B
hi bill, at caboolture bowl in queensland we have the only sport condition series in australia . we have had 3 events so far with 3 more planned . the sports patterns are from the pba using a kegel machine to put them down. caboolture bowl have wood lanes and is a easy carrying centre. the results from the first 3 tournaments are in the queensland forum.
hope that helps bill .
jeff brigg
[email protected]
hope that helps bill .
jeff brigg
[email protected]
B
Bill Horvath
Thx for your reply, Jeff. You have urethane lane finish over wood, or lacquer over wood? Last time I saw
lacquer over wood was when I trained bowlers in Europe and in Canada. Interesting how man-made lane surfaces have ushered in an entirely new set of physical performance principles, eh? I have personally gone through three transitions. Obviously, we have to know a heck of a lot more in order to score today. So many more variables today than ever before. Synthetic lane surfaces require personal equipment knowledge, / numerous / specialized pin positioning, block formation/tilt, and hole pitches for creating an environmental and PERSONALLY friendly hand release/reaction. Today's equipment should be called over-reactive instead of just reactive! Every ball over-reacts, the secret is to make it over-react at the right time. Ball shells with computer-generated block formations are always dime a dozen, and each model is a specialty "club" designed to do ONE thing well and that's it, just like golf clubs. Our sport changed 180 degrees. Can't use the same scoring techniques today that we used on soft, porous lacquer lane finishes and expect them to produce results.
I initially bowled on shellac over oak & pine in '58,(at age 8), which preceded lacquer over oak & pine conditioned with oil. Shellac was a special wax blend applied to bare wood ONCE a week. Bowlers complain about not being able to get the ball through the heads today, ha ha. At least there's SOME oil in the heads today. Try getting your shot through the heads on a basketball court, that's what it amounted to.
I'm surprised the bowling industry has promoted plastic balls for making spares, the idea being that plastic doesn't hook. Plastic DOES hook. Its surface is conducive to hooking on urethane and synthetics. How many times have you seen the PBA telecasts and watched a player hook to the right of the ten with a plastic ball, or hook to the left of the 4 or the 7? If you want to kill hook, use a hard rubber ball! The rubber shell is such a mis-match with today's lane surfaces, it's the answer to killing ALL your hook on spare shots. Rubber balls FLAT ARC, they never hook. You give a rubber ball a "full load" and you'll need 40 more feet of lane in order for it to flip.
Been researching this for 20+ years figuring out what works and gathering the info, so I became an author.
Best!
Bill
lacquer over wood was when I trained bowlers in Europe and in Canada. Interesting how man-made lane surfaces have ushered in an entirely new set of physical performance principles, eh? I have personally gone through three transitions. Obviously, we have to know a heck of a lot more in order to score today. So many more variables today than ever before. Synthetic lane surfaces require personal equipment knowledge, / numerous / specialized pin positioning, block formation/tilt, and hole pitches for creating an environmental and PERSONALLY friendly hand release/reaction. Today's equipment should be called over-reactive instead of just reactive! Every ball over-reacts, the secret is to make it over-react at the right time. Ball shells with computer-generated block formations are always dime a dozen, and each model is a specialty "club" designed to do ONE thing well and that's it, just like golf clubs. Our sport changed 180 degrees. Can't use the same scoring techniques today that we used on soft, porous lacquer lane finishes and expect them to produce results.
I initially bowled on shellac over oak & pine in '58,(at age 8), which preceded lacquer over oak & pine conditioned with oil. Shellac was a special wax blend applied to bare wood ONCE a week. Bowlers complain about not being able to get the ball through the heads today, ha ha. At least there's SOME oil in the heads today. Try getting your shot through the heads on a basketball court, that's what it amounted to.
I'm surprised the bowling industry has promoted plastic balls for making spares, the idea being that plastic doesn't hook. Plastic DOES hook. Its surface is conducive to hooking on urethane and synthetics. How many times have you seen the PBA telecasts and watched a player hook to the right of the ten with a plastic ball, or hook to the left of the 4 or the 7? If you want to kill hook, use a hard rubber ball! The rubber shell is such a mis-match with today's lane surfaces, it's the answer to killing ALL your hook on spare shots. Rubber balls FLAT ARC, they never hook. You give a rubber ball a "full load" and you'll need 40 more feet of lane in order for it to flip.
Been researching this for 20+ years figuring out what works and gathering the info, so I became an author.
Best!
Bill
RobbieB
Rodentus scientificus
Bill,
Lanes are made of maple and pine (rarely ash instead of maple) not oak. Shellac is not a wax - it is a varnish made from scale beetle exudate, and at was waxed in the same way that oil is used on todays surfaces. Like lacquer, shellac was a low friction surface compared to the urethane and synthetic surfaces common today.
Yes plastic balls will hook - anything will on dry lanes. That includes hard rubber. I still use an old manhatten rubber now and then, and it hooks just fine on dry synthetics. A lot more than the acrylic ball I use for spares, and on really dry lanes even than has to be killed to get it to go straight.
I assume you are from the US - lane conditions tend to be a lot dryer here in Australia. Most places (if not all) are urethane or synth. - I can't think of one lacquer installation in Oz offhand.
Rob.
Lanes are made of maple and pine (rarely ash instead of maple) not oak. Shellac is not a wax - it is a varnish made from scale beetle exudate, and at was waxed in the same way that oil is used on todays surfaces. Like lacquer, shellac was a low friction surface compared to the urethane and synthetic surfaces common today.
Yes plastic balls will hook - anything will on dry lanes. That includes hard rubber. I still use an old manhatten rubber now and then, and it hooks just fine on dry synthetics. A lot more than the acrylic ball I use for spares, and on really dry lanes even than has to be killed to get it to go straight.
I assume you are from the US - lane conditions tend to be a lot dryer here in Australia. Most places (if not all) are urethane or synth. - I can't think of one lacquer installation in Oz offhand.
Rob.
B
Bill Horvath
Hey Rob,
Your reply was interesting. Thanks. I used to work for the boys at Fort Wayne Bowling Supply, resurfaced lanes in the Summer, replaced heads heads with oak, nailed down the boards, and pulled coats of both lacquer and urethane. I'm no lab rat, however, and am certain you know more about shellac than I do. At least it didn't carry down!(Smile)
Those Manhattan Rubber balls sure were excellent pieces of equipment. Still have two, a black and a green.
Best!
Bill
Your reply was interesting. Thanks. I used to work for the boys at Fort Wayne Bowling Supply, resurfaced lanes in the Summer, replaced heads heads with oak, nailed down the boards, and pulled coats of both lacquer and urethane. I'm no lab rat, however, and am certain you know more about shellac than I do. At least it didn't carry down!(Smile)
Those Manhattan Rubber balls sure were excellent pieces of equipment. Still have two, a black and a green.
Best!
Bill
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