Not to beat a dead horse here, but it has been bugging me lately.

I see people averaging 220+ on "house" conditions, with no real versatility, and no game other than big revs. Their spare shooting sucks.  I see guys that can miss by 5 boards in or out and still crush the pocket.   The same guys can easily shoot 450 without the free hook outside and hold inside.

I also see guys in more competitive leagues, where the shot is intentionally challenging, bring a 20X average into a tourney and get pins.  These same guys can average 220+ on walls.  This hardly seems ethical and it hurts turnout.

I guess my point is ... Can we PLEASE get rid of wall shots?  I remember the local USBC/ABC office would run tapes regularly to check for illegal "block" shots, which are known as "walls" or "THS" today.  What happened?

The combination of reactive resin equipment, blocked walls, and pins that fly like crazy has turned bowling into parody of itself.  Shot making is no longer rewarded and accuracy seems to have taken a backseat to power.  If you have both, then you are deadly but us mere mortals cannot hit dimes while putting 500 RPM on the ball.... and that brings up the 2 handed / thumb-less argument which I will not engage in but I will say I believe it should be illegal.

I know its an old, worn out subject, but the game has been destroyed.  Some people will argue that it has evolved.  I reject that.  Where is the real test of skill?

I think we could take a lesson from the PGA .... they got rid of square grooves (to put premium on accuracy over power and hit fairways), and make anchored putting illegal (it gives the golfer a physical advantage).  You can draw the same parallels to bowling....

There is nothing keeping anyone from practicing hitting what they are looking at.  If you can't hit what you're looking at while you practice there is no chance it is going to happen when the arrows come up on a demanding lane condition.  You have to want to become a better bowler to become a better bowler. 

 This is both an EXCELLENT observation and good advice.

 Practicing hitting what you are looking at is paramount to being able to score well on tough conditions.

 Regardless of what you're throwing, or throwing on.

The THS doesnt reward spraying the ball.  It doesnt punish sprayimg as much as a flatter pattern, but the guy who repeats shots the best on a THS still wins. 

It is not ruined at all, The only problem Bowling has is the bowlers

You the real MVP, bro!

I've been bowling with the same team for many years mostly on flat patterns and we like to jumps houses every few years. we ended up in this one house that was a med wall and every team in there tore us a new one and we were at the bottom of the league. the house decided to switch the shot to a flat pattern and all the house hero's started bitching and quitting,my team quickly climbed up to the top three teams.

this year they started with the flat pattern and my team was doing pretty good but at the half more teams quit so the house put back the med wall shot and now we can't compete.
the house hero's now are currently spinning balls like the alpha crux,no rules etc. and destroying the shot in short order BUT it works for them.

IMHO if this is the direction bowling is headed then I don't have much respect for the sport anymore.
BTW the two two handers we had that were doing well on the flat pattern quit this league as far as I know and the IRONY of this house is on their sign out front they have a saying "Lets Make Bowling Great Again" 

I've been bowling with the same team for many years mostly on flat patterns and we like to jumps houses every few years. we ended up in this one house that was a med wall and every team in there tore us a new one and we were at the bottom of the league. the house decided to switch the shot to a flat pattern and all the house hero's started bitching and quitting,my team quickly climbed up to the top three teams.

this year they started with the flat pattern and my team was doing pretty good but at the half more teams quit so the house put back the med wall shot and now we can't compete.
the house hero's now are currently spinning balls like the alpha crux,no rules etc. and destroying the shot in short order BUT it works for them.

IMHO if this is the direction bowling is headed then I don't have much respect for the sport anymore.
BTW the two two handers we had that were doing well on the flat pattern quit this league as far as I know and the IRONY of this house is on their sign out front they have a saying "Lets Make Bowling Great Again" 

Another way to take your story:
Bowling well on house shots requires a different mental skill than flat shots. Your opponents have spent years developing that skill while you haven't, and therefore you got beat by bowlers that are better on a house shot than you are. Understanding how to play the lane IS a skill, and if you're repeating shots better and still losing, you unfortunately are not very good at that skill on house conditions. The same people had no experience on flat shots and suffered similarly.

The most alarming part is that in EITHER case, bowlers decided to quit instead of learning that skill.

Quote from: six pack on January 20, 2017, 11:36:47 PM

I've been bowling with the same team for many years mostly on flat patterns and we like to jumps houses every few years. we ended up in this one house that was a med wall and every team in there tore us a new one and we were at the bottom of the league. the house decided to switch the shot to a flat pattern and all the house hero's started bitching and quitting,my team quickly climbed up to the top three teams.

this year they started with the flat pattern and my team was doing pretty good but at the half more teams quit so the house put back the med wall shot and now we can't compete.
the house hero's now are currently spinning balls like the alpha crux,no rules etc. and destroying the shot in short order BUT it works for them.

IMHO if this is the direction bowling is headed then I don't have much respect for the sport anymore.
BTW the two two handers we had that were doing well on the flat pattern quit this league as far as I know and the IRONY of this house is on their sign out front they have a saying "Lets Make Bowling Great Again" 

Another way to take your story:
Bowling well on house shots requires a different mental skill than flat shots. Your opponents have spent years developing that skill while you haven't, and therefore you got beat by bowlers that are better on a house shot than you are. Understanding how to play the lane IS a skill, and if you're repeating shots better and still losing, you unfortunately are not very good at that skill on house conditions. The same people had no experience on flat shots and suffered similarly.

The most alarming part is that in EITHER case, bowlers decided to quit instead of learning that skill.

Yes that's correct except for I'm not a quitter. instead I try to figure it out and buy balls to help my game on the wall. I think it's fun and interesting.
BUT, I keep reading on this and other fourms that the THS has ruined bowling but in reality it's not the shot that's ruined bowling,it's the bowler's.

Over the years many have expressed in discussions that bowling was historically a "blue collar" activity.  And when so many blue collar jobs were sent to Mexico and overseas the decline in bowling followed.
The new presidency is committed to bring jobs which includes blue collar (Rust belt) back to this country.  So if successful, will that equate to a increase in bowling participation? Thoughts?