I get the epiphany that comes from bowling PBA/Sport conditions. Most bowlers who give it a try walk away with a healthy respect for everything that matters.
 
The major beef I have is your assertion that bowling scores in league bear little to no relationship to the ability to repeat shots.
 
Spare making is spare making regardless of condition. Use plastic for most all of your conversions, and you'll know how accurate you really are.
 
On strike shots, it depends. If your style depends on bouncing off the right side wet/dry bumper, you have a point. On the other hand, if you're focusing on getting to a consistent breakpoint and repeating shots, you'll know when you screw up. It's not rocket science.
 
You'll never completely bridge the inequity between the two conditions, but it doesn't mean you can't find value on the THS. Like most things, it depends on what you put into it.   

Are regular bowlers so bad until it is necessary to skew the lanes to keep us in the sport? Or is bowling really not a sport and I am trying to make it something that it is not.

Lane conditions are controlled by owners/proprietors. They put out walled conditions to cater to lower level recreational bowlers who pay top lane $$ rates. The more they strike, the more likely they'll come back for more. It's simple economics.


There are only a small percentage of us that look at bowling as a sport. For us, we have to make the most of THS's we see most of the time, and jump at opportunities to bowl sport/PBA when it's available. Don't look at this as some sinister plot. Accept the THS for what it is, and support sport tournaments when available. It's the only way to advance the situation we have.

Bravo!  Very good response. 

Most golfers would not want to play a US open course from the tips.

Bowlers are the same, most do not want beat their heads against a wall.

Technically a 1:1 ratio would be the truest test but because of the way lane conditioner moves it would make it near impossible for everyone.

I feel we have gone too far to the stupid easy side of the scale, particularly with the carry percentage of modern balls, I don't think we want to swing to major championship conditions for all leagues.

But again averages are simply a measuring stick of bowlers on a particular condition.

Certain conditions will favor certain styles and abilities.

Until you bowl on a numerous conditions for multiple games it is hard to pick out the most versatile players.

But yes..... jmo Averages do not mean a damn thing anymore.....   I see more guys who average 210+ all day in their local league....  But they go else where and they are lost...


And as one other guy asked about honor scores...  If they are meaning less.... yes I do believe unless you are bowling on a Challenge pattern or harder, they do not mean anything..   

I see / hear about too many bowling alley's that just pump out 300's like it's their job.....

Bob,

I can see where you're coming from. Good fundamentals are good fundamentals. Problem is, on a easy THS, it's easy to get away from those. Tougher shots make you look at your fundamentals. The minute stuff, not the larger stuff. Hand position changes, index and pinky finger placements, moving your eyes up and down the lane vs side to side. Things like that make a better bowler, IMO.

Score does not a bowler make.

There are two different skillsets involved. The sport bowler having more refined skills, the THS bowler knowing how to score in his house on that particular shot so that he wins the carry contest.

I think it introduces confusion to suggest it's one or the other. You can be both, even though most of your time is spent on cake THS.
 
Averages have meaning in that in most cases, you don't have a chance of scoring respectfully on sport shots if you can't average 220-230 on cake. The 220-230 THS bowler has some applicable skills, even if this fact is rejected by some.
 
In my case, I've been a 225-230 house hack for years. In fact, my main house is the butt joke of the local area for being 'easier' than most. So according to your logic, I should be wallowing in the 170 range on sport shots.
 
Well, I'm about to finish third overall with a 213 average in a summer Kegel Challenge league. The skills I used were developed on regular THS conditions. Once you understand the skills required to be somewhat successful on flatter patterns, you can practice on the THS playing inside the oil line and thinking your breakpoint vertically instead of horizontally. It's not rocket science to know when you've executed successfully and when you haven't.
 
If the point of this thread is to point out that most THS bowlers have difficulty making the transition, mission accomplished. But it's not absolute and doesn't have to be.

Simply stated, the fact that you have a 230 average or that you threw an honor score on a wallllllleeeed up shot does not mean you are a good bowler, nor is it an accurate indicator about how you bowl, compared to the person in the next house over, or professional bowlers.

And you missed my point. If you're a 230 average bowler, there is the chance you are also a good (or decent) sport shot bowler. If you are a 200 average house hack, I can almost guarantee you don't have the fundamentals for sport level success. So averages do give us some insights, even if it isn't perfect.
 
The bottom line is that there is no way to tell absolute skill level based on all the variances we see in different houses. But there are hints if you're willing to look at them.

There are too many variables to say that avgs dont mean anything. I think that we are looking at one end of the spectrum; the house hack who avgs 230, who sprays the ball all over the place, inconsistent spare shooter, and has mud feet. However, there are bowlers out  there who equal their sport avg to their THS or surpass it. With that said. The major key is spare shooting and shot repetition; i believe that is where you see the difference in skill. That is the design of a sport pattern. THS masks inconsistency and missed spares by giving bowlers the ability to miss spares and recover with a string. Or, spray the ball across the lane and get the ball to recover or hold to the pocket.
With today's game becoming more complex and the balls technology at an all time high, it's easier, i believe, to be inconsistent and score at will on THS. So i do agree there to some degree that in this case, the only way averages matter is with handicap. (I'm not going to get into my belief on handicap, We'd be here all night) Unless you bowl in mulitple leagues and in multiple houses.
As stated above, avgs will matter with correlating THS to Sport Patterns. It shows inconsistency in spare shooting, accuracy, making transitions, and ability to repeat shots. Some guys are good enough  to make sport patterns look like THS. Is that a far cry with the strength of balls and the rev rates being higher than ever. We know that some houses are not equipped to layout sport patterns the way they are designed to look to the bowlers, but I think its a bit unfair to criticize a house for putting out a "THS" when you throw a strong asym with a strong layout and 500 rpms. The Scorpion Pattern in one house is going to be different than the same pattern in another house even though they can be the same pattern with the same units. There are many variables that play into that. As far as the bowler, we see it with bowlers on tour. They know what the shot is and make adjustments from the breakdown of the house. They know what to look for so its easier to be consistent and they have ability to repeat shots. Avgs give bowlers who do a multititde of bowling on a variety of patterns, the ability to see strengths and weaknesses in their game and make adjustments.