We have a 24 team mens league, this year a sensor went out in the machine...put out a doozey of a shot.  High in the house was 567!

Like others, I don't mind a challenge.  What I don't like is expecting one thing and getting another.  If that were to happen at my center, I would vote to re-oil.  Not because I don't like bowling on difficult patterns.  But because I (and others I am sure) would not be prepared for the change.  If the center told us what we would get as a shot, fine, but not when I show up with my 2 balls intended for the original shot.

And another thing.  What benefit do you get from bowling on a shot where there is oil all the way through the pin deck?  Even a pro bowler will never see that type of shot.  If a regional is putting out a shot and the machine breaks and oils to the pin deck, they will not bowl on that shot.  The machine will be fixed and the lanes will be re-oiled. 

I've experienced that one time before and don't care to see that again.  I was testing a pattern for an upcoming tournament and was thinking about all the "whining" if this was the shot. The best oil ball on the market still needs to find SOME friction.

The mechanic caught it, corrected it, and I instantly felt relief.  It boils down to carelessness on the part of the mechanic, though.  Our guys top off the tank halfway through running our lanes so it doesn't happen.

Lane Machine 101 - before running machine make sure fluid levels are topped off.

Like others, I don't mind a challenge.  What I don't like is expecting one thing and getting another.  If that were to happen at my center, I would vote to re-oil.  Not because I don't like bowling on difficult patterns.  But because I (and others I am sure) would not be prepared for the change.  If the center told us what we would get as a shot, fine, but not when I show up with my 2 balls intended for the original shot.

And another thing.  What benefit do you get from bowling on a shot where there is oil all the way through the pin deck?  Even a pro bowler will never see that type of shot.  If a regional is putting out a shot and the machine breaks and oils to the pin deck, they will not bowl on that shot.  The machine will be fixed and the lanes will be re-oiled. 

The shot was still playable AND the proprietor did offer to re-oil the lanes before leagues got started. He took a vote to bowl as is and another one to re-oil. The vote was 60/40 in favor to bowl on the current conditions. All 4 pairs were exactly the same.

What benefit did I get out of this kind of pattern? Well, a few things. #1 instead of having 10 boards of room to play with I had 5 boards MAX. #2 I got to refamiliarize myself to one of my favorite lines on the lanes which is playing up 5 board or even a touch farther out then that. #3 Getting to show everyone that I'm more versitile then they think. Our high average bowler in the league threw 2 shots, packed up, and went to the bar to play on the gambling machines.

I always go bowling with an open mind and always expect the unexpected. Last Wednesday didn't bother me one bit. I enjoyed the challenge and would bowl on it again at any time. In fact, I viewed last Wednesday like practice for the Senior/Regular doubles tournament that bowls on one of Kegal patterns, last year it was on the beaten path and the year before that was on the easy street.

Anyway, I'm happy with how I handled the night of bowling shooting 589 on a fairly tough shot with a 202 average.

This reminds me of the explaination "mechanic figured out how to use the machine", which I've heard a few times over the years. But I agree it's good to mix it up on the THS - intentional or not.