82 year old that just had a stroke bowls a 300 game?!?! (bit of a state of bowling rant

[Pacfanweb]

You think maybe these lanes are walled up a bit?

I think it's great, really..good for him, I'm glad he's recovered and everything...........but how can the ABC, PBA, and other sanctioning bodies justify having the lanes this easy? Come on, an 82 year old who AVERAGES 190? He's obviously a good bowler, but no 82 year old can average 190 on any kind of a tough shot.

I think they need to get the scores back to reality, and put down a challenging, sport condition shot like the PBA uses. It's fun to shoot a high score, but how many no-bowling morons need to shoot 300 games and 800 series before they admit the lanes are too easy?

Go to pba.com, look at regional tournament results and see the whole qualifying list. You'll see down in the last 15-20 spots, non-members who tried a PBA tournament out....and averaged 150-160. I guarantee these same guys are averaging near 200 on their normal house shot.
Oh, well, that's my first-ever, semi-rant on ATOT. (as if anyone cares, but I feel better now. )

 

[crystal]

Sometime the rolls of the dices just seem going your way.

 

[Murphyrulez]

Are you saying that they can somehow fix the lanes to make it easier to get a strike? How do they do it? With wax or some chemicals?

 

[Jhill]

How can bowling lanes be easy or hard? The amount of wax?
Just curious.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Jhill
How can bowling lanes be easy or hard? The amount of wax?
Just curious.

Yes, the oil they put on the lanes to protect the finish can be made to help or hurt you.

What most houses do to make it easy is this: Ok, most league bowlers throw a hook ball of some type, meaning they can throw the ball out toward the gutter and it will grab the lane and hook back. You throw some practice to see where you need to stand and aim, get the right angle and target to put your ball in the strike pocket (1-3 for righties, 1-2 for lefties) and then you go for it.

To make the shot easy: They set the machine that oils the lanes to put more oil in the middle of the lane, and taper it down as you move to the outside of the lanes until the very edge of the lanes has the minimum legal amount.
This means that if you miss your target on the lane to the left, it will be in heavier oil, and won't hook as much, so it won't go through the middle of the pins....basically it will slide right to the pocket.
On the other hand, if you miss your target to the outside of the lane, the ball will go to where there is less oil, and will grab the lane harder and and hook more, thus reaching the pocket by covering more ground.

That is what makes lanes easy or not. It really isn't correct to say the actual lanes are easy, it's really the oil pattern.

You can also make it damn near impossible to score by screwing with the oil pattern, too.

The PBA tends to put a pattern down somewhere in between easy and impossible. So when you see that a PBA bowler averaged 218 for a season, and you hear someone say, heck, 3 guys in my league averaged over 220....believe me, it ain't the same thing.
If PBA members bowled on a house shot, they'd average 240, easily, and someone would shoot a 300 every game.
Every now and then, the PBA puts down an easy shot for the TV finals, since most casual bowling observers don't really want to see Pete Weber beat Parker Bohn 191-178. They'd rather see some big scores with a lot of strikes, but they generally don't put down an easy shot for the whole tournament.

 

[MrChicken]

Dont they also use a heavier pin in the PBA than you see at the neighborhood lanes?

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: MrChicken
Dont they also use a heavier pin in the PBA than you see at the neighborhood lanes?

ABC rules specify minimum pin weight of 3lbs 6 oz, max of 3lb 10 oz.

PBA uses the heaviest, which makes a huge difference.

Most bowling centers use the lightest.

 

[bozo1]

I wouldn't assume that the lanes were easy just because an 82-year old bowled a 300.

However, the center I bowled at last season starting oiling to PBA standards. All of our high average bowlers were down about 15 pins average from the previous year. Even so, I bowled a 268, 711 series during a tournament and won a good bit of cash. Of course that was a fluke as I bowled like shyt for the rest of the season.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: bozo1
I wouldn't assume that the lanes were easy just because an 82-year old bowled a 300.

However, the center I bowled at last season starting oiling to PBA standards. All of our high average bowlers were down about 15 pins average from the previous year. Even so, I bowled a 268, 711 series during a tournament and won a good bit of cash. Of course that was a fluke as I bowled like shyt for the rest of the season.

It isn't just the 300 game, he also averages 190. I remember watching my dad, who was one of the best in the state at the time, and all the other good bowlers in town here, and it was a rare occasion when someone averaged 200. 190 was awesome. That 82 year old wouldn't stand a chance of averaging that high on a sport shot. I'm not knocking the guy, I'm happy that he bounced back at that age, but let's face it, those lanes are easy.
Now, anyone with average ability can take a liking to the game, practice a couple of years, buy some equipment, and be averaging 180+ in less than 3 years, tops, with potential to get hot and shoot some big scores, kind of like you did.
Those same individuals could never do that on a sport condition. They'd have to earn it.
BTW, congrats on the 700 set. You can say you earned it, bowling on a sport condition, even if you were only "on" for that one night. To me, it means more than a 300 shot on an easy shot. I'm much prouder of my 2nd 800 series than my 300 or the first 800, because it was shot in a house with a TOUGH shot. I was just hot that night, but I earned it. There were 3 PBA members bowling on the same pair of lanes with me, and none of them broke 600.
I enjoyed shooting 300, but feel it was cheapened because so many people shoot them now.

 

[Lucky]

I dont pretend to have the bowling knowledge you do but find it highly unlikely that oil alone helped this guy have a perfect game...more like just a stroke of luck.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Lucky
I dont pretend to have the bowling knowledge you do but find it highly unlikely that oil alone helped this guy have a perfect game...more like just a stroke of luck.

LOL.

I agree, no matter how easy the lanes are, you still have to have some luck to string 12 strikes in a row. I've had nights where I never missed the pocket, yet never broke 220. Sometimes, they just don't fall. Sometimes they do. But my point is, those sometimes that they do fall are much more frequent and likely the way the lanes are currently oiled.

 

[Lucky]

wherever I get settled after moving next I'd like to get involved in a league. I like bowling but dont have any friends that like it. But I also dont do that crazy spin stuff. I just throw it straight and average ~150 bowling 5-6 times/year.

 

[440sixpack]

Heh, think I'll stick with my candlepins. We're still waiting for a 300 in that game.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: 440sixpack
Heh, think I'll stick with my candlepins. We're still waiting for a 300 in that game.

LOL, I think we'll still be waiting for a 300 in candlepins as long as we're breathing.

Nice nickname, btw.

 

[Zugzwang152]

i do that straight stuff too, and my high game is 180 something i think. I can do the cheat spin thing, where you cradle the ball between your fingers and your wrist and then let it rip, but thats it