"THS" Is it good for bowling?

[lordofthepins]

I hear what u are saying Geoff, Some courses have more open and wider fairways, some courses have few to no sand bunkers. some courses have water features, most dont..... some courses the greens are flatter than others..

Most of these "soft" conditions are around on many of our courses, so Geoff we also make it considerably easier for the amateur golfer, just like we do for the league bowler.
Ther are hard courses around, that have been designed to be challenging, which u may comapre to "sports" patterns in bowling if u like.. Horses for courses mate The degree of easiness, well I think bowling wins it Geoff, but bowling is still challenging, and what we have is a bigger area to play with..I think (I was not bowling until 2000), we are so hung up on holding that house league 200 ave.. I remember posters here saying that 200 use to be a thing of beauty.. Todays standards the par ave should be 220 from what I have read..

What can u do?
The balls are so strong. The standard house pattern is forgiving.
Some house 200 bowlers dont want change.

Sports leagues seem the only other significant option around, I wish my centre had a once a week Sports pattern.

 

[jason_doust]

AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TYPE THIS!!!!!

Crown oil provides an in-between option and has done since the 70's. Just put some oil between 10 and the edge and blend the big puddle in the middle out with a trowel, instead of just cutting it off with a knife.

Bowling used to be considered to be on a par with Golf in terms of technical difficulty and athletic prowess. Not so these days.

If I bowl 300 in league, it's a thrill. (As much because I bowl at Tuggeranong and the carry is pretty random some days.) But I know it's on a bumper bowling house shot, a ditch. It's nice, but a bit hollow. If the guy who bowls his once in a lifetime 300 with a Kryptonite ball on a bumper bowling house shot doesn't know any better, are we to all tip toe about not letting him know the lanes were easy for fear of offending him? That's not showing him respect.

Face it. Bowling 300 is easier than it's ever been. Just see the TBA or USBC stats on 300 games. With about 1/3 of the number of registered players from the 1980's, USBC gets 9 times as many 300's these days! That's about 27 times easier, by my very rough calculations.

By making the lanes a little more honest, we can restore some respect to the par score of 200. As I have said so many times before. If bowling can't respect itself, how can we ask anyone to respect bowling?

It's like some awful family secret that nobody dares to utter. Reject the beautiful lie and accept the awful truth. Most "House Shots" are blocked lanes and therefore just proprietor induced cheating to satiate ignorant or worse, willingly deluded customers. If bowling is to be a sport, then this delusion must not be harboured or tolerated any more. We have to face our shame and call a spade a spade in public. It's about politely educating the players about what it is they are playing on.

You can see with your naked eye where the oil stops outside 10 board just past the foul line at both the houses in my town. It's a joke. Out the pie houses now! The only things I get to bowl on are blocked lanes in Canberra. (So that's AMF Tuggeranong and Belconnen outed.) I'm really only getting to grips with them since learning to throw the ball straighter than I ever thought I could.

Blocked lanes will be around for some time yet. I'm just honest about them. I ask everyone to do the same.

And to restore bowling's respect.

 

[AdrianS]

I remember being paired with David Porto during a tournament about 2 years ago. Unfortunately the challenge in terms of hitting the pocket wasn't present for this event. 4 qualifiers averaged over 240. Every 10 pin (or 7 pin in Porto's case) was followed with the comment "well there goes 21 pins".

I never want to see bowling like that again.

Good, dont watch Goebal 296 d Duke 280 or Learn 300 d Petraglia 279 like i just did

Some tourneys are like that, some it takes 199av to win. Get over yourself and bowl at whats 'there'

 

[Glenno]

We can debate about this for the the ten years,however i doubt very much the centres are going to change the house pattern in a hurry just to please a few. Maybe write to the bowling ball manufacturers and tell them not to make reactive balls anymore. Just use plastic or rubber,im sure that would keep our bowling scores honest.

 

[tonx]

http://www.totalbowling.com.au/forum/blog.php?b=41

 

[Geoff300]

We can debate about this for the the ten years,however i doubt very much the centres are going to change the house pattern in a hurry just to please a few. Maybe write to the bowling ball manufacturers and tell them not to make reactive balls anymore. Just use plastic or rubber,im sure that would keep our bowling scores honest.

Hi Glenn

Hows it going mate

We are not trying to please a few

We are trying to make the SPORT more honest again and have some credability again

To me when I hear of someone Bowling another 300 I just say
yeah big deal, really it is so often and by so many who are
marginal bowlers it has turned it into a joke

Im sure that will upset a few but Honesty sometimes does that, thats life

Cheers
Geoff

 

[Glenno]

Hi Glenn

Hows it going mate

We are not trying to please a few

We are trying to make the SPORT more honest again and have some credability again

To me when I hear of someone Bowling another 300 I just say
yeah big deal, really it is so often and by so many who are
marginal bowlers it has turned it into a joke

Im sure that will upset a few but Honesty sometimes does that, thats life

Cheers
Geoff

Im good Geoff hows yourself?? Hope your doing well. The point im trying to make is,that im referring to the percentage of league bowlers in Australia who actually bowl major tournaments. No doubt it would be a small percentage.

I would be pretty much on the money to say that bowlers who just bowl league and DO NOT participate in any tournaments at all,would not want a tough condition,only because its pointless them bowling on something tough if there not going to participate elsewhere other than there home centre.

A lot of them dont want to give up there 200+ average only to be deflated if the centre decide to put something more challenging down. and sometimes deflation leads to these bowlers pulling out of leagues,or leaving a certain centre to bowl somewhere else where they know they can score well.

Personally im not fussed about what condition they throw at me,as i have over the years bowled pretty much on every condition bowling has to offer,
(although i would of loved to have bowled back in the rubber bowling ball days) sure im the first to put my hand up and admit on sports style conditions,i would struggle to average 200,however i know for a fact that if centres start to throw tough conditions down,a lot of bowlers would complain simply because they feel its not beneficial for them if there not going to bowl in tournaments or at other centres.

I may not be right with some of my comments as i dont have actual figures on how many bowlers in Australia bowl tournaments etc.. But i would be close and just expressing my opinion on it.

Cheers.

 

[Easy Tiger]

What about gradually stepping it back instead of throwing the kitchen sink at the problem.. wind it back gradually, say every 3 months tighten it up a little.

Going from one extreme to the other will drive some away with the "inflated average ego" syndrome, but stepping it down gradually they probably won't even notice.

Also Dousty is on the money, doesn't have to be a brutal 1:1 but somewhere between 3:1 and 7:1 sounds fairer, rather than 15:1 .

 

[NoodleS]

In Albury on wood I set our lanes up with a 39 foot, 5:1 pattern and I think its a pretty fair pattern, there's a shot there for everyone with a little bit of area without having anyone get away with to many errors. Personally I'd like a little more length but I do have to have the other bowlers interests in mind also.

I agree with a lot of what Jason has said.

 

[Geoff300]

Im good Geoff hows yourself?? Hope your doing well. The point im trying to make is,that im referring to the percentage of league bowlers in Australia who actually bowl major tournaments. No doubt it would be a small percentage.

I would be pretty much on the money to say that bowlers who just bowl league and DO NOT participate in any tournaments at all,would not want a tough condition,only because its pointless them bowling on something tough if there not going to participate elsewhere other than there home centre.

A lot of them dont want to give up there 200+ average only to be deflated if the centre decide to put something more challenging down. and sometimes deflation leads to these bowlers pulling out of leagues,or leaving a certain centre to bowl somewhere else where they know they can score well.

Personally im not fussed about what condition they throw at me,as i have over the years bowled pretty much on every condition bowling has to offer,
(although i would of loved to have bowled back in the rubber bowling ball days) sure im the first to put my hand up and admit on sports style conditions,i would struggle to average 200,however i know for a fact that if centres start to throw tough conditions down,a lot of bowlers would complain simply because they feel its not beneficial for them if there not going to bowl in tournaments or at other centres.

I may not be right with some of my comments as i dont have actual figures on how many bowlers in Australia bowl tournaments etc.. But i would be close and just expressing my opinion on it.

Cheers.

Hi Glenn

Going okay , for old bloke who can't bowl !!

Your points are fair enough

But your points are exactly why it should happen

Think about this prospect

Fred bowls in a Tuesday night singles league in some Centre and he averages +210
and one week he bowls 300 , the third 300 in his league this season. He
finishes 6th in the league

Bill bowls in a tournament in Fred's Centre one weekend and averages 195
but wins the tournament, high game for the tournament is 267

The outcome is , Fred thinks he is better than Tournament Bowlers

The reality is Fred is kidding himself because he is a mug who couldnt average 190 on a decent condition if his life depended on it and would never bowl a 300 and is happy to average 210 but still lose

Bill will always be a better bowler than Fred averaging 20 pins less than Frd and he won !!!!!

I know which Bowler I would rather be and by bringing conditions back a little bowlers would be made to learn to bowl not just play chuck it right and strike 6 times, leave a single pin and throw it in the gutter because they have never had to learn to spare to win

This is why our game is now a game and not a sport

Just my view

Cheers
Geoff

 

[lgt]

There are many views to this position but generally the 'business' side will dictate the outcome.

The 'clients' are the league bowlers and they are the bread and butter for most centres, whether they are great bowlers or not, social is like the icing on the cake - and the sport of tenpin bowling / tournaments is championed by a minority of centres.

The sport of tenpin is about personal achievements, and whether Fred or Jane league bowler looks to have a better average than you or tournament bowlers, should be irrelevant.

Fred is not a mug - he turns up each week and pays to keep the centre viable.

The TBA has made some changes to selection of tournament patterns. As the tournament manager for NSW Open I was very surprised to meet such diverse criticism regards Beijing, and will have to be aware of this when looking to next year - attendance and success will overshadow what is best progression of the sport.

Adult Nationals - all one pattern for championships and Team events at AMF Rooty Hill.

Then Dec Ranked event AMF Aust Cup - set for Broadway pattern - that will keep you all happy!!

Leanne

 

[Anthony L]

To put it simply - if a centre puts a tough condition down as a house pattern it will lose a lot of bowlers who think they are a 200+ average (clearly they are not) and as these leagues are the centres bread and butter l am predicting that they will not change too much...
Just my thoughts...cheers

 

[strop]

By making the lanes a little more honest, we can restore some respect to the par score of 200. As I have said so many times before. If bowling can't respect itself, how can we ask anyone to respect bowling?

as quoted by the great Jason Doust.

Not being smart there, you are one of the Greats of the game........

My biggest gripe was never about the condition but the ball.......especially when they bought in the reactives.

How about we make the Balls a little more honest as well, not just the lanes!!

A man is only as good as his balls are i reakon......He! He!......there are a lot of good bowlers out there.......

just ashame we cant get back to the numbers in tournaments as we used to have.....

Cheers

Tony
(old elite athlete)

 

[bowlrig]

How about we make the Balls a little more honest as well, not just the lanes!!

The ball companies have the bowling industry by the balls.

Agreeing with Stop here. Gradually roll the balls back....don't let the ball companies dictate as they do now.

Would the lane conditions, conditioners and lane machines be what they are now if the balls had not changed as radically as they have over such a short period of time?

I know tech's used to muck aroud with their century 100's but they could not emulate what is put down these days.

Rob

 

[AdrianS]

Prob just as well, i was one of those "artists' with a Century 100 who could put 'something' a bit outside 10 board and the whole lane would be playable, better than a Kegel 'ths'!!

 

[jason_doust]

Tony, excellent point. Without the balls, the lanes are less of an influence and the frequency of the scoring pace drops as rapidly as it rose when reactives came in.

I suspect that the blocked lanes are everywhere because of the reactive balls, which are much harder to capitalise on when things get tougher. Especially as the balls get more angular. Anyone who's played on a couple of sport shots can testify to that. Straighter becomes greater on many of these patterns.

I remember when reactives came out and they were referred to as "Cheater Balls." Those cheater balls would be entry level today!

p.s. Kind words. Thank you.

 

[John_Velo]

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.

 

[Brenton_Davy]

John,

Excellent finds and therein lies the state of our sport and most of its players, especially those who want to improve, but are unable to because their shots, god or bad keep finding the pocket.

 

[Macka69]

Hi John,

After reading all that post about THS and Sport Bowling I came to a thought that if the centres that have a THS for leagues that have bowlers averaging 180+ and these bowlers would like to improve themselves for bowling in tourneys like Country cup and Emerson shield and the likes or even on a State or National level then whats to stop a centre from starting a sport league to cater for these bowlers if the NUMBERS of bowlers are there. But then that might also cause friction and a few may drop when they learn that their 200+ ave THS equates back to abt 160+ on a spotrs pattern but I think its worth a try as they have quite a few sport series leagues in Melb but here in the country its different as they complain week in and week out that they cant hold the same shot for 3 games.

Lyndon

 

[John_Velo]

Hey Guys,

In last week’s league I left four ten pins in a row. One person commented that I was ripped off. My response, “I got what I laid down because the shot was not good enough.”

Maybe from growing up around some of the best bowlers in the country I had a reality check early as to where I sit and that makes being honest with myself and my shot pretty easy. The good bowlers over the last 50 years share the same thing regardless of ball types, a good shot consisting of a great approach and timing with perfect speed and roll off the hand.

If the shot is tough and only one person is shooting high scores. Then you’re doing it wrong. But if everybody is shooting high scores you will never know the difference.

I guess take the challenge and try the GP series or Sport Series in your state. That is my goal for the year to keep me grounded.