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I actually used to work as a mechanic at a bowling alley while in college. Bowling is still popular on Long Island where I live but I think the demise of huge

I actually used to work as a mechanic at a bowling alley while in college. Bowling is still popular on Long Island where I live but I think the demise of huge money pro bowling comes from 2 different aspects: 1. There are less amateur bowlers now and 2. Ball technology combined with illegal lane oiling patterns has made bowling too easy. It was once a very rare feat to bowl a perfect game (300) Now it happens so much that when someone was on 10th frame carrying a perfect game I would not even bother to watch it. Bowling centers want to keep people coming so they make the lanes very easy with "walled shots" (no oil near gutters to allow for massive hooks). Now almost every reasonably good bowler bowls over 200 average, and the difference between winning or losing is much smaller to the point it becomes luck. This is the same in the Pros minus the illegal pattern. So now there is much less differentiation between pro and amateur bowlers and it is hard to be consistently dominate as everyone is bowling very high scores. They need to make bowling more difficult again by regulating ball surface compounds more closely and making lane oil patterns more difficult. This will increase the divide between pros themselves and amateurs and make it more impressive to watch.

mitchty 13y ago
Man, now I feel even worse for not being able to ever bowl over a 100. Granted I've bowled all of like 5 times in my life but still.
- crag 13y ago
  You know, I always bowled better drunk. I was in a league once. it was a handicap league and my average was like 95. And I played on one of the best teams - due to my huge handicap. I'd start out terrible and sober, and by the end of the game I was walking sideways and could barely see down the lane. But somehow I always bowled at least 95 (usually over 100). Which gave cover for the (much) better players to have a bad night and still keep the team's rating. I was lots of fun.
  - voidlogic 13y ago
    This just goes to show that the Ballmer Peak [0] varies greatly by task. [0]: https://xkcd.com/323/ https://xkcd.com/323/
  - rewind 13y ago
    Applies to golf and pool for me. But I start off as a bit better than average while sober, in the zone at four or five beers, then I fall off a cliff after that. Relaxation and looseness apparently have a very narrow maximum window of effectiveness while drinking. Go past it, and you're hosed (but I always had fun getting there).
  - stevekemp 13y ago
    > You know, I always bowled better drunk. Me too. Snooker/Pool is also better. At the start of the night I'm sober and play a fair game, but at the end of the night after two/three pints I'm doing consistently and considerably better. I keep meaning to take a night of not-drinking to see if is the beer that is responsible, of if it is just because I only carry out these activities every few months and I need a bit of time to relax and get back into the swing of things..
trafficlight 13y ago
Sport shots are meant to help even the playing field. These are much harder than the typical house shot, but still easier than the PBA patterns. I don't see why the USBC doesn't mandate sport shots for every sanctioned league.
S_A_P 13y ago
This. I bowled pretty well in college (back in the 90s). Well enough to get invited on Texas a&ms bowling team ~215 avg. I decided against it due to it being barely more than an intramural sport at the collegiate level and the huge time commitment. Then my bowling ball and shoes were stolen out of my car and I never bothered replacing them. Now I bowl 120-160 ish with house balls. Every lane has uv and laser light and bowling is not really that fun anymore. In the 90s I went to an old school smoke riddled over head projector scoring lane and now it's a kids laser show. I think bowling just suffers from being "mainstreamed" and diluted into a drinking game or birthday party activity.

mitchty 13y ago

Man, now I feel even worse for not being able to ever bowl over a 100. Granted I've bowled all of like 5 times in my life but still.

crag 13y ago
You know, I always bowled better drunk. I was in a league once. it was a handicap league and my average was like 95. And I played on one of the best teams - due to my huge handicap. I'd start out terrible and sober, and by the end of the game I was walking sideways and could barely see down the lane. But somehow I always bowled at least 95 (usually over 100). Which gave cover for the (much) better players to have a bad night and still keep the team's rating. I was lots of fun.
- voidlogic 13y ago
  This just goes to show that the Ballmer Peak [0] varies greatly by task. [0]: https://xkcd.com/323/ https://xkcd.com/323/
- rewind 13y ago
  Applies to golf and pool for me. But I start off as a bit better than average while sober, in the zone at four or five beers, then I fall off a cliff after that. Relaxation and looseness apparently have a very narrow maximum window of effectiveness while drinking. Go past it, and you're hosed (but I always had fun getting there).
- stevekemp 13y ago
  > You know, I always bowled better drunk. Me too. Snooker/Pool is also better. At the start of the night I'm sober and play a fair game, but at the end of the night after two/three pints I'm doing consistently and considerably better. I keep meaning to take a night of not-drinking to see if is the beer that is responsible, of if it is just because I only carry out these activities every few months and I need a bit of time to relax and get back into the swing of things..

trafficlight 13y ago

Sport shots are meant to help even the playing field. These are much harder than the typical house shot, but still easier than the PBA patterns. I don't see why the USBC doesn't mandate sport shots for every sanctioned league.

S_A_P 13y ago

This. I bowled pretty well in college (back in the 90s). Well enough to get invited on Texas a&ms bowling team ~215 avg. I decided against it due to it being barely more than an intramural sport at the collegiate level and the huge time commitment. Then my bowling ball and shoes were stolen out of my car and I never bothered replacing them. Now I bowl 120-160 ish with house balls. Every lane has uv and laser light and bowling is not really that fun anymore. In the 90s I went to an old school smoke riddled over head projector scoring lane and now it's a kids laser show. I think bowling just suffers from being "mainstreamed" and diluted into a drinking game or birthday party activity.