Terminology: what is a "ditch"?

[Geoff300]

I love the sport series tournaments in Sydney, I've only just recently started bowling in them. For me, it's the ability to play different parts of the lane, & the tournament mentality which I enjoy & can't experience at home.

I'm currently bowling a 221 average in league, but when I go away to these tournaments, I've only been setting my self goals which I feel are realistic to my ability - the first one I entered in I had a goal of averaging above 175 being the first tournament I had bowled since 2011, the second one my goal was 180 - I achieved my goals & uncovered parts of my game which I need to work on, including spares. I'm giving my self an aim of 190 in December, mainly because it's the long pattern I first bowled on in Blacktown, & I have an idea of how it breaks down (though Rooty Hill will more than likely play differently) plus I have been working really hard on fixing some faults which have been causing me to tug my shot, with positive results.

If all league bowlers in general understood exactly how badly ditches inflate scores, I think our sport would be in a slightly better situation because the ground for improvement would be there to build upon. Instead, I still have bowlers whinging how they still can't hook the ball 15 boards & that we shouldn't be putting down more than 15 ml of oil.

Education is key, but how do you educate people who don't want to be educated?

If every Centre In Australia stopped using the THS or Ditch patterns today the league bowlers would quickly learn, problem solved.
But they won't, problem remains !!!

 

[Brenton_Davy]

If every Centre In Australia stopped using the THS or Ditch patterns today the league bowlers would quickly learn, problem solved.
But they won't, problem remains !!!

Unfortunately Geoff, given that there is so much competition for the ever dwindling amusement dollar, that if harder patterns were mandated for league bowling, a large number of league bowlers would simply walk away from the game. These people walking away has a cascade effect on the industry. Leagues dwindle which leads to them being cancelled completely. This, in turn, means those bowlers who WANT to bowl on tougher conditions lose the avenues by which to do so. As a result tournament entries decline and with no-one to replace those who leave the game, eventually there is no tournament play.

The horse has bolted in respect to lane conditioning for league. With the exception of a very few "sports" leagues and tournaments, the majority of bowlers have become so conditioned (pun intended) to ditches that to try to reverse the trend in all centres would the straw that breaks the camels back.

 

[Troyza]

In a perfect world, with perfect weather, 100% consistent centre temperatures & humidity, every centre would change their condition gradually - lowering the ratio ever so slightly every month so that bowlers aren't given a rude shock - & perhaps as the conditions slightly increase in difficulty, bowlers will gradually adjust to the condition? It's like boiling a frog - if you chuck it into boiling water, it jumps out. But if you put it in cold water then heat it up, it stays along for the ride.

Sadly, I don't think we could even come close to the above scenario not only due to lack of support on a managerial level, but most lane surfaces are so tracked in it's almost impossible to stray away from a blocked condition & have it play normal.

 

[Geoff300]

Unfortunately Geoff, given that there is so much competition for the ever dwindling amusement dollar, that if harder patterns were mandated for league bowling, a large number of league bowlers would simply walk away from the game. These people walking away has a cascade effect on the industry. Leagues dwindle which leads to them being cancelled completely. This, in turn, means those bowlers who WANT to bowl on tougher conditions lose the avenues by which to do so. As a result tournament entries decline and with no-one to replace those who leave the game, eventually there is no tournament play.

The horse has bolted in respect to lane conditioning for league. With the exception of a very few "sports" leagues and tournaments, the majority of bowlers have become so conditioned (pun intended) to ditches that to try to reverse the trend in all centres would the straw that breaks the camels back.

Sad but probably true
The industry complains about the decline yet they are mostly responsible along
with the destruction of the ATBC, don't start me on that, AND the sale of AMF
to a Bank who could care less about anything other than the almighty Dollar and
proprietors rushing to the Ditch to gain business through inflated egos of league
bowlers who largely have no bloody idea !!!

 

[mickyd213]

Ì find it amusing that with all the talk of ditches and that it's easier to score that no one within this fine country of ours has bowled a 900. It would interesting to know what the highest league average is in Australia... But I'll ask that in another thread.
Please don't take this as me agreeing with ditches because I think it is a slight on our sport and any honour scores bowled on these conditions are losing value fast. (If there is any left)

 

[Roysa]

Id suggest the reason no one has bowled 900 is simply bad luck. No doubt there are stories of 300,300,279 with a cold 9 pin or such. To not have 1 unlucky leave in 36 is highly unlikely.

 

[jason_doust]

Hmmm... Another good reason for no 900 is that so many centres have "interesting" topography. With no regular resurfacing, synthetics get knocked out of plane after a while and it can be a longer while until anyone checks it, let alone does something. Ask the guys in Tuggeranong about what went on before the Seniors event this year! It would be interesting to see if scores have appreciated since the "en masse:" re-levelling of the panels. (But speaking of bad carry, I think "Tuggeranong" is the indigenous word for it!)

 

[Geoff300]

You have no idea how hard it was to get the work done to pass both Centres in the ACT, but then again maybe you do !

After years of running poor a Ditch shot If you put a pattern down it maybe tough to bowl on as the surface is stuffed

I am not sure if proprietors understand they are destroying their own investment by using a ditch all the time

 

[jason_doust]

Too true Geoff. I heard some pretty amusing tales. Who'd have thought that TBA would knock back a lane sanction just because they were all out of level? You lot must be a bunch of pedants!

And yes, the lane surface at Tggeranong is well... buggered. I used to bowl there every week and watched it's gradual decline until it wasn't gradual any more. I tried to explain my observations to various managers at Tuggeranong over a long period of time to no avail. Now it's just a sad example of "what not to do", a bloody mess, and knowing they may be next, proprietors are starting to take notice. Proprietors want a quiet life though and those who complain loudest and longest seem to get the lanes dried out for them in the end. Especially when AMF just hires in the next young and hungry person that doesn't bowl so they tell the tech to "make them easier", but independents do it too, so it's not just AMF.

It's a great shame that the most fundamental part of the equation, the very surface we bowl on has been surrendered to the ignorant, the egotistical and the lazy. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of infrastructure mismanaged into the ground by cheating with the oil pattern for league hacks who expect to average 200 on 3 games a week and don't know what an adjustment is beyond a (poorly understood) ball change.