My bowling first started around 1995-96 and many of you have been around bowling for much longer. We are often fed the stories of how great bowling was....wall to wall leagues any day of the week, morning leagues, late leagues, people bowling leagues for as far as the eye could see. That has rapidly declined. Many centers over the years have closed and many with the loudest voices blame it on bowling being too easy. Too many refuse to believe it has anything to do with the changes in society and the larger options in entertainment. Heard a book, Bowling Alone, mentioned on a talk show the other day in reference to the decline in several different social sports and sports in general along with other social groups and organizations in society. After reading a little over the premise of the book it seems pretty on par with what we have seen and many have tried to discuss with the decline in bowling. Not from a being too easy factor, but from a social change.

Why some choose to believe that in the golden era everyone loved bowling because it was hard and consisted of half board adjustments playing on the 3rd or 4th board I do not know, maybe it helps ones ego.Many videos available as far back as the 1940s and 1950s show professional bowlers playing 3rd or 4th arrow regularly...not 3rd or 4th board. Bowling is every bit as fun today as it ever has been. It can be as easy or as hard as one chooses. So despite USBC trying to define bowling as more of a sport to seem legitimate in the world, or all of the older PBA players saying the equipment made the game too easy...that it needs to go back to when...insert ball era here, instead continue enjoying bowling for what you think it is, not what others try to shame you into believing.

Most bowling centers like other businesses have fallen behind on the times. Most centers and leagues operate off of the same business model as they did in the 1950s. Open doors, offer 36 week leagues, and wait for people to sign up to bowl. Try offering anyone you know the chance to come bowl for 36 consecutive weeks and see the look of crazy you get. Bowling is still great. Once you get passed the hype of equipment sales the rest is pretty straight forward. Try and knock down as many pins as possible. interesting to look at if you get a chance.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone

I realize I'm the guy that brought his name up, but I don't want to turn this into a bash-Voss fest over any struggles, real or perceived, as he got older.

My point was about the attitude on the forums. The other thing I didn't post in my first message was that a lot of times, when amateurs (or tech-friendly pros) would disagree with Voss, et al, there would be someone to bring up, "Well, you're coming to PBA.com, this forum should be run by the pros." Well, seems to me that if you guys want a pros-only forum, you should have a pros-only private forum. As soon as you open it up to public comment, you don't get to control what those comments are going to be anymore.

What's funny about this stuff is that I'm doing some of my best bowling in years right now with tame, older equipment. Most modern houses are so dry and abrupt off the spot that it does me no good to drill the latest-and-greatest. The most aggressive ball I've drilled in the last 5 years may be a Track MX-05. And I put less than 10 games on it last year outside of tournaments. It would probably help me be more competitive if we were back to plastic or regular urethane.

But going backwards, technology-wise, universally drives down interest no matter the sport. When softball leagues started legislating bat strength, interest dropped. When golf started getting overly concerned about driver head size and/or groove shape, people got upset. Once the barn doors have opened, you can forget closing them again. You have to adapt the rest of the sport to the new reality.

That's what Voss and a lot of his cohorts never understood. And yeah, I realize it's uncomfortable to go into a league environment and see amateurs cranking the ball on par with you, but all it takes is to put down a real tournament shot on the lanes and the pros take over again. Just like you can go play your local muni from the front reds, shoot 75 and brag about it, but you're not going to win at Augusta.

Unfortunately -- and I don't know how PBA.com is today, because I left it 10 years ago and have never looked back -- there was enough damage done to relationships and potential relationships that a lot of amateurs went from looking up to these guys to starting to question their fanship. I don't know whether PBA leadership could have impacted the situation, but had I been sitting in the CEO role at the time, we would have gathered everyone with a tour card in a room and had a seminar on how we were all going to use social media going forward, and recommendations would not have been optional. If you couldn't march with the rest of the band, you either got off the site or gave up your card. Bowling's cachet with its fans is the accessibility. You lose that and you lose the biggest trump card in your deck.

Jess

Pros and many others are quick to write off bowlers today because of equipment vs ability.  They also refuse to believe bowlers have evolved and knowledge of bowling equipment, surface,  drilling etc has evolved.

Here's a link to bowling in 1963. Nothing against any of these guys but look at their form and style and how much it has evolved since then.  Also look at what part of the lane they are playing and the scores they are putting up. Guys are shooting 670-740 for 3 games. Pros today would be able to score just as well and likely better because of rev rate,  drilling options,  and surface adjustments….. Which would be a nasty mess on rubber lol.  What you dont see is the guys playing out on the 2nd or 3rd board and making half board adjustments we are regularly fed some times when talking about the good old days.

Great players of one era have always felt betrayed when the environment changes.  I can't really blame them, but it has been a fact of the game since lacquer replaced shellac.

 It took me a LOOONG time to come to this same conclusion, but I finally got it.

 I didn’t like it when technology took away my “edge”, and I formed the opinion that I was right, the people who changed bowling were wrong, and it never should’ve happened.

 Then, after enough time had passed, I realized that’s the way life is. It wasn’t just bowling that had changed, but everything had changed. This let me reflect on all the ways bowling had changed before, and who had been left behind by those changes.

 When I realized it happens even to the greats of former years, I realized nobody was immune to it, and I stopped feeling victimized by the changes.

 That victim mentality is a killer. Once you get it, it’s you against the world, and everybody that tries to tell you different gets written off because they “just don’t get it”.

 Mr. Voss is/was a great. I respect his talent and ability, but he needs to get over it, just like everybody else has. He was an all time great in his day, but the sun has set on that day, and a new one has dawned.

 Move on.

Everyone who bowls should read your post juggernaut.  I went threw a similar phase during the late 80s when shirt oil was the rule.  I very nearly quit the game because I was too stubborn to adapt to the urethane short oil game. 

Voss is a legend and by no means is this to take away from his career but some of what he said and posted was very polarizing. 

Same for some other pros recently dogging equipment etc.  At no point in their careers of pimping all the new equipment did they ever say theses things… ...nope not till all of that is gone do we have these epiphanies.

Saw something recently with Burton pimping jr gold I believe and then tapers off about how he had high pba average for so many years etc etc and now he's no where close.  Seemed pretty bitter. You were one of the greatest of all time. Time moves on. More greats come along. You still remain a legend.

All of these seem to have one thing in common. Wanting to make changes that preserve their idea of integrity to the game.  How does this change anything for 98% of the league bowlers out there?

Pros may well resent being ball salesmen first and pro bowlers second.  Salesmen who want to keep their job generally won't talk down their product while they are getting paid.

Quote from: HackJandy on January 23, 2018, 03:34:56 PM

Quote from: ignitebowling on January 23, 2018, 03:25:47 PM

Voss is a legend and by no means is this to take away from his career but some of what he said and posted was very polarizing. 

Same for some other pros recently dogging equipment etc.  At no point in their careers of pimping all the new equipment did they ever say theses things… ...nope not till all of that is gone do we have these epiphanies.

Saw something recently with Burton pimping jr gold I believe and then tapers off about how he had high pba average for so many years etc etc and now he's no where close.  Seemed pretty bitter. You were one of the greatest of all time. Time moves on. More greats come along. You still remain a legend.

All of these seem to have one thing in common. Wanting to make changes that preserve their idea of integrity to the game.  How does this change anything for 98% of the league bowlers out there?

Pros may well resent being ball salesmen first and pro bowlers second.  Salesmen who want to keep their job generally won't talk down their product while they are getting paid.

Of course,  and credit said ball for their success.  #ballgreatest #ever

Then once time has past by it's the equipment that keeps them from still being great.  If we go back to technology "X" then said pro would still be relevant.  Or records would still stand.

  Its insulting to say shot making isn't a factor today. Or that its only because of equipment etc.

Belmo would be a top 5 champion in any era since at least WW2 with any equipment.  Guy is more effortless with two hands than all but a few even one handers ever.  Anybody that thinks the old school guys had flawless technique needs to watch Marshall Holman sliding well after he released the ball.  Granted he could smoke me any day of the week but not sure he would be top 5 these days with that technique. 

Holman had excellent technique for that era. Releasing the ball during the slide facilitated accuracy--- a must in that era. Today's game places much more emphasis on creating power and area through late timing and dynamic wrist action. On sport shots today, there is still a premium on accuracy but there is a bigger premium on hand action. That was a no-no in the old days due to the conditions and equipment of the earlier era. I do believe that some of the best players of today would have done well back in the "day", and some, perhaps even better. But I would venture an educated guess that they would not be lofting gutter caps or banking the gutter, with wide open shoulders to boot. Some posters have pointed to a few old videos of players in the 1950s shooting big numbers playing up the 10 board. That did happen, but not very often. In those days we had to contend with burned out heads, high boards, low boards, lanes dressed with hand held oil guns. More often than not, if you wanted to score, you had to keep your angles strictly in front of you--- no leaking to the right of target, no matter how many revs you might have had. And you had to throw the ball SLOW on those conditions or your rubber ball would deflect off those solid pins like silly putty (pins were not top heavy like the double voided pins of today).  Anybody who claims that they averaged 200+ in those days fell into one of 2 categories: 1. They were either the BEST bowlers in their region or, 2. They were bowling on blocked conditions (illegal at that time, not like the standard THS today).

Let's try to give credit to the best bowlers of each of these eras. The very best developed physical games that BEST fit the conditions and equipment of their time.
That includes the likes of Marshall Holman and Belmo. 

I seldom get my "heckels up" but on this subject, I must, because I bowled in both of these eras. Those who claim that bowling back in the old days was easier simply do not know what they are talking about and those who demean the incredible talent
needed to prevail on today's challenge conditions have obviously never put on their shoes and tried to compete with the talented kids of today.