Most of our bowlers are still ignorant of oil patterns. On top of that city tournament participation is down as it was last year and the year before. If we were to put out a more difficult pattern or even suggested that it was a "tournament" pattern we would see even less participation. Is that relevant? I'm not sure. USBC says we MUST hold an Open, Womens and Youth association tournament. There's no option. So whether we have 12 teams or 30 teams participate we still have to hold a tournament. First and second year of our merging we had separate Open and Women's tournament. Third year we mergeed them, holding them at the same time in the same center. We then were able to provide the human labor it takes to run such city tournaments for multiple weekends/days/squads. But if we were to put out a specialized shot then I'm afraid we'd see a large drop in participation.

Erin

So then, we're between a rock and a hard place. We want more "integrity" in our sport but we also worry about participation if we implement changes. However, how about just putting the "shot" out there and not advertising the pattern as tough or easy? Just call it a house shot or standard shot without saying or implying anything about difficulty. If I go and bowl and do poorly without knowing about the pattern I am inclined to think I need some practice,and more work on my game etc. If I know that there is a super tough condition I go in with a pre-conceived idea and might decide it's not worth the effort. I used to bowl a lot with JANBA and various Nisei tournaments all over the state. I don't recall ever knowing in advance what the pattern was like, and we went in and either bowled well or struggled. That was part of the fun. No one really cared. I don't know how to make today's bowlers have that attitude, but there has been so much written about patterns and how awful they can be that many bowlers are intimidated before they start. Perhaps we shouldn't dwell on patterns so much.

This would be the only way it could possibly work. And then what's the sense? House shot, "tough" shot, what difference does it make if the bowlers don't know the difference? Then what has been proven? It is a rock and a hard place. Only the very smallest percentage are really willing to slug it out on a "tough" shot.

We have a local tournament that goes on for months. Okorimbo you probably know about it; the SP. The format is handicapped, simple team, doubles, singles. Its always been a fun tournament, on a house shot. Sometimes that shot has been good, sometimes not so good depending on the center. It seems to have now settled in Carson City and the conditions have been good until this year. This year there was a screw up the first weekend and the shot put out was "tough". I'm not going to say it was Nationals tough, but it was not a house shot. The report was that the machine was screwed up and that shot went down accidentally. I don't really believe that myself. I think that shot was put out purposely to lower the scoring pace that was through the roof last year. But now for the integridy of the tournament, the shot had to stay that way for months throughout all play. (which I agree with by the way). However, the complaints, the griping, the vows of not coming back next year were non stop. Participation was down this year due to the economy, so we'll see how the shot effects turn out next year.



This is very true. And you are right, in recent years past, no one knew what a lane oil graph was, or expected to know anything about the "pattern" they were to play on. It was go, make your best effort and hope you find the line first. I kind of wish they'd never started the whole Sport/PBA pattern thing. Just upkeep the minimal requirements (whatever they are hard or easy) for lane dressing and police it. Had USBC done that we'd never have been in this situation. But USBC doesn't want to do that, they do not want to have to police any centers at all because then BPAA would be mad at them.

Erin

That is another rock and a hard place, to post the shot info or not. There are too many equipment choices these days that not posting the shot would be unfair to all except the super talented that can use one ball on pretty much any lane condition like WRW or Norm Duke.

The rest of us will have to lug 20 balls with us, one to use and 19 others just in case.

The people who don't know oil patterns generally don't win tournaments anyway. If they made the National pattern the one and only approved pattern, and if you are bowling in a sanctioned competition you wouldn't need to post the shot info because it would be the same shot you play on in league... the National Tournament pattern, so it wouldn't be so intimidating if you see it every week. It would of course play different from house to house so you would need to bring your standard arsenal with you, but at least you would know in advance what to expect and not be intimidated by it.

House patterns cause the intimidation because it is like taking the training wheels off a bike when house bowlers face a legitimate fair condition. Once in a long while you have someone who just takes off without crashing, but it is rare, there will be loads of bike wrecks, but in the end everyone will learn to ride the bike.

I used to hate when the lane machine would be broken and management wouldn't fess up, because I would automatically think it was me bowling bad, when it didn't matter how well I was bowling, I wasn't going to do much better than I did because the machine screwed up the pattern. One time, I was ready to quit bowling then I found out the machine was not putting oil down between the 10 and 15 boards all the way down the lane on the right side, it was like a weight came off my shoulders and I was able to take the shot for what it was and try to do my best on it. After that I never let the pattern bother me again and trusted that it wasn't me it was the lane and have two busted up knees to prove it lol.

Erin, usually bowl the SP....liked it better when it was at Starlight.. High Sierra was ok, the place in Sparks as well. Haven't made it to Carson City yet because my group got it into their heads to bowl the first morning squad. I don't like to get up that early,lol, . Can't stay up late at night in the casino and function with little sleep anymore. Ahh, the vicissitudes of age,:-(
I heard about the pattern screw-up....I thought it was amusing [ since I wasn't there and didn't have to deal with it]Instead of commenting on how one had to think and react to bowl well, there was a lot of whining about how hard it was.

I don't think having 4 or 20 bowling balls in your arsenal should be the deciding factor in whether you get a lane graph or not. Don't give out the pattern. Then everyone would have to read their ball reaction and make decisions on what to use immediately, or get left behind.

Erin

I don't think identifying the oil patterns at any lane is all that tough. there are 2 lanes around here that lay down Animal patterns on certain lanes, and a house shot on others. During PBA Pattern leagues, only those lanes used for the league have those patterns down, not the others. So, houses can and are used to different patterns on their lanes. All they have to do is label them. Leagues can be labeled the same. Social league and open bowling is Blue. House league is White and a Sport league is Red. Keep it simple.

In terms of pattern structure, maybe the USBA should set some specifications for oil pattern groupings. I really don't know what they would be, but let's start with the amount of oil, and the length of the pattern, or the ratio of oil inside vs outside. There are probably others, but collect all patterns in a grouping of reds, whites, and blue patterns, and let it fly. All the House has to do is put a colored tag on the lane machine cover.

I know if I walked into a center and saw a red lane open for practice, I would pick it over the blue one.

Read a lot of the posts here. Will find this one different.

Searching for integrity, finding little? Really?? Because the sport decided to use updated equipment? So then, look farther. ALL sports have no integrity then, because they all improved their equipment. They sought items that improved or changed the sport. I know the original post sought out more than that, but it seems the post wandered from the original premise. What is "integrity"? Not changing? Sports change, conditions change, times change. Either move forward or move out. Bowling itself is prospering, just in a different manner. Because it did not move in the spirit of the expericenced bowler... is that bad? I say this not agreeing with everything, but even if I do not agree with everything, does that mean I think integrity has been compromised... Silly, really.

In the end, the best bowlers adapt with whatever conditions are laid forth. And purists be dammed, but the changes came in response to demand. And we all have to change. Tennis players do not play with wooden rackets, golfers do not play with perisimmon, and eventually ALL sports progress.

And so it goes.

ABC/USBC had such. And it was policed every 45 days. And as pressure from BPAA ensued the regulations were lightened and lightened etc..... to the point that we are now where we are at. And oil pattern and center certification checked just once a year.

Erin

Ok, what I'm going to say has already been said, but I just like to talk and the boards are kind of abandoned today. You'd think everybody was out shooting fireworks or something....

For tournaments, the lane conditions should be within tight parameters from lane to lane and center to center, or the sport is just not up to snuff.

For family fun, the centers should be allowed to do whatever they want.

For leagues, I like categories of lane condition, but I think they should be easy, medium, and tough, and the toughter they are, the stricter the adherance should be.

As far as 300's and other honor awards, I kind of feel that 4 categories of lane conditions should be cited in the award - the three I already mentioned and a special category for tournaments. A 300 in a tournament should surely count for more than a 300 in an easy league.

Without a strong sanctioning body, none of this is possible. Therefore, you should all volunteer with USBC to help with this. Not me, though. I don't care. I just bowl for fun, and I bowl on the easiest lane I can find, and probably always will.