Why is inflation hitting bowling so hard?

[Potter]

Is everyone else facing huge price rises for practice games? For people like me who like to practice every day it is becoming impossible. Back in the good old days people who bowled league in 2 different local centres ( here in Newcastle) were able to have 3 free practice games per day ( called V.I.P membership)- I guess this encouraged practice & filled leagues - 2011 $6 for 3 practice games for V.I.P's - 2012 the price has gone up to $9 for the 3 practice games - a 50% increase on top of the rise in league prices. For people who bowl a lot this is a lot of cash - makes practice hard to afford - & for tournaments we need to practice - this seems to be hurting bowling at the grass roots level.

 

[Roysa]

Interesting topic...

Dont know about others but $3 games is still great value IMO. That is 50% of my current league practise rate.

$2 games is definately undervalued in the current environment. If you really want the answer though I suggest you ask the centres involved but id say they are feeling the pinch like many other businesses. Compared to others your deal is still good value.

 

[bluey]

We get 4 for $15 at the AMF centres in Melbourne at the moment and most of us consider that to be pretty good. I remember $2 games at Ringwood many years ago but l also remember petrol at 68 cents a litre. Can't say l wouldn't like it to be cheaper but what do you do?

 

[Roysa]

Thats right Bluey, last time i bowled in a league in an AMF centre i think 4 games was $16 and 5 $18, back then i thought that was great value. So $3 a game is something id be really happy with. Maybe i should move to Newcastle

 

[mickyd213]

We get $5 games or 5 games for $20. With practice with pins prior to bowling. Or we pay $15 to practice for an hour with pins.

 

[JWhitty]

Wow... I'd guess the real answer to the question is because they were seriously too cheap for so long. Even at this comparitively huge rise to $3, I'd be betting that's one of the cheapest practice rates in the country! It's so big because they probably waited too long to start raising it in all seriousness.

 

[Wal Brooker]

And I thought we were doing ok with this $4.50 practice games at Gosford and Bateau Bay .. we were told that ALL centers affliliated with the TBA (including AMF) had the same deal!!

I guess not.

 

[Roysa]

Seems your deal is the best going around Potter... if i was you i wouldnt bring it up with the centre

 

[Mark L]

I can tell you here at Lismore Tenpin Bowl, we encouge practice, so we have put in place that if you bowl 2 leagues you can practice for free. So for a extra 18 or 20 dollars a week you can bowl as much as you want.
Hope some other centers will try it out.

 

[jimcross]

Potter - Stand back or you'll be trampled to death by the stampede of bowlers moving to Newcastle.

SHHHhhh. Say no more about it, or your Centres may consider catching up with the rest of Australia.

Seriously - A bowling centre is a VERY expensive business to run. Seems to me both of yours value their league bowlers highly. May they prosper!!

 

[becka_girl]

Yeah at AMF we get 4 for $15 which I think is actually pretty decent. Better then paying $14 per game like the normal customers!

Sometimes if you are lucky you can get $3 games at AMF but it depends who is working

 

[robbo300]

Back in the old days Doc Kee had us practice on ....instructomat no pins just lane.. usually for about up to 2-3 hours then if we were good boys we maybe got 1 game to finish off as a reward but i suppose things have changed...................ahhh Rushcutter

 

[Potter]

Yep - Instructomat was great back in the day - I used it often for coaching at AMF Bennetts Green but it isn't around anymore. Guess I must be spoilt but the $3 game deal is only available if you bowl 2 leagues in different centres & you have to bowl the 3 games - i wouldn't mind bowling just 2 games for $6 but it is not allowed & if we don't bowl leagues in 2 different centres the cost is $17.50 for 3 games. Just need to find a way to make it cheaper to practice every day.
Looks like I should move to Lismore!!

 

[jimcross]

Potter, I have some advice. I don't know what you do currently to make a living, but I would suggest that if you would like to increase your earnings so that you will have no problem affording to bowl each day, that you should look around and find a suitable small business which ( with the help of your bank ) you can buy, and no longer depend on someone else's goodwill to pay you some plainly inadequate amount.

After you resume bowling, ( you will need to stop for a while while you get your new business on to a solid footing and you may well need to devote 10 to 12 hours a day to it for a time ), you may find that you will seldom, if ever, query the price of a game, or indeed the other aspects of bowling, like equipment, ever again.

 

[Roysa]

That lismore deal Is a good one.

No way a Sydney centre would offer free bowling for a 2 league bowler. Nor should they either.

 

[Michael Little]

Seems to me both of yours value their league bowlers highly. May they prosper!!

Unfortunately Jim, they don't value their league bowlers very highly at all, but that is another story.

After looking around at what others have quoted here for practice games, seems to be a reasonable deal here in Newcastle, however bowling two leagues in any of their 4 centres is quite pricey. I changed from bowling a 3 game doubles league that was $24-25 a week with bugger all prizemoney to a 4 game doubles league for $32 a week with triple the prizemoney. There are maybe 3-4 decent money leagues over the 4 centres. $32 a week for league is more than enough for me to fork out and basically voids me from partaking in any practice due to cost, another reason I bumped my league from 3 to 4 games, as I use league as my weekly practice.

 

[Potter]

Looks like I will have to do the same Michael - problem being I need a lot more practice than you & don't ever get the same result.

 

[Michael Little]

Looks like I will have to do the same Michael - problem being I need a lot more practice than you & don't ever get the same result.

I have also had the luxury of doing this for a lot longer too, but did spend a lot of time practicing before I moved down here, as Batesy at Caboolture knew how to look after his league bowlers or those he felt genuinely could benefit from his help. Can't thank him enough, but I was afforded the ability to practice there when I needed to at no cost and league bowlers who had bowled there consistantly for 10 years or more were afforded the same privilege, although not sure if this is still the case, but this at least shows that a manager of a centre cares about his patronage and values the customer spending their hard earned dollars in his business. These kind of managers are few and far between in our current crappy economic landscape.

 

[Potter]

There are still a few around - Ballina, Lismore, Coffs Harbour & Campbelltown are the ones I know who really look after their tournament bowlers & those who show potential. When you look at them they are all smaller businesses with someone who is/was a bowler, in charge I guess???

 

[Scuzz]

Thats right Bluey, last time i bowled in a league in an AMF centre i think 4 games was $16 and 5 $18, back then i thought that was great value. So $3 a game is something id be really happy with. Maybe i should move to Newcastle

Does this value continue to rise as the amount of games increases?? The VIP benefit is only available once per day, i'd sooner bowl each second or third day but have 6-9 games, i simply believe its better conditioning for tournaments. Sure its good value but.. querks-perks