Kind of ironic isn't it? I was talking with a guy last Wednesday after our league about the issues in todays game. He is the son of a pretty decent former tour player and has been around the game his whole life like I have. The consensus we settled on is that the balls hit the pins harder and at a higher degree of entry angle than ever before.
That said, everyone wants to keep talking about oil patterns. It doesn't make sense to me because the oil is 1) easy for center owners AND bowlers to manipulate and 2) it isn't a constant variable. Yes easier patterns can create more miss room, but IMO that miss room also wouldn't be as large if the balls weren't as strong or the pins were heavier.
Being a shop operator I love the "geek" element of ball technology. So I have long been a proponent of the heavier pins. But as long as we continue to talk about oil patterns then the bigger issues with the game won't change. I don't want to see the ball technology stifled and reality is it wouldn't be...companies would just change what technology they are looking into.
Not sure if my idea would help things but I would love to see them mandate 43' of oil and 5 lbs. pins. None of this ratio b.s. because as we see on TV and go through every league night the oil is very easy to manipulate especially at the front of the pattern.
I would at least like to see USBC and the PBA do a joint study to see what the shortcomings of this change would be.
ALL STAR BOWLING & TROPHY
LANGAN'S ALL STAR LANES
IBPSIA MEMBER
WALLED LAKE MI