4 ms·

Pretty light on detail and its been a while since I bowled, but back in college movies like kingpin and the big lebowski convinced me to buy my own bowling ball

by S_A_P 5y ago

Pretty light on detail and its been a while since I bowled, but back in college movies like kingpin and the big lebowski convinced me to buy my own bowling ball. At the time it was around a 150 bucks for the ball I used, and it had a different material on the outside than the shiny plastic house balls that allows better grip(Plastic, Urethane, reactive resin, etc). In addition to the lopsided weight, you could drill it differently(and fill in previous holes) if you wanted to adjust the hook. I know that I was able to bowl above 200 consistently and frequently would get 230-240 without much practice(other than the recreational bowling). The main reason being that having a bowling ball that is able to find the pocket will knock down more pins. Lastly, having a custom drill to your hand and finger size allows you to carry much more weight. I bowled a 16lb ball easily. The house balls at most bowling alleys drill enormous holes in the 15 and 16 lb balls so you have to give it a death grip to hold the ball.

nemo44x 5y ago
Modern bowling balls help a lot for strikes to be sure but a larger influence is the oil pattern on the lanes. Most places use a "house pattern" that looks like a "Christmas Tree" in that the oil pattern is nearly across the lane near the bowler and taper to a point in the center as it gets down the lane. This pattern helps the bowler a lot since shots that are thrown out too far (pushed) encounter a dry lane surface earlier and the ball can begin to find traction on the lane sooner so it has time to roll over and make its way into the pocket. Likewise if the shot is "pulled" the ball will skid on oil for a longer time before it finds traction and can roll over and thus have a better chance of finding the pocket and still maintain some angle to give a good chance of a strike. Professional bowlers do not use a "house shot" and in fact have multiple different oil patterns they use to make it more challenging. In general, a "reverse block" style pattern is used which means it is oily near the gutters and dryer near the center meaning imprecise shots are penalized harshly. But your typical bowling league doesn't have any incentive to use these types of oil patterns because everyone would be awful and not want to bowl there anymore and take their team to another house where they can score and enjoy themselves and delude themselves into thinking they could go pro. This is believed to have had a negative effect on professional bowling popularity as a spectator sport as many recreational bowlers roll high scores because of the easy shot and modern ball tech and aren't interested in watching pros who don't appear to be much better.
- IgorPartola 5y ago
  So this would be the equivalent of the NBA raising the hoop by a foot without telling anyone that they did this making it look like the players aren’t much better than street ballers? Did the pros do this simply because otherwise everyone would play a perfect game every time making it boring?
  - nemo44x 5y ago
    Yes, pro's would roll 300 after 300 on a typical house pattern. It wouldn't be interesting. I haven't watched in many years but I recall they started to show on broadcasts the oil pattern being used (they had 6 different types and they each had an animal name I think) and the announcers would detail how the pattern needed to be played for different types of bowler styles and left/right handedness. Lefties always have an advantage because fewer people bowl from that side so the oil doesn't get pushed around as much and they can create a "channel" from their own shots that "groove" the ball for them. Each pattern has a different length down the lane (some are long, some are short) and different application of oil from side to side. A Google image search will show you examples. I've bowled on them and they are humbling for someone who reliably shot over 200 on a typical house shot.
  - dangerbird2 5y ago
    As a counterpoint, golf courses drastically increase the course difficulty prior to tournaments by growing out the rough and cutting grass on the green shorter (which lowers friction and makes the ball roll/bounce off the green easier). Of course, golf is an inherently difficult and frustrating sport even on the friendliest course conditions, so it's pretty hard to think the pros are no better than average joe.
- EMM_386 5y ago
  Well that took me down an unexpected rabbit hole. If anyone is interested, here are some of the PBA official oil patterns: https://bowl.com/Sport_Bowling/Sport_Bowling_Home/PBA_Experience_information,_patterns/ https://bowl.com/Sport_Bowling/Sport_Bowling_Home/PBA_Experi...
whateveracct 5y ago
A custom fit ball is so much nicer. It just falls off your hand.

by S_A_P 5y ago

nemo44x 5y ago

Modern bowling balls help a lot for strikes to be sure but a larger influence is the oil pattern on the lanes. Most places use a "house pattern" that looks like a "Christmas Tree" in that the oil pattern is nearly across the lane near the bowler and taper to a point in the center as it gets down the lane. This pattern helps the bowler a lot since shots that are thrown out too far (pushed) encounter a dry lane surface earlier and the ball can begin to find traction on the lane sooner so it has time to roll over and make its way into the pocket. Likewise if the shot is "pulled" the ball will skid on oil for a longer time before it finds traction and can roll over and thus have a better chance of finding the pocket and still maintain some angle to give a good chance of a strike. Professional bowlers do not use a "house shot" and in fact have multiple different oil patterns they use to make it more challenging. In general, a "reverse block" style pattern is used which means it is oily near the gutters and dryer near the center meaning imprecise shots are penalized harshly. But your typical bowling league doesn't have any incentive to use these types of oil patterns because everyone would be awful and not want to bowl there anymore and take their team to another house where they can score and enjoy themselves and delude themselves into thinking they could go pro. This is believed to have had a negative effect on professional bowling popularity as a spectator sport as many recreational bowlers roll high scores because of the easy shot and modern ball tech and aren't interested in watching pros who don't appear to be much better.

IgorPartola 5y ago
So this would be the equivalent of the NBA raising the hoop by a foot without telling anyone that they did this making it look like the players aren’t much better than street ballers? Did the pros do this simply because otherwise everyone would play a perfect game every time making it boring?
- nemo44x 5y ago
  Yes, pro's would roll 300 after 300 on a typical house pattern. It wouldn't be interesting. I haven't watched in many years but I recall they started to show on broadcasts the oil pattern being used (they had 6 different types and they each had an animal name I think) and the announcers would detail how the pattern needed to be played for different types of bowler styles and left/right handedness. Lefties always have an advantage because fewer people bowl from that side so the oil doesn't get pushed around as much and they can create a "channel" from their own shots that "groove" the ball for them. Each pattern has a different length down the lane (some are long, some are short) and different application of oil from side to side. A Google image search will show you examples. I've bowled on them and they are humbling for someone who reliably shot over 200 on a typical house shot.
- dangerbird2 5y ago
  As a counterpoint, golf courses drastically increase the course difficulty prior to tournaments by growing out the rough and cutting grass on the green shorter (which lowers friction and makes the ball roll/bounce off the green easier). Of course, golf is an inherently difficult and frustrating sport even on the friendliest course conditions, so it's pretty hard to think the pros are no better than average joe.
EMM_386 5y ago
Well that took me down an unexpected rabbit hole. If anyone is interested, here are some of the PBA official oil patterns: https://bowl.com/Sport_Bowling/Sport_Bowling_Home/PBA_Experience_information,_patterns/ https://bowl.com/Sport_Bowling/Sport_Bowling_Home/PBA_Experi...

whateveracct 5y ago

A custom fit ball is so much nicer. It just falls off your hand.