BallReviews

General Category => USBC Tournament => Topic started by: jman76 on March 30, 2018, 11:41:52 AM

Title: USBC Open
Post by: jman76 on March 30, 2018, 11:41:52 AM
I see some good scores being posted, but without live streams to see, I was wondering how the lanes were playing? From my past few Opens, it's been more friction for Team and less for Singles/Doubles. I guess I'm just looking for a little insight if the conditions are similar or what everyone is seeing. Thanks!
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: storybook123 on March 30, 2018, 12:06:18 PM
I saw a Facebook video with a guy describing that lane conditions and its about the same as last year.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: HankScorpio on March 30, 2018, 12:38:12 PM
I bowled. Nothing spectacular, 1830ish with an unacceptable number of missed spares holding back my score (and one gutterball on a spare when I lost the ball off my hand).

I think it’s pretty close to last year. Team Event has a lot of friction, I had to swing it a little more than I’d like to on a fresh sport shot. Doubles and singles plays heavy and will trick people into thinking it’s a longer pattern than it really is.

I obsessed over ball selection myself (its tough going as early as we go), so I’ll save everyone the hassle. Start with lots of surface, move to less surface, and finish with some polish. It’s really that obvious.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: BallReviews-Removed0385 on March 31, 2018, 02:50:20 PM

Thanks for your post, HankScorpio.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Impending Doom on March 31, 2018, 03:52:28 PM
Aren't they still using fire and ice?
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: 9orbetter on March 31, 2018, 06:49:24 PM
I bowled. Nothing spectacular, 1830ish with an unacceptable number of missed spares holding back my score (and one gutterball on a spare when I lost the ball off my hand).

I think it’s pretty close to last year. Team Event has a lot of friction, I had to swing it a little more than I’d like to on a fresh sport shot. Doubles and singles plays heavy and will trick people into thinking it’s a longer pattern than it really is.

I obsessed over ball selection myself (its tough going as early as we go), so I’ll save everyone the hassle. Start with lots of surface, move to less surface, and finish with some polish. It’s really that obvious.

Pin up or down drillings?
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: HankScorpio on April 01, 2018, 03:12:14 AM
I bowled. Nothing spectacular, 1830ish with an unacceptable number of missed spares holding back my score (and one gutterball on a spare when I lost the ball off my hand).

I think it’s pretty close to last year. Team Event has a lot of friction, I had to swing it a little more than I’d like to on a fresh sport shot. Doubles and singles plays heavy and will trick people into thinking it’s a longer pattern than it really is.

I obsessed over ball selection myself (its tough going as early as we go), so I’ll save everyone the hassle. Start with lots of surface, move to less surface, and finish with some polish. It’s really that obvious.

Pin up or down drillings?

Your results will vary.

I’m a speed dominant high rev/high speed bowler with higher axis rotation.

My nationals arsenal:
Brunswick Mastermind, pin over ring @ 1000
Hammer Gauntlet, pin under ring @ 1000
Roto Grip No Rules Pearl, pin over middle @ 2000 + some lane shine
Storm Drive, pin in ring @ OOB
Storm Soniq, pin in ring @ OOB
Mix

In both blocks, I went from 1000 grit (Mastermind/Gauntlet) to less surface (NRP) to polish (Soniq). Mastermind/Gauntlet both controlled the pocket on either pattern at 1000 grit - that decision was simply whether a pin up or pin down ball was going through the pins better on the fresh. I personally liked the roundness of the Gauntlet on the team shot and the sharper Mastermind on the D/S.

Gauntlet was especially good on team. I didn’t use NRP long on team because I had stuck with the Gauntlet so long.

Drive was there to give me a rounder and more continuous shape if needed in the middle slot, but it never came into play in the main event.

Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Pinbuster on May 10, 2018, 05:38:50 PM
We just finished bowling at the open.

My team consist of a group of senior bowlers from 65 to 75. We have been going to nationals on average about 40 years each. So we know the drill and the fact we only bowl on house shots leaves us at a big disadvantage. So this is a tale of a bunch of house bowlers who have carried good house averages for years. 4 of the 5 of use are in the regular division. With the new average rules it is possible we might have only 2 or 3 in the regular division.

We were paired with a team of a couple of senior bowlers and 3 younger males. So there was no team work in breaking down the lanes.

I have become a rev dominate tweener with lower ball speed as I have aged.
Team event. I felt there was more hook this year than last. For me after a game I started see the lanes open up some. By the third game I had a the best look I have had in years, nothing wide open but good shots reacted the way I thought the should.

I had success 10 years ago with a T-road pearl with, for me an odd drilling, it is a short pin with the pin under the fingers and a lower right quadrant balance hole. So I believe it has zero to some thumb weight and a little finger. I also had scuffed it up with some green scotch brite prior to competition. This ball has on these conditions given me a very even controlled break. This year it was that way as well. I have only had success with this ball on sport shots. 

Late in the second game I went to an IQ Tour and was able to stay in the slot.
I shot 565. My spare shooting was pretty ugly and missed 5 or 6 easy spares.
The rest of the team struggled except for a “young member” who shot 600 even. The other team didn’t do very well either and they had a couple of higher rev guys Their biggest issue was losing the right some and would get 3 or 4 off the right side.
I started out shooting down 9. You could not swing the ball. If you did you wouldn’t recover. This isn’t really anything new to the national experience. I had migrated in to 14 and had developed some bump room right. This is when I changed to the IQ tour and was able to stay in the area without migrating real deep.

In doubles and singles. Our 6th man decided not to come so we only had 5 on the pair and one was a lefty. The pattern seemed much longer and heavier to me and the others on the pair. The t-road would barely ripple. I didn’t bring a big hooking ball and tried to use a Phaze with an out of box surface. Playing down the 12 board. Still didn’t have a good look but it was the best I had. Left a bunch of splits, washouts,  and a couple missed spares and it got ugly. The last game I went back to the t-road playing the same area and started to get some reaction.

In singles things started getting better. I started throwing the ball better and made my spares. I finally migrated in a little and was shooting at 14 at the arrows but probably didn’t get any further out than the 12 board. I ended up shooting 635 in singles. My team mates didn’t fair very well and I doubt any of the others will cash. We were on the low end of the center and couldn’t see very many scores but I really didn’t see anyone shooting much.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: n00dlejester on May 16, 2018, 01:36:13 PM
Great rundown, Pinbuster. Great bowling as well! This is valuable information. I'll take some time to write up my thoughts on the tournament.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: jman76 on May 24, 2018, 10:12:52 AM
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll be bowling Team on Monday and Singles/Doubles on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have some good scores to report, but don't hold your breath! LOL
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: HackJandy on May 24, 2018, 11:04:58 PM
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll be bowling Team on Monday and Singles/Doubles on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have some good scores to report, but don't hold your breath! LOL

Good luck and most of all have fun.  :)
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Good Times Good Times on May 24, 2018, 11:31:16 PM
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll be bowling Team on Monday and Singles/Doubles on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have some good scores to report, but don't hold your breath! LOL

Good luck and most of all have fun.  :)

+1 Tear’em up jman!
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: BallReviews-Removed0385 on June 25, 2018, 08:03:47 PM
Just returned.  Day one was very tough, and day 2 was tough, but more of what we usually see with more volume and probably longer.

I was not sharp at all so my scores suffered big time.  Small misses usually meant big penalties. 

I did meet two of our ballreviews friends, "Good Times Good Times" and "The Magician".  Both were very cool, and were a pleasure to meet.

If you are still bowling in Syracuse this year just have fun and don't give in to all the whining and moaning...   We expect them to be tough and they are.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: mechanic81 on June 26, 2018, 11:09:46 AM
I will be heading up to bowl on july 1st and 2nd. I hope to bowl well but like most of you said just try to have fun.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: themagician on June 26, 2018, 11:37:11 AM
Just returned.  Day one was very tough, and day 2 was tough, but more of what we usually see with more volume and probably longer.

I was not sharp at all so my scores suffered big time.  Small misses usually meant big penalties. 

I did meet two of our ballreviews friends, "Good Times Good Times" and "The Magician".  Both were very cool, and were a pleasure to meet.

If you are still bowling in Syracuse this year just have fun and don't give in to all the whining and moaning...   We expect them to be tough and they are.


Was great to meet you Lane! Crazy how we ended up as neighbors for singles and doubles!

Also agree on about all that was posted, team pattern hooks a lot, be prepared! Doubles and Singles pattern played quite a bit easier for me, but I just didn't make anywhere near enough good shots to score well out there. My pair also got cliffed pretty good from using too much surface in practice during doubles and singles.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Jesse James on June 28, 2018, 12:03:49 AM
Just got back from Syracuse! First day was tough but playable. Second day was horrendously hard! Teams played kind of how I expected but there was a lot more friction than last year to me! It almost seemed as if someone had played on the lanes before we did. Anyway, shot 190's the first and third game. Missed the transition badly and tanked my middle game with three splits!!

Dbls and sgls started out reasonably with a 178. Used surface. Conditions were much longer than last year and more volume to me! Tried to get guys to play in the same area as I, but.....didn't work! Guys were slinging shiny pieces from the word GO! all over the place. Plus I had a lefty  pushing oil our way as well. Had a great look with the GB3, but I left all types of 4pins, 8 pins and ten pins!! The Kegel oil made my Paradox look like a tame medium ass ball at best. When I could get it to wrinkle and get to the pocket it was awesome! With a lane full of freelancers......impossible! I eventually could not even get it to tilt slightly. There was so much oil in front of the pocket, you'd have thought I was throwing a back-up ball. The only guys who struck went Brooklyn every time.

And we had three lefthanders in our group. All three cashed big time! The left side was wide open!

I still had fun, but man those lanes just beat you down! All my games after the first went downhill miserably! next year I cannot go with this crew again. Got to pound my line with surface, surface and more surface at least for the entire first game!
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Good Times Good Times on June 28, 2018, 08:09:40 AM
Just returned.  Day one was very tough, and day 2 was tough, but more of what we usually see with more volume and probably longer.

I was not sharp at all so my scores suffered big time.  Small misses usually meant big penalties. 

I did meet two of our ballreviews friends, "Good Times Good Times" and "The Magician".  Both were very cool, and were a pleasure to meet.

If you are still bowling in Syracuse this year just have fun and don't give in to all the whining and moaning...   We expect them to be tough and they are.

It was a pleasure to meet you Lane! 

My shot-making was not up to par as well so I suffered, but I deserved it.  It was certainly difficult but I have only myself to blame for my worst nationals outing of my career.  We definitely had guys playing all over the place with surface and shine so that didn't help, but again, only myself to blame for not making quality shots.

**ON EDIT: I did have a clean, all spare (no strike) 179 in there!  Maybe the first of my career.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: BallReviews-Removed0385 on June 28, 2018, 01:15:14 PM

A clean any game on those patterns is an accomplishment.  It's amazing how many ways we can miss the pocket with very small (seemingly) misses at the arrows...  If their (USBC) goal was to make it tough, mission accomplished!

I don't mind that they were tough because I check my ego at the door and just take my lumps like everyone else.  I watched some very talented bowlers struggle, so I (with limited talent) should expect them to challenge me, too.

In this forum of screen names and such it's great to meet the guys behind the names and realize how much we share in common.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: northface28 on June 28, 2018, 04:16:29 PM
I’d rather not go than go with a bunch of apes doing whatever the hell they want. I’m
Fortunate to go with the 3 teams I go with. Welcomed Julia bond and gazmine Mason to the team this year and for as hard as the fresh in team was Julia made them look so easy.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Good Times Good Times on June 29, 2018, 07:43:57 AM
I’d rather not go than go with a bunch of apes doing whatever the hell they want.

I'm getting there FAST!

I’m fortunate to go with the 3 teams I go with.

Count your blessings.  Don't get me wrong I have a great group of guys I go with as far as people, but with that said it's a bit of a free for all and that can make the lanes (especially at Nationals) not much fun.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Joeyd on June 29, 2018, 10:07:37 AM
Just returned.  Day one was very tough, and day 2 was tough, but more of what we usually see with more volume and probably longer.

I was not sharp at all so my scores suffered big time.  Small misses usually meant big penalties. 

I did meet two of our ballreviews friends, "Good Times Good Times" and "The Magician".  Both were very cool, and were a pleasure to meet.

If you are still bowling in Syracuse this year just have fun and don't give in to all the whining and moaning...   We expect them to be tough and they are.


You met "Joeyd" also ;)

My lord, were they tough... haha
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: northface28 on June 29, 2018, 12:35:50 PM
I’d rather not go than go with a bunch of apes doing whatever the hell they want.

I'm getting there FAST!

I’m fortunate to go with the 3 teams I go with.

Count your blessings.  Don't get me wrong I have a great group of guys I go with as far as people, but with that said it's a bit of a free for all and that can make the lanes (especially at Nationals) not much fun.

I’m not good going up the lane or keeping the ball in front of me. I’m not good at going up 6. I’ve gotten better and can scratch out 185-190 that first game to preserve the lanes for games 2 & 3. What good is me jumping to 3rd arrow shooting 210 to the detriment of 9 teammates?
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Impending Doom on June 29, 2018, 12:48:33 PM
I’d rather not go than go with a bunch of apes doing whatever the hell they want.

I'm getting there FAST!

I’m fortunate to go with the 3 teams I go with.

Count your blessings.  Don't get me wrong I have a great group of guys I go with as far as people, but with that said it's a bit of a free for all and that can make the lanes (especially at Nationals) not much fun.

I’m not good going up the lane or keeping the ball in front of me. I’m not good at going up 6. I’ve gotten better and can scratch out 185-190 that first game to preserve the lanes for games 2 & 3. What good is me jumping to 3rd arrow shooting 210 to the detriment of 9 teammates?

Ego.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: Good Times Good Times on June 29, 2018, 12:58:17 PM
I’d rather not go than go with a bunch of apes doing whatever the hell they want.

I'm getting there FAST!

I’m fortunate to go with the 3 teams I go with.

Count your blessings.  Don't get me wrong I have a great group of guys I go with as far as people, but with that said it's a bit of a free for all and that can make the lanes (especially at Nationals) not much fun.

I’m not good going up the lane or keeping the ball in front of me. I’m not good at going up 6. I’ve gotten better and can scratch out 185-190 that first game to preserve the lanes for games 2 & 3. What good is me jumping to 3rd arrow shooting 210 to the detriment of 9 teammates?

Exactly.  Again, as individuals I'm very fortunate to have a great group of good guys......but as a competitor........it's getting old fast.  I still put the spotlight on my poor execution but another really really good bowler on our team is feeling the same sentiment and frustration with what the lanes morph into.... 
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: BallReviews-Removed0385 on June 29, 2018, 02:45:36 PM
Just returned.  Day one was very tough, and day 2 was tough, but more of what we usually see with more volume and probably longer.

I was not sharp at all so my scores suffered big time.  Small misses usually meant big penalties. 

I did meet two of our ballreviews friends, "Good Times Good Times" and "The Magician".  Both were very cool, and were a pleasure to meet.

If you are still bowling in Syracuse this year just have fun and don't give in to all the whining and moaning...   We expect them to be tough and they are.


You met "Joeyd" also ;)

My lord, were they tough... haha

You had some Brooklyn explosions!  I had several myself.  Carry on the wrong side was excellent...
And for the record Joeyd was great to bowl with.
Title: Re: USBC Open
Post by: northface28 on June 29, 2018, 04:02:26 PM
I’d rather not go than go with a bunch of apes doing whatever the hell they want.

I'm getting there FAST!

I’m fortunate to go with the 3 teams I go with.

Count your blessings.  Don't get me wrong I have a great group of guys I go with as far as people, but with that said it's a bit of a free for all and that can make the lanes (especially at Nationals) not much fun.

I’m not good going up the lane or keeping the ball in front of me. I’m not good at going up 6. I’ve gotten better and can scratch out 185-190 that first game to preserve the lanes for games 2 & 3. What good is me jumping to 3rd arrow shooting 210 to the detriment of 9 teammates?

Exactly.  Again, as individuals I'm very fortunate to have a great group of good guys......but as a competitor........it's getting old fast.  I still put the spotlight on my poor execution but another really really good bowler on our team is feeling the same sentiment and frustration with what the lanes morph into.... 

I’m fortunate for sure. I can’t repeat playing really straight (going up the lane) I can do 7-2, 10-6 etc. A lot of people think they are going straight, they are not. What I can do is hit 15-12 with plastic and help shim the lanes to our liking.