I know this is not as impressive as the New York teenager (if you believe he really did that), but this happened in my area...so I thought I would post. Montanan teenager rolls back-to-back 300 games


Kind of discouraging to me. I bowl on the same lanes as this kid. Although he has been bowling since he was 5 years old. So about 13 years of bowling experience. I've only bowled for about a year and a half. So I guess I have some time to perfect my "game" and get to the point where he is.

The house he bowled one 300 has medium to medium/heavy oil. Definitely not heavy oil. The house he scored back to back 300's has very dry lanes. When I bowl there, my ball doesn't appear to have any signs of oil on it. I thought that it would be easier to get higher scores on lanes that have plenty of oil down the middle and dry at the breakpoint. Is it possible that is just as easy to bowl on a lane that is dry from the heads to the pin deck? Does this make the houses in my area less legimate? Or does this just make him a really good bowler?


Another thought that has come to mind is how much of a factor does the increase of high scores in my area have to do with the closure of a difficult house last year. It had old/worn wooden lanes with heavy oil. I would venture a guess that a lot of good bowlers from that closed house are having a hay day at the other houses. Any thoughts on this?

Sparky, we have had many discussions about oil conditions and the different scoring on all. USBC recognizes this by issuing different awards for high scores. One set for Sanctioned league scores, and another set for Sport league scores. Obviously there is a different oil spread, and amount between them, and the USBC recognizes this.

some bowlers here have opted NOT to bowl on less oil, or even house shots because they may not be as challenging as they want.

It sounds like the kid is pretty good. It is much harder to bowl on very light oil conditions, because the shot will break down so quickly, and with carry down the ball could hang or over hook without warning.

If the kid throws a straight ball and doesn't hook the ball very much, then it might have been the same for him as it would be for someone else on the medium heavy house shot.

I am just speculating, but if he was bowling since he was 5 years old, then he is probably pretty good as well as being pretty talented too.

Richard Wolfe did the same thing when he was that age, and it was his first night in adult leagues too, that guy is a legend around here. It is a shame he is not still out on tour.

EVeryone has their comfort zone. What's dry to some is medium to others and vis versa. You get used to your home center, or even a couple home centers. We have a 17 year old that just shot 800. Its his first 800, but he has multiple 300s etc... bowls in Jr Gold, and in PBA leagues. He's young and he's got a lot of power. On certain days he's just got it. He averages over 200.

I was used to very dry lanes and struggled on oily. Now, since I've moved away from that house, I find myself struggling on dry. Its all what you get used to. If you have enough time to keep yourself comfortable on various conditions you will score higher. Some of us don't have that kind of time anymore due to the pressure's of life. Its not that hard for a 17 year old to spend nearly all his afternoons bowling in a center, I can't do that. I need to work. LOL

Erin

I had quite a few honor scores as a junior. In fact, there were 3-4 of us, all the same age, who were ahead of the other kids in average. We spent hours at he lanes through highschool. We all worked part-time there. Doing menial tasks, cleaning, picking up glasses, we used to walk the lanes with a dry mop, mop the floors in the lounge and concession stand, clean the locker rooms, and much more. A couple of us were trained on the mechanics of the pin setters. This was all in an exchange for games at the center.

We traded our $1 an hour for 35 cent games.

Some of those kids were pretty good. My only contact with them today is the Honor Score list from USBC where I occasionally see their names.

The New York area is littered with young talent. This fellow you talk about must be pretty good to bowl 300's on two different conditions, heavyish and dryish. To bowl on the 300 on the dryish condition, I would think he would need higher ball speed and a flatter release. To get the 300 on the heavier condition, he would need more revs. So he must be versatile. Many years of bowling on many different conditions will do that to you.

Sparky One. I've bowled at Fireside before in the pepsi tournament several years ago. I live in Glendive so I'm not that far from Billings. Just wanted to say hi. Nice to see another person on this site that lives close by.

smooth - I would think the same thing about being versatile. According to the article, he bowls on three different houses on leagues in my area. I wish I had the time to bowl that much.

hi_there - howdy! I was beginning to think that no one else from mt was on here. good to see you on here.

I had two 300 honor scores as a junior (one at 13 and one at 17) and apparently am the youngest person in Syracuse to throw a 300, though for some reason its not on the record books, and I don't really care that much to have them change it.

At the time I think I was ahead of everyone else in the juniors in my area for 300s, though I don't have any 299s or 298s, or any 800s yet. Since graduating high school and going to college, one of the guys I used to bowl with now has something like 27 300s, 8 or more 800s (including an 879) and a bunch of other stuff. He's a 2-handed bowler though, throws the ball very hard with a lot of revs (something like 700rpms or something ridiculous), and bowls on a bunch of house shots. He's still very accurate, but he is starting to develop some physical problems with his style.