BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: avabob on March 19, 2018, 12:40:48 PM
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I bowled my first adult league in the fall of 1966. I used hard rubber balls till 1975, polyester till 1981, and resin since 1992. Highest average ever with rubber balls, 199. Highest average with polyester, 218. Highest average with urethane 229. Highest average with resin. In my opinion lane conditions had very little to do with those average increases.
Here may be more telling statistic. In 15 years using rubber and plastic 2 300s, both with plastic. In 11 years with urethane 4 300s. In 25 years with resin, 38 300s.
Not only is it clear that resin balls had a monumental impact on award scores, it is just as interesting that they had a much smaller impact on averages. I know I am only one person, but my experience is similar to that of most other top scratch bowlers during an era that transcends ball evolution
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I bowled my first adult league in the fall of 1966. I used hard rubber balls till 1975, polyester till 1981, and resin since 1992. Highest average ever with rubber balls, 199. Highest average with polyester, 218. Highest average with urethane 229. Highest average with resin. In my opinion lane conditions had very little to do with those average increases.
Here may be more telling statistic. In 15 years using rubber and plastic 2 300s, both with plastic. In 11 years with urethane 4 300s. In 25 years with resin, 38 300s.
Not only is it clear that resin balls had a monumental impact on award scores, it is just as interesting that they had a much smaller impact on averages. I know I am only one person, but my experience is similar to that of most other top scratch bowlers during an era that transcends ball evolution
That has been my experience as well. I seem to be more consistent with my urethane but pretty much have a hard ceiling. With resin no ceiling but less of a floor as well.
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Good points. My last 300 was preceded by a 141 game. That would have been unheard of during urethane or plastic era.
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Go back to stripping lanes by hand twice a week and see how much lane conditioning technology has changed the scoring environment. The resin era needs to be divided in half, from when it was only a few centers had Kegel lane machines to when almost every center has a $30k lane machine.
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The biggest differences I see are in speed. I don't go back as far as some of you but I bowled minor house tournaments not saying I was anywhere near high level good but I could keep it fun at least back in the early 80's. So I covered some plastic, a lot of urethane, and the beginning of resin was just coming out. Best average was 198 which made me at least competitive back then. Got married quit for 25 years just came back to the sport 4 years ago.
On my return I see people throwing 17 MPH and 20 MPH with pins rolling everywhere across the decks. Even with urethane the average bowler got up much above 15 mph the ball was a frozen rope and it hit terribly. No worries in the modern game chuck is as hard as you can and it still shapes up.
Unfortunately my ball speed is stuck 12.5 mph which was fine back then leads me to play extremely deep and with weak equipment compared to most. I struggle to stay in the low 190's and often score better with plastic than I do modern balls. Go to a tournament and see it takes 230+ to compete in the modern carry contest. I bowl leagues and have fun but I am not relevant in the modern game.
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Bob I pretty much agree with most of what you are saying.
Ball tech along with lane maintenance and synthetic lanes have caused the honor score explosion.
However, even here locally with the Wichita State college bowling program, averages went up significantly at the same time as resin.
Only a couple of bowlers locally would average 220 until resin came around, now we have several each year averaging in the 240's.
Another big change that has nothing to do with technology is the disappearance of 5 person classic leagues being replaced with 3 and 4 person teams. Bowling a little quicker helps and fewer bowlers mean less transition. Often if you are lined up at a start of a game you can finish a game on the same line.
I bowl both a trio league and 5 person classic league and my average is generally about 10 pins higher in the trio and probably have 2 times as many honor scores in trio leagues.
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My experience: I started to bowl in the rubber ball era (60's) . 300's? -0. Then we moved into the plastic era. 300's? -0. Highest average in the rubber ball era-188. Highest average in the polyester ball era- 193. The number of bowlers in the rubber ball era who averaged 200 or better in my town (Pittsburgh)?-- Approximately 5. Not much better in the polyester era. Shot my first 300 in 1977, on a walled shot. Shot numerous 300s since then, thanks to 8:1 oil ratios (and higher), and the proliferation of the resin missiles. The guys who dominated in my region back then (Buddy Deluca, Rich Collier...) averaged 200+-- them and only a select few others were good enough to do that, and those guys were flat out, the very best.. Buddy went on to win the Petersen Classic (twice). Our local conditions were very demanding. No walls, fried heads, you name it, we had to face it. Night after night. It was only when the lanes started to get walled up that the proliferation of 300's, 700s and 200 averages became MUCH more numerous. You had to be a darned good spare shooter back then because strikes were hard to come by.
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Before resin 300 was an accomplishment, and 200 average was something, now anyone can shoot 300 and average 200
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The biggest differences I see are in speed. I don't go back as far as some of you but I bowled minor house tournaments not saying I was anywhere near high level good but I could keep it fun at least back in the early 80's. So I covered some plastic, a lot of urethane, and the beginning of resin was just coming out. Best average was 198 which made me at least competitive back then. Got married quit for 25 years just came back to the sport 4 years ago.
On my return I see people throwing 17 MPH and 20 MPH with pins rolling everywhere across the decks. Even with urethane the average bowler got up much above 15 mph the ball was a frozen rope and it hit terribly. No worries in the modern game chuck is as hard as you can and it still shapes up.
Unfortunately my ball speed is stuck 12.5 mph which was fine back then leads me to play extremely deep and with weak equipment compared to most. I struggle to stay in the low 190's and often score better with plastic than I do modern balls. Go to a tournament and see it takes 230+ to compete in the modern carry contest. I bowl leagues and have fun but I am not relevant in the modern game.
Probably unpopular opinion:
You're not irrelevant (using your words, no offense intended) in the modern game because of resin, you're irrelevant because you're not young anymore. I don't know you personally, but if you got married, quit for 25 years, and have been back 4, I'd guess you're closing in on 60?
I'm sorry you can't compete like you used to, that'll be a hard realization for me when the time comes. However, bowling is a sport. Athleticism SHOULD be required. If you can't physically get over 12.5mph, it's not the sport that's passed you by, it's your athleticism.
The ball/release match up to the lanes has to be much more perfect for the older guys than the younger guys, and while that's tough for older bowlers, it's still much more forgiving to age discrepancies than basically any other sport out there. I know some guys that age still competing at a very high level, hell just look at PDW. Those guys are exceptions, not the norm. Kudos to them.
I just don't understand the mindset that everyone SHOULD be able to compete. If that's the case, it's not a sport anymore, it's a bar game.
Btw, I don't get the impression you were complaining about not being able to compete anymore. Unfortunately, lots of people do, and I just happened to use your post as an example.
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Averages sent up a ton during the soft plastic era that started in mid 70s. Prior to resin the lane condition was the biggest contributor to scoring. Once resin came in it was all about the carrying power of the balls. In addition resin would open up flatter patterns more easily than could be done with polyester or urethane. The latter were impacted greatly by carry down on flatter patterns. Resin soaked up the oil causing the condition to track, much as it did during the lacquer era, leaving the high friction balls to carry at a rate unheard of during the plastic or even urethane era.
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And we care about a scoring explosion in a recreational setting why?
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Go back to stripping lanes by hand twice a week and see how much lane conditioning technology has changed the scoring environment. The resin era needs to be divided in half, from when it was only a few centers had Kegel lane machines to when almost every center has a $30k lane machine.
A common theme that people seem to forget when talking about the balls.
Go look at the scoring paces of the 3 PBA plastic ball tourney's a few years back. The first two were through the roof, while the third used closer to a 2:1 ratio, and the scores went down.
Balls don't just score without help from the lane conditions; see ALL years previous to the Murphy experiments of the US Open, when the shot was actually flat.
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And we care about a scoring explosion in a recreational setting why?
Because people are dumb enough to believe that the scoring explosion is the reason why people have quit bowling...
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Ahhh the good ole days....
Trust me as someone who is turning 50 later this month I must say there are aspects I think from the 70's and early 80's when I grew up were better too than today. Internet is the easy one that is here today that allows us bowlers to communicate so easily and makes it possible for me to work from home.
As someone who has only bowled in Urethane and Resin eras I say lane conditions dictate scores more than anything and as a mainly rec bowler who cares if the scores are higher now than the past. Game has not shrunk because of scoring and anyone who thinks that is misinformed.
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The biggest differences I see are in speed. I don't go back as far as some of you but I bowled minor house tournaments not saying I was anywhere near high level good but I could keep it fun at least back in the early 80's. So I covered some plastic, a lot of urethane, and the beginning of resin was just coming out. Best average was 198 which made me at least competitive back then. Got married quit for 25 years just came back to the sport 4 years ago.
On my return I see people throwing 17 MPH and 20 MPH with pins rolling everywhere across the decks. Even with urethane the average bowler got up much above 15 mph the ball was a frozen rope and it hit terribly. No worries in the modern game chuck is as hard as you can and it still shapes up.
Unfortunately my ball speed is stuck 12.5 mph which was fine back then leads me to play extremely deep and with weak equipment compared to most. I struggle to stay in the low 190's and often score better with plastic than I do modern balls. Go to a tournament and see it takes 230+ to compete in the modern carry contest. I bowl leagues and have fun but I am not relevant in the modern game.
Probably unpopular opinion:
You're not irrelevant (using your words, no offense intended) in the modern game because of resin, you're irrelevant because you're not young anymore. I don't know you personally, but if you got married, quit for 25 years, and have been back 4, I'd guess you're closing in on 60?
I'm sorry you can't compete like you used to, that'll be a hard realization for me when the time comes. However, bowling is a sport. Athleticism SHOULD be required. If you can't physically get over 12.5mph, it's not the sport that's passed you by, it's your athleticism.
The ball/release match up to the lanes has to be much more perfect for the older guys than the younger guys, and while that's tough for older bowlers, it's still much more forgiving to age discrepancies than basically any other sport out there. I know some guys that age still competing at a very high level, hell just look at PDW. Those guys are exceptions, not the norm. Kudos to them.
I just don't understand the mindset that everyone SHOULD be able to compete. If that's the case, it's not a sport anymore, it's a bar game.
Btw, I don't get the impression you were complaining about not being able to compete anymore. Unfortunately, lots of people do, and I just happened to use your post as an example.
I'm not quite that old only 45 I stated young and married young. I'm a little over weight but not in bad health or anything. Not sure what causes my lower speed I've had numerous coaches look at it they make some changes but the end effect is pretty small difference wise.
I'm not really complaining and it's not that I don't respect the ability. I just feel the game has lost something. What I grew up with was a finesse game that required shot making, accuracy, and repeatability has been replaced with a power game that as long as your accurate within a arrow and throw it hard with a good rev rate it it doesn't really matter anymore. Maybe I'm just bitter but I won't quit love the game to much.
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Uh, you're 45, in the early 80's you were 10. You quit 25 years ago and returned 4 years ago, but you bowled during the beginning of the resin era. Looks like you need a math lesson.
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Lane conditions can be used to control scoring with plastic and urethane. Not so much with resin. Sport patterns have been around for 20 years now, and good scratch bowlers are shooting decent scores on them with resin..
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What resin and current lane conditioning procedures have eliminated is the medium scoring pace. Somebody is either averaging 250 or the conditions are brutally hard.
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Uh, you're 45, in the early 80's you were 10. You quit 25 years ago and returned 4 years ago, but you bowled during the beginning of the resin era. Looks like you need a math lesson.
Well in the interest of brevity I was incorrect should have said I started bowling in the early 80's. I can see where that could cause some confusion
By the beginning of the resin area I meant when I first started seeing them in proshops was in the late 80's early 90's mainly the Hammer Red Hammer resin ball as it was the first one I seen sell in appreciable numbers there may have been some Xcalibur and others before that but I don't remember seeing them much.
If were exate dating stuff I guess I was out 22 years as I quit in 1996 and returned in 2012 which also means I've been back for closer to 5-6 years now
Sorry if my inprecise dates were confusing you
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This is going to sound a bit off coming from me, because I used to rag on resin balls as much as ANYBODY on this forum, but I am proof that even old dogs can learn new tricks.
Yes, bowling ball tech has played a very big part in the “scoring revolutionâ€, but the biggest player, by default, MUST be lane conditions.
NO ball can overcome lane conditions. If you dry them totally out, you can’t hardly even get any ball to the pins, at least not with any side rotation on it whatsoever.
There are also conditioners and volumes that will make it virtually impossible to get ANY ball to read the pattern and get any reaction.
NO BALL DOES ANYTHING THAT THE LANE CONDITIONS DONT ALLOW IT TO DO.
Resin scores so well, because it is better at creating friction than anything else so far used in ball construction. It allows you to both throw it hard AND enter the pocket at an optimum angle for striking much better than any previous coverstock technology, but it will not, BY ITSELF, create scores.
YOU CAN KILL RESIN WITH THE WRONG CONDITION, JUST LIKE YOU CAN ANYTHING ELSE.
It is just better at exploiting the proper conditions better than anything previous to it.
Rubber balls worked because the conditions allowed them to. Likewise with polyester, urethane, and now resin.
Rubber exploited soft wood and lacquer finishes which would probably preclude 95% of people from even using a resin ball, and resin exploits harder synthetics with urethane finishes that probably preclude 99% of people from even using a rubber ball.
DEAL WITH IT, BECAUSE CONDITION IS KING!
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You are absolutely correct that you can cut oil down enough to negate the power of resin balls. However given normal volumes necessary to protect the lane surface from high friction resin, the edge to edge pattern can be over powered quickly with resin. Not so much with plastic or urethane. Example. I recently bowled for the championship in a local tourney against a PBA tour player with national championships. Qualifying was tough. I made match play with 10 over for 5 games. By the championship match, my opponent and I both had a great shot to the pocket. Unfortunately for me my carry was not do good as I had to move deeper with my slow ball speed. He shot 258, 279 at me in a 2 game match. With anything other than resin the pattern would not have opened up as quickly, and carry potential would not have been close.
Carry potential with resin astronomically better with resin, but it is also more volatile if your speed and rev rate don't match up. More speed had become necessary because of the extreme friction created by dry off the end of the oil. Stripping the back ends isn't the issue. Shot my last 300 playing fall back at 17 board on 47 foot pattern. For you young guys fall back is what we call keeping the break point inside of 10-12 board when playing inside of 3rd arrow.
The first time I realized the impact of resin was bowling the last night of a singles league 25 years ago. I had just gotten an excaliber. During the step ladder the carrydown was killing everyone with their blue hammers Nobody cracked 170. Carrydown was killing me too on the warmup pair. Then I got out the excaliber and coasted in my match as the resin ball cut through the carry down.
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Before resin 300 was an accomplishment, and 200 average was something, now anyone can shoot 300 and average 200
I'm so tired of hearing this. It is such a horrible generalization of bowling and does nothing to help the sport. I know people who put their heart and soul into bowling and do not average 200 and do not have a 300 game.
Is it easier to average 200? Yes. Is it easier to bowl a 300 game? Yes. But NO, everyone is not doing it.
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Before resin 300 was an accomplishment, and 200 average was something, now anyone can shoot 300 and average 200
I'm so tired of hearing this. As such a horrible generalization of bowling and does nothing to help the sport. I know people who put their heart and soul into bowling and do not average 200 and do not have a 300 game.
Is it easier to average 200? Yes. Is it easier to bowl a 300 game? Yes. But NO, everyone is not doing it.
I hear ya. I'm an 80's kid and loved that era but I have no problem saying just about everything has improved since then. Cars are faster, equipment for all sports is better (golf, baseball, football, tennis, etc..) computers, appliances, damn near everything. But bowling is ruined.....whatever.
But the one thing I do miss is hot chicks with big hair.
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DEAL WITH IT, BECAUSE CONDITION IS KING!
Agreed, based on my experience.
One league I bowl in uses a house shot that barely breaks down. My adjustment is usually one 3/1 move and maybe a ball change (maybe, just to change carry.) The racks in this house are filled with No Rules, No Rules Pearls, Sure Locks, Nirvanas, etc., yet the shot in game 3 is very close to the warmup shot.
In another house league, the shot is transitioning at the end of warmups. Any pro-level balls on the racks are highly polished, and I see far more mid-level equipment being used. The shot in this league breaks down immediately, with all of the hallmarks of modern equipment's effect on the pattern. Multiple moves inside, ball changes, maybe a giant move to another zone are all in play.
The difference is the oil pattern, oil quantity, and/or quality of oil being laid down by two different houses.
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Before resin 300 was an accomplishment, and 200 average was something, now anyone can shoot 300 and average 200
I'm so tired of hearing this. As such a horrible generalization of bowling and does nothing to help the sport. I know people who put their heart and soul into bowling and do not average 200 and do not have a 300 game.
Is it easier to average 200? Yes. Is it easier to bowl a 300 game? Yes. But NO, everyone is not doing it.
Don't let him pull your chain. Throwing monkey poop is what he does.
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In 1972 eight guys in my 30 man scratch league averaged over 200. None were PBA caliber. Lots of places were still very tough back then, but top bowling towns had high scoring houses. Nothing like during the short oil eta of the 80's. I averaged 220 during that era, but couldn't beat any of the young power players in area tournaments
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And lanes used to be conditioned with a bug sprayer and a mop and now are conditioned with a machine that costs as much as a well equipped Honda Accord. Scores would be higher in every era if the ability to oil lanes with the consistency that is available today was available then.
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Certainly agree about lane conditioning. I used one of those spray guns in our 8 lane center when I was a kid. Lots of things including sophisticated lane conditioning have contributed to scoring increases . lane conditioning is certainly a factor in higher averages. I still think when it comes to purely award scores that the resin ball is far and away the biggest factor. Pocket was just as easy, or easier to stay in even on the old hand oiled lanes, but carry was much more problematic. With resin carry can be either phenomenal or abysmal. Again, I shot more 300 s the first 3 years after resin, than in the prior 20 years with plastic and urethane on equally easy conditions.
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And lanes used to be conditioned with a bug sprayer and a mop and now are conditioned with a machine that costs as much as a well equipped Honda Accord. Scores would be higher in every era if the ability to oil lanes with the consistency that is available today was available then.
Agree about lane conditions. I have seen guys come back to bowling from quitting back in the 90's. They pull out their old 90's equipment and average 220 - 230 on a house shot. They were averaging at most 210 back in the 90's.
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Prior to the modern lane machines there was a lot more variations in scoring conditions from center to center, or city to city. Hot beads of bowling like St Louis, Detroit, LA, Seattle had high scoring conditions going back to the 50 s. The Buds didn't shoot their record on a brickyard. I bowled a tourney at a place in St Louis called Arcade Lanes in 1978. Scores were phenomenal. Rubber balls, plastic, all worked.
Another example. My last year of college in 1971 I averaged 185 in a 12 lane off campus center. I shot a 714 in the city tournament that was a house record. High average in the hiuse was less than 190.The next year I moved to a city with about 8 centers. I joined the best 5 man scratch league in town and averaged 200 using the same hard rubber ball. Some of the centers were brutal, but 4 or 5 of them were all as high scoring as where I bowled.
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Resin definitely raised the carry percentage for the vast majority of bowlers. A few of the urethane power players may have been hurt by the resin revolution but if they stayed in the game most of them have adapted to resin now.
I started bowling in a small town that was a brickyard and no one averaged 190 (no one ever shot 300 in center until the resin era). I really didn't understand blocked lanes at the time but I know that every year when we went to state (usually in metro area with several centers) I would bowl at least 20 pins a game over my average.
There was one year at state in doubles and singles we were paired with a couple guys who came in with 205 averages. I figured they must be gods of bowling. Long story short I shot about 640 while they shot around 520. They thought I was one of the biggest sandbaggers they ever saw.
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Resin definitely raised the carry percentage for the vast majority of bowlers. A few of the urethane power players may have been hurt by the resin revolution but if they stayed in the game most of them have adapted to resin now.
I started bowling in a small town that was a brickyard and no one averaged 190 (no one ever shot 300 in center until the resin era). I really didn't understand blocked lanes at the time but I know that every year when we went to state (usually in metro area with several centers) I would bowl at least 20 pins a game over my average.
There was one year at state in doubles and singles we were paired with a couple guys who came in with 205 averages. I figured they must be gods of bowling. Long story short I shot about 640 while they shot around 520. They thought I was one of the biggest sandbaggers they ever saw.
Similar story to what my parents would tell about bowling in a four lane decrepit wood bowling alley in rural Iowa (where I learned the game as a youngster) and then going to city tournaments and lighting it up.