Do you bowl?

[torpid]

I can't stand bowling. I also do not wear my collar up, dress in a members only jacket, call things rad, or constantly listen to music from the 80's.

 

[shabby]

Bowling is rad, tried it a couple times and its pretty fun. Its even better when you're playing with people who never played before then its a riot.

 

[TheNewbie]

I bowl on occasions, it can vary from once in a year or two, to a couple of times a month.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: torpid
I can't stand bowling. I also do not wear my collar up, dress in a members only jacket, call things rad, or constantly listen to music from the 80's.

You realize bowling was around long before the 80's?

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
I'm sort of retired at the moment, but yes, I bowl and have bowled a lot.
I have multiple 300's. 3 800 series.
Lost count of the 250+ games.

I was going to say how glad I was to have started the season off with a 210 game this past Thursday, but after Pacfanweb's post, I think I'll just slink back into obscurity.

 

[jinduy]

i bowl with pole

 

[The Green Bean]

I go out occasionally. Highest is 149

 

[hiromizu]

I used to go pretty frequently in rural Japan where there was nothing but farms and a bowling alley within bicycle distance. When I got pretty good, I bowled around 130 on average. My highest score was probably 177. I don't know how some of you guys bowl at pro levels of 250+ unless you've bowled competitively.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: hiromizu
I don't know how some of you guys bowl at pro levels of 250+ unless you've bowled competitively.

Pros don't AVERAGE 250. But they can hit 250+ pretty frequently. They also have bad games.

I once watched Walter Ray Williams, who is probably the greatest bowler of all time, shoot 220 one game, then follow it up with a 140. He wasn't happy, I must say.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: hiromizu
I don't know how some of you guys bowl at pro levels of 250+ unless you've bowled competitively.

Pros don't AVERAGE 250. But they can hit 250+ pretty frequently. They also have bad games.

I once watched Walter Ray Williams, who is probably the greatest bowler of all time, shoot 220 one game, then follow it up with a 140. He wasn't happy, I must say.

Greatest? Earl Anthony.

That man was on TV, in the finals of some tournament, like every weekend in the 70s.


btw-I haven't bowled in 20 years, but my dad bowls three times a week and bowled a 300 in a sanctioned league 3 years ago, at the age of 80.

 

[nageov3t]

bowl as in, throwing a ball down a lane and hoping to knock over some pins? no. I mostly just hang out in the back and drink whenever my friends drag me out to the bowling alley.

bowl as in... the other type? maybe.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Squisher
Greatest? Earl Anthony.

That man was on TV, in the finals of some tournament, like every weekend in the 70s.

I'd have agreed with you as recently as 5 years ago, but you can say the exact same thing about Walter Ray.

Anthony was always who I considered the best of all time. Dick Webber was great, also.

But Walter Ray has just absolutely blown away pretty much any record you can think of:
Most titles
Most career TV wins
Most consecutive seasons with at least one title
Etc, etc....his record is mind-boggling.

And he's still going strong
Oh, and just like Earl Anthony, you'd see him on TV when they were really trying to stop him....when nobody but right-handed bowlers even cashed in a tournament, Earl Anthony could make the TV show. And when they put out a pattern these days that favors the lefties, Walter Ray can still make the TV finals, too.

Walter Ray's records

 

[hiromizu]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: hiromizu
I don't know how some of you guys bowl at pro levels of 250+ unless you've bowled competitively.

Pros don't AVERAGE 250. But they can hit 250+ pretty frequently. They also have bad games.

I once watched Walter Ray Williams, who is probably the greatest bowler of all time, shoot 220 one game, then follow it up with a 140. He wasn't happy, I must say.

Well I was just throwing up numbers - I don't know what pros bowl on average but there are a few guys here that are quite amazing if they're really hitting 200+

 

[Linflas]

I enjoy bowling but have not done it in years because bowling alleys, at least in this area, have made it very difficult for non-league bowlers to schedule time to bowl.

 

[mcvickj]

Yes. My average for my last league was right around 195.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: torpid
I can't stand bowling. I also do not wear my collar up, dress in a members only jacket, call things rad, or constantly listen to music from the 80's.

You realize bowling was around long before the 80's?

Yes, but it peaked in popularity then, IMO, and never really deserved the popularity in the first place.

 

[Felisity]

Originally posted by: Kelemvor
I know how to bowl and I can bowl fine... But haven't for years... So I guess I do not bowl...?

I'm in the same boat. I put myself in the "i do not bowl" group. /shrug

 

[Metron]

Originally posted by: hiromizu
Well I was just throwing up numbers - I don't know what pros bowl on average but there are a few guys here that are quite amazing if they're really hitting 200+

With practice and the right equipment, it's really not that hard to hit 200+ pins in a game.

About 15 years ago, I was recruited to bowl in a very competitive league. When I started bowling with them, I was lucky to AVERAGE 100 pins a game.

The other members of my team AVERAGED over 200 pins per game. Most leagues are set up to establish an average at the beginning of the season, and the player receives a handicap of the difference between 200 and that average (or 90% of the difference).

It behooves a team to bring in a low average bowler to set a high handicap, and then work to improve considerably -- since the handicap stays constant for the season. Once you've improved, you're a "sandbagger" in that you can bowl much better than your average would indicate.

I bowled with a bunch of Engineers, so we approached the game as a science.

After bowling 5 years with that team:

My average had risen to nearly 200
My best game was a 265 ( 3 spares, following by 9 strikes in a row... no missed pins )
I had witnessed 3 teammates bowl a perfect game ( a 300, or 12 stikes in a row )
The team won the league 4 out of 5 years I bowled with them
The team bowled in the ABC National Tournament

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: torpid
I can't stand bowling. I also do not wear my collar up, dress in a members only jacket, call things rad, or constantly listen to music from the 80's.

You realize bowling was around long before the 80's?

Yes, but it peaked in popularity then, IMO, and never really deserved the popularity in the first place.

Incorrect. Unless something has changed in the last few years, bowling remains the largest participant sport in the USA, and one of the largest in the world.

 

[Pacfanweb]

To echo what Metron said, it's not all that hard to average 200+ these days.

The balls will hook a ridiculous amount, allowing even weak players to throw a pretty strong strike ball.

The oil patterns for leagues are set up for high scoring. More oil in the middle, and it gets less and less as you go to the outside of the lane.

Result: Say you throw a decent hook ball, and through practice you've determined that hitting the 3rd arrow on the lane, letting the ball slide out to about even with the 2nd arrow then hooking back towards the strike pocket is your optimal shot.
Okay, let's say you miss a bit and get the ball too far out....there's less oil, so it'll hook a bit harder and get back to the pocket anway.
Now let's say you pull your shot, and miss to the left of the 3rd arrow. (right handed bowler)
No problem, there's a lot more oil there, so your ball will just not hook as much and get directed to the pocket that way.

Bottom line: Instead of HAVING to hit within say, 1" of your predetermined target to hit the pocket, in leagues these days all you have to do is hit within about 5 boards on the lane either way to get there. (this all assumes you threw it with more or less the same rotation and velocity)

So what you have is leagues full of guys who AVERAGE 215 and up. I averaged 215 my last year, IIRC.

IMO, this is what is hurting league bowling. Non-league bowling is as strong as ever, maybe even stronger, but leagues in some areas are hurting...and the ease of scoring is a big reason why.

Take the average 195-210 bowler, put him or her on a PBA oil condition, and they won't average 160. There really is that much difference.

Take your average PBA tournament roster and let them bowl on a league condition, and someone will shoot a 300 every single game...probably there'll be multiple 300's. It most certainly would take a 250 AVERAGE to make the finals.

There's an alternative to regular league bowling called Sport Bowling. It's still a sanctioned league, but they use PBA oil patterns.
The highest average in the country is maybe 220-ish. There were two people that high a year or so ago, but they were both from the same town, so I'm a bit suspect of that.
But it falls off drastically from there. There have been about 20 300 games shot this season in a Sport league. There have been more than that in regular leagues here, much less the whole country.
I have a friend who bowls in the Sport leagues who has won about 14 PBA regional tournaments, cashed and even led national PBA tournaments, and he averages about 208. But he rocks a 230+ in regular leagues.

If I get back into bowling, Sport is probably what I'll do....although it'll probably be pretty demoralizing to start with.