Not hardly.  I just trying to start an objective discussion.

If you haven't noticed,bowling is almost extinct and the PBA is a joke.  I want the game to thrive.

Ha ha ha, man I LOVE that for some reason.

Quote from: BeerLeague on January 18, 2017, 12:18:24 PM

Quote from: northface28 on January 18, 2017, 11:22:34 AM

Sounds like sour grapes from someone who averages 188 on house and got clobbered the night he composed this thread by someone who averages 220+.......

Not hardly.  I just trying to start an objective discussion.

If you haven't noticed,bowling is almost extinct and the PBA is a joke.  I want the game to thrive. 

Are you implying and or specifically stating that walled up shots and 2 handers are killing bowling?

Quote from: BeerLeague on January 18, 2017, 08:39:13 AM

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....

So everyone should bowl on conditions where you feel you have an advantage and only using the style you use.

Please...

I see a lot of people jumping the OP for his comments. While I don't agree that 2 handed and/or thumbless releases give you an advantage ALL of the time; I do feel that the sport has become harder to validate correct averages at tournaments. I currently bowl in 2 houses, and the difference is night and day! I'll be going into City, State, and Nationals this year with about a 20-pin increase (due to the plus-10 rule) simply because I decided to branch out to another house for the first time in like 5 years. I'm still the same bowler, and bowling at this new house hasn't made me a better bowler per-se, but that's how it is. I'm not saying it's anyone else's fault, as I chose to bowl at the new location, just simply using my experience as an example of how averages can be greatly inaccurate as a foolproof method of judging someone's credibility.

With all that said, however, I'm not sure what the USBC could do about this. They've already established the Sport Bowling program, for individuals that would prefer a more challenging experience. I don't foresee USBC enforcing a weekly taping of lanes to make sure all shots comply, as that would be financially, well, ridiculous. Noone is gonna want to up there yearly sanction from $20 to like $100 just to bowl worse every week. THAT, would kill bowling.