Post by: wussboy on February 01, 2012, 01:06:25 AM
Just seeing if anyone bowled in the tournament yet. Just looking for their experience and any advice. Bowl in it this weekend. Thanks for any advice.
Post by: titletowncards on February 01, 2012, 12:36:25 PM
I haven't bowled in it yet, my weekend is March 31st/April 1st.
I live near Wausau and talked to some of the guys there about the shot and they said that Weston (dbls./sing.) plays fairly straight up the boards (think 8-10 board) and Mountain Lanes (Team) is hooking much more, people are in around 4th arrow, but if your team doesn't start in too early you can burn a little area onto the lanes if you work together. Hope this helps and let us know how you do!
Chris Orgeman 
Get MOTIVated and Bowl Up A Storm!
Post by: wussboy on February 01, 2012, 01:23:38 PM
Thanks for the reply. That helps out a lot! Have a team of good bowlers that do work together so hopefully we could get something going.
Post by: sport300 on February 01, 2012, 02:38:38 PM
i've heard the same as to how the lanes are playing. mountain lanes are still wood & it's very important not to go to deep to early or you'll fry them up. good luck!
Post by: PC Doc on February 01, 2012, 03:40:16 PM
I bowled the 2nd weekend and was surprised how well the lanes held up at Mountain lanes. They are old wood and I figured that they would burn up real quick with the light volume of blue 1. I didn't notice a big
transition until half way through the second game and even then it was readable.
Weston lanes was all about the carry I struggled to get something going in doubles because of all the 10 pins and 4 pins I was leaving. In singles I was lined up the first game left about seven ten pins in game 2 and then found the carry again in game three. The shot held up extremely well at Weston. I had to only make minimal moves with my feet the whole day.
Post by: wussboy on February 02, 2012, 06:48:57 AM
Thanks to all for replying to this thread. The information is very helpful!
Post by: 230-n-up-or-bust on February 04, 2012, 03:55:30 PM
Help control the population of Avenging Unicorns. Arm yourselves accordingly.
"I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous."-Nick Faldo
"I'm as frustrated as a mosquito in a mannequin factory."-Larry The Cable Guy
Post by: mainzer on February 07, 2012, 08:12:58 PM
What type of equipment are you guys starting with/seeing people start with at the two houses? I.E strong Solids, Pearls??
Just wanting to know what to expect, We are going April 6th and 7th
MainzerPower
Post by: wussboy on February 08, 2012, 06:45:19 AM
What I saw last weekend was pearls mostly being used. Not many solids at all. Myself, I used mainly my Hyroad as it is my benchmark ball. Don't get me wrong. I am a 205-210 life time average guy so I am no great bowler, but what I saw was crazy. Have two people out of the 10 that went that are 230+ average bowlers and won the scratch double event at Wisconsin State 3-4 years ago and are great bowlers. Point is, these two this year only had two 600 series between the two all weekend Weston sure seemed like a reverse block. Anything outside of 10 was not coming back and if you pulled anything to the inside, it was crossing over. Myself, I shot a 602 and 603 in doubles and singles with a whopping 583 in team. By the time we broke the shot down in doubles, we had to move for singles and it was just a mess. Played very tight. Miss your mark by a board, and who knew what was going to happen. Team event, the shot was there. Was there all day. Could not hit my mark to save my life. There was no reason not to shot a very decent score. Found the approaches were very slick at Weston and everyone was sticking at the team event. Best part is, cleaned house on brackets at the team even with my 583. Apparently I was not the only one who stunk up the house!
Post by: titletowncards on February 08, 2012, 09:33:21 AM
I can't wait to go! (sarcasm)
Sounds like you guys had a plan going in like most people do to break it down, I've heard the same thing happen to a lot of the bowlers recently too. Dreaded words of "reverse block" and "very tight".
Yeah I think the State Tournament should be a little more challenging than your THS, but it's gotten kind of ridiculous the last few years.
Chris Orgeman
Get MOTIVated and Bowl Up A Storm!
Post by: stone8 on February 08, 2012, 10:46:49 AM
Anyone need a bowler or know of anyone in need of a bowler? I'm looking for a team this year. PM me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been lucky long enough...now I'd like to get good.
Edited by stone8 on 2/8/2012 at 11:47 AM
Post by: titletowncards on February 08, 2012, 01:00:58 PM
I'll keep you in mind for sure.
Chris Orgeman
Get MOTIVated and Bowl Up A Storm!
Post by: mainzer on February 08, 2012, 06:27:51 PM
So what you are saying is you dont want a THS, you want something tougher but when
the scores drop that is no good?
What difference does it make if you win brackets with 700 or a 600 set? Winning is
Winning isn't it? Is it somehow different if the high man on the squad shots 1900 Or 2100/
Not trying to be a prick I just don't understand why the scoring pace matters so much.
MainzerPower
Post by: TDC57 on February 09, 2012, 11:46:10 AM
Heard there was a huge problem last week on one of the team event shifts. Sounds like the high score on the entire squad was in the 520s due to the ball hooking off from the set down point. Guess after some checking they found that whoever oiled the lanes hit the wrong button and put down a very short, light kid's shot that was programmed in the machine. Evidently, Phil LaPorte's phone was ringing off the hook on Monday morning and all that bowled that shift were credited for team event and all-events for next year's tourney. That's a big mistake to make, I bet there was quite a bit of anger for those three hours!
Post by: TDC57 on March 11, 2012, 05:28:52 PM
Any new input on how the lanes have been playing at State over the last couple of weeks?
Post by: titletowncards on March 11, 2012, 11:37:51 PM
I just watched some of my friends bowl this weekend. They said they stuck around 2nd arrow at Weston, carry was the biggest issue, but it was playable at least, little bit on the oily side. Mountain played dryer, but held up pretty well throughout there session, little jumpy at first, but seemed to settle down as the games went on. I wanted to go see because I bowl the weekend of March 31/April 1st. Hopefully people will post some more results and help me out. 
Also, Weston's approaches can be slick while Mountain tends to be sticky, those were issues for some of the bowlers.
Chris Orgeman
Get MOTIVated and Bowl Up A Storm!
Post by: scotts33 on March 11, 2012, 11:53:21 PM
Scott
Post by: rob_mil26 on March 12, 2012, 10:25:23 AM
"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."
- Henny Youngman
Post by: TDC57 on March 28, 2012, 05:44:37 PM
Looks like Riggs tore it up there. Got a chance to meet him and watch him bowl a couple of years ago. A nice person to talk to and outstanding bowler!
Post by: titletowncards on March 28, 2012, 07:07:30 PM
Going there this weekend to bowl! Any last words of advice out there?
I'm a lefty, about 325 revs, 15mph.
I'm thinkin' something lighter for Mountain, Storm Tropical Breeze or Motiv Recon Silver
For Weston I think my 4 choices will be my Motiv TZ3, Motiv Thrash, Storm Hy-Road and NEW Storm Vivid.
Chris Orgeman
Maude Lebowski: What do you do for recreation?
The Dude: Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.
Post by: TDC57 on April 04, 2012, 01:46:47 PM
Chris, care to share what you found at State?
Post by: sport300 on April 04, 2012, 05:01:45 PM
i bowled it this past weekend.
what i found was that @ mountain lanes you have to circle the fronts alittle bit in order to avoid early roll because of the wood surface. if done properly by the 2 teams, it plays fine. i used the new karma pearl for all 3 games. you need nothing really strong unless you are super speed dominant. even if you are, do not use to much surface. especially for team. ball down as opposed to moving in. that applies for all events. only move in if you have to.
minor events: the lanes hold much better due to synthetic surface. once again, nothing to strong needed here either.
as the lanes transistion, i had better luck just moving between 1-3 boards left on the approach(right handed) & looking my target closer. looking your target farther down the lane while moving in is did not work due to pattern length. for most of my 6 games in minor's in used a pin down 45 degree layout versa-max.@4000 abralon. then balled down to a 4" to pap versa-max box finish. my scores were 704 in team 629 doubles 701 singles.
good luck.
Post by: TDC57 on April 04, 2012, 06:00:55 PM
Thanks sport300,
You information was great. Congartulations on some very nice scores. I always appreciate it when others share their experience. I never want people to give information that they feel gives others an edge they didn't have, but just "in general" what they saw. I'm just an average league bowler and always find it nice to know if the lanes plays tight or hook. I think from that standpoint it's up to the bowler to pick the right ball and play the lanes correctly. Thanks!
Post by: sport300 on April 04, 2012, 06:06:10 PM
your welcome!
the lanes aren't easy, but definately not tough. it's just a more finicky type pattern on ball choice & angles thru the fronts on how to get the proper match up to hopefully score higher. it can be easy to get a little lost when the lanes transistion.
good luck!
Post by: titletowncards on April 05, 2012, 05:08:18 PM
I think sport300 is right on about both places. I used a box finish Motiv Recon Silver at Mountain and played pretty straight. Shot 675 in Team, as one of only 2 lefty's on the pair, I did not move a lot, more of a speed change if anything. I thought the carry was pretty good, just don't burn up the middles too early.
Minors I did not fair as well, I've bowled many a tournament at Weston and I find that the Middle 16 lanes (21-36) just doesn't carry as well as the 1st 20 or lanes 37-60. And guess where we were put, 28-29! ugh......
Well, started with the OOB Vivid, but it was a little snappy, so went down to my Motiv Thrash (2000 + polish) and found some room, had a couple of higher 500's after struggling the 1st game of both sets. I can't complain about the shot, it was there. I just didn't hit it well.
On the plus side, my partner had a good doubles set and we sit a 1286 which is Low to Cash in the scratch catagory! lol
Have fun! and if you aren't going to use those Casino coupons, mail them to me!
Chris Orgeman
Maude Lebowski: What do you do for recreation?
The Dude: Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.
Post by: TDC57 on April 16, 2012, 05:03:37 PM
Got back from State yesterday and thought I'd share my experience. First, I have to say I was probably not at my best while bowling on Friday and Saturday. I had bowled in our league playoffs on both Wednesday and Thursday nights which included fairly late nights of partying afterwards. Since I switched which arm I throw with, I admit if I bowl a lot and don't make sure I get the proper rest, I'm usually a little arm weary. I was this weekend and it did affect my ability to make good shots consistently. Now, on to the lanes. I thought that Mountain lanes head area had quite a bit of friction causing the ball to check up a little early. This coupled with not being able to get the ball around it on the outside because a lack of recovery from there made the shot fairly demanding. Playing inside without a strong rev type game was not possible for our group which is dominated by older guys whose games are more of the stroker type. There was a lot of oil inside and if you missed there you went through the beak as the ball wouldn't cross over and you had to play direct at your right side spares (I'm a lefty) or you could miss them on the left.
At Weston lanes the heads had far less friction up front but also had very little room for error. Like Mountain lanes, when missing your target inside, it did not cross and usually went through the nose. Didn't have to lead the ball as much though to hit my spares on the right side. The one thing I heard from guys we talked to at both places was that they thought it was tough conditions at both places. I thought is was more about accuracy and and if you made good shots you were around the pocket. The only telling thing about the scoring was the fact that shooting a low score in brackets did not prohibit you from advancing and even winning more than one bracket. I think that says a lot. I had never heard so much displeasure from bowlers about the lane conditions and I've been bowling state for over 30 years.
I told a buddy of mine that I thought this was the kind of shots that we bowl on every so often and when we get done, you think, "If I could bowl again I could hit it" and in reality given another shot, would probably not yield a big difference unless you are a much more accomplished bowler. Nationals, you expect a tough shot. At State, I think the best years for the masses have been when the condition requires you to make good shot but there is at least a little area outside to play in. The tournament attendance is dominated by average league bowlers looking to have a fun weekend including the bowling. I don't think our tournament was ever meant to separate the men from the boys.
I have a few very good bowlers who go with my squad and they usually average over 200 for the weekend. I don't think I had any do that this year and I watched them miss a lot of spares and throw some pretty low games. I average in the 190s and the last few years had shot over 1800 at state. This year I averaged 187.
As far as both lanes are concerned, Mountain as everyone knows is old but the bar had nice bartenders and it seemed everyone had a good time there Friday night, well after we were done bowling. Weston is a very modern, gigantic place. We were done bowling at about 4:30 and didn't stay late but it didn't look like a place that would keep the bowlers there. Good bartenders but not much to going on. I thought Wausau in general is a nice city, but not the easiest to get around. We also did not find many places where the 35-55 year old crowd fit in. Some live music with a classic rock sound would have been great. Fond du Lac won't offer much more, I'm afraid.
Post by: titletowncards on April 16, 2012, 07:20:01 PM
I'm sorry your weekend wasn't better!
Did you grab those Casino coupons for me? haha
Every year I go to the State Tournament it seems like it fits my game or it doesn't. Milwaukee NEVER does, so I don't even bother to go there anymore.
Appleton was nice, Fond du Lac is OK at best and at Oshkosh it depends. I thought the conditions in Green Bay a couple of years ago were a joke!
I thought the shot this year was there, I had a friend this past weekend shoot 300 in Singles, but other struggled.
As a lefty, I found Mountain more forgiving and Weston was tight. But I wish I would have Polished my Storm Vivid before I bowled at Weston, I think I would have done better there. It's always after the fact though.
Chris Orgeman
Maude Lebowski: What do you do for recreation?
The Dude: Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.
Post by: TDC57 on April 16, 2012, 09:52:46 PM
Where the heck were those coupons? I don't think I ever saw any. I had good weekends in Appleton/Oshkosh and Milwaukee so I can't say anything bad about those two and I hope I didn't come off bad about this weekend. If I was rested and ready I think I would have done much better on the demanding conditions we faced. The shot was tight but scoreable. I just don't think that it's a shot that fits what our state tournament is. I know of a guy who's team dominates year after year at state and he thought this was the toughest shot he's seen in many years.