What the plastic ball championship has shown us

[GeorgeF]

It's not just the balls like people had thought, there are other significant variables that has changed the scoring pace over the last decade. Today we saw that the most important contributor to high scores is oil and friction. If you want to lower scores, dont put restrictions on balls (as the USBC recommended), merely tighten the ratios of the patterns.

Today was a great spectacle on why the pros are just that good (especially Belmo).

 

[Tiger Bottomley]

Just wondering if anyone knows what thye of weight blocks were in the balls?

I know they were plastic but was it a pancake or some other type of weightblock.

 

[Shayne Melton]

they where a pancake Carl.

 

[Jasonguru]

and they were all using 16lb as well

 

[jimcross]

Yes, knowing the weight block type was of max importance. Thanks for asking the question.
What George said is right, of course, but, on top of that, what a great example of how, in the final analysis, it really still is the skill of the bowler, above all else, that matters.

What a great demonstration to present day bowlers, that when the chips are down, It's YOU, not the equipment that will win or lose.
I always thought that, but I had an advantage. When I learnt to bowl, there was only rubber or plastic, and they all had mushroom weight blocks. To be fair, I think the lane surfaces and oiling then were more consistant. Usually a move of 1 to 2 boards was more than sufficient to cover differences Centre to Centre, or lane to lane, so the bowler could concentrate on accuracy, and consistancy of approach, speed and release.

 

[Geoff300]

Yes, knowing the weight block type was of max importance. Thanks for asking the question.
What George said is right, of course, but, on top of that, what a great example of how, in the final analysis, it really still is the skill of the bowler, above all else, that matters.

What a great demonstration to present day bowlers, that when the chips are down, It's YOU, not the equipment that will win or lose.
I always thought that, but I had an advantage. When I learnt to bowl, there was only rubber or plastic, and they all had mushroom weight blocks. To be fair, I think the lane surfaces and oiling then were more consistant. Usually a move of 1 to 2 boards was more than sufficient to cover differences Centre to Centre, or lane to lane, so the bowler could concentrate on accuracy, and consistancy of approach, speed and release.

Exactly

And we learnt to spare, Many , many bowlers here in this country
can not spare to save themselves, they think all you need to do is strike

The conditions set today have made the scoring a joke, Okay maybe there
are a few bowlers today who are better than the greats of the 60's to 80's
but please, People in leagues averaging 240 , come one, they are not that good.

The only way to go is to close down the lane to bring back accuracy
and skill which in turn will bring back credability

When ever I hear of yet another 300 game being bowled It means
bugger all to me. Now that may seam harsh but there used to be
1 - 5 perfect 300 games bowled every year in this country
Today thats more like a weekly event

Anyway , just my thoughts

 

[BigDaz]

Balls of today might hit harder but u still have to be able to put it in the right spot

 

[jason_doust]

In Taree you do, Daz. That's a tough little house. Many centres, independent and AMF, lay out and out blocked conditions that 300 would never have been sanctioned on in the 1980's or earlier. (When 300's were less than weekly, let alone daily like now.) Queensland is rife with blocked lanes and has been for decades, so that gives an insight into where George is coming from.

But George, the balls are the biggest problem in bowling. The balls make poorly released shots hit so much harder than they ever deserved to. Low RG cores with high differential RG values create previously unseen amounts of track flare, especially when they are coupled with today's extraordinary high levels of coverstock profile and friction.

What this means in everyday terms is that you can release the ball so poorly that it rolls right over the thumb hole and in 1-2 revs, it has flared off and begins factory-built acceleration through very little effort of your own. The poor release we would have giggled at 20 years ago, is fixed by the factory engineers. The straight ball is a hook ball today, and a very effective one at that.

With so many straight release - free-hook-in-the-ball bowlers out there now, of course the lanes get some friction built in. Saves money on oil and cleaner, saves maintenance costs down the back and everyone gets some more free hook, which they seem to like so much. It's cheating, but who cares? It's a business. If there's money in cheating, the shareholders won't mind.

We just took our house shot down to 5.8:1 at Tuggeranong. It's pretty tough compared to the old house shot which was substantially steeper. The new shot would have been called easy in the 80's. The old one would have been laughed at as a joke, like Redcliffe or Woden was. My average is going down, but my bowling skill is going up. Many of my fellow league bowlers are playing parts of the lane that simply had close to no oil at all until the pattern change and are definitely improving. The only folks complaining about it that I've seen are the ones who think their league average actually means something. There have been some nights where dirt in the machine has made it play badly, but that has hopefully been worked out now. It's been very interesting and yes, blocked lanes are a big problem.

But the balls need to be limited. And more than they are now. Part of the reason I left Storm staff and haven't accepted other offers is that I want to be able to speak freely on this subject. The balls have been ruining bowling for decades. They open up the gap between the haves and the have-nots. They destroy lane surfaces. Before reactive resin, a timber lane bed had a life of 80 years. They inflate scores and averages and they give absurd amounts of hook for no athletic input. They balls are the reason the lanes got so easy because the tougher patterns are magnified by the balls, just like the easy patterns get so much easier with them.

Without reactive resin, or at least with significant restriction to at least the things that really augment people's substandard efforts at the foul line (like ball sanding to create unearned friction through increased surface profile), so many things (like lane surfaces and oil patterns and machine maintenance) would work so much better and last longer. But again, where there's money in cheating, you can bet there'll be people fighting for it.

Jason

 

[Fitzy]

Well ... sort of ... you do have to put it in the right spots.
I understand that a bowler is still required to throw the ball but the equipment today allows one to throw it at a few more spots than the old days and still have hitting power.

Back when:
Throw a good ball, strike (hopefully). Throw a board or two wide, washout. Throw board or two inside, split through the nose (if unlucky).

Today:
Throw a good ball, strike. Throw three to five boards wide, turns on a dime and strike. Throw three to five boards inside (depending on condition) holds and strikes or a lefty strike.

When you throw your next washout. Take a look at your footing, and being honest with yourself, look at where you really did throw the ball. You will find that, most probably, it was more than five boards outside. That however is the price paid for having a larger area, we are more accustomed to throw the ball out than our predecessors.

I do not believe this is a bad thing, though, nor do I believe it/they were 'better'/'worse' back then.

Again as I said earlier or in another thread (to lazy to check), both have their intricacies and challenges, I am not going to say which era is better or had the better bowlers, as in my opinion, it cannot be compared. Or, as they say, can be compared, as apples and oranges are compared.

My $0.05.

 

[jason_doust]

I was there. There was some area then too, but rarely like you see today. In most houses now, you have to miss so far left to go Brooklyn these days, it's nuts. And people still do and then claim it was a good shot.

The big difference, for my money, is that an athletic approach to throwing the ball was starting to be rewarded in the late 80's / early 90's. You could use rotation and speed to create a ball shape. Today, that's just not allowed in anything more than the puniest amounts. I've spent 3 years backing off the shot to still have too much friction almost everywhere I go.

Today, you are punished for creating your own friction. Even the guys with the big hook balls are masters of making the ball skate through the front.

If you've ever seen an old show where Chris Barnes throws it with urethane in his hand, you'll see what I mean about the difference. He really threw it awesomely. Today, he mostly keeps it as straight as possible because the balls punish hand made motion.

 

[GeorgeF]

Jason I have to disagree with you. We have reached a point with ball technology in which we will never go back (nor would anyone want to go back, especially me). Enforcing restrictions was a proposal by the WTBA a few years ago and it was shot down as quickly as it was suggested. It will never happen, just like asking tennis to go back to wooden raquets, no chance.

Further to that, you can bring all the hook monsters you like, lay nothing in the middle (10 to 10) and flood outside of there and no one is scoring, I dont care who you are. Thats why in todays education we focus on coverstock and matching it up. Core dynamics represent only a low percentage these days (25-30%). Yes there is a difference between placing a pin on axis versus a strong 4" x 4" layout but I bet with a bit of abralon I can make the PAP ball out hook yours

It is all about surface but directly associated with that is oil! Thats why the focus is so much on cover, its to match the oil and surface we are given to play on. Give me the great wall of china and a rubber ball from the 70's and I'll play you with a strong as hell reactive on a reverse block and we'll see who wins

In summary, its about oil and friction. Balls are adjusted to suit, not the other way around. We dont go into centres and ask them to adjust the oil and lane surface to match how we bowl, its the other way around!

 

[AdrianS]

Hmmm not what i saw a couple yrs back, damn shame i liked our old house shot....

Now go look at things from the RIGHT hand side of the lane, many differences that a lefty CANT see

 

[bluey]

Hmmm not what i saw a couple yrs back, damn shame i liked our old house shot....

Now go look at things from the RIGHT hand side of the lane, many differences that a lefty CANT see

So what is it you are actually saying? The oil pattern on the right doesn't contribute to higher scores like it does on the left? I think George is spot on, lay down a US Open pattern and use your reactives. I'll drag out my pin on PAP urethane and play on a house shot. Betcha l win. Hitting power means nothing if you can't hit the pocket. Remember for the Tournament that this thread is all about was played on a modified oil pattern.

 

[AdrianS]

And this 'other' tourney isnt gonna get played at all unless its in a few guys minds. You know what? I already know who wins that tourney....

ps
Who's this 'we' crowd that seemingly runs bowling these days, its got me beat!!

 

[bluey]

And this 'other' tourney isnt gonna get played at all unless its in a few guys minds. You know what? I already know who wins that tourney....
ps
Who's this 'we' crowd that seemingly runs bowling these days, its got me beat!!

Awesome! How did l go? Did l make the cut then crash and burn in matchplay? Who came second? Let me know which tourny l can win, need to get a thankyou speech ready.

 

[AdrianS]

Geez its just the 3 of you, with me as 'special guest' laneman Adrian and the century 100 are coming out to play again(geez now im really dreaming!!)

 

[jamo]

sounds good century 100 a nice 3 to 1 crown on a LDD (limited distance dressing)
condition and a highly polished urethane ball sign me up sounds like real bowling

 

[jimcross]

In a short time out of bowling, somebody has changed the language on me. I can't follow one half of this conversation.

Anyone want to guess which half?

 

[AdrianS]

Not my half, i still live in normal-land not 'Kegel' land. Sorry jamo if you want to watch real bowling theres plenty of stuff from the 70 and 80's on youtube!!!

ps
Once my head 'clears up' a bit again from my cancer hoo haa i can translate Kegel to 'normal' for you people, till then i'll just shake my head at all this rot about lanes and balls

 

[GeorgeF]

Dont bother Adrain, its history! Let's move on to the present