Why are some people against a group of 10 people working together to open up a lane?  It just doesn't make sense to me.  Nationals is a team event.  You should work together as a team, just like any other sport.

In the NFL, O-linemen work together to open up holes to make it EASIER for Adrian Peterson to gain as many yards as possible. 

In the NBA players set screens to get a teammate open to make it EASIER for a teammate to make a shot.

So why is it wrong in bowling for members of a team to play a certain part of the lane to make it EASIER for fellow teammates to knock down the most pins possible?

We don't hear fans of the NFL say "why is the o-line giving AP such a huge hole to run through?  They should just lay down and make him do all the work by himself.."

Then why in bowling are some so against teamwork?  No one is stopping you and your team from doing the exact same thing.

Please, stop trying to artificially make things "fair".

 Sorry if you can't find 4-9 other guys that are really good and want to cooperate. Heck, I have never been able to get enough bowlers interested in going to nationals at the same time to even get to go in the first place.

 The one year we actually got two teams together to go, I got laid off from my job and couldn't go myself.

 And, just because we were going does NOT mean that we thought we could win, only that we would get to compete.

 Life isn't fair, and neither is bowling. Stop trying to make it so.

Juggsy, you are right on with your comment.  Compete or die, boys.  Anybody think of the idea that you can screw up their attempts to open the lanes by taking your plastic balls and throwing across their line?  Would be hilarious to hear them bitch about you doing it all the while they are doing the same thing.   

I don't understand this. This whole sport has evolved. The lanes, equipment, and the lane conditioning. The game should be modified because of these changes.

I have be told countless times on this site about my stance on the high tech bowling ball. Basically statement is "Get over it! We are not going back to the old days! This is the modern game!"

It's funny to see statements "well we have been bowling this way for 20 some years!". I can guarantee that anyone making that statement isn't bowling exclusively with 20 year old bowling balls. Lane patterns and the ability to change them is very much part of today's game. A group of bowlers working together can easily open the toughest patterns.

Face the Facts! Opening a lane up is part of the game in a team event. So it seems logical to change the team event and make this new concept  a part of it. Making it a 10 person team seems like a pretty good idea. Every team starts with the same condition on every lane. It's up to the entire team to decide how they want to play on their pair of lanes. Work as a team or not.

Another thing USBC should do about this whole thing. They should reveal the secret to opening any of their patterns up. This information should be given to all bowlers, not just a select few, because they know someone. How about that for an idea.

ccrider,
     You stated "Every once in a while, some really great ideas come from brainstorming.", which is true. What happens in a brainstorm is there are a lot of ideas thrown on the table, the real skill is finding that one great or good idea in the pile of fool's gold. I feel we have seen that huge pile of BS and we haven't gotten that good idea yet. Other's may feel differently, which is certainly their right.

And what pray-tell is the "secret" to opening the lanes up that teams are hiding? The way to do it is to throw shots together at the same area, create some room to miss your target at the arrows a little and to methodically breakdown the pattern in a known way so you can make smarter moves and smarter ball choices. There is no hidden secret, no magic, nothing stopping anyone from doing it. Well maybe there is one thing.....SKILL. Most people are nothing but THS bowlers that can't hit the same mark twice in a row if their life depended on it.

Please don't take this the wrong way Jorge. Let me asks some questions about your statement.

1. Throw shots together at same area.
- Does it matter what the pattern is? Does the designated area change based on the pattern?
- Is the designated area define more of what type of bowlers you have on the team?
- What kind of ball do you throw? Highly Polished, High Sanded, Doesn't Matter

2. Breaking Down the Pattern.
- When do you know the pattern is starting open up?

3. To methodically breakdown the pattern in a known way so you can make smarter moves and smarter ball choices.
- As pattern break downs does the whole team make ball choices together?
- Are you as a team communicating what you see out there as you get into more games?
- Again does the pattern affect this decision making processes? With a known pattern in hand do you already have a game plan as to the ball progression or are things determined more on the fly?

I will be the first to admit. I never have done this in a team environment. I know what works for me personally, but I would imagine things would be different when you are trying to open a pattern that works for everyone on a team. Especially when there are bowlers of different styles.

I have been bowling for 50 years.  Having more good players on a pair has always been an advantage.  The difference back then was that with weaker balls and lacquer finish everyone pretty much played the same area of the lane.  Thus the track opened up in a very defined area, and moved in more predictably than is the case today, where one guy throwing a super dull ball can literally blow up an area by himself.  By the time resin balls had been out for 5 years, the boomers were learning that the bests strategy was to start out deep right away, and let the shot come to them.  Lower rev players were left to find a more playable area of the lane on the fresh oil, then inevitably at some point moved into an area that had already been tracked out.  Whether this was fair or not becomes an irrelevant question when you look at the history of bowling. 

There have been multiple revolutionary technological changes in the game that quickly made successful styles obsolete.  When lacquer replaced shellac as a lane finish during the late 1940's the looping full rollers of stars like Ned Day were not as effective as the tighter straighter deliveries employed by Don Carter and Dick Weber.  When urethane lane finish replaced lacquer, the smooth stroker styles of Jim Stefanich  Tommy Hudson, Steve Neff and Nelson Burton junior could no longer compete with the grip it and rip it styles of Roth Holman, and a bevy of lesser talented crankers who took over the tour.

Every bowler who was accomplished in one environment felt betrayed by technological changes that radically changed the environment.  It is ironic that the very ball technology some of us condemn, has lead to the most level playing field in the history of the game.  The only real downside is that the balls are altering the environment too quickly in a manner than is arguably detrimental to the most competitive situation.  The high tech lane machines allow us to set up patterns to challenge styles and promote versatility, but the balls can virtually make the lane pattern irrelevant. 

I would love to see a limit put on the aggressiveness of ball surfaces, combined hopefully with continued advancements in oils that don't break down as rapidly.  We probably can't go back to polyester balls, but nothing wrong with limits on surface prep.  Maybe something like balls have to be 4000 abralon buff from the factory with no alterations allowed.           

Nothing is ever totally fair guys , gotta find a edge like any other sport, bringing ten bowlers can be that edge. I have no issue with it. If you don't like it find five more guys.

Then it is not a 5 man team event. Really the number of bowlers on your actual team ( in this case its actually 10 not 5) should not be allowed to be your edge or they should change it to a 10 man event.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the bowlers for doing it, I'm wondering how the USBC is so stupid to let an event billed as a 5 person team event actually be a 10 person team event?

Quote from: mainzer on August 09, 2013, 08:01:10 PM

Nothing is ever totally fair guys , gotta find a edge like any other sport, bringing ten bowlers can be that edge. I have no issue with it. If you don't like it find five more guys.

Then it is not a 5 man team event. Really the number of bowlers on your actual team ( in this case its actually 10 not 5) should not be allowed to be your edge or they should change it to a 10 man event.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the bowlers for doing it, I'm wondering how the USBC is so stupid to let an event billed as a 5 person team event actually be a 10 person team event?

it is a five man team just like league. the other five guys have to play somewhere on the lane. if one team plays ten board or you gonna make it illegal for the crossing team to play ten? the crossing team must play five boards from where the other team is playing? That won't work.

10 bowlers have to play somewhere on the lane, why is it such a big deal that they want to play the same spot? What if a five man team came out and the team they cross with decides to play in the same spot on the lane without consulting fhe other team? So they are breaking then down correctly, that should not be allowed?

Teams that bring a companion team oh well the same thing is going to happen here as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

This is how it is, if you wanna play them all stupid and score poorly that is for you to decide. Personally I want to give myself the best chance to score so I will help break them in correctly.