Hippy, it's a Price thing that gets the Bowlers in, charge the right Price and the Centre's will be full. Nothing to do with Walls, the Average Bowler can't read a Wall, it will actually stiffle his Bowling. The Average Bowler uses a Plastic Ball and if he has to Bowl on Lanes after the Premier League in the House Bowls, he will not be able to turn it, this is more likely to be a turn-off than Walls.
willey
Price as a major determinant is a really good point. Walled lanes are there to satisfy delicate egos though. Joe average with his plastic ball usually doesn't throw it outside "10-bored" to see if it hooks. Many proprietors, including AMF, have been sucked into the "my bowlers will be happier if they strike like crazy" mentality and it works for a while. It's just that when they discover that everyone else can too, they can get disillusioned and quit altogether. When it was tougher, there were a lot more journeyman players about, constantly working on their game.
It's not what the leagues are bowling on. It's the complete lack of knowledge in the leagues. Educate the bowlers on what they are bowling on and WHY it's different from the tournament patterns. People who have no handicap in Golf know that they probably won't be going around Augusta at par, because everyone knows it's hard.
Cheers, Cow
Another good point. When people are taught to actually see ball motion and just how much free room the walled lanes give them, they understand that the PHS (Pathetic House Shot - I'd like to anonymously thank the manager who shared that term with me) is at best, a bit of a joke and at worst, just cheating. When people understand that the PHS is bumper bowling, they treat it for what it's worth - and that's not a lot. Best to make sure you enjoy the company of your bowling buddies, because that's the best bit about league bowling in so many places.
Re: "THS" Is it good for bowling? - It's a very good question. It makes the machines go up and down less, that's for sure!
The walled/blocked lane trains you to get comfortable throwing lots of strikes and this is useful in tournament bowling. It's good for learning how to overcome wet/dry patterns. And there's probably a few more positives like learning to acutely observe ball motion to improve carry, but how many of us do these things in league, or ever? Most of us learn to throw it pretty straight and hoik it up 10-bored.
There's just a big lack of knowledge. I'd play golf greens every bit as badly, as I know nothing about them. Moving your feet is advanced technique for a lot of players these days and I've met people who never change their target and average 200+. With a 10-bored ditch, literally creating a depression ground into the lane after a few years as everyone plays there, people aren't accurate and only learn the most rudimentary moves, as it's all they need for adult bumper bowling.
So in conclusion, the THS has a few redeeming features that an advanced player can use, but doesn't promote learning the game for the novice. Therefore it actually widens the gap between them, which is unfair and may help to explain why so many novices go do something else. If you don't have the knowledge to play a ditch, you probably feel that you'll never make up the big difference between your average and the big shooters.
My personal pet peeve with the THS is that because the ball hooks so much more outside the wall, many of them only allow one shape of shot to be competitive and nearly all of them promote impeded ball roll, by way of either a weak release or very high speed. (Fudging or chucking.)
Only averaged 266 for 5.
